I don't think anyone including the candidate expected anything like the tremendous turn outfor the reception, announcement of candidacy and campaign kick-off held for Jerry Sharp last Saturday night. Jerry made it official that he is indeed a candidate for the state senate and there were folks in attendance from a very large area to hear that announcement. Jenny and I noticed license plates on vehicles in the parking lot from at least five area counties and I am sure that there were more - including at least one from Davidson County. Senator Ron Ramsey, Senate Minority Leader from Bristol, was there and assured Jerry that the state Republican Party organization in Tennessee will give him their total support. And some Democrats expressed those same sentiments during conversations following the program.

The structure where the event was conducted filled to capacity and folks were constantly coming and going throughout the entire affair. And shockingly if I understood him correctly, Senator Ramsey stated that he had attended and spoken at countless such events throughout the state of Tennessee from Mountain City to Memphis and he called it the largest crowd to attend a campaign kickoff that he has personally ever seen in any location across the entire state.

Several weeks ago I reported that Tourism Director Jake Bennett had noticed that not a single activity in Jellico or all of northern Campbell County was even mentioned in state tourism information booklets and brochures. He immediately contacted Nashville and registered a complaint that led to a commitment for future coverage in such publications.

The recently released Annual Events 2004 TENNESSEE includes such activities as "Memphis in May", "Elvis Presley Birthday Celebration", "Jonesborough's National Storytelling Festival", "Columbia's Mule Day", "The Nashville Lawn and Garden Show", "The Chattanooga Longhorn World Championship Rodeo", "The Crosby Ramp Festival", "The Loretta Lynn and Friends Concert" and numerous other such outstanding events.

And believe it or not! Right in the middle of the brochure is the Jellico "Old Fashioned Fall Fest" that Jake has worked so hard to organize, promote and conduct for the past two years. That's great widespread publicity for us! (This year's Fest is scheduled for October 1st and 2nd).

As I have written on numerous occasions, the annual Fall Fest has the potential to grow and develop into something really special for our town and our area if we all get involved. And to top it all off, its great fun for the entire family which is becoming a rarity this day and age. Although the event is still eight (8) months away, it is not too early to begin making plans now for decorations, displays, items for sale, costumes to be worn, etc., etc..

I'm now thinking spring and the setting out of young Dogwoods. I would appreciate someone notifying me as soon as they see some good large young stock for sale. (Now is also the time when we need to be doing some pruning of our existing trees to remove lower branches.)

Some local papers recently reported the question that was raised during our last meeting of the city council concerning the increase in fire coverage for residents living outside the city limits. (The rates for non-city residences were recently increased from $ 40.00 to $ 100.00 annually). A comment made by a nonresident during that meeting concerning the increase, the issue of annexation and the fire fighting ability of our fire department apparently did not sit too well with some present and past members of the department.

As I responded during the discussion, our fire department has traditionally lost money down through the years on the fire calls that it has made outside the city. And increasing the charge for services was debated for several years. With our budget facing a short fall last spring when the 2003-2004 budget workshops were conducted, the present council upon the recommendation of the fire department, affected an increase that they felt was more realistic when compared to the cost of responding to non-city fire calls. (As one fireman remarked during one of those workshops, $ 40.00 barely covers the cost of fuel expended on a trip.)

George Deuel, an individual very knowledgeable concerning the costs of training, equipping and maintaining our fire department, contacted a state office to determine exactly how the cost is shared by the citizens of Jellico. According to the figures that he was given, $ 156,900.00 is expended by the city of Jellico for fire protection each year (a figure that does not take into account the savings in the cost of fire insurance coverage for residences located throughout town). We have an official population of 2, 448 (Census of 2000) which means that $ 62.09 is spent for fire protection for every individual in Jellico. Yet the non-residents who chose to do so were receiving the same coverage for years at a rate of $ 40.00 that was $ 20.09 cheaper than the citizens of Jellico - which certainly was not fair to our taxpayers. And as I stated during the meeting, the city of Jellico only makes the fire fighting service available as a courtesy to those living outside the city limits and certainly no one is required to purchase that service.

