Cathy St. Georges takes the helm while Jerry Lee Jones offers a wave from the stern as they navigate the Tennessee River. The 31-foot custom cruiser represents a multi-year commitment by Jones. Wednesday April 22, 2026 (Photo by Hannah Godel)
Jerry Lee Jones doesn’t need a map to find his favorite stretch of the Tennessee River; he follows the sun. With fiancé Cathy St. Georges at his side, the engine’s hum fades into the background, replaced by the rhythmic rush of the water against the hull. For a few hours, the rest of the world is just a dock they’ve left behind.
After decades navigating the corporate landscape at IBM, Jones has traded the glow of a computer screen for the grain of polished wood. Having spent years quietly crafting hulls in his garage, the retiree now has the one thing his career couldn’t provide: the freedom to follow the river whenever the water calls his name.
Woodworking has been a part of Jones’ life for as long as he can remember. At ten years old, he and his father built a kayak together, a project that sparked a lifelong obsession. That project did more than just teach him how to join two pieces of wood; it instilled a standard of beauty that the modern world rarely meets.
Liz, Morgan, Iris, and Austin prepare for a route at Wauhatchie Woodlands. The four are a part of the Queer Climbing Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and meet to climb as a group. Monday, April 13, 2026 (Photo by Cj Copeland)
Chalk dust drifts through the air as climbers gather around a cluster of boulders, spotting each other and mapping out routes on rough stone. Laughter cuts through the quiet of the outdoors, mixing with the sounds of shoes scraping rock and people calling out encouragement from below. For some, it’s just a day of climbing. For others, it’s something more: a space where they can exist as themselves.
Morgan started climbing in college after moving to Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Drawn in by the physical challenge and problem-solving, they quickly found a love for the sport. “I felt pretty closed off in the climbing community when I first got here, just because I didn’t know anybody,” they say. “Sometimes it can be hard to sort of break into it.”
That feeling isn’t uncommon. Climbing communities, especially outdoor ones, often rely on word-of-mouth, and shared experience. For someone new, not just to climbing, but to the area, it can feel like everyone else already knows where they belong.
A group of adventurers navigate paths with adaptive gear. Each chair is built to handle the challenges of the trail. They’re able to enjoy access, freedom, and the joy of being outside. Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (Photo by Andromeda Stewart)
A steady rhythm of metal and motion cuts through a quiet trail, the soft clicking of chains, the hum of wheels as hands push left, right, left along a path through Greenway Farms in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Somewhere between effort and ease, mechanics and mountainside, Chattanooga Parks and Outdoors’ Therapeutic Recreation department is bridging a gap. With the help of brand new GRIT adaptive junior wheelchairs, it’s not just about access to local trails, but a sense of belonging that all youth deserve.
Making Chattanooga’s scenic trails accessible to all is no single effort. It is the result of collaboration and dedication shared between GRIT Freedom’s All-Terrain wheelchair technology, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s quality-of-life grant, and the Chattanooga Therapeutic Recreation department’s intimate team. “Really zooming out and saying, all right, so we know it can be done, but it’s how is it gonna be done?” Therapeutic Recreation Department Head Elaine Gossett said. “Chattanooga is a great place to get outside, but it doesn’t necessarily make every trail accessible.”
Ellie Heinichen speaks at the Tennessee Riverpark. She aims to teach the audience about the Therapeutic Recreation Department as well as the many adaptive programs that are available for her son David. The Rec Department organizes adaptive biking and now offers all terrain wheelchairs.
At its core, the initiative addresses a simple, but substantial roadblock: traditional wheelchairs just aren’t built for outdoor trails. GRIT Freedom Chair CEO Derek Johnson explains, “Traditional wheelchairs get stuck on almost anything…rocks, cracks, sticks, stumps, mud, sand… They just aren’t suitable for off-road trails.”
Angie Young tracks the flight of her 1-year-old German Shepherd, Epic, as she jumps for her floating bumper. Epic is a beginner at dock diving. Monday April 6, 2026 (Photo by Hannah Godel)
The words “let’s go swimming!” barely escape Angie Young’s lips before her dog bursts across the backyard dock, eyes transfixed on the red toy she just tossed toward the pool. The four-legged athlete soars over the edge, never losing sight of the prize, even as gravity takes hold, sending him back to earth with a refreshing splash.
