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Community banker, educator, chosen for awards
LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- Logan Hickman, chair of the 17th annual Scouting America Campbell County Good Scout Award Dinner, is pleased to announce the 2025 honoree is long-time community banker, Ms. Rhonda Longmire. This yearly ceremony and dinner will take place at the Ball Farm Event Center, 2107 General Carl W. Stiner Highway, LaFollette, Tennessee, on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The money raised at the event will support Campbell County scouting in 2025. The yearly dinner has evolved into Campbell County’s premier recognition banquet.
Ms. Longmire began banking in 1975 at the First National Bank of LaFollette as a teller and was later promoted to VP and led the bank’s lending and marketing functions. She left First National Bank in 1996 to become senior vice president and chief financial officer of First State Bank and later First Volunteer Bank. At this stop, she was promoted to retail area leader and executive vice president leading Campbell, Knox, McMinn, and Hamilton Counties for First Volunteer Bank at 11 of their 21 branches. In 2005, she moved to First National Bank of Oneida and served as the president and chief executive officer.
In 2013, Rhonda returned home to Community Trust Bank (formerly First National Bank of LaFollette) as the market senior lender and in 2016 became president of the LaFollette market.
Rhonda’s education includes Roane State Community College (1988) and the University of Tennessee (1992). She majored in accounting and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She has been a certified public accountant since 1995 and is a past adjunct faculty member at Roane State and LMU.
Rhonda hasbeen married toJesse Longmire for 52 years with two children, Brooke and Brandon. She is the grandmother to three grandsons – Eli, Ethan, and William Dorton. Much of her time is spent watching the grandsons and their sports activities, especially basketball and football.
Rhonda is a graduate of multiple banking schools and has a long history of civic involvement. Her volunteer activities include past two-time chair of the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce and past two-time chair of the Roane State Foundation, serving on the Foundation Board for over 20 years. She was chosen as a Roane State Community College (RSCC) Outstanding Alumni in 2005. She is currently a board member of the Joint Economic Development Board for Campbell County and is a board member of the Campbell County Industrial Development Board. She is a member of the Campbell County Rotary Club. She and her husband, Jesse, are members of the Forks Grove Baptist Church.
The scouts are equally excited to honor Ms. Tracy Powers as the 7th recipient of the Elbert K. Fretwell Award for exceptional service to education. Tracy Adkins Powers, a Campbell County native, is the daughter of William and Fleda Adkins. She was raised on a Jacksboro farm with her two brothers and two sisters. Tracy attended both Jacksboro Elementary and Jacksboro Middle before graduating from Campbell County High. She then attended Liberty University and earned a BS degree in Education. She later earned a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee. After college, Tracy married State Representative Dennis Powers. Tracy began her teaching career in Knox County. Later, she returned to Campbell County and taught at Jacksboro Middle School.
Tracy read an ad in the newspaper for an administrative job at Roane State Community College and thought she may enjoy working with college students. She was hired as a Site Director in 1997, and an exciting journey began. She got to be part of building two state-of-the-art science labs; a beautiful library extension and a student center – complete with a pool table, where students may or may not have missed a class to finish a game. But more than any of the building projects, she was a witness to lives changing as they completed their education and went on to become successful men and women. Retiring from RSCC in 2023, Tracy remains involved at her church – First Baptist Jacksboro. She serves on the LaFollette Hospital Board. She also enjoys traveling with Dennis and spending time with her family, especially her great nieces and nephews.
The guest speaker is Dr. Chris Whaley. Dr. Whaley is the President of Roane State Community College. He has served as the College’s president since November 1, 2012. His volunteer activities include service on the Great Smoky Mountain Council Advisory Board.
The previous Good Scout Award recipients are Mr. Edward Balloff, Mrs. Juanita Baird, Colonel Tommy C. Stiner, the five Baird brothers, General Carl W. Stiner, the Campbell County Honor Guard, Mr. Lansden E. Hill, the Campbell County High School football team coaching staff, Mr. Mike Malicote, Mr. John T. Reynolds, Mr. Hack Ayers, Pastor Ronnie Arnold, Dr. James Farris, Mr. Clarence Lowe, Judge Shayne Sexton, and Lieutenant Colonel Knud Salveson.
The previous Elbert K. Fretwell Outstanding Educator Award recipients are Larry and Sue Ellen Nidiffer, Linda Agee, James Davis, and John and Margaret Faulkner.
Contact:
Logan Hickman, Dinner Chair
423-871-1975 or loganh@pbsouth.com
About Scouting America and the Great Smoky Mountain Council: Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®.” The Great Smoky Mountain Council is a United Way agency that serves boys and girls across 21 counties of East Tennessee. Programs include Cub Scouting for ages 5-10, Scouts BSA for ages 11-18, Venturing (outdoor adventure) for ages 14-20, Exploring (career education) for ages 14-20, and STEM Scouts for grades 3 -12. For more information on Scouting America, please visit www.easttnscouts.org. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-02/11/2025-6AM-PHOTOS SUBMITTED UPDATED-03/13/2025-6AM)