The Chattanooga Run Club is a group of individuals who value community and welcome new runners with open arms. Drew White speaks with Lucas Gallon, founder of the club, about the club’s impact on the Chattanooga area and the people who attend.
The low patter of footsteps and the occasional labored breath can be heard throughout downtown Chattanooga. A group of strangers gather due to their shared interest in running, but in the process, they gain community.
Those exploring North Chattanooga early Saturday morning might run into the Chattanooga Run Club.
The idea that someone actively chooses to push their body in a way that causes their heart to race, blood to pulse, and sweat to drip can seem daunting to some. The Chattanooga Run Club aims to change that perspective on running. According to the club’s founder, Lucas Gallon, the club prides itself on welcoming all speeds and experience levels.
Alex Newton spoke with Shateria Smith and Shane Morrow about Responsive Initiatives for Social Empowerment (RISE)—a black-led nonprofit organization that has been serving the community with free programming, concerts, and communal events since 2011. They hosted the Levitt BLOC Music Series during the month of September, which consists of free concerts for the public every Sunday.
For the most part, a drive down Taylor Street in East Chattanooga looks like any other street in the city’s poorer river-to-ridge region. The blur of closely packed industrial, commercial and residential lots aging into historic status is interrupted by a sprawling 14,000-square-foot complex adorned with stained glass windows and statues.
The over 100-year-old building, formerly the Solid Anchor Church, hosts Chattanooga non-profit Responsive Initiatives for Social Empowerment (RISE). The black-led non-profit was started in 2011 by current CEO Shane Morrow and his partner.
Known originally as Jazzanooga, the organization began with a single-day Jazz festival as a part of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga (CFGC). After the initial success of the festival, the organization spun off from CFGC into the independent non-profit it is today.
Turbo stares at passersby in Coolidge Park. Sunday April 7, 2024. (Photo by: Lexi Foley)
It was an average Chattanooga afternoon for six-month-old Turbo as he scurried across the walking bridge, chasing each new scent. Rays of sunlight fought to peak out of the clouds as a hawk flew through the sky. Turbo flicked his black and white head forward and backward as he followed the hawk’s flight pattern. A group of bicycles came rolling across the bridge, stealing the young ferret’s attention for just long enough before a collection of teenagers strolled past him.
His noodle-like body winded like a river as he explored one of Chattanooga’s most popular attractions: the Walnut Street Bridge. The bridge is one of many spots Turbo will visit throughout the year, along with pop-up markets, Rock City, the Commons, etc. Since he was adopted in October of 2023, Turbo has become a beacon of light for anyone willing to stop and say “hi”. Although Turbo was adopted by owners Jonah and Kat Aberle to be a public service to the greater Chattanooga community, the Aberles originally got a ferret from their local PetSmart for their college home in Cookeville.
Telemonster performs during their band practice. Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (Photo by Noah Camacho)
The band, Telemonster, is made up of fathers who work in a variety of careers such as data engineering, health insurance, pottery and even running their own record store. From full-time fathers to full-time workers, these individuals are also extremely passionate musicians.
Upon winning a college talent show in 2009, four Covenant students decided to continue playing music after their college career was over.
Rising Rock is excited to showcase some of our best audio stories in a continued partnership with Scenic Roots. To listen to Scenic Roots, visit https://www.wutc.org/scenic-roots.
Tiny Bailarinas
Ava Nessell spoke with Wendy Reynoso, the student success and services coordinator at La Paz Chattanooga, about her experience finding a community in Chattanooga after immigrating from Guatemala.
Brylan Miller supports a visiting bull rider in the chute. Sunday, December 3, 2023. (Photo by Abby White)
Gravel and dust kick up while passing through the iron gates branded “BZ” after a scenic ride through rural Alabama. Blue heelers circle cars as guests are welcomed by the roaring banter of bullfighters and riders. You’ve landed at Bioz Zoe, a home away from home for many.
Located in Boaz, Alabama, Bioz Zoe provides a community for beginner, intermediate, and professional riders and fighters attracting people from all walks of life, including bull rider and inspirational speaker, Brylan Miller.
Dan Pinson performs as a headliner at Snap Fest 420 on April, 20, 2024 with a group of local Chattanooga musicians. (Photo by Maleah Holder).
The low hum of a bass guitar and drums echoes from behind the walls of the Comedy Catch in downtown Chattanooga. A small audience looks on at Dan Pinson—better known as Danimal—as he strums away, crafting a relaxing evening for his listeners.
Pinson’s music provides a one-of-a-kind experience for those downtown as he performs live, keeping local rather than seeking bigger opportunities. As a singer and bass guitarist for several local bands, he says he owes his experience and growth to the music scene in Chattanooga. When Pinson began developing his passion for music, he noted that the typical genre was rock, very different from his psychedelic tune.
Scarlen Valderaz plays with her children in their family’s living room. Sunday, April 14, 2024. (Photo by Bethany Cothran)
In a cold hospital room, Scarlen Valderaz gave birth to her first child in a room full of strangers, enduring the pain of childbirth while tackling every question thrown her way.
Finally seeing her baby boy, she was ecstatic, but she knew that she did not want to have another baby in a hospital.
“We actually didn’t know until my husband and I talked about our first born again that they kept offering me an epidural, and I had to say no because I didn’t want that,” Valderaz said. “…the last thing that you want to do when you’re pushing an entire baby out is having to make good decisions that are going to affect you.”
A couple years went by and Valderaz discovered she was pregnant once again, and this time, things would be different.
Valderaz and her husband researched and interviewed midwife after midwife, not stopping until they found the one they trusted best to deliver their baby.
Trading the cold hospital full of strangers and illnesses for the warmth and comfort of her own home, Valderaz could relax and give herself the space she needed to do what she felt would be best for her and the baby.
“We go with homebirth because now there’s so much that happens in the medical system, especially when it comes to the lady through it,” Valderaz said. “There is a lot of autonomy that gets stripped away from the woman when she’s birthing.”
For Valderaz, there would be no race to the hospital for an on-call OB to deliver the child, she would instead be in the safety of her bedroom surrounded by her husband and trusted midwife. Rather than staring at the foreign furniture of a delivery room for hours with her baby wheeled away to the nursery soon after, she would look to her familiar bedroom walls and know that her baby would always be close to her.
Alexis McMurtry speaks with Bill Moore about his experiences volunteering with the Chattanooga Hamilton County cave/cliff/technical team and his chaotic day-to-day schedule.
Bill Moore, a volunteer rescuer, was surrounded by the faint glow of his and his teammates’ headlamps as they navigated through a cave’s twisting passages, squeezing through narrow crevices and scaling steep inclines.
On the surface, Cara Moore is developing and releasing information about the rescue to the public. Her mind is in two places: the state of the rescue and the well-being of her husband, Bill.
What seemed like an adrenaline-filled adventure was another day in the office for the Chattanooga Hamilton County Cave-Cliff-Technical Rescue Team.
Rising Rock team 4 speaks with Mike Maddalena about the 2024 total solar eclipse and the people that it brought together. Mike serves as the publicity chair for the Barnard Astronomical Society of Chattanooga, providing outreach to the community of Greater Chattanooga through monthly star parties and other events.
On April 8th, 2024, the world went dark. Birds soared across a 360-degree sunset as spectators below craned their necks up to the sky to see that the sun had been blotted out by the moon. The solar eclipse is often referred to as a once-in-a-lifetime event, but for many, it became twice.
After the 2017 eclipse left viewers hungering for more, families, photographers and astronomers gathered in preparation for the next event, leading to thousands gathering under the black hole sun in April despite the heat and cloud cover.
