I had planned to write a lengthy rebuttal to the article from the four councilmen that was run in this paper last week. But I have been told over and over that the article was the most ringing endorsement of my policies that I could have possibly received and rather than responding in a negative way, that I should be appreciative. I am going to take that advice and omit a lot of things that I had intended to say. Some have told me that the article only served to confirm their opinions of some of the council members and their attitudes toward progress.
I am glad to read that the four councilmen have their own agenda just as I, and other council member(s) have ours that we constantly work to accomplish. But I wish that the four councilmen would have listed exactly what their agenda is, what programs they are currently working to complete. That has been my problem with them all along. I do not see what they are working to accomplish and on several occasions when I have asked for funding to accomplish things, they have denied me the funds to accomplish those things. And for no apparent reason!
I have gone through numerous past columns and I can find no example where I have "crucified" anyone or any event. I constantly emphasize the positive things that are taking place in Jellico and the efforts that are being made by many of our citizens to "bring our town back" and to create a spirit of community. In fact, I have been thanked over and over concerning compliments that I print honoring our citizens and our organizations. I have differed greatly with some of the council members and I have not hesitated to report those differences. And I certainly plan to continue to do so in the future. Members of council can not publicly state opinions that they feel the people want to hear and then come to the meetings and vote just the opposite. Our citizens have the right to know what takes place in the meetings. And as long as I am mayor, they will be informed!!! Our meetings are taped and if there is any question as to the accuracy of what I write, we can listen to the tapes and I will be more than willing to retract any erroneous statement that I make. But so far, I have found none!
The four councilmen have every right to speak their piece and I have the right to speak mine. The only thing that will stop me from writing this column other than poor health or lack of time, will be that our citizens want me to stop. Otherwise the four councilmen can read it every week in this paper.
We had a special call meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 6th. However this article was written and forwarded to the Advance-Sentinel before that date. I will report on the results of that meeting in next week's article.
Everyone seems to have survived Y2K and we had no reports of computer glitches at the time this article was written. I want to thank all of our city employees and our utilities personnel for the very successful effort that was made to prepare us for the advent of the new millennium. I also want to thank every city/utilities official and employee who gave up much of the holiday weekend pulling extra duty or remaining on standby status as an added precaution although all possible preparations had been accomplished and no problems were expected. But the added insurance was a source of comfort to a lot of folks - especially for many of our senior citizens.
However we were totally unprepared at home for any type of calamity that might have occurred and we purchased no extra food, stored no water and made no preparations in case power was lost. That fact began to worry me New Year's Eve and I immediately took action to remedy that situation. We were at an observance where massive amounts of food was served during the hours of 7:00 PM until 11:00 PM. That was followed by a desert and coffee buffet from 11:00 PM until 1:00 AM.
Since there was at least the apprehension that something could happen, I decided to take preventive measures. I ate enough to ward off the affects of any threat of malnutrition for several days.
Two weeks ago I reported that Interstate 2000 did not have a "guestbook" for the official Jellico page on the internet located at www.jellico.com. (I printed some of the responses of those who had recently signed the guestbook for the "unofficial" site located at www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm.) But the responses to my article by users led Mrs. Lisa Casey to create a guestbook for www.jellico.com much earlier than she had originally planned. And she too is having difficulty in believing that there were ten responses during the first two days when most users were probably celebrating the holidays and may not yet have even been aware of its availability.
My request for e-mail too, is already bringing in responses and I will catch my readers up on those comments along with the signers and comments placed on the guestbooks for both internet sites in a future column. (Some of the comments are very interesting). A lot of my readers apparently are like myself and enjoy hearing from people that once lived in Jellico and the Jellico area but now live all over the country but still love the "little town in the mountains", as earlier described by Stanley Douglas now living in Pensacola, Florida. The time may come when I will have to devote a full column each month to nothing but contacts from Jellicoans and former Jellicoans utilizing the web.
The "Report of Internet Usage" for the week of December 19th listed hits in the states of Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, West Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois and Alabama. My column was also accessed that week in Canada (I know of at least some former Jellicoans who now live in that country), Japan, and New Zealand (through Austrailian web traffic).
