Celebrating Our Success Banquet 2024

The annual CCEF "Celebrating Our Success" Banquet is Thursday, March 21st at Lincoln Avenue.  This year's honorees are Mr. Tommy Bible and Dr. David Kickliter.

Tommy Bible and Dr. David Kickliter were roommates when they attended the University of Tennessee and will be paired up again next month when both will be honored at Cocke County Education Foundation’s Celebrating our Success Banquet on March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church.

The event is a fundraiser for the foundation, which funds scholarships for several local students every year. The cost is $400 for a table of eight. For individual tickets, call First Baptist Church of Newport at (423) 623-3034.

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Mr. Tommy Bible

Bible, a native of Bybee, attended Centerview Elementary School and graduated from Cocke County High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a major in accounting, from the University of Tennessee

His wife, Linda, is a retired teacher having taught elementary students for more than 30 years. Their children are McKinley Bible, who works for Jefferson Cocke County Utility District (JCCUD), and Jill Jones, a teacher in Virginia. Their son-in-law, Ricky Jones, is an emergency room doctor in Virginia.

Bible worked in the utility industry for 46 years, serving for 30 years plus as JCCUD general manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2023.

He served on the American Public Gas Association Board (APGA) of Directors for 12 years and served on the Tennessee Gas Association (TGA) Board of Directors for over 25 years, chairing several committees and serving as president of TGA in 2003-2004. He received the TAUD award for Financial and Operating Excellence in 1996.

He also received the American Public Gas Associations (APGA) Personal Achievement award, an award given to individuals who have made substantial contributions toward the goals of APGA and the natural gas industry, and in 2023 he received the J. Hardie Johnston award from APGA, recognizing individuals with at least 25 years of service in the natural gas industry and having been active as an APGA public gas system member representative. He also accepted for JCCUD the Public Gas System Achievement award and the Safety Management Excellence and National Safety awards.

He was awarded the TGA Silver Flame award at the TGA annual conference in 2009. The Silver Flame award is TGA’s most prestigious award, recognizing outstanding service by association members to the state gas industry.

Bible was a member of the East Tennessee Customer Group Board of Directors from 1995 until his retirement in 2023, serving as chairmen of the group for several years. The East Tennessee Customer Group is made up of all public utilities serving natural gas in the State of Tennessee located east of Nashville.

He was a founding member of the United Utilities Group (UUG), serving as treasurer from 1995 until 2023. The group was organized in 1995 to purchase and deliver natural gas and manage pipeline capacity for their customers.

Bible is past president of the Newport Cocke County Partnership, Newport Cocke County Economic Commission and Cocke County Election Commission.

He was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Newport for 35 years, earning the Legion of Honor award in 2008 and serving as president in 1995. Bible served on the Newport Medical Center Tennova Advisory Board from 1997 until his retirement from the board in January 2024, serving as chairman since 2020. He is currently treasurer of the Cocke County Education Foundation, having served on this Board since 2001. In 1998, Bible was appointed to serve on the Newport Federal Bank Board and is currently serving as chairman.

Tommy and Linda are members of Swannsylvania Baptist Church.

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Dr. David Kickliter

Dr. David Kickliter was born and raised in Newport. He is the son of the late Charles Kickliter and the late Carolyn Helms. David is the third of five children. His siblings are Judy Bowling, Phil Kickliter, Melissa Berretta and Chris Helms.

Dr. Kickliter attended Newport Grammar School and graduated from Cocke County High School in 1972. He attended University of Tennessee, Knoxville, (UTK) graduating in 1977. While at UTK, Dr. Kickliter was selected from among those from 13 southeastern states for a co-op position at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. He remained at the CDC after graduation as a microbiologist in the CDC’s immunology division. While living in Atlanta, he continued graduate studies at Georgia State University.

In 1981, Dr. Kickliter moved to Memphis to continue his career in medicine at UT Health Sciences and graduated in 1985. He began his residency in family medicine in Gadsden, Alabama, and completed residency in Knoxville in 1988. The Family Practice Center in Newport recruited Dr. Kickliter, and his career, focusing on obstetrics, elderly and family care, spanned 35 years from September 1988 until March 2023.

Dr. Kickliter remained on the staff at the UT Residency program as an attending physician for 8 years. He enjoyed taking on medical students and resident physicians and presiding over their continuing education.

Dr. Kickliter and his wife, Libby, enjoy spending time with their three sons and daughters-in-law, Justin (Kristin), Brett (Leigh Anne) and Matthew (Casey) and their 13 grandchildren.

Both David and Libby qualified for the 900-mile club by completing all of the trails in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

In addition, Dr. Kickliter has taught Sunday school for over 25 years at First Baptist Church of Newport.