Front Page Follies
The Front Page Follies is an annual roast in which a cast of journalists, community members and a sprinkling of cameo appearances poke fun at newsmakers and events that amused us during the previous year. All ticket sales benefit journalism education through scholarships.
The Thirty-first Annual Front Page Follies will be staged July 18, 2009 at the Marriott Hotel in Knoxville.
The scholarships this year will be named in honor of John Jr., Gregg, and Alex Jones of Jones Media Inc., operating print and online newspapers in Greeneville, Sweetwater, Athens, Dayton, Lenoir City, Newport, and Rogersville as well as several in North Carolina. Each of the Jones brothers has distinguished himself as a leader in state, regional and national media and civic organizations. The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists is proud to join groups like the Tennessee Press Association, Associated Press Managing Editors, Harvard University, and Pulitzer Prize Board in recognizing the Jones brothers’ contributions to journalism. For more on the Jones brothers, please click Here.
Tickets are available at $100 each or a pre-reserved table of ten for $1,000.
Your ticket proceeds go toward an endowment fund at the University of Tennessee, which is growing to a point where it will become self-perpetuating, generating funds for the scholarships in perpetuity. Our goal is to fund two endowments of $25,000 each and we are well over halfway there. Income from the Follies also funds a scholarship for a student at Pellissippi State Technical Community College who plans a career in journalism. We are excited to have come so far and hope you’ll join us in making this year’s show a success!
To purchase individual tickets or a table of ten, please send your check to Jennifer Horner, 1345 Circle Park Drive, 401-K Student Services Bldg., Knoxville, TN 37996. Checks should be made payable to “University of Tennessee” with “FPF” in the memo line. If you are ordering a table of ten, your table will hold a sign with your or your company’s name on it. Please specify this at the time of ordering. Please also indicate if and how many vegetarian meals you would like, as they must be reserved in advance. If you wish to pay by credit card, please phone Jennifer Horner in the UT Development Office, (865) 974-7073. If you have other questions, please call Jennifer or e-mail her at jhorner@utk.edu or contact ETSPJ’s communications coordinator at etspj.communications@gmail.com.
On Saturday the 18th the evening gets underway with open bar and reception around the silent auction tables at 6 pm. Dinner is served at 7, followed by a live auction and then the show at 8 pm.
To pay for items purchased at the Follies Auction via PayPal and a variety of credit cards, please click
Auction Donation. You are welcome to donate to our scholarship here as well if you are not able to attend! Thank you.
[Updated 6/26/09]
2008 Cast - Front - left to right: Kristina F. Canan, Carol Zinavage, Jean Ash, Anne M. McKinney. Rear - Adina Chumley, Ernie Roberts, Karen Hood, Alan Carmichael, Lisa Hood Skinner, Jim Stovall, Michael Holtz, David Haley Lauver. Not pictured: Megan Venable Smith, Clint Woodfin, Christine Jessel, Michael Grider, Stacy Stiles
The 2007 Follies cast, festooned with deely bobbers, rides into the sunset in a 1982 pickup truck as a tribute to the 25th anniversary of the 1982 Worlds Fair. Driving is principal scriptwriter David Lauver. Standing - Barbara Womack, Jean Ash, Jim Stovall, Alan Carmichael. In bed - Ernie Roberts, director Carol Zinavage, Clint Woodfin, Christine Jessel (above), Adina Chumley, Lisa Hood Skinner, Michael Holtz, Anne M. McKinney.