After some of the things that we have been through lately, it is a pleasure to bring up something of tremendous good. The local Masonic Lodge has asked me to remind everyone that the Shriners are presently conducting their annual drive for funds to help kids and it goes without saying that that is a wonderful endeavor. Their slogan says it all, "No man ever stood as tall as when he stooped to help a child!"
As I understand the information I was given, the drive will conclude this Sunday when they will conduct their paper sale in Jellico. I do hope that everyone will give generously as they purchase their papers!
The City Council has already begun a series of workshops to wind up this year's budget and begin work on a projected performance budget for 2004-2005. We did have a good month of revenue for April but some of the income was a one-time occurrence and we do not expect to do nearly as well in May and June - still leaving us with the strong possibility of having to utilize some of our "rainy day" funds. But even then we should have an adequate amount left in reserve to meet all state recommended amounts for that purpose. And as we discussed during our first workshop, if we had known four or five months ago that we would be in our present financial condition, we would have been very pleased with that prospect.
(As I have written on numerous occasions, we are not the only town having to make some very difficult financial decisions. The Knoxville News-Sentinel recently reported that that city will, in all probability, face a hike in the property tax rate which is not surprising. But what was surprising - no shocking - was the fact that the paper indicated that so far there has generally been a favorable reaction from many property owners to the projected increase. I don't have any reason to doubt the report but who'd a' thot it?)
Our local media has recently been taking note of the great job done being done by Tourism Director Jake Bennett and our Jellico Tourism Commission in conducting activities and bringing visitors to Jellico -which is good for our local economy and our city's revenue coffers. The Commission is presently made up of Chairman and Vice-Mayor Alvin Evans, the mayor as ex-officio, Councilman John Davenport, Jill Boles, Alla Faye Monday, Wanda Perkins, Marion Ivey, Christy Dobson, Mary Jarboe, John Blankenship
I have never seen the Commission working so well together as they are at the present time. Contrary to some that we had a few months ago, our meetings are now both harmonious and enjoyable as we plan and organize for future events. (If you did not get any of that beef stew, pinto beans, cornbread and various desserts served up by Jill Boles, Wanda Perkins, Marion Ivey and Christy Dobson on the Friday that UROC utilized our Veterans Park, then you really missed something.)
And Jake is the first to give credit to the individuals serving on the Commission. He has stated on numerous occasions that if it was not for the great help and cooperation that he receives from those folks, that he could not possibly carry out the increased number of activities that are currently taking place here.
Speaking of activities, everyone is reminded that our Veterans Memorial Committee will sponsor some type of special ceremony at the monument during the Memorial Day weekend.
And although the city is not sponsoring the project, Jake is giving full support and assistance to the proposed filming to be made here pertaining to the life of Grace Moore announced for June 3,4,5.. He is getting plenty of calls and contacts inquiring about the auditions and other preliminaries and he is recording the names of all of the individuals making the inquiries. He will pass them to the sponsors of that proposed activity. (There are other activities planned with the filming that possibly will bring some well known folks to Jellico including country singer Stonewall Jackson and Marie Shircel ("Miss World").But everyone is again reminded that any filming and activities are to be privately organized, publicized and presented.
And talk about drawing an out of town crowd to Jellico! The weekend of June 18-20 should be a real blockbuster for us. The UROC Extreme East/Pro National Combined Event is expected to draw the largest crowd yet to Veterans Park on Friday, June 18th - and we may well have national television coverage of that event. And our annual Classic Car Show will be held the very next day Saturday, June 19th. The goal for that show is a minimum of one-hundred (100) vehicles and the early indications are that we will possibly exceed that number. (A member of the Boston Community says that he hurried the restoration of a 1972 model just to be sure that it is ready for first-time display in our Jellico show. And a member of the Whitley County Superintendent of School's staff who has attended our show each year, informed me that he will be bringing a 1971 red Cutless convertible and also display for the first time.) Some were concerned that we might run out of room but the recent clearing of property in the area near the stage by our city crews has opened up plenty of space for displaying many more vehicles.
