[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E49-E50]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING PAUL BALES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 20, 2010

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor a newspaper legend 
in my district and recognize his lifelong commitment to one of the 
greatest communities in the Nation.
  Paul Bales recently retired as advertising major accounts executive 
at The Daily Times in Maryville, Tennessee. For the last 125 years, the 
people of Maryville and Blount County have turned to The Daily Times 
for news coverage that focuses on their community. Paul has been a part 
of this tradition for more than 50 years.
  He began at The Daily Times as a paper carrier in the early 1950s, 
and through his determination, hard work, and devotion, he quickly rose 
through the ranks. Despite his challenging work, Paul devoted many 
hours to charity, including the Empty Pantry Fund which he headed. The 
Daily Times Publisher Max Croster said, ``He's probably the most 
wonderful person I've ever known.''
  Madam Speaker, I urge my Colleagues and other readers of the Record 
to join me in congratulating Paul Bales on his retirement and 
contributions to The Daily Times and Blount County, Tennessee, 
community. I see no better way to honor Paul than to bring attention to 
a tribute that appeared in the The Daily Times on December 13, 2009, 
which is reprinted below.

                            Bales to Retire

                        (By Linda Braden Albert)

       Paul Bales, advertising major accounts executive at The 
     Daily Times, has announced that he will retire from the 
     newspaper as of Dec. 31. His duties will then be assumed by 
     Quentin Anthony, who has been with the advertising department 
     for more than 30 years.
       Bales will continue to fill the role of Empty Pantry Fund 
     chairman, however, and plans to stay actively involved in 
     other community projects.
       Bales began his career at The Daily Times as a paper 
     carrier in the early 1950s when he was a high school student. 
     Even at that young age, the irrepressible Bales showed his 
     work ethic and expertise in sales.
       ``I started out with 17 customers on my route, and the 
     circulation manager told me he wanted it to grow,'' Bales 
     recalled recently at his office. ``In no time flat, I had 73 
     customers. I did. I poured it on.''


                              several jobs

       Soon afterward, Bales was told the newspaper wanted to hire 
     someone to roll papers, do general tasks and ``plate the 
     press,'' which involved attaching 30- to 35-pound plates to 
     the press and clamping them down so they wouldn't come off 
     during the printing process. The circulation manager asked 
     Bales to come in and give it a try.
       ``At that time, I only weighed about 137 pounds, and I 
     couldn't hardly pick it up much less clamp it down on the 
     press,'' Bales said. ``I started walking out. If I couldn't 
     do what they wanted me to do, they wouldn't hire me, of 
     course. And he said, `They told me to hire you regardless of 
     what you could do or couldn't do,' because of all those 
     customers I got, and it was a kind of a reward for that.''
       Bales might not have been able to plate the press, but he 
     could do other jobs at the newspaper, and did, at the same 
     time attending high school and working several other jobs. 
     His schedule was school from 8:30 to 11 a.m., newspaper from 
     12 to 5 p.m., Luke's Pool Room from 6 to 12 p.m., bagging 
     groceries on Sundays at a local corner store, and selling 
     concessions at University of Tennessee ball games during home 
     games.


                             likes to draw

       Bales said he wanted to be a cartoonist, and when he saw an 
     advertisement for an art course through Art Instruction of 
     Minnesota, he saved his money and paid the $175 to take the 
     mail-in cartoonist course. He was still in high school at 
     that time.
       ``I could draw the bottom of characters real good, but I 
     could never get the head in perspective the way it ought to 
     be,'' he said. ``There was another course in there in 
     advertising, so I took that course.''
       When he graduated from that course, the publisher of The 
     Daily Times asked Bales to create an advertisement using 
     several components he would be given.
       ``I did that and he looked at me and said `Congratulations. 
     You are now a member of the advertising department,' '' Bales 
     said.
       He has been in the advertising department ever since.


                         compassion for others

       Bales is well-known for his compassion for others. His 
     parents, Fred and Gladys Bales, inspired him, but he always 
     looked to his Grandmother Bales as the example he wanted to 
     follow.
       ``She lived in Bales `Holler' in Friendsville, and she was 
     always, always, doing things for people,'' Bales said. ``She 
     had no money but she could do things for other people. She 
     had a heart of gold.''
       At Christmastime, she would barter chickens and eggs for 
     apples, oranges and nuts from the ``rolling store,'' which 
     brought supplies to the neighborhood, and give them to Bales 
     and his siblings for Christmas.
       ``To make sure we were all divided equally, she would give 
     us for each year of our age that number of walnuts, and 
     apples and oranges,'' Bales recalled. ``We always looked 
     forward to that, and she also had orange slices. That was our 
     Christmas.''
       Bales started his community service at the age of 6. He 
     lived in the Alnwick community of Blount County and would 
     take his dog to visit the residents of the Blount County Poor 
     Farm, where William Blount High School stands today.
       ``I've always had compassion for other people,'' Bales 
     said. ``I wanted them to be able to pet the dog but I also 
     wanted little knickknacks for them. I'd pick strawberries at 
     this man's farm, and what little I got paid, I'd take to the 
     little store there at Alnwick and buy cookies and take them 
     over there to the Poor Farm. They really loved that.''
       Unfortunately, the strawberry picking didn't last too long. 
     The farmer told Bales he was eating more than he was picking 
     and let him go.


