We are all extremely proud of every single individual serviceman and servicewoman serving our country. And we are especially proud of our locals in uniform. So the April 7th issue of TIME magazine stirred an awful lot of excitement and pride when Therman Baird was spotted in a photo taken in Iraq (page 62). There was some kind of a rush to find copies of that publication.

And I was informed that a local man (name withheld for security) is piloting one of our Blackhawk helicopters that are so frequently seen attacking the Iraqi armored divisions and installations. (I have already listed several other locals in uniform but I don't have all names.)

(We are discussing having a "support our troops" type of program in Veterans Park later this week and we will announce it if plans are finalized. But we are all praying that our armed forces will have been completely victorious by then and with no more loss of life.)

This is both my favorite time of the year and my favorite time (daylight savings). I love all seasons but springtime has a beauty that to me, is unmatched by any other season - although all seasons are beautiful in their own way and I am glad that we have them all. The blossoms on the Bradford Pears seemed to be especially white and large this year - making some trees look like gigantic snowballs. And those who have the Japanese Cherry trees say that they have been extra heavily loaded this spring with their pink blossoms that really grab our attention. (Let's hope that the late frost did not badly damage the Dogwoods, fruit trees and other flowering plants.)

(I'm not even going to dwell on the fact that all the beautiful blossoms help bring on watery eyes, runny noses, sneezing and coughing. Life can't always be perfect you know.)

And I love the "spring forward" time change although we have to get up that one hour earlier. We can now go to work and then get off early enough in the afternoon to still have time to work outside or take a good walk or to do any number of things (of which work is my least favorite).

The warm temperatures are sure a welcome change from those cold, blustery days of winter. But again we have to take the good with the bad! Unfortunately we now have to exercise caution during the warm and hot months concerning a disease that we may never have heard of until just a couple of years ago. Who would ever have thought that a virus originating in Africa could cause as much fear as the West Nile Fever. But then when we think of it, so many of our diseases originate in other parts of the world and then eventually reach our shores, e.g. numerous strains of the influenza or "flu" that strike us year after year, the HIV virus, the new and apparently often deadly "severe acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS), and many others.. And so many diseases were brought to this continent when it was first settled by Europeans such as small pox, tuberculosis, the "plaque" and a list too long to be cited here.

There's not a lot we can do about most of them short of medical expertise and treatment. But we can all fight the West Nile Virus - at least to some extent. That virus is carried by mosquitoes and eliminating as many of their breeding places as possible can help lower their numbers and the possibility of receiving infectious bites. I was reading an article on the Internet recently that advised everyone to continuously search around their homes and neighborhoods for sources of "still" water where mosquitoes reproduce - no matter how small that source might be. The article also recommended wearing more protective clothing such as long sleeve shirts when outside. And we may reach the point at some time in the future when regular area-wide sprayings are required to protect public health - although some fear the chemical sprays as well.

As annoying and dangerous as these new infections may be to us, we are just going to have to learn to live with the threats that they present. They apparently are here to stay!

Speaking of being outdoors: Be sure to get out your walking shoes and be ready to go at 9:00 AM this Saturday morning, April 12th at Indian Mountain State Park. Some "walking music" and free refreshments will be provided.

As I have stated in my last two articles, the HEALTH WALK sponsored by John Fawaz and additional financial sponsors (Union Bank, Dr. Charles Wilkens, Day Spring Health Center, Appalachia Health Center, Jellico Community Hospital and anonymous) and assisted by Jake Bennett, Larry Meadors, park personnel and others, is a chance for everyone to do something for our health, to socialize and to place greater emphasis upon our "Clean up, Paint up, Fix up Month". Let's make it a real community affair - including Jellico residents, Jellico area residents, visitors, campers, tourists and anyone else who might want to participate.

Need a cake for a special occasion? Then you just might want to call Margaret Bowman, who along with her husband Steve, supervised the quilting display during our first Fall Fest and who will do so again at this year's event. Margaret is very talented in creating and baking cakes for special occasions. In fact she recently baked a cake of 4 ½ feet for a wedding reception.

Everyone is reminded that she will be conducting the quilting classes starting on Saturday, April 26th (12:00 Noon until 4:00 PM). Location of the classes will be the Community Conference Room in the Tramell Building located next to our central traffic light. (Same building as our Library and Office of Tourism). There will be no charge for the classes.

Margaret can be contacted locally at 786-4030 (606 area code for long distance calls) for more information concerning the free quilting classes; to order any specially desired cake(s); and for plans for the quilt exhibition at our next Jellico Fall Fest.