And that anticipated huge turnout will of course then be followed within two weeks or so by our annual Fourth of July activities that never fail to draw a tremendous crowd. All of those activities indicate that we are getting closer and closer to the goal of revitalizing our town with so much now taking place here. (For information on any of the above listed activities, contact Jake at 423/784-3275.)
I need to catch up on a little of my written correspondence, e-mail and remarks on the Internet. My sincere thanks to "Little Acres" (Gerri Baughcum of Sharpsburg, Georgia that I have mentioned before) who writes, "I missed your column this past week, what happened? Here are a couple of items for you and Jenny to use, and remember this old coal picker from way back. My friend does the plastic canvas work and the bag holders and I just help her design the colors." (Orange and blue. What else?)
Many thanks Little Acres for your faithful following of my column on the Internet and the beautiful handcrafted items. But what is your maiden name? The fact that you grew up on Kentucky Hill had everyone at the home of long time Kentucky Hill resident Mrs. Queen Ramsey the other night for her birthday party, attempting to figure it out. (You may have known Mrs. Ramsey in earlier years.)
Fred Wing who grew up here and now lives in Lehigh Acres, Florida asks if anyone remembers him. I certainly do as do a lot of us old timers. Fred was a fine football player at JHS before his family moved to the Cincinnati area. For many years when we were in Covington, Ky we always stopped and saw his dad.
And Jerry Clark living in Cincinnati inquires about music for our Fourth of July celebration. (Call Jake at the above listed number! With everything going on at the present time, I don't know if he has had the time to put any kind of schedule together as yet. But if not, he will shortly.)
And finally Cathy of Clarksville, Michigan indicates that she and her husband would like to be near their daughter in Powell and thinks Jellico would be a nice place to live. (In spite of all our little small town faults and squabbles Cathy, Jellico really is a fine place in which to live. Feel free to contact me, Jake or anyone connected with our town for more information. We have a lot of wonderful people here who want our town to be even better and we welcome others that share our goals.
As I wrote at the time, I felt that it was a loss to the city of Jellico when Mr. Bill Partin could not accept the then existing position of city administrator (CA) due to prior commitments. I strongly felt then that he was the only individual that could make the position of CA work out (if indeed it could work out) and I expressed my regret that we would not have the opportunity to work together for the good of our town. But that situation has changed.
Mr. Partin is now living in our area and he works on occasion for the Whitley County Board of Education including a day recently at Boston Elementary School. And as I thought he would be, he is an extremely capable and cooperative individual and I hope that we get many more such opportunities in the future. If he ever decides to move inside the city of Jellico, we sure need to get him involved in our city government in some way. He would be a most welcome addition in any capacity.
The fact that we are slowly but surely revitalizing Jellico just calls additional attention to the fact that we need to realize the similar goal of renovating our town. I have previously twice printed our SAC-O's quoted and circulated statement on the part of a 'concerned citizen', "Well, clean up fix up week is coming up, does the city want us to do that job for them too?" Readers of these notes tell me that they do not believe that anyone can live here and take no more pride in our town than that. And they also agree that that is the horribly negative attitude that we have to totally ignore. Regardless of that gosh awful remark, work is going on and eventually we will get the job done with the help of our citizens. (By the way, I mentioned the Masonic Lodge above. Have you noticed the "sprucing up" that they have been doing there in conjunction with our drive to improve the appearance of our town. And they plan to place lights upon the flag pole that will allow illumination of a beautiful American flag at night. Now that's the spirit!) More and more citizens are getting a positive attitude but we still have those five or six sore spots that I continuously mention. The city of Corbin has had some of that same problem and they are now in the process of taking steps in the legal process which we have threatened to do so many times in the past. It is now time for us to discontinue threatening and actually follow through on legal action here. Having to resort to such action is extremely regrettable and distasteful but asking and encouraging those few property owners to act on their own is simply not getting the job accomplished. Several of us promised our citizens that if elected, we would leave Jellico in better shape than we found it when we conclude our present terms. And most if not, all are still dedicated to fulfilling that commitment.
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