That was great news that our Jellico Community Hospital has been named as one of our nation's top 100 small community hospitals. According to reports, that designation was given to our local facility by Solucient, the leading source of health care business intelligence and is reported in the 12th edition of Solucient's "100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success Study" that appears in a special supplement to the February 28th edition of Modern Healthcare Magazine.
Congratulations to the entire staff of JCH for achieving such an outstanding honor. That is just another positive to be added to a long list of positive things presently taking place in Jellico.
It was a long and loud noise that woke everybody up on our end of town the other night - but it was a welcomed sound! Truck drivers were not at all bashful about letting their horns announce their jubilation when the Interstate was reopened -albeit with only one lane in each direction. There will certainly be bottlenecks develop during periods of very heavy traffic but it sure beats the trip through the mountains for those big trucks that were having to stop every few seconds and consuming massive amounts of very expensive fuel.
I received an awful lot of inquiries from out of town (especially e-mail) wanting to know the situation, the best alternate routes, etc.. And I personally sat in traffic one day that extended from the base of Peabody Mountain all the way into Lafollette and moved ever so slowly (when it moved at all). The drive through the mountains, whether using U.S. Highway 25-W or Tennessee 297-W, is a great experience for enjoying the scenery. But it can no longer start to handle the traffic from Interstate-75 that is now estimated to total in the millions of vehicles each year.
Let's hope the entire Interstate is soon reopened for full traffic but as I understand it, several months may be required for completing all of the necessary repairs. We will just have to be sure to allow more time for trips to the southern end of the county, Knoxville, etc.. The Interstate is like the proverbial well that runs dry- now that we don't have it we really miss it!
The Christian Journal-Leader recently had a story that a new coffee shop, "A Common Ground", is expecting to soon be opening in Jellico -hopefully in the downtown area. The proposed menu that has been announced includes several types of coffee, homemade muffins, soups, sandwiches and homemade deserts.. Music and entertainment suitable for families are planned and even a Christian book store on the premises is under consideration.
A possible location will be the upstairs above the Barton building on North Main Street and I understand that you have to see for yourself what has been done up there to believe how good it actually looks. And if that is the site, the second story balcony should be a great place for tables and chairs and to sit and enjoy the food, drink, music, etc..
According to a statement from Vince and Misty Vanneti of Nashville who have three small children and will be moving to Jellico to establish that business, , "A Common Ground will be a wholesome place for families and a safe place for young people." (Many of our downtown workers have been hoping for a good place in the immediate area to have lunch and this may be the answer to their wishes. We should know by June since the Vannetis indicate that they hope to be open and operating by then.)
As I have reported in my two or three previous notes, our annual "Clean Up, Fix Up, Paint Up Week" has been scheduled for May 7-14.. But we don't have to wait until then to get started.
And as I have also mentioned, several projects are expected to begin prior to that time including the work on the open ditch on South Main Street and the work planned for Indian Mountain State Park. Work at the park will include the widening of the back entrance, clearing of the underbrush along Black Oak Road and the planting of redbud and dogwood trees, eventually adding more bridges to the present walking trails and creating a new trail alongside Elk Creek running from Indian Mountain Road to Black Oak Road. That trail should really stimulate usage.
Councilman Alvin Evans says that he expects the work to soon get underway (if not already underway) on closing the ditch on South Main Street. And Orin Buck last week gave me an idea of the renovation that is to take place on the old Bill's Dollar Store. According to Buck, much of the original metal work for the top trim of the building has been found on the roof of that structure and when placed back where it belongs, should make that building look much more like our other structures. He also said that in keeping with my earlier request of business owners, that the metal awning in front of that building will be removed and replaced with fabric awnings that are gradually being placed on building fronts all over the downtown.
Johnny Baird tells me that the old Coca-Cola Building is still a candidate for restoration if indeed it can still be saved. According to John, a thorough inspection of that building indicate that the only parts of the structure that are still serviceable are the walls (but requiring repairs) and the metal trusses. All else will probably require removal and replacement. Baird remains hopeful that the restoration work can be accomplished but he emphasizes that regardless, a great improvement will be made to that site - whether through renovation or through some other usage of the property.
As I often emphasize, slowly but surely and building by building, we are bringing our downtown back to look the way we want it to look and the way that it should look. And it appears to me and others that the better our town looks, the more folks we see in that area!
