I have talked to an awful lot of folks of all ages who agree with me that the largest snow flakes that any of us have ever seen were falling from the sky at approximately 10:15 AM on Tuesday, March 9th. Even Reverend Willie Partin says that he has never seen such huge flakes in his thirty years of age (actually he's thirty plus ???). Some described them as resembling large white feathers and one lady said that it looked like someone had opened a big box of white kleenexs and was letting them float to earth.

I had to be out in the "blizzard of '93" and expected to possibly never see snow come down like that again. But the flakes that fell during that blizzard paled in comparison with those that we had last week. Had the temperature been a few degrees lower, we in all probability would have seen a deep snow accumulate in record time due to the size of those flakes.

Regardless of all of the greatly changeable weather we always experience in March, we can soon expect to see warmer weather and it won't be too long before we can trim (following the blooming) and care for our Dogwood and other flowering trees in the downtown - including the row of Bradford Pears that were planted in the row behind our stage in Veterans Park.

And I again want to request that anyone learning of any good-sized Dogwood planting stock for sale to be sure to let me know. I feel just like some of our senior citizen ladies who told me last spring that the trees were beautiful while in bloom and that we can't have enough of them. (I had expressed the fear that we might get too many.)

During all of the fuss over the possibility of annexation, I wrote repeatedly that all towns and cities must have the right to grow and expand into surrounding and previously non-incorporated areas. And Corbin, Kentucky is presently working to be permitted to further exercise that right!

Corbin presently has incorporated areas in both Whitley and Knox Counties. And a bill recently entered into the Kentucky General Assembly (state legislature) would allow them to further expand into Laurel County. As someone stated in support of Corbin's request, the rights of a city/town to take such action should not be restricted. I don't know if or when the present or future city council will decide to annex the area(s) identified under Tennessee Public Law 1101 that took such a long time and so much effort on the part of a lot of unpaid folks. But like Corbin, Jellico should and does have the right to reach the limits of the growth plan provided that it can provide the required services to all identified areas..

And speaking of Whitley County - it had to happen sooner or later and it happened sooner!

Tom Rains, the County Court Clerk, reported to local media that he had received a telephone call from someone reporting to be in a same sex couple wanting a marriage license. Rains told the caller that under the laws of Kentucky, a marriage license could not be issued to a same sex couple. That in turn led to a threat that the "engaged" couple would come to the court house with an attorney. Although they never did make an appearance, Rains said that the callers appeared to be serious and not just making a joke.

But Rains was also quoted as saying that it wouldn't have mattered if they had come with an attorney for he still would not have issued a license. The General Assembly was addressing the issue at that very time and was expected to take measures to insure that same sex marriages do not take place in that state. (At least two local churches were reportedly going to Frankfort in support of the ban. And other churches and opposition groups were expected to be there.)

But as some of the news agencies have reported, having individual states to enact such legislation does not settle the issue. Those not allowed to marry in one state simply can go to another state where it is permitted and then return to the same state where they were refused. And that situation will raise all kinds of legal questions. In addition to the fact that he had stated his strong opposition, I guess that is why President George Bush has proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to make such marriages unlawful throughout our entire country.

The last time that I talked with Marvin and Betty Douglas concerning a prospective date for WJJT Radio to be back up, they were still looking at prospective sites for locating the studios and antenna tower. As I wrote once before, everyone has his or her own taste in music and programming. And we do have an awful lot of locals who listen to and enjoy that station and who are looking forward to having it back on the air.

I realize that the Douglas's have to make the decision that is best for them, but I would still love to see the studios on North Main Street with transmission cable run the relatively short distance under or over the street and then under the railroad bed to the low lying areas a few hundred yards away - since low lying areas provide for better signal transmission. And as I mentioned in that article, we do have buildings available on that street that might require some renovation but when prepared, should allow for ample room for whatever they would want to include in the studios. There is also substantial parking space and the location would be convenient for folks wanting to drop off advertisements, announcements, etc. and thereby contributing to our drive to revitalized the downtown.

But if that cannot be worked out, I hope that they will locate as close to the downtown area as possible. The more positive activity we have there the better!

