The Tennessee RiverLine has recognized 20 communities, individuals and organizations that best exemplify a commitment to its transformation vision and embody its guiding principles each year.
The organization’s 2021 awards showcase partners who made substantial contributions to the success of the inaugural year of the Tennessee RiverTowns Program. Their individual and collective efforts in 2021 established a foundation for the program as a framework for collaboration to fulfill the vision for North America’s next great regional trail system and the economic development, public health, resource stewardship and equitable access benefits it promises.
“The Tennessee RiverLine is powered by partnerships. It stands as a testament that we can achieve something together that none of us could accomplish alone,” said Brad Collett, director of the Tennessee RiverLine and associate professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “Each year we are inspired by the many and innovative ways that our partners put these ideas into practice in their communities and across the region.”
The 2021 Tennessee RiverLine awards include:
Community Partner of the Year: The Shoals, Alabama
Individual Partner of the Year: Clay Guerry, Tennessee Valley Authority
Organizational Partner of the Year: Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful
Excellence in River Stewardship: Decatur, Alabama
Excellence in River Animation: Paducah/McCracken County, Kentucky
Extra Mile Awards:
JC Johnsonius, Benton County, Tennessee
Chris Gunter, Bridgeport, Alabama
Blair Travis, Calvert City, Kentucky
Lindsay Ross, Clifton, Tennessee
Danielle Gibson, Decatur, Alabama
Katy Norton, Guntersville, Alabama
Lauren Whaley, Hardin County, Tennessee
Jennifer Moore, Huntsville, Alabama
Tim Hester, Knoxville, Tennessee
Rachel Harrell, Loudon County, Tennessee
Jeff Canter, Paducah, Kentucky
Bonnie Angus, Roane County, Tennessee
Walker Henley, South Pittsburg, Tennessee
Don Bailey, Stewart County, Tennessee
Tommy Barnes, The Shoals, Alabama
The awards were announced during the 5th annual Tennessee RiverLine Summit, held Jan. 25- 26. All award recipients received custom plaques. The plaques were designed and fabricated by University of Tennessee students at the College of Architecture and Design’s Fab Lab.
“All of our partners made meaningful and essential contributions to the Tennessee RiverLine initiative over the last year,” Collett said. “We’re moved by the effort and initiative these recipients have shown that will further inspire the Tennessee RiverLine journey we all share.”
Award recipients are nominated by members of the Tennessee RiverLine staff, the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership and local leadership team members in each Tennessee RiverTowns community. Awards details can be found at tnriverline.org/news/2021awards.
About the Tennessee RiverLine
The Tennessee RiverLine is North America’s next great regional trail system, a historic multi-generational initiative that offers economic development, public health, equitable access and environmental stewardship benefits to 2.4 million people in diverse Tennessee River communities in four states. The Tennessee RiverLine is led by the University of Tennessee School of Landscape Architecture, which is a partnership of the UT College of Architecture and Design and the Herbert College of Agriculture, and principal partners, UT Knoxville and Tennessee Valley Authority, in collaboration with the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership, a diverse consortium of organizations committed to realizing the vision for the Tennessee RiverLine.
For more information visit tnriverline.org.
