Volume # 2, Edition #
7 "EARLY
VOTING"
March 13
We are now down
to less than one month until our Jellico city election on Saturday, April 6th at
Jellico
Elementary School. But early voting for April elections in the
state of
is to be conducted between the
dates March 18th and April 1st.
Early voting will be held at the
We did not have a quorum present at our
regularly monthly meeting for February or for a special call meeting of the
council on February 28th (only councilmen Dobson and Evans were
present for both meetings). And of
course we could not conduct business and officially request the satellite early
voting to be held in Jellico. But in my capacity as mayor, I made that
request. I did not know the outcome of
that request at the time these notes were written and printed.
BUT APPARENTLY
(AND I EMPHASIZE APPARENTLY), WE WILL EARLY VOTE IN JELLICO ACCORDING TO THE
FOLLOWING SCHEDULE:
WEEK
ONE
WEEK TWO
MON, MARCH 18TH (
TUES, MARCH 19TH (
WED, MARCH 20TH (
THURS, MARCH 21ST (
FRI, MARCH 22ND (
SAT, MARCH 23RD (
WEEK THREE
MONDAY, APR 1ST (
I WOULD SUGGEST
THAT EVERYONE RETAIN THIS SCHEDULE FOR READY REFERENCE.
(I WILL ASK LOCAL MEDIA TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS SHOULD THERE
BE ANY CHANGES MADE IN THE ABOVE SCHEDULE).
IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT THE QUESTION
OF WHAT IS TO BE DONE CONCERNING THE OFFICE OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR IS THE MAIN
ISSUE IN THE UPCOMING ELECTION.
THAT CLEARLY OVERSHADOWS EVERYTHING ELSE.
BUT ONE CITIZEN
THAT I RESPECT A GREAT DEAL RECENTLY REMINDED ME THAT THE MAYOR'S OFFICE IS
EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWN AND THAT THE RACE FOR MAYOR SHOULD
FOCUS UPON WHICH CANDIDATE HAS THE GREATER
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE FOR THE JOB. I CANNOT AGREE MORE AND I ASK FOR YOUR VOTE
BASED UPON MY QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND RECORD!
The Jellico Alumni Association made a great choice in its honoree for 2002. Ed Miller certainly qualifies for that recognition. A 1952 JHS graduate, Miller has edited at least two newspapers of which I am aware and he has worked for at least one national news gathering service in this country and in other countries.
My family and the Miller family have been at least remotely connected for many, many years. My father once hauled logs and lumber for the old Kitchen or Kinchen (I have never been sure of which was the correct name) Lumber Company that was located in Jellico for several years. That lumbering concern had a very large sawmill, commissary and "company houses" on North Myrtle Street - a complex that started next to the railroad track and the two artesian wells and ran nearly to South Main Street. (Site of the earlier Tanning Mill that gave Tannery Hollow its name.) Ed's father, Mr. Hudson Miller, was connected with that company at the time and I believe that he may have been part owner.
Ed's older
brother, Mack, was my fifth grade teacher and a very good one. I still remember some of the geography that I
learned from him. And my sister Margaret
attended school with Ed for twelve years and graduated with him. I have had numerous contacts with Ed during
the past several years;
we served together on the "Crazy Quilt" Advisory
Committee; I recently had the pleasure
of introducing him at a local activity; and we occasionally run into each other
at social events in
I often mention that the Internet can be a great tool in helping to locate prospective business and industry for Jellico. Those who read the response section to my column on the Web have probably seen the comments from a Charlene Wolford: "We're a medical search firm with a candiate (sic) considering relocating to Jellico, Could you please tell us if there is (1) Fishing of any kind there or nearby and 2. If there is indeed a resort being built near there in the next year or so. Please e-mail responses. Thank you."
I could not locate the e-mail address or regular mailing address of Ms. Wolford (Netlink may be able to help). But I would like to inform her in this column which will be placed on the Net, that we do have some fishing in our nearby area and some good (sometimes great) fishing on the Norris Lake system that is within 45 minutes or so driving distance from Jellico. And we do anticipate a development to be located approximately five (5) miles from Jellico although we do not expect it within the next year or so.
(I would certainly like to correspond with Ms. Wolford and she can e-mail me at jclifton@whitley.k12.ky.us). Those who have had trouble e-mailing me in the past will note the slight change in my address and they should no longer have any problem in getting correspondence to me.
Speaking of the
Internet, I have several times mentioned the fact that Jellico was originally a
village that officially took the name Smithburg (although it was also known as
Smithville) when it first was granted a
Our present post
office building was constructed under the administration of President Woodrow
Wilson (as was Highway 25-W and most improvements of
According to former Post Master (PM) James Webb, our first post office began operation in 1878 with Thomas M. Smith our first PM. And he was followed as PM by William H. Provins in 1883. The post office was changed to "Jellico" in August, 1883 when our town was incorporated. Provins was then reappointed to the PM position.
The reason I
mention this is a comment placed on the "Guest Book" for the
"Unofficial Jellico Page" on the Net.
Richard Morgan of
We have had a total of only 18 postmasters during the 124 years of our post office's history including present day PM Garland "Bo" Robinson. Postmasters Webb (15 years) and his predecessor Francis Bray (20 years) so far have had the longest tenure in that position.
And in further reference to the Internet, I have had a lot of comment from readers and Net users that more people remember Estil Roundtree's popcorn stand than I could possibly have imagined. A surprising
number of folk remember Dupuy's stand and the "Little Wonder Café" as well. And I have been pleased to learn that fact. We don't need to let our heritage to ever be completely lost to future generations.
And I remembered after writing last week's article about the old western cowboy movie stars that Robert
Maiden had told me that he once met Lash LaRue when he was such a hero among young boys who
attended the movies every Saturday. The mining firms in those days could afford to bring in top entertainment and apparently the company that ran the mining community of Eagen had LaRue to come to that camp and entertain. LaRue gave Robert a great thrill when he had his Cadillac pulled over to ask Robert for directions to the area where he was to perform. And he offered Robert a ride as well. That provided Robert with bragging rights for weeks to come. And he remembers that encounter even now!
But I don't think I have ever written anything that has brought more comments, phone calls and e-mails than my recent article concerning the movie "O Brother (Where Art Thou)" and the old blue grass song that has taken our country by storm since that movie was released. The unbelievable success of the movie sound track and the recording of Ralph Stanley's "Man of Constant Sorrow" has shocked about everybody.
(The sound track is better than the recording and I love that Dobro, a musical instrument common to our Appalachian area, which is featured in both.) I believe that the combination of sound track and recording won a total of five awards during the recent Grammy Awards presentations on national TV. And as I wrote in that article, you can now even hear the "hip hop" generation singing it in the malls.
I did have e-mail from several folks and one of the numerous phone calls was from Carson Payne who gave me some information about the "Soggy Bottom Boys" (which sounds much like the old Flatt and Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Boys" - although I don't know that that is where they got the name.) According to Payne, the singers and musicians of the "Soggy Bottom Boys" are actually from a currently popular group, "Alison Krauss and the Union Station" which I believe was also recognized during the Grammy Awards program. (All kinds of bluegrass singers and bands are now appearing regularly on TV programs.)
Not
everybody likes bluegrass music and it had lost some appeal even in
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