Read all about Jellico in the New York Times this Friday, July 9th. A reporter for that paper interviewed Tourism Director Jake Bennett this week and will do a feature story concerning Jellico and UROC in Friday's edition. Also locate it at site: www.nytimes.com/escapes
Some thought we should have had mostly gospel music for our Fourth of July celebration. Others called for bluegrass; a few young people wanted "hard" rock while some of us preferred 50's music, poplar tunes, etc. There is no way that any one type of music will please everyone so it was great to hear Angie Davis say that she listened to and enjoyed, every kind of music that was presented and that this was the best Fourth celebration that she had ever attended. And she has been to all of them since she was old enough to remember. (Believe it or not, a couple from Indianapolis, Indiana told a large group of folks that they come to Jellico every year because we have the best and most varied activities of any place they know. They stop in Somerset, Kentucky for her mother to bring her as well. All three also called it the best celebration yet!)
Unquestionably we had the largest turnout on Friday that any of us could ever recall for any previous activity conducted on a regular work day going away back through the years. Bernard Williams took me on a little nostalgia trip and showed me the buildings on North Main Street where the "Little Wonder Cafe" was located along with "Hardin's Produce Store" and other former establishments that some of us old timers can still recall. And we looked with longing at the area where the soda fountain was located for so many years in the old Central Drug Store. We both would have been very willing to dig deep into our pockets to have been able to still order up a good malt, milk shake or banana split. And as Bernard so emphatically pointed out, the crowd that filled Jellico on Friday was exactly like the crowds that we once had in Jellico every weekend when we were young (a long time ago). But folks were on the sidewalks back then!
Saturday was more of the same and although the afternoon rain temporarily ran a lot of folks for cover, they began returning sometime around 5:30 PM when the line dancing started - and then continued to gather until 10:00 PM and the start of the Fireworks display. Former mayor A. B. Foreman commented to me later that it is a shame that there is no way that we could determine the huge number of folks in Jellico by the time the activities ended Saturday evening. People were gathering in areas that I can not recall having seen them previously and we filled parking lots and areas around town with vehicles that had not been utilized before.
A vendor in Veterans Park from Williamsburg said that our crowds in Jellico are always much larger than those in that town so he and his wife always come here each year. (A Lafollette lady indicated the same.) They reported a brisk business selling items that are not normally available during the celebration. And several local business places informed me that they had a very good weekend as well - especially Saturday night. The manager of one fast food place said that their stocks were almost totally depleted although they had prepared for a very large number of folks.
I don't think anyone who witnessed the presentation of colors by local veterans remained unmoved by that beautiful ceremony. And the singing of the National Anthem by Campbell County Register of Deeds, Dormas Miller, led to requests for him to come back and sing "God Bless the USA" which he did - and he gave an equally moving rendition of that patriotic number.
It goes without saying that the folks working behind the scenes to carry out the activities were extremely tired at 11:00 PM on Saturday night. (Actually city employee Leroy Ruiz and others worked much longer into the night to clean up the area to make it presentable on Sunday morning as folks were on their way to morning worship services). Leroy worked the entire event and we sure appreciate his contributions. I don't know what we would have done without him.
An unknown to about everybody, the suppliers of our Fireworks who normally Fire them electronically For us each year, could not be here due to the heavy demand For their services by larger consumers of their Fireworks, City employees Jerome Smith, Jerry Hyslope, Mike Johnson, and Jerry "Red" Lynch attended a training session and did the actual firing although they had never been involved in anything like that before -just so that everyone would not be disappointed by cancellation of the display. They had to light each fuse individually and believe you me, there were some anxious moments during the actual firing. But they did a great job and we sure appreciate their willingness to perform that dangerous task.
Most oF our city workers, police ofFicers and an awful lot of our volunteer firemen, rescue squad, etc. helped out such as Keith Blair and others who assisted with crowd control and stayed right with those doing the firing and kept a fire engine at the ready just in case it was needed.
And it goes without saying that the Tourism Commission spends countless hours before, during and after the activities and we certainly appreciate their contributions. The same is true of all volunteer individuals and local businesses that contributed in numerous ways.
During the land rush of Oklahoma territory, some there to claim land left the starting line sooner than allowed. Hence folks in that state are still known as "Sooners". We have the same problem in allowing vendors and exhibitors to claim areas in Veterans Park for our activities. So Tourism Jake Bennett has devised a plan to correct that problem. Areas with fees paid in advance will be reserved!
