I have greatly enjoyed all of our community(s) wide services but the special Christmas service on December 21st may have been the most enjoyable yet. Although light snow was falling and the temperature dropping, the weather only served to increase the feeling of Christmas. Attendance was still very good and the Church of God, South Main Street was virtually filled.
Everyone complimented the music provided by the First Baptist Church mens' group (A.B. Forman, Allen McClary, Charles Vermillion, James Arnold and Sam Centers) and accompanied by Mrs. Betty Hurst; singing by Mrs. Pam Oakwood; an instrumental by Mandy Yaryan and Kelvin Oakwood accompanied by Mrs. Oakwood; singing by Mrs. Sheila Lambdin accompanied by Mr. Larry Lambdin and Mr. Ed Lambdin and Melinda Weaver accompanied by Mr. Ed Lambdin.
All in attendance seemed to get involved in the congregational singing with Mrs. Janet Hammons on the piano. The homily by Rev. Doug Yaryan, pastor of the Wesleyn Church, assured the congregation that faith can overcome any problems - including any that we might encounter with Y2K. Pastor Doug Martin of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, pointed out that diversity is good and that we all have our own beliefs about how we prefer to worship God. However Martin emphasized that it is good for all churches and faiths to gather together on occasion in a spirit of unity, cooperation and brotherhood. To further emphasize that point, Rev. Robert Day, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Newcomb, had the audience to hold hands and recite the Lord's Prayer as a closing for the service. (I hope that I have not omitted anyone since it was such a wonderful service).
On behalf of the city of Jellico and on a personnal basis, I want to thank and commend the Ministerial Association and participating pastors for the job that they do in organizing and conducting the community(s) wide services. They are fast becoming a tradition and a very welcome one at that.
We had a great holiday season in Jellico with the decorations downtown and all around town; the annual parade; our first "Christmas Downtown"; the community(s) wide service and numerous other activities. And to top it all off, we had a truly "white" Christmas.
(This column was written and forwarded to the Advance-Sentinel prior to the New Year weekend.)
Prior to the holidays, I talked with Mr. Mitch Loomis of the East Tennessee Development District (ETDD) concerning the status of our pending grants and potential for future grants. According to Mr. Loomis, we should be able to soon begin extensive work on our sidewalks as part of the system of walking trails (starting at the caboose in Veterans Park).
Especially good news is the fact that we may be able to close the open ditch on South Main Street in the vicinity of Jellico Drug, Llewellyn Furniture Store, Creekmore Grocery, Family Drug, etc. I am hopeful that we can provide two or three parking spots there and also place a sidewlk over the ditch. However I do not know that that can be accomplished. (The sidewalk is the most likely of the two but I plan to work for both.
Councilman Alvin Evans has worked for several years for some sidewalk improvements/walking trail in the vicinity of the baseball park. But the approving authority has required a series of changes as plans have been submitted. However Mr. Loomis says that final approval has now been received and hopefully we can soon begin work there also.
We are now eligible to submit a grant for recycle equipment. (The grant would require a twenty percent match). Two items that we have discussed previously and that are now eligible for inclusion, are a "tip" trailer and a bobcat (or tow motor with forks). Deadline for filing for that grant is January 18th.
During one of our "Christmas Downtown" activities, a discussion started concerning the proposed "Citizens Market/Farmers Market" to be located in Tract II of Veterans Park Annex. Enthusiasm developed to the point that some of us did measurements for the required fence sometime around 10:00 PM. Although we were virtually in the dark, a vehicle was parked where headlights would illuminate the area. Mr. Russell Edwards took the measurements home, contacted suppliers of building materials as soon as they opened the next morning and called me with cost estimates by 10:00 AM. That is just another example of the kind of citizen involvement and enthusiasm that will be required to continue the renovation and revitalization of the downtown.
I hope that everyone had an opportunity to read the recent article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel concerning the renovation and revitalization presently taking place in downtown Maryville.
Some of the mayor's statements concerning the need to revitalize the downtown area in Maryville sounded very similar to some that I have been making for the past two years. And he too has a lot of ideas for creating future interest in the downtown. One of his ideas would have the Maryville High School band to play as it marches through the downtown area every Friday evening on its way to the football field for the games. That could draw people to the downtown, promote interest in the band program and add spirit and support for the team. Sounds like a good idea. And he had a lot of other good ideas.
As I have long insisted, the only bad idea to improve our town is the idea that is not considered -- favorably or unfavorably -- no matter how different and how "far out" it may sound.
