First lady joins local officials' calls for end to abuse
Local officials joined Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte Friday morning in calling for an end to child abuse in Scott County.
Conte, the wife of Gov. Phil Bredesen, led the Nancy Swain Watters Memorial Walk and its hundreds of participants along U.S. Hwy. 27 from Oneida city hall to Plateau Electric Cooperative in south Oneida Friday morning. The walk benefits the Children’s Center of the Cumberlands and the Scott County Women’s Shelter.
Conte called the services offered by the Children’s Center — an advocacy center for abused and neglected children — “absolutely miraculous.”
“I never come here without being inspired by this county and what it does,” Conte said. “You have a wonderful, fabulous community. You reach out and help each other and I want to tell you that that’s rare in today’s world.”
Children’s Center Executive Director Tammy Foster quoted Ronald Reagan, saying “We can’t help everyone but everyone can help someone.”
Henry Baggett and Sharon Wilson, directors of schools in Oneida and Scott County, also spoke. Baggett called on students participating in the walk to “make this the beginning of a lifelong commitment to your community,” while Wilson spoke of the difference made in the lives of abused or neglected children to “know there are sensible and caring adults who can help.”
Angel Sexton, a caseworker at the Children’s Center, was joined by Rick Terry in singing an emotional song that she wrote. “America, your children are being ignored,” she sang. “One by one, we are losing them. One by one, their lives are being destroyed. Now is the time to raise your voice, it’s time to take a stand and stand together against child abuse and be their friend.”
Will Phillips spoke on behalf of his father, District Attorney General Wm. Paul Phillips. Phillips, who was instrumental in the creation of the Children’s Center, was out of town and unable to attend.
Scott County Mayor Rick Keeton, Oneida Mayor Jack E. Lay and Winfield Mayor Kenny Burchfield also spoke.
“If my constituents and myself put in 10% of the work she does across the state, there’s nothing we couldn’t accomplish in this county,” Burchfield said of Conte.