2010 Front Page Follies
Gene Patterson, a television news fixture in East Tennessee for more than a quarter century, is the honoree at the 2010 version of the Front Page Follies on July 24 at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Now in its 32nd consecutive year, Follies is a fundraising dinner, auction, and stage show that spoofs politicians and other area newsmakers. The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists sponsors the event, with proceeds providing scholarships at the University of Tennessee and Pellissippi State Community College and supporting monthly professional development programs and other ETSPJ activities.
“Gene Patterson: a good man, a strong journalist, a laugh a minute. I’m proud to sit next to him at the anchor desk, and grateful to call him my friend,” WATE co-anchor Lori Tucker said. “But he’s terrible at Tetris.”
In addition to co-anchoring WATE-TV newscasts at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. each weekday, Patterson hosts Tennessee This Week, a weekly political affairs program that airs on Sunday mornings.
Before joining WATE-TV in 2001, Patterson was a reporter for WBIR-TV from 1980 to 1998 where he covered a variety of stories from the 1982 World’s Fair to the Butcher Banking scandal and developed a weekly feature called “Ten Country,” which centered on the unique people and places of East Tennessee. He covered Tennessee angles in presidential elections from 1984 through 1996.
- Gene Patterson
Patterson spent two years as deputy to Mayor Victor Ashe, where among his projects were city regulations regarding noise and billboards and the Knoxville-Knox County Urban Growth Plan.
Patterson was raised in Madisonville, Tenn., attended Hiwassee College and now serves on the school’s Board of Trustees. He graduated from the University of Tennessee. He and his wife, Phyllis, have two daughters and three grandchildren.
The Follies silent auction and reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the show. David Lauver of Write Angle Communications will lead the script writing team again this year, and Carol Zinavage will direct the cast. Dorothy Bowles is ETSPJ Follies chair.
Tax-deductible tickets are $100 each or $1,000 for a table of 10. Checks for tickets should be made payable to the University of Tennessee and mailed to Jennifer Horner, Room 432, UT Communications Bldg., Knoxville, Tenn. 37996.
There is plenty of free parking near the Knoxville Convention Center. For a map, please click Parking Map
[updated 6/25/10]