                        maryville/alcoa jaycees

       A turning point in Bales' life came when he was invited to 
     attend a meeting of the Maryville/Alcoa Jaycees by one of the 
     members.
       ``I told him that I didn't want to join anything,'' Bales 
     said. ``Then I asked him a

[[Page E50]]

     question, and I'm glad I did--I asked him, `What do the 
     Jaycees do?' He said, `Well, they help people.' ''
       That convinced Bales to attend a meeting, and he was soon 
     taken under the wings of the older men. They watched over 
     Bales and encouraged him.
       ``They gave me an application to fill out, and all of a 
     sudden I was chairman of the Empty Pantry Fund,'' Bales said 
     with a laugh. ``That was in 1954. I think they found out they 
     had a turkey to take over that project, and I was the one! 
     Those were a bunch of good, nice businesspeople that I 
     needed.''


                           community service

       Max Crotser, publisher of The Daily Times, said words can't 
     explain Paul Bales.
       He's probably the most wonderful person I've ever known,'' 
     Crotser said, then related a story that happened several 
     years ago in the dead of winter. ``Paul and I were in the car 
     going someplace and saw a man walking down the road with no 
     coat. He was cold, and Paul stopped and bought him a warm 
     coat. He went back and gave the man the coat, and the man 
     went on his way. But that's Paul. He would do anything for a 
     person in need.''
       Crotser attributes the wide community support for the Empty 
     Pantry Fund to Bales.
       ``Because of the trust people have in Paul Bales, the Empty 
     Pantry Fund is one of the most successful charities around,'' 
     he said.
       Daily Times Editor Dean Stone has known Bales for a long 
     time: Stone has been with The Daily Times for 62 years and 
     Bales for about 55, he said. Stone also mentioned how 
     valuable Bales has been to the Empty Pantry Fund, which began 
     as a project of the Maryville/Alcoa Jaycees and The Daily 
     Times in 1952.
       ``We went from that first year having about 120 homes, and 
     now we have over 1,400 a year,'' Stone said via telephone 
     from his room at Blount Memorial Hospital, where he is 
     recovering from surgery.
       He said Bales' reputation is not limited to Blount County. 
     A Louisiana couple has supported the project for several 
     years, and this year, an anonymous donation from a visitor 
     from California was made to the Empty Pantry Fund.
       ``He said he had been around town and asked everybody he 
     saw what was the best, most worthwhile charity he could give 
     to, and every answer he got was `Empty Pantry Fund' '' Stone 
     said.


                          `pure determination'

       Larry Aldridge, executive editor at The Daily Times, said 
     he is most impressed with Bales' dedication to the community.
       ``Since I've been here he's probably been responsible for 
     more community service projects in Blount County than anyone 
     I know,'' Aldridge said. ``I worked with him on several 
     projects, including the new Blount County Library. I have 
     always admired his pure determination to find a way whenever 
     there's a need.''
       Evelyn Sandlin, advertising director, said she had heard of 
     Bales throughout her career and was pleased to work with 
     someone of his experience and dedication.
       ``It will be sad and exciting, and I will be calling him,'' 
     she said of Bales' retirement. ``We'll all miss him, not just 
     for his work, but his fun.''
       Crotser described Bales as a great guy and a great 
     employee.
       ``There are very few people in this world like Paul 
     Bales,'' he said. ``I have the utmost respect for him and 
     wish him all the best in his retirement. We're going to miss 
     him, but we won't let him go away.''
       Bales is planning to spend time traveling with his wife, 
     Anita, and visiting his son and daughter-in-law, Brian and 
     Bridget Bales, who now live in Scottsdale, Ariz., with their 
     daughters, Brooke and Brittany. Bales will continue to be 
     involved in community projects, especially the Empty Pantry 
     Fund.
       ``I've always been involved knee-deep and overhead in doing 
     for others and I'll continue that forever,'' Bales said. 
     ``There are always people to be helped, and I want to be 
     right in the middle of it.''

                          ____________________