What resembles an exciting game of fetch is actually deliberate training for an upcoming dock diving competition at Southern Kingdom Diving Dogs. This backyard setup in the suburbs of Soddy Daisy is one of only two training grounds in the state of Tennessee that aims to transform pets into high-flying competitors.
Angie Young, the owner of Southern Kingdom Diving Dogs, trains local pets how to dock dive and hosts dock diving competitions. Young speaks on all her backyard business has to offer, what dog dock diving is, and how to get started.
Angie Young, the business owner, just finished cleaning the pool and is preparing to begin swimming and dock diving lessons throughout April, in which she’ll instruct local dogs to take a leap of faith and jump as far as they can across a pool.
Jerry Harvey kisses Bonnie the raccoon. Bonnie was a retired education animal. Thursday, March 26, 2026 (Photo by Corbin Winters).
From a sleepy neighborhood street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Opie Acres appears as an 800-square-foot home with a small shed jutting out of the woods. However, behind the privacy fences and the flourishing green backyards, a bustling rehabilitation farm filled with raccoons, opossums, squirrels, and even skunks can be found.
Opie Acres, a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation farm, is bursting at the seams with more animals than a team of two full-time caretakers and volunteers can handle. The farm provides life-saving medical care to ill, injured, and orphaned Virginia Opossums and other wildlife. Even providing a sanctuary home for animals who can no longer live on their own to spend their last days in the peace and caring arms of Opie Acres.
Isabella Thomson, a volunteer at Opie Acres, speaks about the Wildlife and Opossum Rehabilitation nonprofit and the role volunteers play in rescuing orphaned wildlife. Their organization serves as a safe space for injured animals that are often ignored and seen as pests. They provide medical care and educational resources for the Chattanooga, Tennessee, community, so the animals are not seen as a nuisance but rather as extraordinary animals.
Jerry Harvey, the President and Chief Rehabilitator at Opie Acres, has woven together careers as a veterinary technician, paramedic, comedian, and hairdresser throughout his life, yet the one through line has been his love for animal rehabilitation. “Dealing with people and dealing with different situations of all kinds made a really great wildlife rehabilitator, in my opinion,” said Harvey.
Blake Pierce washing a bike outside of the WOBC warehouse in preparation to give it away at the Traffic Garden Jamz event. Pierce is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of WOBC. Friday, April 3, 2026. (Photo by Ashlyn Yoes)
In the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee, a quiet yet powerful movement is taking place. It is not built on grand gestures, but on simple acts of generosity and connection. White Oak Bicycle Co-op may look like a modest operation at first, but behind its doors, lives are being repaired one bike at a time. White Oak addresses two major challenges at once: access to transportation and access to physical activity.
At the center of it all is Blake Pierce, the executive director and co-founder, whose vision continues to guide the organization. What started as neighbors fixing bikes in garages has grown into something much bigger. For Pierce, White Oak is more than just a bike shop; it’s a direct response to real needs within the community.
White Oak Bicycle Co-op is a local Chattanooga non-profit that specializes in providing bikes and repair services to underprivileged and children in the community. Produced by Kara Newstreet.
“We saw early on that transportation was one of the biggest barriers people were facing,” Pierce says. “A simple bike can remove that barrier almost immediately.”
Jackson Gammon soars above a wooden half-pipe outside of Cassette Skate Shop. The business held its grand opening of a temporary skatepark in February. Friday, February 20th, 2026. (Photo by Andromeda Stewart)
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is home to a vibrant skate community currently undergoing immense changes. What was once a cultural hub, practice grounds, and the only legal spot designated for skating, ChattTown Skatepark is currently reduced to being a dirt lot. While only a temporary inconvenience, skaters from far and wide are searching for a gathering place while the $4.4 million skate park renovation is underway.
The dilapidated wooden structures hadn’t satisfied local skaters for decades. A need for a new park was brought to light by local skaters who spoke up about how the previous wooden ramps just weren’t cutting it anymore. The Chattown Skatepark officially closed for reconstruction on November 10, 2025, and is set to reopen in late 2026.
Gene Haman, the owner of VW Clubhouse, shares how Thursday nights have welcomed a community of displaced skateboarders in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A backyard car shop turned haven with a simple half pipe, these skateboarders stay resilient amidst the current renovation of ChattTown skatepark.
Despite not having a main skate park for the next few months, the Chattanooga skate scene is still thriving and finding any and every opportunity to go out and skate together. It’s community players that work behind-the-scenes, offering their own business parking lots and backyard shops to Chattanooga skateboarders that act as the glue for skate culture while ChattTown is closed.
