walking tall

Fortune 500 companies are not the only ones bringing people together to promote health and fitness. Neighborhood groups, offices, schools and churches are also finding unique ways to get people moving and to encourage a healthier lifestyle. In this regular feature, Better Health recognizes those organized efforts, large and small, that might inspire other groups to initiate their own programs. And we want to hear about them. Submit your Golden Carrot nominations to betterhealth@ajc.com.


Terrell Johnson / Special
(ENLARGE)
Neighbors in the Grindstone Creek subdivision in Clarkesville go for a three-mile walk every weekday — sometimes even in rain and snow. They've maintained the routine for about six years.

RELATED LINK:
• More Health stories





This week's award goes to...


GRINDSTONE CREEK NEIGHBORHOOD WALKERS

Reason nominated: Neighbors motivate each other to take daily three-mile walks — rain, shine or even snow.

Who benefits: Walkers and anyone in the neighborhood who wants to join them — and the community also benefits as walkers pick up trash along their route.

Lessons others can learn: Walking can help alleviate health problems, as well as build community spirit.


The good neighbors of Grindstone Creek subdivision would make Mister Rogers proud.

Not only are the Clarkesville residents devoted to each other, but they are also devoted to each other's health.

One day, several neighbors noticed Joyce Allison out walking and decided to join her. Six years later, the small contingent of half a dozen or more retirees still hits the pavement every weekday at 8 a.m. for a brisk, three-mile trek, sometimes during rain and snow.

"It's dedication to good health," says Connie Johnson, who moved into the subdivision seven years ago with her husband, Terrell. "It makes you really feel proud when you go to the doctor and tell him you walk three miles a day five days a week, and he just about drops dead."

Other walkers include Von Smith, Sandy and Pat Stryker, Linda Camp and Sandee Logan.

Along the way, they pick up trash, talk about the day's activities and enjoy the beauty of nature — wildflowers, deer and birds mating.

"You wouldn't see that riding along in a car," Johnson says.

The walkers have lost weight, decreased their blood pressure and cholesterol and reduced much of their medication. Johnson credits the daily walks with helping her husband improve his mobility and avoid knee replacement surgery due to arthritis.

The walking has also strengthened their bond. A dinner theater group was organized, and the neighbors host an annual Christmas party.

"We've developed lifelong friendships," Johnson says. "We're there for each other in good, bad and happy times. We look out for each other and care about each other."
IF he had his way, Quincy Quek would probably bottle up the memories of the last two weeks in a time capsule.


Quincy Quek's red-hot form will be a great asset to the Singapore team when they compete in next month's SEA Games in Thailand. -- Pictures: KELVIN CHNG
It has been a truly unforgettable two weeks for the amateur golfer.

A fortnight ago, the 20-year-old national serviceman flew the flag for Singapore at the Barclays Singapore Open when he finished as the top amateur golfer in the National Open.

Then last week, he made the headlines again when he came in second at the Laguna National Asean Championship.

Quek fired a sizzling 19-under-par score to finish one shot behind winner Angelo Que of the Philippines in the Asean Golf Tour event.

His exploits only affirmed his growing reputation as one of the rising stars in local golf.

In an interview with The New Paper yesterday, Quek said: 'It all only sank in on Sunday when I was having dinner with some of my friends.

'It dawned upon me that I was actually standing beside Angel Cabrera, Vijay Singh and Adam Scott at the prize presentation ceremony on the 18th green at the Singapore Open.'

Considering that he only returned to competitive golf in June because he had to serve his Basic Military Training, Quek's achievements are all the more laudable.

In August, he won his home club's Safra Club Championship at the Kranji Sanctuary Course.

Later that month, Quek added the Pesta Sukan Singapore National Amateur Championship to his list of achievements.


Quek holding aloft his trophy for being the top amateur at the Barclays Singapore Open.
So what's the reason behind his recent surge in form?

He said: 'My putting wasn't that sharp before, but I worked on my posture and stroke with my coach Chris Marriot.

'It paid off at the Barclays Singapore Open when I was able to sink most of the eight- and 10-footers.

'My mental game has also improved a lot, thanks to sports psychologist Andrea Furst, who was brought in by the Singapore Golf Association to help us prepare for the South-east Asia Games.