I have talked to some who say not to give up on them but that they are going to be a little late in getting started on some work that they plan to do on buildings in our downtown. And the recent rains may have slowed the start of some activity. But that's fine and there is no great rush since we still have two thirds of the month of April remaining. And as I have written in previous articles, we want to continue to make improvements during the entire spring and summer months. What Jellico looks like at the end of April and at the end of the summer will be a direct reflection on the extent of the effort that we are all willing to exert to bring about such improvements. But we must make those efforts.

(Cleaning up our areas is the big thing right now and at nearby Boston Elementary School we are really into greatly improving our environment! In fact our school has been selected as one of three elementary schools within the entire Fifth Congressional District of Congressman Hal Rogers that are finalists for the coveted "Campus of the Year Award". We have received that recognition for the things that our school and community have accomplished in that respect. We are all justifiably proud of the honor and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be the eventual winning school for the entire Congressional District.)

As Tourism Director Jake Bennett predicted would happen, the wedding chapel continues to get busier and busier. Friday, March 28th had a wedding followed by three weddings on that Saturday, March 29th. The total to 19 when I was writing this article since the chapel opened and three more were scheduled. And Jake expects it to get even busier in June.

The recent regional meeting of the Southern Four-Wheel Drive Association really brought some nice people to our town representing various professions and interests. One man dressed in appropriate garb for a mountain ride came up to me during the meeting and asked if I am the mayor. After learning that I am, he asked if I could remember his two late aunts, Nina Levy and Mable Jones. I assured him that I certainly can and that as a kid, I regularly cut "kindling wood" for Nina in order to have "show fare" on Saturdays. He stated that he used to come to Jellico quite often but had not been here in the last twenty-five years. I invited him back on a more frequent basis and he assured me that he would come back a lot more often in the future. He stated that he could hardly believe the changes that have taken place since his last visit.

A short time later, Wilma Tidwell who attended the meeting, asked me if I had met her physician Dr. John Cooper, Internal Medicine Specialist located in the University of Tennessee Professional Building and who has studied at the Mayo Clinic. I told her that I had not and that I would love to do so. And of course when she took me to him, it was the same fellow that had introduced himself to me earlier.

We had doctors, attorneys, public accountants, media connected personnel, blue collar workers, etc. here for the meeting and the mountain ride. It is a great organization and one that has decided to make its home in Jellico. We can truly be proud of that fact and I am told that the other organizations that gather here for their activities are made up of the same kind of folks..

I recently received regular mail (U. S. Post Office type because they couldn't' get thru on e- mail) from William and Louise Allison who now live on South Main Street. According to their letter, they have returned to Jellico after having been away for 38 years - although Jellico has always remained "on their hearts and on their minds". They were very complimentary of my article of March 13th and the job that they see Jake Bennett doing. And they stated that they will do everything possible to keep their property looking good to help improve the looks of our town.

And in reference to folks who have been gone from Jellico for a long time, it was great to read the remarks posted on the "guest book" at www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm by Shirley Mitchell Wright in Chattanooga (e-mail address not cited). According to Shirley, "I am from Jellico and enjoy going on the Net and checking to see what is going on in my home town. Love to read the mayor's report." (Shirley's comments sure brought back a lot of memories because Shirley grew up on Branam Hill and I delivered her family's newspaper for several years while I was in elementary school and even high school.)

Jody Watkins told me that his brother Jason who now lives in Kentucky, really liked reading one of these articles that he gave him during a visit home and Wilson Nelson says his wife has mailed them to friends in Memphis to let them know what life is like in our little town. Keep it up!

I will sign off with a few cold chills by quoting those beautiful lines from Lee Greenwood:

IF TODAY ALL THE THINGS WERE GONE THAT I'VE WORKED FOR ALL MY LIFE
AND I HAD TO START ALL OVER AGAIN WITH JUST MY CHILDREN AND MY WIFE
I'D THANK MY LUCKY STARS JUST TO BE LIVING HERE TODAY
FOR THE FLAG STILL STANDS FOR FREEDOM AND THEY CAN'T TAKE THATAWAY
AND I'M PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW I'M FREE
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET THE MEN WHO DIED WHO GAVE THAT RIGHT TO ME
AND I'LL GLADLY STAND UP, NEXT TO YOU AND DEFEND HER STILL TODAY
FOR THERE IS NO DOUBT I LOVE THIS LAND GOD BLESS THE USA! AMEN!