Everybody is reminded that the Southern 4-Wheel Drive Association will be here this weekend for their "mountain ride". Organizers expect 200 Jeeps for the event with some expected to arrive on Friday and others on Saturday morning. They will utilize our facilities before embarking on their ride into nearby mountainous areas.

(Jake Bennett's weekend entertainment in the Community Conference Room is getting more and more popular and the crowd continues to grow with each Saturday night. Some of the "4-wheelers" may want to attend that activity while they are here.)

At a recent meeting of the Association, a remark was made that Jellico had "struck gold" when we hired Jake as Tourism Director - so great has been his acceptance by such groups. The publicity that he has gotten out concerning our town has certainly drawn the attention of several organizations and groups located in various parts of the country and they have been asking for more information about the things that we have to offer. (It was also that publicity that led Channel-10 TV to call and request to do the recent segment on "Live at Five" that has drawn so many favorable comments from viewers. And Channel-6 may possibly be here this week.)

"Tourism" is all about attracting the right kind of folks from everywhere to Jellico and Jake is sure working hard with that objective in mind. Unquestionably an influx of tourists attracted to Jellico helps our economy as local businesses can attest. And our merchants, citizens and members of City Council are very supportive and appreciative of the outstanding job that he is doing.

The firm of McCarty, Hopsaple, McCarty Architects & Interior Designers that is conducting the study of our downtown to see how best to renovate and revitalize that area will not complete its final report for several weeks. But we have been promised that we will be furnished a preliminary report by the end of this month and hopefully we can utilize the partial results of that study during our special "Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Month" starting April 1st.

In the meantime we have been sending out letters to individuals, property owners, schools, churches, organizations, scout troops, etc. asking for their help in cleaning, renovating and revitalizing our town that month and throughout the upcoming spring and summer. And we are receiving a positive response to at least some of those requests. I have previously cited some of the commitments that have been made by some property owners to improve their buildings and they will certainly be keys in any success that we may attain. But as I continue to write, we need the help of everyone - from all over town and from all over our area - if we are to be successful in meeting our goal of making major improvements in the appearance of our town.

I was greatly encouraged by a letter we received from Deacon Francis L. Agnoli, Pastoral Director, St. Boniface Catholic Church, in response to our letter requesting the help of that church in publicizing our special month. Deacon Agnoli wrote, "I recently received a notice about the upcoming "Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Month" in Jellico. .................... You are certainly to be congratulated on your efforts to spruce up our city, and I will certainly make our congregation aware of the special emphasis for April......................With my prayers for a successful "Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Month", I remain Deacon Francis L. Agnoli, MD, Mdiv, MA., Pastoral Director."

We hope that all of our Jellico and Jellico area pastors will similarly call the attention of their congregations to our special month while making their usual announcements, by placing it in their church bulletins and on their church bulletin boards, etc.. And of course we hope that members of the congregations - including church groups - will get involved.

And it goes without saying that we want and badly need the help of all of the above cited individuals, property owners, schools, organizations, scout troops, etc.. We want to make this truly a month to remember in attempting to bring our town back and talking about the condition of our buildings definitely will not improve them.. We must take action to accomplish that and April is only two weeks away!!!

As already noted above, some are presently involved in the effort and we greatly appreciate their help. True to his word, Councilman Alvin Evans has done some renovation and painting of the front of his building (old Central Drug Store) and that work has certainly made an improvement. But some of us are still lobbying Alvin for a fabric awning for the front of that building that would really set it off!

And if all of the building on South Main Street (formerly Llewellyn Furniture Store) is going to look like the already opened section at the corner of South Main Street and Beever Street, then we sure have something for which to look forward. As I reported a few weeks ago, owner Johnny Baird told me then that he planned extensive work on that building and I requested if possible, that he complete it by April to coincide with our town and area wide project. He promised to make every effort to have the work done by that time and from the outside, it appears he may be ahead of schedule.

Wayne Barton has informed me of his plans to install a fabric awning on the laundry mat (old Firestone/Begliutti Building) in keeping with the fabric awnings already in place on other structures. And he wants to erect a lamp post in front that will have two electric or gas lights (still to be decided). The post would also have an arm extending out to allow appropriate and conspicuous flying of the American flag - something he does at his home, at his market and at the laundry mat. The awning and light should make a tremendous improvement to the looks of that structure, as well as adding a lot of color. (Does anyone still recall that when Wayne and Deana purchased that building a few months ago that it lacked even a roof and actually had young trees, weeds and vines growing on the interior? It just goes to show what can be done by someone with ideas and who is willing to work to carry through with those ideas. If we have enough folks like that we will get the job done!)