Sometimes doing a little can accomplish a lot. And that is certainly true of the work done to the area surrounding Veterans Park by Jake Bennett, Alvin Evans, Jerome Smith and city crews with the cooperation of Dick Creekmore and the Family Drug Center. Clearing out the ditch line running the entire length of the adjoining property has greatly improved its appearance and opened up a sizeable area for utilization for activities and parking. And with the addition of a short piece of large tile, a back entrance to the area will be created that will allow for much easier access to the area by all sizes of vehicles including buses, large trucks and vans.

And the additional space may well be needed very shortly. If you don't think the EROC participation in our town and our area has not put the name of Jellico on the national map, you should see that organization's recent publication outlining the upcoming schedule of events. Now known as UROC (United Rockcrawlers and Off Road Challengers), competitive events will be held in Southern California/Colorado; Cedar City, Utah; Farmington, New Mexico; St. George, Utah; North California/Colorado; Attica, Indiana and yes - Jellico, Tennessee.

The competitions are expected to draw large crowds including those scheduled for our area. Local events will be held on April 23-25; June 18-20; August 20-22; and September 25-26. The June weekend will feature a national competition termed the "Pro-National Combined Event" that will possibly bring extensive media coverage.

(The Southern 4 Wheel Drive Association spring meeting is also scheduled for Jellico this Saturday, March 20th in the Tramell Building/Community Conference Room.)

Ramblings: On rare occasions I lose data on computers and feel like dumping them into the floor. But then I see something that makes me realize all of the good that they do. At Boston Elementary School we have a state of the art, beautiful and extremely well equipped computer lab that trains our students daily starting with our youngest and through all grades.

Recently our Technology Club that meets after school called me to the lab to have me view a complete record of academics and activities in which those students had participated this year - to include appropriate accompanying music. The record will be placed on discs for them and their parents to preserve for years to come. That sure beats the old School Yearbooks!

The Tennessee men's basketball team's latest debacle in the SEC tournament is being blamed on a lot of factors ranging from poor coaching to fatigue from practicing too hard before the game to a lack of effort on the part of some players - especially on defense - to failure to box out on rebounding. All of those may be right to some extent. But to me, the main problem has been evident all season long. We have three positions that can be counted on to score (at least on most nights) and the other two positions can be left almost totally unguarded to concentrate five defensive players on those three. And except for nights when Scooter McFagdon or C. J. Watson is on, outside shooting has been almost non-existent.

Regardless of all that has gone wrong with this year's team, I still believe that we will be a very strong team next year with the additional players that we have coming into the program to potentially fill those other two slots.

And just hang on Vol fans! The sport that most Tennessee fans hold near and dear will soon be back in focus with spring practice starting this Friday (March 19th) and the spring game scheduled for Saturday, April 17th.. As I wrote in earlier articles, the coaches have some big problems to deal with including who will fill the crucial quarterback's position. Do we have enough defensive backs to be able to compete in the SEC and likewise for defensive linemen? Will the offensive line be better? Will our running backs finally have break out years? I cannot recall a year when there has been some much interest in what will take place in spring practice!

(Pardon the play on words, but from the reports coming out of winter workouts, strength should not be one of our weaknesses. The team reportedly had three linemen to bench press 500 pounds, two that narrowly missed that mark and several others with very outstanding lifts.)

Political analysts have long held that a candidates looks, rightly or wrongly, do affect the women's vote - especially in presidential races. And almost certainly that was one of the determining factors that helped to elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy president by a razor thin popular vote margin in the campaign of 1960. So several weeks ago I listened with great interest to some ladies discussing the presidential race as it stood at that time with John Kerry, John Edwards and Howard Dean all still possibilities to receive the Democratic nomination.

All felt that Edwards was the best looking of the bunch and seriously or jokingly, some indicated that they might vote for him simply for that reason. George Bush wasn't getting too many favorable reviews and none considered him to be overly handsome. However his stock rose considerably when Kerry's name came under discussion and some closer to my age stated that Kerry reminded them of Eddie Munster on the old television series.

After hearing all of their comments concerning politician's looks, I couldn't help but wonder how in the world I ever even got elected as mayor of our small town.