Last week I mentioned that I would be glad to list web sites and e-mail addresses for anyone wanting to be contacted by Jellico and other internet users. My daughter Kasee was the first person to respond to that offer. She would like to hear from Jellico folks and fomer Jellico folks where ever they are located. Her address at work where she receives most of her mail is klaster@ashland.edu.
The veterans list this week includes John Lynch, Jr., Stanley Gene Lynch, Clarence Michael Lynch, Harold Edward Lynch, Millard Bryant, Ben Bryant, Bob Herron, Russell Walker, Francis Queener, Billy Arnold, Jim Harmon, Tommy Joe Thomas, Herman Tramell, II, John Tramell, Lawrence Troxell, Tom Troxell, Gains Lawson, Bill Ratcliff, Jr., Jim Albright, John Marion, Bill Andy Gilreath.
I want to thank Mr. Pete Asher, railroad historian and author of he definitive study of the great Jellico troop train wreck, "She Jumped the Tracks", and Mrs. Peggy Williamson, daughter of a soldier who lost his life in that wreck. They have purchased and placed vases at the Veterans Monument that exactly match the stone of the monument. The vases provide a place for those who may want to place flowers in memory of a veteran and they certainly add to the appearance of the monument. Our veterans greatly apprciate their contribution.
The Division of Public Safety at Walters State Community College has been preparing and presenting plaques to police departments that have lost officers in the line of duty. The Jellico Police Department recently received such a plaque honoring Thomas Bowlin who was killed here April 18, 1925. He is listed as a member of the Jellico, Tennessee police force but apparently actually was a member of the Jellico, Kentucky police department when that town may still have been in existence.
The plaque has a section available for a photo but no photo of Bowlin can be located. Anyone who might have a photo or know of the location of a photo of Bowlin, is asked to call Police Chief Ned Smiddy at 784-6123 or Mr. John Evans at Walters State (423/585-2673).
Chief Smiddy says that he would also like to learn the whereabouts of Bowlin's descendents so that the plaque can be presented to one of his family members.
A few months ago, I did an article in this column dealing with Confederate General Kirby Smith's invasion of Kentucky that came through what is now Jellico. I wrote the article because of its national importance and the involvement of our area. I also contacted the Tennessee Historical Society concerning that event and they were very surprised to learn that our town contained no historical marker to commemorate the invasion since it resulted in the capture of the Kentucky state capital at Frankfort. The Historical society immediately had such a plaque prepared and it was erected in front of our post office at no cost to the city of Jellico. (I also requested and received the historical marker for Grace Moore's home site at no cost. We were the only town in Tennessee to be granted two free markers due to the justification that I wrote on the grant applications).
I mentioned in the article that the large army also had numerous camp followers who were not soldiers but did labor and performed services for the troops. (Many worked only for food since the war had brought about such devastation and deprivation.) A few of those followers apparently decided to stay in this area as the army moved northward. In fact Mr. Ray Tidwell informed me the other day that one of his ancestors was a very young boy working with the army and that he was one of those who did remain here and made it his permanent home.
I received a call last week from Mrs. Lois Blankenship of Lily, Kentucky. Mrs. Blankenship grew up in Newcomb and wanted to thank me for the article I did recently concerning the old Newcomb furniture factory. Mrs. Blankenship said that she enjoyed the article more than anything that she had read in a long time and that she had re-read it several times.
She said that she can still remember the walls of the old factory building and that one actually deteriorated to the point where it collapsed on someone. She also said that the front yard of her childhood home still had one of the original foundation piers.
It was certainly nice of her to take the time to call me long distance to express her appreciation for the story. Her response, and the responses of so many other readers, is why I like to include special interest stories with a local flavor. But it is still hard for me to believe the extremely favorable reception that this weekly column has received.
I usually go to football practice at least once each spring and always in the fall before the Kentucky game. And I look forward to meeting and talking with another practice rail bird - Al Rotella. Long time Jellico football fans will remember Al as one of the head coaches of the old Lafollette High School Owls back in the days of that intense revalry between the two schools (1920's through the 70's). Al later coached at Irwin High School (Tn) and then returned to New Jersey where the powerhouse teams he produced made him a legend in the high school coaching circles of that state.