If anyone initially doubted the value of hiring a county-wide litter control officer, they need only to travel our highways and roads to see a vast improvement in the cleanliness of our environment. Officer Glennis Monday constantly keeps his work crews involved in clean-up activities and many of the individuals on the crews are beginning to take real pride in the job they perform.
I have been informed that the beautiful but trashed area on Lamb Mountain that is familiar to many of our citizens, has been virtually totally cleared by that group. The volumne of litter collected was reportedly an estimated twenty tandem truck loads that had accumulated over a period of many years.
With continued efforts like that, we can eventually restore our environment to its former beauty that can be a source of pride for present and future generations.
My supplying information about our internet services and printing the names of signers of the "unofficial Jellico home page" has stimulated local interest as well as the growing interest from out-of-town, out-of-state and out-of-country. Mr. Melvin Weaver stopped by the office to tell me that he has "signed" the guestbook for the "official Jellico page" www.jellico.com and Mr. Johnny Ivey has recently purchased a new computer and placed it on line. He has been reading back copies of my articles filed under "archives" at www.jellico.com/jellico/archive.htm . Some of the workers at the fire hall tell me that they call up the page and check the count of accesses. Other locals tell me that they are now calling up my column at that site on a regular basis. An out-of-town user recently jokingly told me that I will save him over a quarter every week by placing this column on the internet. (At least I think he was joking). He says that he now has a computer on line and won't need to renew his subscription to the paper.
I can not report on respondents to the official Jellico page since Interstate 2000 does not yet have the capability. Mrs. Lisa Casey has told me that they will eventually add that capability but that they have some other priorities to install prior to that time. In the meantime I will continue to occasionally report on the respondents who sign the guestbook for the unofficial page.
Interstate 2000 Webmasters note: We now have an online guestbook for the Jellico home page. Please sign it and let us know you were here!
The report of overall usage for the week of November 28th listed my column as the most accessed for that week (after the official home page of course). And my column archives was the second most widely read. Hits were made in the states of Virginia, Kentucky, Georgia, California, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Washington, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska and Tennessee. Accesses totalled exactly three-hundred for that week - an increase of thirty-four hits over the previous week.
A lady in Lexington, Kentucky sent me word that placing my column on the internet is "getting Jellico more favorable publicity than anything that has happened in a long time." According to her, I am "getting Jellico back on the map". That's quite a compliment and I certainly appreciate her comments. And as I have said several times in the past, I certainly hope that my successor will continue to write it for the Advance-Sentinel and for placement on the internet. We now live in a computer/internet world and there are countless benefits from having so many people around this country (and out of this country), to read about our town.
I want to thank everyone for the many expressions of support in my current impasse with some members of the city council. One individual told me that our citizens could see clearly through the actions of some council members even prior to last week's article. Others have encouraged me to not become discouraged and to stay at the task.
I especially want to thank Mrs. Dessie Johnson and all those who called her recent radio show to express an opinion. Mrs. Johnson hosts a "Gospel Music" program that doubles as a "talk show". One day I began receiving calls inquiring as to whether I was listening to her program and told to get a radio if I was not. The calls were coming in from an awful lot of folks and they were very favorable. Station owners Marvin and Betty Douglas told me later that the calls came so fast and furious that a second person had to help with answering all of the calls. And according to Marvin, every single call supported me in my position and what I am trying to accomplish during my four years of my office. He stated that there was not even a single call in opposition.
That is both gratifying and humbling. I deeply appreciate everyone who took the time and trouble to call the program as well as those who have told me personally about their feelings. I hope that I can live up to the confidence that is being placed in me by our citizens. I certainly plan to keep on trying.
Some called to say that they miss listening to my weekly radio program and I miss doing the program. (WJJT 1530 AM - Thursdays at 1:00 PM). However we have had to discontinue for a period of time due to the busy holiday season and the radio station's busy schedule.
My work may force me to remain off the air for a few weeks due to my present schedule. But I definitely do plan to continue the program as my schedule will allow. The owners/management and employees of the station have been great in making the time available to me and I believe that it is beneficial in getting information out to our citizens. And from all accounts, there is a very good listening audience for the program.
I have always heard that everything we learn is stored somewhere in the brain. And according to at least one theory, the stored information is all available for recall if we can just punch the right buttons that enables our brain to retrieve that information.
Well I am about to put that theory to the test. I have agreed to teach Chemistry at Whitley County High School on an emergency basis - temporarily filling in for Mr. Dana Chitwood who is currently recuperating from recent surgery. I do not use the term "replacing" because no one can replace Mr. Dana Chitwood. He is an outstanding teacher who does a wonderful job and is greatly loved and respected by his students. It will be a great day when he returns to his classroom. But in the meantime I am glad to be able to help in any way that I can.
