We recently had a very lengthy paper distributed in Jellico by a local "concerned citizen" outlining a multitude of deficiencies by those entrusted with the business affairs of our city. And true to non-discriminatory guidelines, the writer included almost everyone in her criticisms including the mayor, members of council, city attorney, city recorder, etc. (I hope I didn't leave out anyone!). And according to the article, ninety-five percent (95%) of our purported "misdeeds" have been taped and documented. Some stated that they read only a few lines of the article and then discarded it. Others said that it made them angry. (And I have been told that one business place may have become upset that they were left there for folks to find.) But a couple of different citizens saw great humor in the allegations and one compared the article to Cas Walker's "Watchdog" that he published many years ago in Knoxville. (Anyone besides me remember Cas's radio and television ads when he touted his "miracle salve" as an instant cure for the itch? According to Cas, it was "guaranteed to cure the seven years itch in seven seconds". Don't laugh! He sold the stuff along with that Blue Band Coffee and was a very successful businessman.) But as stated above, not everyone took the allegations so well! All elected officials, no matter how hard they work for our town, are fair game for almost any critical and/or derogatory things that citizens may want to say about them. But city contracted employees including attorney Hall and recorder Meadows are not subject to such legal immunity from every allegation. And several of their friends and fellow employees were upset about what was written concerning both of them. Jeff Hall has done legal service for our town and provided city related legal counsel to both officials and private citizens for which he has never asked for any compensation.. And Linda works very hard to do the job for which she is employed. I often find her in her office long after 5:00 PM, on weekends and at other non-compensated times, working to keep our town's business affairs in order - that includes one-hundred percent (100%) tapings and documentation.
But to her credit, Linda used the flap for something positive and called upon all of our citizens to stop the squabbling and to unite for one purpose - the betterment of Jellico. That demonstrated real class on her part and there is nothing that we need more in Jellico! We do have problems in our city government just as all governmental (and public) organizations constantly have problems. We just have to admit that fact, do our best to work out those problems and emphasize the positive. Criticizing and trumpeting the negative serves no real purpose.
The one comment in that article that greatly puzzles me is the one referring to a "poisonous atmosphere" now existing among city employees. I contacted several employees after reading that allegation and talked with them in private and in confidentiality. All that I talked with said that they think that working relationships among employees are the best right now that they have been in several years. And all denied ever have made such a statement to anyone.
As far as the comments concerning yours truly, I often state that our citizens have the right to their opinions just as I have the right to mine. But I must warn anyone attempting to list of all my shortcomings that they are so numerous that they alone will probably keep him or her busy full time taping and documenting all of them! Admittedly I am more than abundantly endowed with faults and imperfections.
I want to again remind everyone that we constantly announce meetings of the City Council. And we both invite and welcome all of our citizens to attend the meetings, to observe for themselves what is taking place and to participate in a positive and constructive manner.
(However I was asked several times over the past weekend why a special call meeting of the Council was held at 8:30 AM in the morning on a day when some of us had to work and could not attend (Friday, April 9th) rather than waiting just a few days for our regular monthly meeting for April. I have no idea of the justification given for calling the meeting at such a strange date and time. The three items on the agenda were (1) Nepotism policy, (2) Fireworks for Fourth of July and (3) Parks. None of those seemed to be of a very urgent nature. But a long time observer remarked to me that there had to be a reason and that it will come out soon enough. According to that individual, it will probably be something in relation to the nepotism policy that was adopted. But all employees that we have who are reportedly related to members of Council are all doing very good jobs from all reports that I am receiving as well as from my personal observations.)
We will have the UROC Eastern here the weekend of April 23th -25th. The Technical Inspections will be conducted in Veterans Park on Friday, April 23rd starting at noon. Everyone is invited to come down and inspect the vehicles, meet the drivers, get autographs, take photos, etc.. The actual competition will take place at the White Oak Course on Saturday morning and Sunday morning starting at 9:00 AM each day.
I talked with one employee at a local motel and another at a business place and they both stated that the UROC and other similar events really create business for them and it was their opinion that give are a big boost to our local economy. As barber Mike Neely told me several months ago, none of the activities that are now being held in Jellico result in business for him. But any business brought into town helps everyone in the long run That's the attitude that we all need to take!