And the less than flattering comments made about our fire department are clearly not shared by inspectors from out of town and from out of state. In fact we were recently granted an improved rating for insurance rates based upon the quality of our fire department and our volunteer fire fighters. And with some further planned improvements by the department, there is a distinct possibility that the rating may be improved even further- resulting in additional savings to policy holders living within the city limits.

Fire coverage is not the only area where non-city residents have benefited greatly from the city of Jellico. We must maintain our streets and some of our roads with revenues produced by citizens of Jellico. Yet non-residents -even those who work in Jellico - use those streets and roads but are not required to pay a fee of any kind for that service - not even an inspection sticker fee that is so common in many towns and cities throughout this country. You only have to be downtown starting sometime around 5:00 AM in the morning to see the number of vehicles driving into and through town including numerous big trucks that pass through Jellico on their way to work. But although the state of Tennessee is officially responsible for maintaining the highways (US 25-W and Tenn 297-W) through the downtown, most folks do not understand that fact and we are the ones held accountable by our citizens for North Main Street, South Main Street and Fifth Street when the pot holes develop. And they certainly do develop from the usage.

Although much of the utilities expansion into area communities has been funded through federal and state grants, those grants have usually required matching local funds of a specified percentage. And the increased price of water and sewage service in non-city areas does not adequately cover the cost of those matching funds, services and maintenance of the systems. I could cite other examples where the citizens of Jellico have contributed greatly to surrounding non-incorporated areas down through the years.

The people of Jellico and the citizens in the surrounding non-incorporated areas have always enjoyed good working relationships and we certainly do not want those relationships damaged in any way. But we definitely are not going to become a wealthy town through receipt of an extra $ 60.00 a year for fire coverage and I believe that most folks fully understand that fact. And that increase in fire coverage most certainly will not determine what the city council does with the annexation question. The Council will decide that issue based upon numerous factors of which providing fire protection to any potential areas to be annexed is only one of many considerations.

Some living in non-city areas eligible for annexation now tell me that they look at the possibility of annexation differently since they have had time to consider all aspects. And other say that although they still may not personally favor annexation, that they realize that it is inevitable as natural growth and progression of the city of Jellico - whether enacted by the present city council or by a future city council.

As has been announced so many times in the past, if and when the council decides to pursue annexation, public hearings will be held when every property owner in the areas proposed for annexation will have the opportunity to personally address the council and state their viewpoint. Almost all who talk to me concerning the issue emphasize that they at this point, have appointed no one to appear before the Jellico city council to serve as spokesman for them on the issue.

The "Rock Crawlers" have now changed the name of their organization to the "Extreme East" and have four (4) events scheduled for our town and our area. April 24-25; June 19-20; August 21-22 and September 25-26. The real blockbuster event will occur in June when the eastern group will combine with the west for the "Extreme East Pro National Combined Event".

Could what is happening in the very small town of Eureaka, North Carolina ever happen here? I sometimes write of the complaints and criticisms that elected city officials receive although they are performing a public service and with only a token compensation for that service. Those in office often become discouraged and it now seems that fewer and fewer qualified folks in Jellico are willing to place their names on the ballot for mayor or council. And the same is true in that small town of Eureaka where only one individual was willing to seek the position of town commissioner in the last city election. (The town is run by a board of six commissioners.)

To keep the town government functioning, some citizens wrote in names and elected five other individuals - apparently whether they desired the office or not. But finally since there was so little interest in the town government, the six commissioners decided among themselves that they would just meet and officially disband the town. But that didn't work either. Not enough of them showed up for the meeting to constitute a quorum so they could not conduct business!

It was a strange noise that recently came out of the mid-west. And it has echoed all across the country. Stand up comics are making countless jokes about the sound; radio stations including some popular local disc jockeys are having a field day with it; songs are being proposed to incorporate it into the words (especially rap); and an awful lot of folks not familiar with what happened are trying to determine just exactly what the sound was and where it came from.

Some said it sounded like a burst of enthusiasm; others said it was more like a cry of someone in distress; and others have insisted that it reminded them of the yell from the old Tarzan movies. Exactly what was the strange sound and its source that startled an awful lot of folks and has become an item of so much interest? It has now been identified as whatever it was that came from the lips of presidential candidate John Dean at the end of his "concession" speech following his loss in the Iowa caucuses. If you haven't heard it, be sure you do or you will miss something - although nobody seems to know exactly what!