We sure had a busy weekend in Jellico over the Easter holidays. If nothing else, the Good Friday traffic situation on Interstate-75 created a scene that none of us had ever seen before (with the possible exception of the blizzard of '93). Traffic literally backed up almost to Williamsburg with two full lanes bumper to bumper. And not only was there heavy traffic on I-75, but an awful lot of vehicles and especially big trucks, were getting off and taking US-25 W or Tennessee 297-W..
(Several of us were gathered up at the post office on Saturday and a Newcomb resident half jokingly and half seriously, said that he had never expected to see a traffic jam in Newcomb. But that was what reportedly happened when a train blocked the crossing in the center of that community for an extended period of time, forcing traffic to nearly back all the way to the base of Branam Hill and back down Newcomb strait. A historic first!
But there were a lot of very positive things taking place as well. The now annual "Resurrection Breakfast" on Saturday morning, organized and sponsored by Rev. Odell Bunch, brought men to our Community Conference Room from around Campbell County and southern Whitley County. (And there may have been some there from other counties and areas since there usually are.) I was again invited to welcome everyone attending that very impressive event to Jellico and I was very honored to do so. As I told those in attendance, we want to have every activity possible in our downtown that is of a positive nature and that commemoration of the greatest event in all of history most certainly fits the description..
Several folks commented to me about the outstanding Easter morning observances held at their churches including several sunrise services. I don't have anything like a list of all those special services but I know that First Baptist Church had a special showing of the movie, "The Passion of Christ" with its realistic portrayal of the last days of Jesus and the tragic events of His last hours on earth. And the passion play presented by the Church of God, Mountain Assembly on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night for the twelfth consecutive year, was again so well done that at times it was actually hard to watch the enactment of the cruelty inflicted upon our Savior and the suffering that he endured. As I commented to Larry Lambdin who portraits Jesus in the play, I simply do not know how he fills that role so very, very well. But he certainly does- as does the entire cast in their particular roles. And the sound effects and music add so much.
(If you live in Jellico or anywhere in our area and have never seen the passion play entitled "A View of the Cross ", at the CGMA Church on South Main Street with Pastor Rev. Jerome Walden and Director Pam Weaver, I highly recommend that you do so.. I can promise you that it will be on your mind for days afterwards.. It is truly too moving to describe in words and you have to see it for yourself to receive its full impact.)
It's now definitely spring time and as they say, into every life a little rain must fall. And we were having April showers (actually a downpour) at the time these notes were written. I can recall for sure that Irving Berlin wrote the once popular song, "Easter Parade" but I can't remember if he did or did not write the equally popular "April Showers". That song states, "Though April showers may come your way, they bring the flowers that bloom in May". Anyone living in New York City doesn't usually see many spring flowers until May, but we have them here as early as March - and certainly during the month of April.
The Bradford Pears are about ready to burst into full bloom -if they have not already done so. And it won't be long until the Dogwoods and Azaleas follow suite. Dogwoods start blooming in Knoxville as much as a week before they do here and consequently they reach their peak a weak or so earlier than ours. We have always figured that is due to the fact that they are several air miles south of us with the slight variation in temperatures brought about by that geographic fact. But Jenny and I were on our way to DuPont Lodge a few days ago and noticed that the Dogwoods along the Falls Road were much more advanced than ours in the Jellico area - although they are north of us. We finally decided that Dogwoods in the wild must have a tendency to put out earlier than those that have been transplanted and placed in yards as ornamentals. (But don't look for that thesis in any botanical publications. That is strictly our untrained and unscientific opinion..)
And since it is spring time, "old timers baseball" will soon be starting up again. New member of City Council Bob Daniel who was responsible for restarting that game here that was once truly "America's pastime", has released a schedule of games for the 2005 season.
For those living out of town and out of state who take these articles from the Internet, the first game is April 23rd followed by games on May 28th, June 25th, July 23rd, August 20th, September 10th and October 15th (3:00 PM). All games with the exception of October 15th start at 1:00 PM.. (And to all who so badly want to see the "Caroll-Wilson Field" sign back in place, Councilman Alvin Evans is working to get that accomplished - and hopefully before the season opens on April 23rd. As Jim Hurst commented to me the other day, Vic Carroll and Bus Wilson contributed so much to this community that we badly need to restore the recognition of their contributions. Time has not erased the memory of those fellows from many of our minds because they kept a lot us of us young boys on the baseball diamond and away from potential trouble.)
