My apology to Councilman John Davenport and the Town and Country Bank for my lapse of memory last week in calling it the City and County Bank. (We were able to correct some copies of that issue but not all.) We used to have a bank in Jellico by that name and I guess things just stick in our minds that come out when we are not totally able to concentrate on the subject at hand. And that was certainly true while I was preparing that article a week ago.

And I also need to extend a similar apology to Courtney Evans for leaving her name out of the list last week that helped with the presentation of "Grace Moore: The Tennessee Nightingale" at Jellico High School. But Courtney's help is sincerely appreciated!

As I announced last week, I did not plan to publish an article this week. But a telephone call from Indian Mountain State Park Director Jerome Cummins changed my mind. Jerome called to say that he now does intend to attempt to start bringing back "Christmas in the Park" THIS year - although he knows that it will have to begin on a much more modest scale for the first year and then hopefully expand with each succeeding year. I felt that that was news needing to be publicized as quickly as possible so I rushed to get out this issue.

According to Jerome, there would be only one night this year for activities (Friday, December 12th or Saturday, December 13th) and just before our Christmas Parade on Sunday, December 14th). But the lights will be left on throughout the remainder of the Christmas season.

No one knows better than me the immensity of the task Jerome and his staff are taking on and they will need the help of everyone.

Three always seems to be a Jellico connection no matter what takes place. The recent passing of Country Music Hall-of-Fame singer and song writer, Don Gibson, brought back a lot of memories for those of us who can still recall his days performing on Branam Hill at the Hilltop Tavern. I wasn't of age to attend his performances but I can still well remember the packed parking lot and the crowds that gathered to hear him. I'm not entirely sure but I believe that it might have been on Branam Hill where he first introduced "Oh Lonesome Me", the song that led him from living in a trailer where his television and even his vacuum cleaner had been repossessed, to the very pinnacle of fame and fortune.

Gibson began to appear on a Knoxville radio station sometime in 1951 - and basically for the exposure. But owner of the Hilltop, Joe Dobson and father of present member of city Council Jim Dobson, hired him sometime in the early 50's to entertain Hilltop patrons on weekends. Dobson like many others recognized Gibson's talent although he was an elementary school dropout. Dobson and Gibson remained friends after he left the Hilltop and Dobson reportedly later even helped to financially sponsor him to go to Nashville to cut his first record after he was strongly encouraged to come there by legendary performer Chet Atkins. And many of us can still remember what happened after that. "Oh Lonesome Me" became a huge hit and has since been named one of the classic country music songs of all time. And it led to Gibson's immediately becoming a member of the Grand Ole Opry and eventually his hall-of-fame selection and many other honors.

But "Oh Lonesome Me" was only the beginning. That tremendous hit was followed by another of his compositions recorded by both himself and Faron Young in 1957 that was later picked up by one of the most talented musicians ever, Ray Charles, who turned it into another all-time classic. Charles recorded Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" and it has since been sung professionally by over 700 singers according to CNN in reporting Gibson's death.

Incredibly it didn't stop there. In 1963 he wrote and recorded "Sweet Dreams of You" that had only modest success. But when then super-star Patsy Cline recorded that song that too became such a smash hit, the world of country (and pop) music was completely his. However in spite of his amazing career especially as a song writer, I have always heard that he never completely forgot his experience with Dobson and Jellico that was such a big help in getting him his start toward such an unbelievable string of hits. I remember that an awful lot of us Jellico folks were all glued to the radio the night that he made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry. And we continued to closely follow his career for years after he stopped performing here. (Hearing recordings of Patsy Cline singing "Sweet Dreams of You" can still send cold chills down the spine not to even mention what "I Can't Stop Loving You" does to a person. At the recent production of Patsy Cline's life and career at the University of Tennessee's Clarence Brown Theatre, the jam packed auditorium came to its feet for "Sweet Dreams of You". And I have never heard anyone say that they did not like "I Can't Stop Loving You" - regardless of whether sung by Gibson, Charles or the hundreds of others. Those two songs along with "Oh Lonesome Me", all deserve the designation that they have been given as three of the greatest combination of country and pop songs ever written.)

Another country music great and TV country music show host, Jack Green, who also wrote and recorded a song proclaimed as an all-time country classic, "There Goes My Reason for Living", in his younger days reportedly hauled coal from the strip pits at White Oak and possibly from Kensee Hollow for a short time. (A few years ago we had Green to return to Jellico for a Fourth of July appearance and some in the large crowd in attendance at the football field that evening indicated that they had either known or met Green during his coal hauling days around here.)