And having folks staying at our motels and buying food and gas has a second benefit for our town. The additional excise taxes that are collected contribute at least some to our city's budget.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture has informed us that 9,000 acres around our area will be sprayed for gypsy moths. The aerial spraying is scheduled for the period including the last week of this month through the second week of May. According to the announcement, a double application will be made of bacillus thuringiensis, a naturally occurring biological insecticide that is safe to both humans and wildlife.
(I wish that the Agriculture Department or some other governmental agency with the wherewithal to do so, would spray our entire area for mosquitoes. The continued spread of West Nile Virus has become a genuine concern to folks who need to be outside for work or recreational purposes. I know that there are applications available for personal use but those are only temporary measures. It would be good if we had a comprehensive program to reduce mosquito populations because we certainly have numerous areas around here for infestations and breeding.)
As if often write, I cannot possibly answer all e-mail that I receive or comment upon remarks that are placed on the guest books of the Jellico websites. But occasionally I do want to respond to some and that is true of an e-mail from Lori Davis Walden, Fairborn, Ohio.
Yes Lori! I know or have known every individual that you mention including David and Jane Shoun Davis, Earl and Maureen Shoun and Reverend Jerome Walden. And you are completely correct in what you said about them - all wonderful people and I still miss them in Jellico.
(Of course I see Rev. Walden on a regular basis and David comes over for some of our old timer baseball games. It's a good thing he can no longer "hum that tater" from the mound like he once did or none of us would ever get on base.) And thank you for your remarks concerning the things that we are trying to accomplish to bring our town back to some of its earlier prominence.
And Harold Jones of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania signed on to say that he was born in Jellico (Yellow Row), the son of Dave and Myrtle Jones and grew up in Illinois. Myrtle Kasee Jones was my mother's sister and Harold is another one of my first cousins with whom I had lost contact. It was good to hear from him and to be able to say hello to him and his family.
I recently had a telephone call from Gerald Oliver whom many Big Orange basketball fans will remember as an assistant coach on the staff of then head coach Ray Mears and those great teams that UT had during that era. Gerald and I became good friends during that period since I worked for head football coach Bill Battle as a graduate administrative assistant at the same time. Gerald came to Jellico on occasion and made several acquaintances here that he always asks about when we talk including Alex "Skeez" Housley. He was also a friend of David Chitwood and he called to express his sorrow upon learning of David's passing.
Since leaving the University of Tennessee, Gerald coached championship professional teams in Hartford, Connecticut, Springfield, Massachusetts and Nova Scotia in the Canadian Professional League. He also served as an assistant coach for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks and presently continues to serve as a talent scout for the Bucks. He says that he likes Jellico, plans to visit in the near future, see everybody and to catch up on everything.
The "old-timers" baseball games will soon start and we will see if Jim Hurst still has that level swing that he displayed at the end of last season when he kept swatting line drives. And more importantly - we will see if some of us can still bend over far enough to even attempt to field a ground ball after a winter weight gain. (Kenneth Johnson who was an outstanding hitter in his younger days but hasn't missed any meals either, may play with us this year. He too has some doubts about his ability to deal with any balls not hit in the air.)
But the main idea is to have fun and fellowship and to keep the game alive a little longer that once occupied the attention of everyone in this area. Oh for those Saturday single games and the Sunday double headers that we enjoyed so much every weekend for many, many years that started in May and continued through August - and came so very close to seeing Jellico crowned national amateur champions one year with wins over teams from New York City and Chicago.
I recently called up the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on the Internet and found two players who played here during those golden years of baseball. As I have written several times before, one of the first players inducted into the hall (Earle Combs) played on our field for the Gatliff Coal Company before going on to be the lead off hitter for "murders row" on the awesome New York teams that had Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Although Ruth and Gehrig were the superstars, many called Combs the "heart and soul" of possibly the greatest team ever assembled - the world champion 1927 Yankees. And fellow Hall-of-Famer Judy Johnson who was such a great player in the Negro Major Leagues, played for the Woolridge Coal Company.
And we had a list of other great professional -and great amateur players- such as Earl Webb who played at Newcomb who is still the all time leader in doubles playing for the Boston Red Sox.
Times change and must give way to "progress". But somehow a lot of us old timers do not see the loss of the great baseball that was once played here a sign of progress. Most of us would ten times rather see the kinds of games that were played in our park for fun from the 1880's through the 1950's than all of the games that are televised today featuring a bunch of millionaires. Like the kid whose puppy died and he was given a replacement, "It just ain't the same!"
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