In keeping with our special week to "Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up", I am still hopeful that downtown businesses will mount American flags on buildings, metal canopy poles, etc. prior to Memorial Day. They not only show pride in our country and support for our troops, but they add greatly to the appearance of downtown areas and make them appear more alive and busy. As part of that drive, we are planning to place two flags on our city building at the corner of North Main and Fifth Street.
The Council several weeks ago voted to re-erect the sign on our baseball field bearing its correct name "Carroll-Wilson Field" that is named after those two men, Victor "Vic" Carroll and Buster "Bus" Wilson who worked tirelessly for so many years to keep baseball alive in Jellico. And it was their work with the help of others that led to the development of the great 1953 Jellico-Clairfield team that came so close to winning the national amateur championship in Battle Creek, Michigan. But more importantly, it was that work by them and a group of several other men that kept a lot of young boys on the baseball diamond and away from potential trouble.
The original sign was apparently blown down and damaged by strong winds. Hopefully it will be back in place before to the start of the baseball season and especially prior to the start of "old-timer baseball". Those fellows remember Vic and Bus well and the contributions that they made and they badly want to see it back where it belongs.
As cited above, the volume of my e-mail increased greatly during the period that Interstate-75 was closed and most of it dealt with that subject. However I also received a few that referred to other subjects (I no longer give names and addresses due to privacy regulations but I retain hard copies of all I quote). Two especially interesting ones came from Farragut and Louisville, Ky..
A resident of Farragut writes, "Mayor Clifton, thank you for the column you post on the website. Your discussion of the 1918 flu epidemic reminds me of stories told by my father who was in US Navy boot camp at Great Lakes north of Chicago during that period." (Although that was the only e-mail referring to the story about the great flu epidemic, it was mentioned to me personally by several readers. And one group of senior citizen ladies told me that they had a long discussion concerning the stories that had been related to them by their parents pertaining to that terrible time in our country's history - that actually was not so long ago.)
And a former resident of Jellico now living in Louisville signed on to report, "I was surprised to hear a story about Jellico on the local news (in Louisville, Ky,) yesterday morning. The mention of Jellico always causes my ears to perk up. They reported the road problem because so many Kentucky and Louisville fans will be driving south for the NCAA games.
The story about I-75 led to a long discussion by the radio announcers about Jellico………….. They did say that it was a 'beautiful little town nested in the mountains'. Keep up the good work that you're all doing in Jellico and all us expatriates will continue to spread the word about what a great place Jellico is to visit".
As I keep insisting, what we are doing to improve the appearance of our town is drawing the attention of a lot of folks. And once again - there's nothing like receiving a little encouragement!
Alla Faye Monday called to say that a big emphasis will be placed on physical fitness this spring and that two community activities are planned for April and May in keeping with that theme.. According to Alla Faye, a "Health Walk" will be conducted at Indian Mountain State Park on Saturday, April 9th starting at 9:00 AM.. Free prizes will be awarded and there will be free blood pressure checks. (Alla Faye says that her goal is to have a minimum of 100 walkers and that she already has around 75 committed to participate in the event..) A second activity, "May Day", will be held on Saturday, May 7th also starting at 9:00 AM.. Included will be a lot of fun things for both individuals and families including sack races, tug-of-war competition, relay races, etc.. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Alla Faye can be contacted at 784-3420 (10:00 AM - 10:00 PM) for more information..
As Don Whitehead, the late Pulitzer Prize winning journalist once wrote, no matter where you go and what you do, there seems to be a connection to Jellico, Tennessee. And we can almost all cite example after example of which we are aware that confirms the accuracy of that statement.
A department at Boston Elementary School recently received an inspection and review by the State of Kentucky - which of course always brings on apprehension. Following the evaluation we were given the customary briefing concerning the findings and we are proud to say that we received a very favorable rating. During the conversations, a chance remark was made by one of our staff that I am also the mayor of Jellico, and that casual reference brought a surprised response from a lady involved in the review. It turned out that she is the granddaughter of Rev. and Mrs. Ellis Hoskins, pastor of our Crouches Creek Baptist Church. And she was even further surprised to learn that we live so close to each other.
The Hoskin's are not originally from Jellico but they have been here long enough that they have been fully "Jellicoized". And their blood has to run deep blue by this time (as in Jellico High blue rather than Kentucky blue. Or at least I don't think it's Kentucky blue.)
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