He was a defensive tackle for the Vols under the "General" himself (General Robert Reese Neyland), and his sons played at Tennessee. (Jamie is considered one of the all-time great linebackers and spent several seasons with the San Francisco '49ers professional team). Al still loves the Vols with a passion and makes his sentiments known throughout the country and especially in the states of New Jersey and New York. Now an official with the all-star game, he makes it clear that "a player good enough to sign with Tennessee is good enough to start in that game or any other all-star game".
While Al lived in this area, he started and hosted our first weekly televised program dedicated entirely to local sports (WATE, Channel-6). He is an entertaining speaker and once was in demand for banquets and other events requiring a master of ceremonies and/or after dinner speaker. Although now retired, he still travels around the country representing the University of Tennessee when U.T. officials are unable to meet all of the requests for speakers from alumni and other groups. They know without any doubt that Al will entertain the audience.
And believe it or not, Al began his public speaking career in the basement of the Jellico Methodist Church sometime around 1947. Jack "Bus" Wilson, Harold Moon, Cecil Siler and other locals who were interested in sports at that time, contacted the university for a speaker to address the Lions Club or some other civic organization. No one else was available at the time so Al was drafted and sent to Jellico at the last moment. He has never forgotten the experience.
Al has mentioned his Jellico experiences all over the country and on too many occasions to recount. He loves to tell of two events that happened to him in Jellico including his appearance at the Methodist Church. Although he later received ample monetary compensation for his speaking engagements, he received his first "honorarium" that night. It was in the form - of all things - a pressure cooker. But the pressure cooker pleased Al since he was still in school (or just out of school) and had to do some of his own cooking. (He has a reputation as a great cook. I have never had his spaghetti, lasagna or other kinds of pasta although he tells me that he will take care of that in the near future. But those who have eaten his Italian say that there is none to compare. And with a name like Rotella, you would have to assume that.)
The other incident that he likes to relate was a very serious one when it occurred but one that he now tells with a great amount of humor. Following one of those heated games between Jellico and Lafollette at our field (played then at the site of our present baseball field where coal slate literally ate up the uniforms during a game), Al was walking off the field after a Lafollette victory when he felt a sharp nudge in the small of his back. A male voice told him that if he turned around, he would get a knife to the stomach. Al loves to relate that he replied, "I won't even let my eyes roll around". He got on the team bus without ever looking back to see his assailant and never learned his identity. He later heard that it was a highly upset father of a Jellico player. According to Al, Jellico people took their football seriously in those days.
Al gets to a lot of cities and towns around the country but he wants to return one more time to Jellico. He has not been here in forty-five years but still has great memories of a lot of nice folks who helped set him at ease during his first attempt at public speaking. And he really got a "kick" when he learned that I had been elected mayor of Jellico - a town that has never left his memory.
If my work schedule permits, I plan to pick Al up in Knoxville one day this spring upon his return from New Jersey and to bring him to our town. There are only a few who will remember him personally, but most area sports fans will recognize his name. I am going to try to provide him with an enjoyable day for doing so much over the years to make the name "Jellico" known throughout the country.
FINAL NOTE:
I end this week's column with some good news. I was recently able to possibly prevent a possible discrimination suit against the city. One constituent told me in the post office that he would consider it an act of discrimination if the proposed new backhoe is stationed permanently on Douglas Lane. He says that so many streets are in such bad shape that it should be rotated on a regular basis from street to street to boost the morale of all of our citizens. I agreed with his logic and committed to having it rotated each week.
Another suggested that I went about obtaining money for the streets in the wrong way. According to that individual, I should have requested money for a backhoe and some of the council would have immediately insisted that we needed to spend the money on the streets that so badly need repair. In a serious vane, I have been contacted over and over by citizens who agree with my determination to get some major work done on our streets as soon as the weather will allow the work to begin. One individual who has been involved in community affairs for many years, both officially and as a volunteer, told me that he has never seen so many of our streets in such bad condition.
A lack of money is a very good reason for failing to do the needed repairs. But we have money available to at least accomplish some of the imrpovements and we have no reason or excuse for not doing just that.
As I stated in last week's column, the outpouring of support from our citizens is both gratifying and humbling and I am already planning for the coming of spring so that we can resume work on several projects. I hope that street repair is one of those projects.
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