Carey was born and raised in South Pittsburg, TN. A graduate of South Pittsburg High School in 1996, Carey went on to complete her B.A. degree in Business from Maryville College in Tennessee.

Carey relocated back to South Pittsburg in 2008 and began working for Lodge Manufacturing in 2009. She is currently the Director of Product Marketing for Lodge. Carey and husband Mike Garland built a home in South Pittsburg in 2012 and are raising two boys, Hank & Alex. The family are members of Christ Church Episcopal in South Pittsburg. They own a company, Team G, LLC, that refurbishes homes in South Pittsburg to provide affordable, quality homes to rent for the community while renovating the area.

Carey became a National Cornbread Festival volunteer in 2007. She joined the Executive Committee in 2011 and continues to hold a seat on this board. Carey is a founding member of the newest 501C3 in South Pittsburg, SPARQ – South Pittsburg Area Revitalization Quest. Carey holds a seat on the board and is acting President.

 

Walker Henley is a Tennessean through and through, having lived in all corners of the state. He was born and raised in Memphis until he headed to Knoxville for college at the University of Tennessee. After completing a degree in communications, he followed his girlfriend (now wife) to Nashville where they lived for 5 years until finally settling down in her hometown of South Pittsburg, where they are now raising 2 beautiful children.

Though Walker is a transplant to South Pittsburg, he is committed to the community and enjoys being involved in civic groups whenever possible. He is a former board member of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. He helped start the town’s recycling program. And also spurred his company to adopt the main stretch of highway in town where he leads quarterly cleanups.

Walker works as the Retail Manager for Lodge Cast Iron running their 4 Factory Stores, among other miscellaneous marketing functions. When he’s not selling skillets or cleaning up trash, you can usually find him hiking on one of Marion County’s many beautiful trails.

 

Beth has been employed as the Vice President – Customer Service for Sequachee Valley Electric since 1998. Responsible for superior customer service for the 5 offices of SVEC and also billing and collections for the 34,000-member cooperative.

Before coming to SVEC Beth spent 20 years in the banking industry, with the last, as the CFO for then Marion Trust & Banking Company. Her education began in 1979 as a graduate of South Pittsburg High School, a 1984 graduate from UTC with a degree in accounting and then in 1997 a Graduate Banking degree from LSU’s banking program.

Beth has been very active in the leadership of many community organizations including the Marion County Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scout Troop 63 and a board member of Grandview Medical Center. She is currently the Treasurer and founding member of SPARQ, and the Marion County Arts Council, an active member of the South Pittsburg Rotary Club, and President of the National Cornbread Festival.

She is married to Shannon Duggar and they reside in South Pittsburg and have three grown sons.

 

I attended elementary and high school at South Pittsburg so it will always be Pirate Pride and Orange & Black for life. I now reside in Chattanooga with my two daughters. I have been into art for as long as I can remember. It took me a few years to actually open up to it and now I can’t see myself ever giving it up. My art mediums are acrylics and canvas but soon I hope to venture out into oil pastels. I am heavily drawn to classic cartoon characters as my muse. I have had my artwork displayed at the gallery held in the American Legion during the National Cornbread Festival 2018 as well as at Hammers for the 2020 Artober front street artist appreciation displays. Margaret Taylor-Tucker was actually the first person to display my work in her wonderful, art freedom forward place Creative Zone during its opening debut. For that she will always hold a special place in my heart and is one of the people I think about when I need to get to work on something new. I am excited to see all of the artists that are about to emerge in South Pittsburg and be a helping hand in some finding their passion and being able to freely create. 

 

Jeff spent 33 years working in various roles within the pharmaceutical industry before retiring in 2016. He and his wife, Kim, returned to their native North Carolina after retirement and later moved to Marion County in 2022 to be closer to their daughter in Hixson.

Since retiring, Jeff has actively volunteered in several capacities. While in North Carolina, he worked on a building crew for Habitat for Humanity, served as an officer in the Albemarle Rotary Club, and sat on the Board for the Stanly County Chamber of Commerce. Eager to engage with the community, Jeff sought opportunities in South Pittsburg upon arriving in Marion County. He became a member of the South Pittsburg Rotary Club and is set to serve as Club President in 2024-25. Jeff and Kim share a commitment to the mission of Sleep in Heavenly Peace (South Pittsburg Chapter), where they volunteer for bed builds and delivery teams. Additionally, they lead the “Cornbread Kitchen” Committee for the National Cornbread Festival, working in the SPES cafeteria. Jeff is also an individual member of the Marion County Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff considers himself fortunate to be part of SPARQ. His involvement began with attending community events at Arts In The ‘Burg, and he has since volunteered for Pitt to Port and other SPARQ-sponsored activities. Recognizing the value of an organization that unites arts, community, and nature, Jeff appreciates the opportunity to support SPARQ’s impactful work in our area.

 

Melody was born on Kodiak Island Alaska, raised in California and moved to Guam. She left Guam to join the United States Navy as an Oceans System Technician, specializing in anti-submarine warfare. She met her now husband, of 44 years, Steve. They have 2 children.

She has always been creative from a very early age. That creativity lead her through many start-up businesses while raising her sons. From doing craft shows, that were very popular in the early to late 80’s, which then turned to home parties, selling custom made home décor, to include draperies, pillows, cushions etc… She also worked at fabric chain stores. With her attention to detail personality, she was quickly promoted to management positions within departments. She was recruited to work for an Independent Sewing Machine dealer in Illinois and that’s when her passion for sales and customer care really began.

At the age of 36, Melody decided to take the leap of owning her own business. She opened her first 1100 SF shop in Orange City, Florida. She quickly outgrew that location and enlarged it to 3500 SF. Within 3 years she opened a second location. By year 5, she opened a 3rd. With more than 15 employees, her vision of market dominance was attained and boasted with several awards within the industry. Even after the downturn in the economy in 2008, she and her husband were quick to pivot in their business, closed all the stores, consolidated their resources and built out a 7000 SF new shop and successfully ran that until their retirement in 2021

Annise Henson was born and raised in South Pittsburg and has a passion for her hometown. In addition to SPARQ, she is also involved with the South Pittsburg Historic Preservation Society and has long supported our local schools.

 After graduating from South Pittsburg High School, Annise attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where she obtained a degree in English: Technical Writing followed by a Master of Business Administration.

 Annise uses her creative, communication and management skills in the insurance industry as a Director of Product and Market Development for a Fortune 500 company where she has worked for more than 35 years.

 Annise is the wife of the current mayor of South Pittsburg and proud mother of 2 amazing grown children.