EDGE sets up this event on the stairs of Chamberlain Field. Students really enjoyed the event. Friday, November 2025. (Photo by Angelina Fraga).
College students today will soon make up the front lines against Earth’s worsening environmental crisis. EDGE (Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment), a club at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), promotes sustainability and environmentally friendly practices on campus and in the broader Chattanooga area. According to Dr. Jodi Caskey, the main faculty advisor for EDGE, the average college student’s environmental awareness remains moldable. The mission is to shape that awareness for a better tomorrow.
EDGE was established as a crisis response. There was a time when smog filled the air of Chattanooga and the lungs of its population. The Tennessee River ran rancid, contaminated with untreated sewage and industrial waste. In 1969, a report released by the federal government’s Department of Health, Education, and Welfare officially named Chattanooga the “worst city in the nation for particulate air pollution.”
Those trying times led to an environmental revolution in Chattanooga and, subsequently, across the country. The founders of EDGE played a pivotal role in that revolution. In the late 70s, EDGE was established as UTC’s very first environmental club. The founders went on to help create UTC’s environmental science department, further strengthening the existing sustainability community.
Lillian Moore, Director of Community Impact at the Bethlehem Center, speaks about the The Farm at The Beth and the role that pollinators play in supporting sustainable food systems. The organization manages an urban micro-farm and beehive on their property to serve the local community and educate their students in environmental stewardship.
The rays of the October sun cast a soft, golden glow across the farm, warming the soil and illuminating every shade of leafy lettuce and kale green stretching through the rows. Nearby, children tumble about after a long day at school, unleashing the energy that has been bubbling inside them for hours. Their laughter blends with the hum of bees and insects, creating an easy harmony across the landscape. In many ways, the youthful energy mirrors the growth and vitality of the plants, pollinators, and people who make this land functional, thriving, and truly alive.
Nestled in the heart of Alton Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the Bethlehem Center, known affectionately as “The Beth.” A 105-year-old community-based education and resource access organization, its quarter-acre urban farm serves as one of its most vibrant programs, a small yet powerful plot dedicated to improving food access for individuals who live nearby.
Damon Bartos, Farm Coordinator & Education Specialist at The Bethlehem Center, holding a bee hive in Chattanooga, TN. Thursday, November 13th, 2025. (Photo By Mackenzie Sweat).
“Here in Alton Park, we have limited access to healthy foods. That’s where the Bethlehem Center is really trying to step in and make sure that we’re a source of groceries for folks, but you see it all over the city. For us, having a source of fresh, nutritious food, and shelf-stable items right here in the community where folks can walk in, bike in, or take the bus with a little more ease, can take some of the burden off and also the cost barrier for people who may need groceries,” said Lillian Moore, the Bethlehem Center’s director of community impact.
Chattanooga Tree Project is a local nonprofit in Chattanooga, Tennessee, dedicated to planting trees in neighborhoods with low canopy coverage. Chris Winters (Director of Workforce), discuses the the team’s efforts of planting over 900 trees in the last year with the help of volunteers and the community. In the next four years, they plan to plant an additional 4,000 trees in the surrounding area.
In the sweltering summer heat, sweat drips down the necks of residents as they walk along the bustling streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee in search of shade. While some are able to find reprieve amongst the tree-lined paths, there are many areas around the city that are noticeably lacking these resources.
To address this problem, the City of Chattanooga was awarded a $6 million dollar grant from the United States Forest Service in April 2024 to fund the Chattanooga Tree Project (CTP). This project is dedicated to planting thousands of native tree species to increase canopy coverage across the city in neighborhoods that need them the most.
Volunteers use pickaxes to break up the rocky soil in Ridgedale neighborhood. Saturday, November 8, 2025 (Photo by Corbin Winters).
“From start to finish, I’ve spent a lot of my time mapping forest loss, and the data has shown that over the years, we’re losing forests in Chattanooga,” said Mimi White, graduate research assistant for the UTC Interdisciplinary Geospatial Technologies (IGT) lab. “A lot of the trees that we’re planting, we’re planting in neighborhoods that have lost their tree cover a long time ago,… so it’s really beautiful to walk through a neighborhood in Chattanooga and see the new trees that have been planted and know that the people who live in these neighborhoods are going to be able to enjoy the benefits that come with having a healthy urban forest years down the road.”