'Previously, I did not have much mental training. Andrea told me to control my mood swings on the golf course, which I found really useful.'

Quek's recent red-hot form bodes well for Singapore's chances at the SEA Games in Thailand next month.

He said: 'I will do my best to win a medal for Singapore. But the colour of the medal is not within my control.

'If everything clicks in the four rounds of golf, then that will be great.'

If he had not received his calling in golf, he would have pursued his interest in swimming.

During his younger days, Quek divided his time between the golf course and the swimming pool.

A product of the Swimfast Aquatic School, helmed by former national swimmer David Lim, Quek represented Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in the freestyle and backstroke events.

He was a double gold-medallist in the 100m free and 100m back at the national championships.

The 1.83-metre tall, 70kg golfer took his first swing at the age of 10.

He recalled: 'My father (Peter Quek) and I actually took up golf at the same time.

'I was hooked immediately. I don't think I hit very far, but at least it was quite straight.'

By the end of the year, he was a certified 24-handicapper. He shot a low score of 76 at a junior tournament in Malaysia when he was only 12.

It was only after secondary school that he decided to give up swimming for golf.

He said: 'Both swimming and golf require long hours of training. To excel in one, I had to give up the other.

'Swimming can be quite monotonous compared to golf. In golf, you learn something new every day.'

Following his performance in the past two weeks, there have been a lot of calls for him to turn professional.

But Quek, who will study business at the Singapore Management University when he completes his National Service, prefers to take things one step at a time.

He said: 'I still have to serve NS till April 2009. By then, if I'm good enough, I'll consider turning pro.

'The mentality is different because you are playing for money in every event.

'But whether you are an amateur or a pro, at the end of the day it's still about performance.

'If you perform well on the course, you will be rewarded accordingly.'
Morganton News Herald
Tuesday, November 13, 2007


Photo contributed | Randy K. Digh




The Oak Hill Midget football team is Jeron Hemphill, Drew McMahon, Nicholas Harbison, Devan Caldwell, Omari Logan, Morgan Yancey, Khris Gardin, Clayton Gragg, Daniel Clark, Trever Propst, Sampson Cuthbertson (pictured carrying the ball), Skylar Keller, Marcus Davis, Hunter CLark, Rashad Turner, Christopher Bridges, Marcus Wakefield, Riley Minnear, Daniel Cox, Cody Grant, Javae Howell, Eli Palmer, Jaron King, Nathan Moore, Derius Pearson, Jerry Merriman and Solomon Ervin. The coaches are Mark Miller, Rusty Hollifield, Nathan Miller and Bobby Johnson. Walking Tall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the 2004 remake, see Walking Tall (2004 film)
Walking Tall

promotional poster for Walking Tall
Directed by Phil Karlson
Written by Mort Briskin
Stephen Downing
John Michael Hayes (uncredited)
Starring Joe Don Baker
Elizabeth Hartman
Music by Walter Scharf
Editing by Harry W. Gerstad
Distributed by Cinerama
Release date(s) February 22, 1973
Running time 125 min.
Country USA
Language English
Budget $500,000
IMDb profile
Walking Tall is a 1973 semi-biopic of Sheriff Buford Pusser, a former professional wrestler-turned lawman in McNairy County, Tennessee. It starred Joe Don Baker as Pusser. The film was directed by Phil Karlson.

Contents
1 Plot
2 Title
3 Sequels
4 Factual inaccuracies in Walking Tall
5 Controversy
6 Remake
7 Cast
8 External links



[edit] Plot
Pusser, at his wife Pauline's behest, retires from the professional wrestling ring and moves back to Tennessee to become deputy under his father, Carl Pusser and then the police chief of Adamsville, Tennessee. But when he wins election as sheriff of McNairy County, Pusser becomes aware of the rampant corruption and decides to clean up the county. Buford Pusser became famous for being incorruptible, intolerant of crime, and his array of four foot hickory clubs which he used to great effect in destroying clandestine gambling dens and illegal distilleries, and even against criminals.

Some residents praised Buford Pusser as an honest cop in a crooked town; others denounced him as a bully willing to break some laws to uphold others.

On August 12, 1967, he and Pauline were ambushed near the New Hope Road church in McNairy County. Pauline was killed, and Pusser was seriously injured.