I have not taught Chemistry in many, many years but I am busily "cramming" and hoping to recall enough information to have a fruitful and meaningful learning experience ready for students when they return for the second semester.
In the meantime I may not have as much time to devote to this column and it may be of shorter length for a few weeks although I do hope to maintain it at its present length. However if I am forced to write less for a few weeks, I will resume the full column upon the return of Mr. Chitwood.
Our County Commission recently voted to take an action that is supported by the vast majority of our citizens. The commission voted unanimously to send a resolution to the Tennessee State Legislature that would expand the number of members making up the board of education. There has been almost total opposition to extension of the superintendent of school's contract before his elected term expires. That action was enacted by only three individuals on the board although the decision affected over 40,000 Campbell County residents including over 6,000 students. And there is widespread and growing dissatisfaction with some of the system's policies and actions.
Few things are more important to the future of our children and the commission made a wise move to get more representatives involved in the decision making process.
I continue to receive calls concerning my listing of local veterans. Names to be added to the veterans list for this week include Theodore Brown, James Brown, Jr., James Lee Norman, Charles Lynch, Dan Lynch, Cannie Blankenship, Francis Long, Arlie Long, Wando Holt, Earl Holt, Clarence Clifton, James Elswick, Ed Elswick, Arnold Elswick, Frank Kasee, Elmer Jones, Dover Kasee, Elmer Kasee, Roy Carroll, Walshy Redmond, "Shorty" Taylor, Billy Ballard, Charles Artis, Jerry Llewellyn, Bobby Baker, Wilson Davis, Bob Davis, Dugan Davis, Freddie Sloan, Mark Smith, Kyle Thurman, Edward Gillum, Wayne Mcmillan, E.C. Daugherty, John Lewis, Max Lewis, William Hugh Welch, Buddy Ed Sowder, Harold Couk, Joe Dobson, Sr., Sam Abrams, Leonard Abrams, Clyde Singleton, John Robert Housley, Bobby Joe Housley, J.B. Singleton, Lloyd Hill, Earl Hill, Earl Singleton, Roger Faulkner, (Other readers have told me that they will furnish additional names in the future. I will certainly continue to list them as long as I receive them).
FINAL NOTE:
The world has experienced two world wars in this century. We have seen the discovery and power of atomic energy; the computer and internet have become an important part of our everyday lives, and we have experienced all types of culture shock. But something happened a few days ago from which the world may never recover. Cartoonist Charles Shulz announced that colon cancer and other medical problems would force him to discontinue "Peanuts".
Good grief Charlie Brown!! How much can we stand? Born loser Charlie Brown has become like a member of the family for people around the world. We can all identify with his managing a baseball team that has never won a game and his crush on the little red-headed girl who could never even remember his name.
Where else can we follow a dog like Snoopy that plays shortstop on that hapless baseball team and has a habit of turning his doghouse into a Sopwith Camel and flying off into the wild blue yonder to do aerial combat with a World War I flying ace, the "Bloody Red Baron"? A bird, Woodstock, that flies upside down? Linus with his security blanket? Lucy who had a way of making things worse for Charlie? Pigpen who can step out of the bathtub and have dirt to automatically start recollecting on his body? The irrepressible Peppermint Patty? The whole cast of characters including Schroeder on his piano and Snoopy's desert dwelling brother, Spike?
But we won't have to go totally cold-turkey. Newspapers are going to begin with reruns and that should help us ease off gradually. (Twenty-six hundred newspapers in seventy-five countries have been running "Peanuts" and it is printed in twenty-one languages). We can still watch the award winning classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" that has been nationally televised every year since 1965. And we can still sing the hit song, "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron".
I love cartoons and when I worked at Jellico High, teachers June Maiden, Sandra Davenport, Frances Steely and I always exchanged strips on a regular basis. My favorite is "Peanuts" but "Crankshaft" is a close second. Ed Crankshaft is a cantankerous but lovable old school bus driver that regularly knocks down mailboxes and leaves kids running for the bus. My favorite "Crankshaft" episode featured his appearance on a local television news program to remind everyone that school had just started. He warned everyone to be especially careful in school zones "because those high school kids drive like gol-danged maniacs".
The students who publish the school newspaper at the Jellico Seventh Day Adventist School learned of my love for "Crankshaft". They went to the trouble of getting permission to reprint the strip in their paper and to furnish me a copy of each edition. That was a wonderful gesture on the part of those students and I can not adequately thank them enough for thinking of me.
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