We are now officially into the Christmas season and I want to remind everyone of our Christmas Parade that is now only two (2) weeks away (Sunday, December 14th at 2:30 PM). As I have written in my last two articles, there will be a totally different approach this year to lining up units for the parade as well as dropping off marchers, riders of floats and other units. ALL traffic will be ONE WAY and enter High School Loop ONLY at the Crouches Creek Baptist Church/Rocky Top Arbys - whether units are entering the parade or dropping off folks.

Take heart Tennessee Vol basketball fans - and we have a bunch of them around Jellico. Our Lady Vols have for many years been at the very top of the heap but in the last two or three years, we have been taking it on the chin from the University of Connecticut. And we appear this year to be at least a little down from the talent levels that we have come to expect throughout the history of the program - although that remains to be seen. But the recent UT recruiting class has been unanimously listed as the top class in the country (on paper as they always are) although some of the recruits are recovering from knee injuries. And a few have even gone so far as to call it possibly the best recruiting class ever.

On the men's side, we have suffered through a lot of poor and mediocre teams in recent years. But things are starting to look up for that program as well. This year's team has only two proven starters returning in Brandon Crump and C.J. Watson. But transfers Scooter McFagdon and Jemere Hendrix look like the real deal and Stanley Asumnu appears much more ready to play up to the level of his immense talent. And there are other starters or potential starters including John Winchester along with quality subs. True freshman Major Wingate, 6-10, has the physical presence and maturity to be instant help with the inside positions as does another true freshman, Dane Bradshaw, at the point guard. And another factor that could help next year is the fact that there is only one senior on the team and as I understand it, he too could possibly have one more year of eligibility remaining as well.

Next year the team should be able to add 6-7 Andre Patterson, the transfer from UCLA who was a starter at that school where he both scored and rebounded at a good clip. (His shooting percentage at UCLA was 61%.) Reports are that he is doing very well when matched against the first team during practice sessions while sitting out the transfer year. And Jordan Howell, the 6-3 guard who originally signed with Georgia, is said to be a brilliant outside shooter -actually averaging 47% from outside the 3-point line in high school. He is to enroll in January and begin practicing with the team while given a red shirt year to become stronger and more physical. (The team badly needs someone it can count on to regularly hit the 3-pointer although McFagdon may be also be able to fulfill that roll. And Winchester looks like a shooter, but so far he hasn't hit from outside with any consistency.)

The two signees for this year, Jackie Butler, the 6-11 former Parade All-American, along with Damien Harris, 6-10, could sure be a couple of fine additions next season - especially Butler. But both must still qualify academically and there is no guarantee that Butler who could possibly go high in the next NBA draft, will even stick around to play college ball.

But a little later on, Tennessee may well sign the Tennessee state prize - junior Tyler Smith of Pulaski (Giles County) - who is being hotly pursued by numerous major college basketball powers throughout the country. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Smith has become close friends with Butler. Signing Smith to go along with Butler - and successfully getting them in school together - would certainly be a coup of major proportions for Tennessee basketball. And to top it all off, we now have a top flight coach heading up the program!

But it's still football time in Tennessee (and Kentucky) and this is the weekend that determines the "football happiness" of fans around Jellico for another year. We travel North this Saturday to the frozen tundra known as Lexington. (The weather forecast at the time these notes were written called for sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-50's. But I will believe it when I see it! I have been frozen stiff in that place too many times in the past not to be very leery of early weather forecasts coming out of the bluegrass.)

Just to be on the safe side, I plan to wear most of the clothes that I own; Jenny is going to take one or more blankets; and the two of us and Michael Ray plan to load up on plenty of hot chocolate. Then if we are fortunate to sit behind some folks large enough to break the icy wind that is always blowing directly into the Tennessee section, we may be able to survive for the entire game. (A few years Jenny and I were in Lexington shopping and decided to attend a night game between Kentucky and Georgia. Plenty of seating was available and once we got to the game we knew why.. After we purchased our tickets and immediately upon entering the stadium, the bitter cold wind struck us in the face so hard that we never even went to our seats. We got back to our car as quickly as we could and even before the vehicle had had time to cool down.)

It's amazing the difference in the weather between Knoxville and Lexington although they are only 180 road miles or so apart. It always seems so much colder in Lexington and the cold does funny things to a football - not to mention what it does to the hands and fingers of the players. I hope the Vols are prepared for the cold if it does develop! I for one will not be overly surprised if it does arrive - and probably in the form of a blizzard.