As buildings are renovated, that of course continues to lower the number still requiring extensive repairs. And those few buildings that so badly need renovation are standing out more and more like sore thumbs. They are by far our worst problem. But we want everyone to do something to improve our town's appearance even if their buildings do not need a great amount of work.

Those buildings that still present a pleasant appearance might benefit from a coat of bright and shiny new paint. A little work on windows and window seals could also help appearances - in addition to possibly being beneficial in lowering heating and cooling bills. We would like to see fabric awnings all over town much as we had in earlier days. But those who have so far retained the metal awnings might get together and clean and possibly paint the section in front of their buildings in a uniform and appropriate color. (Some sections are actually black from years and years of collected exhaust fumes and other pollutants.) Almost all areas of town can use cleaning of windows and building fronts. We need citizens to plan and participate in neighborhood and community drives to collect litter. There is no end of things to be done!!!

In the meantime our city crews will be working on repairing as many streets as possible that suffered damage from winter weather; thoroughly cleaning our streets and sidewalks; mowing and weed-eating along streets and sidewalks; applying the "bloom explosion" that produced those tremendously large blossoms on our dogwood trees three years ago; replacing the dogwood and Bradford pear trees that have not survived; planting azaleas and other blooming plants and shrubs; and numerous other tasks.

Will our town look any better on April 30th? When spring and summer are over? Let's work and see!

We constantly receive contacts, correspondence, e-mail, etc. telling us that we need to "bring some industry in here". And generally the writer lists some very specific requirements for that industry. Jobs are to pay at least $ 10.00 an hour, there is to be good health insurance coverage for employees, retirement benefits, paid vacations, birthdays off from work with pay, and on an on.

As I have written before, we all wish that it was that easy and that we could just bring in industry any time that we desire with exactly the type of jobs that the writers want. But that simply is beyond the realm of possibility. We do have some members of council searching constantly for leads concerning industry that may be looking to relocate. And they presently have received at least some interest from a couple of places. But as stated previously, there will be no announcement made to the public unless they become certain that it will become a reality. There is no justification in raising hopes only to have them dashed!

And as I have also written on numerous occasions, those who tell us what we should accomplish in the way of attracting jobs should give us the names, locations, etc. of some possibilities. We will immediately both contact those firms and visit them - and invite the person(s) giving us the referrals to go along with us. Attracting business, industry and jobs is not the sole responsibility of the mayor and council. Like every thing else, it requires a total community effort and we welcome the help of every individual.

Last week I wrote about Buzz Peterson as a basketball coach that I believe is destined to bring our basketball program to a new level. But more importantly he is also a very caring individual.

My wife Jenny began taking members of her fourth grade class at Jellico Elementary School to home games as a reward for good grades, for making improvements in their grades through effort, for acquiring Accelerated Reader (AR) points and various other positive accomplishments. And after each game, she escorted the students down to the floor and waited for Coach Peterson to complete his post game radio show. He was very busy at that time but he always took time to sign autographs and to have his picture made with the students. The practice occurred on such a regular basis that he began to expect and to even look for the contingent of teacher and students. On one occasion he reportedly allowed a press conference to wait while he went through the picture taking routine with the students. And he has asked Jenny to show him the results of all of the photo sessions which she plans to do through the compilation of a photo album. Following the last home game, he told Jenny that he was sincerely going to miss seeing her and her students after the games and she of course expressed that same sentiment.

Few coaches on that level would take the time and make the effort to please a bunch of kids like he has done game after game. Following one win, he gave one of the kids dressed from head to toe in orange a "victory hug" and stated to a small crowd that had gathered that it was fans like that student and his support for the team that had led to the wining effort. For a fourth grader that's pretty heady stuff and something that he is unlikely to ever forget.

Some of the students had attended UT games before. But others who may never have even been to a high school basketball game, have been completely awed by the size of the arena and the crowds - let alone having the head coach and former roommate of Michael Jordan at the University of North Carolina to talk with them, sign autographs and have photos made with them. Peterson may be a former public school teacher himself and I believe that his wife was (or is) a teacher as well. It takes a real man to reach his present level of success and yet remember where he came from working with the kids in public schools. And he still remembers what affect such positive experiences can have upon the lives of children and in spite of the demands upon his time, he is still willing to spare some of that time to allow some kids from Jellico to have such positive experiences.

As a coach he seems destined to win championships in basketball at some point in the future. But he is already a grand champion with some proud fourth graders at Jellico Elementary School!

JOHN CLIFTON, Mayor, City of Jellico www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm with link to "Mayor"