We no sooner complete one activity until we start planning for future events. Our next scheduled city sponsored event will be the annual "Candle Light Vigil" for victims of the September 11th terrorists attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvana, followed by our "Fall Fest" on October 2-3 and its time to get ready for that activity that is now widely publicized throughout the state of Tennessee and outside our state as well. (Start getting the jelly and jam, sorghum molasses, hominy, pumpkin pies, fried apple pies, etc. ready to sell). (Additionally the "Twin Rivers Band" will be playing again in Veterans Park this Saturday night, July 10th starting at 8:00 PM which will please a lot of folks that have missed them. And there will be a free wrestling match in the park the next Saturday night, July 17th starting at 7 PM.. There is now something going on in Jellico a great deal of the time!)
When will the rain and thunderstorms end? That's the question everyone is asking (The recent storm that did so much damage had the strongest wind gusts that I can recall. It's a good thing that the severest gust only lasted for a very short time. It had near tornado velocity!
The owners of Radio Station WJJT have withdrawn their request to relocate the station's facilities on city property next to our baseball fields. As I have stated before, our senior citizens miss the station and I originally favored granting that permission if there was no safety threat to our children utilizing the field and certainly if there is a chance that we will lose the station!
But regardless, the Tennessee State Planner at our last non-official meeting of the Planning Comission (an insufficient number of members of the Commission was present for a quorum) revealed that he had researched the issue thoroughly and that the proposed zoning for that purpose would definitely be illegal. Furthermore the United States Army Corps of Engineers was very leery of utilizing the property for that purpose and recommend that we certainly contact HUD and FEMA before granting permission. That was followed by a verbal state by an individual originally involved with the contract between the city of Jellico and federal agencies who insisted unequivocally that no use can be made of the land except by govermental agencies such as the waste water treatment facility that serves the total public good. According to him both private residences and business enterprises are strictly forbidden on that property.
I have been asked several times about supposedly "fixing" of parking tickets issued by the Police department that was insinuated by the writer of our local scandal sheet. But fixing of tickets in Jellico simply does not happen and has not happened!
Several months ago Council members were being contacted by citizens requesting that repairs be made to our city sidewalks. All agreed that they certainly need extensive work and members of Council wanted to take corrective action. The only way that we could fund such repairs was through grants and a representative from one of the granting agencies came to Jellico to inspect our situation. He was shocked that we were allowing parking of vehicles on sidewalks in some areas where streets are narrow, etc.. He stated that under no circumstances could we allow parking on the sidewalks and be eligible to receive grant money for their construction and repairs.
In keeping with that information, the Council voted to prohibit parking on sidewalks but definitely meant to give adequate early warning (warning tickets) to everyone before actually issuing tickets requiring payment. However due to a miscommunication, actual tickets were erroneously written by some officers clearly doing what they thought they were expected to do. And they wrote some tickets to worshippers at a local church while they were attending services. (There had been damage to parked vehicles by passing motorists in the past while worshippers were attending services and they merely were trying to protect their vehicles from collisions.)
A situation had been created that was totally outside the intent of the Council. That fact was relayed to Police Commissioner Jim Dobson's attention and he was instructed to correct the misunderstanding. And correcting an unintentional error does not constitute "fixing" of tickets!
That was a wonderful gesture by Little League officials in naming our Little League field in honor of Hubert "Red" Harp and Boyd "Chief Puckett -both deceased. Red and Boyd worked tirelessly during their lifetimes and gave of their time and resources for many years to provide opportunities for our kids. Many were the times that I saw them with their vehicles loaded with children that were "stacked like cord wood". It was belated but very, very deserved recognition.
Some folks love our local history and heritage! Herman Heath and Jerry Hyslope have taken it upon themselves to restore the grave marker of "Uncle Billy Beam", a veteran of both the Mexican War and the Civil War and one of the central characters in the book and movie, "Trail ol the Lonesome Pine" written by John Fox, Jr. and still produced at the Barter Theatre in Virginia.
They are also in the process of bringing out the lettering on the sandstone markers of Squire Perkins and Simon Snyder who according to the inscriptions, were "murdered by the Rebels October 23, 1862". (The two were reportedly found in civilian clothes by Confederate forces near Caryville and non-uniformed individuals that many miles from home were always suspected of spying or "bushwhacking". They were quickly tried by summary court martial and executed.)
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