[edit] Title
The title of the movie comes from one of the real-life Pusser's favorite sayings "the measure of a man is how tall he walks."[1]


[edit] Sequels
The original Walking Tall was a hit, but the sequels, Part 2, Walking Tall (1975), and Final Chapter - Walking Tall (1977), both starring Bo Svenson, were far less profitable. A short-lived 1981 television series (again starring Svenson) further dramatized Pusser's life and career. Buford Pusser himself was signed to star in Part 2, Walking Tall, but on August 21, 1974, after a press conference in Memphis, Tennessee to announce the film, Pusser's Corvette left the road about six miles from his Adamsville home and struck an embankment, ejecting Pusser. He died upon impact or shortly afterwards.


[edit] Factual inaccuracies in Walking Tall
It is no surprise that the movie takes license with reality, but a number of the best-known scenes in Walking Tall are fictional. For example, Pusser never went into a roadhouse with a stick and beat up everyone inside. He did, however, take two friends and beat the owner of the Plantation Club in 1961 (Morris:1971). The prior McNairy County sheriff, James Dickey, did not die trying to run over Pusser in a confrontation, he fell asleep at the wheel and died in a car crash less than one month before the 1964 election (Morris, "State Line Mob," 1990).

In the movie, Pusser kills two characters, Callie Hacker, the female bar owner, and a fellow thug who tries to kill Pusser but winds up killing the family dog. In real life, Pusser did kill two individuals, Louise Hathcock and Charles Hamilton. Callie Hacker was loosely based on Louise Hathcock although Pusser actually killed her out of the presence of other witnesses (in the original movie, he kills her after she shoots at him across a bar) in a side room of the Shamrock Motel. The 'family dog killer' episode never actually happened but was added to spice up the movie. Pusser did kill Charles Hamilton in a shootout in Tennessee on Christmas Day, 1968. The shooting of the character Ray Henry in Walking Tall, Part Two was loosely based on Pusser's killing of Hamilton.

Pusser is shot at point blank range in one scene, supposedly by 'a couple of boys from Alabama' as one character says. In reality, Pusser was shot by his mistress, Pearl, after a quarrel (Morris: State Line Mob, 1990) although his arch nemesis, Towhead White, had in fact escaped from prison in Alabama during the same time frame.

Obrah Eaker, played by Felton Perry, was loosely based on Pusser's only black deputy, Dave Lipford. After his wife's killing, Pusser did not leave the funeral and crash his car into a bar. Pusser never attended his wife's funeral. He was still in the hospital when she was buried.

The portrayal of his children contains a few inaccuracies as well. Leif Garrett portrays Mike, an eight-year old at the beginning of the movie. He barely ages during the show, but Pusser's stepson, Mike Vance, was actually 18 years old when Pauline Pusser was killed. Dwana, however, was fairly accurately represented throughout all three movies, including being the first one to reach him upon his fatal car crash.

Pusser's father was actually the Adamsville police chief when Buford first ran for election as sheriff.

According to a 1973 newspaper on the wall of the Pusser Museum, Buford said that the movie was 'sixty percent true.'

The original 1973 movie was filmed in the summer of 1972 in West Tennessee, but not in McNairy County. Town scenes were filmed in Henderson, county seat of Chester County, 19 miles to the north of Selmer, using Chester County locals as extras and in some minor roles. Scenes were also filmed in nearby Jackson and in rural Madison County. The scene where Callie Hacker was killed was filmed in the Pine Ridge Club in Medon, which is still in operation.


[edit] Controversy
In some circles, the name Buford Pusser has become synonymous with police brutality. This is bolstered by the fact that Walking Tall was marketed, perhaps erroneously, as a right-wing film upon its original release. [2] Whenever a character parodies Pusser, he is generally violent and overzealous.


[edit] Remake
Main article: Walking Tall (2004 film)
In 2004, a remake starring professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was made. Although it took many elements of Pusser's life and the original Walking Tall, many things were changed, such as Johnson's character's name (Chris Vaughn) and setting the film in semi-rural Kitsap County, Washington. A sequel to the remake was made in Dallas, Texas and is now on DVD. Titled Walking Tall: The Payback, it stars Kevin Sorbo as the son of the town's sheriff who takes the law into his hands when his father is killed in an alleged car accident.


[edit] Cast