Spring does bring on a lot of things including flowers, baseball, etc.. And it always brings on the time change as well when we "spring forward" one hour to allow us more time in the evenings for activities. That happens this Sunday morning.
I love daylight savings time once I get adjusted to it. But for a week or so after the change, I just walk around half asleep. And that is the same for students attending school. At Boston Elementary we will soon begin our annual testing that is of such importance in Kentucky schools.
Thank goodness our students will have two weeks to adjust to the new time before we start testing this year. (I just hope that the principal and staff have also successfully adjusted by then.)
Before leaving the subject of the arrival of spring time, I witnessed a sight in the park last week end that did these old eyes a lot of good. Several kids were flying their kites (and of course a kite eating tree got one). I have been wondering what ever happened to the popularity of kite flying that I suppose has been surpassed by electronic games, computers, etc. like an awful lot of other childhood games such as top spinning, "rooting the peg", shooting marbles, etc..
Am I the only one who can remember sitting in school in March just awaiting the final bell so that I could get home to fly my homemade kite? All the kites now are fancy "store bought" creations but we made our own out of small, strong and light tree limbs, newspapers or paper bags, flower paste, with "tails" made out of worn out towels, pillow cases or anything else we could get our hands on. And the boy who owned a long roll of unbroken twine was considered to be "top dog" in the neighborhood. In my humble opinion, kids of today are missing something!
The use of our Community Conference Room last Saturday for the Resurrection Breakfast (and it was utilized for other activities on that very same day) just served to remind us how fortunate we were to be able to construct that building that is fast becoming the center for most of our indoor community activities. That room is now used for everything ranging from family reunions, to wedding receptions, to good ole time gospel pickin' and a'singin' every Monday night. And the same is true of requests for posting of announcements of community activities on the bulletin board on the exterior of the Tramell building.
The structure has experienced some construction problems but the use now being made of that building more than justifies it's expense and any problems that we are having and any that might develop in the future. We have long needed such a facility.
And have you noticed how bright the gas lamps are outside that building? Councilman Evans says that he and Jerry Walker were able to get the wicks changed in those lamps along with a good cleaning of the glass. They sure look good and really stand out!!!
I have long insisted that our downtown has now reached the point where I believe that businesses opening in that area have a reasonable chance of being successful. I have not discussed the matter with Wayne Barton and his State Line Discount service station but from appearances, that business is off to a good start. Hopefully it will be very successful and serve as an incentive for other kinds of business to open in the downtown.
As I have announced on several previous occasions, our special "Clean Up, Fix Up, Paint Up Week" is scheduled for May 7th - May 14th.. Indian Mountain State Park Director Jerome Cummins informed me over the weekend that he and the park staff have decided to reschedule the park's annual such activity scheduled for April to coincide with the same dates as our city's special week. That will further enhance our overall effort.
I certainly appreciate that gesture on the part of the park staff and we hope that churches, schools, clubs, businesses, organizations, groups and individuals will also plan to join in making that week a total effort. We have a chance to really make a difference!
Whitley County Superintendent Lonnie Anderson recently forwarded me an e-mail that he had received from a gentleman in Knoxville who mentioned early Welsh coal miners who immigrated to this area to work in our local coal mines. Some of the names are very familiar to us including Davis, Evans, Jones, Llewellyn, Griffith, Morgan, Owens, Price, and several others.
One name that really caught my eye was that of Philip Francis who lived on, what else but Welch (or Welsh) Street and after opening his own mines around Jellico and Cotula, eventually became a very wealthy man. He was one of the early community leaders of Jellico and both he and his wife were highly respected and beloved individuals.
I mentioned the "Resurrection Breakfast" above. The featured speaker was from Elk Horn, Kentucky and according to him, a big flag and marker are located near that community stating that Pine Mountain, possibly the longest unbroken mountain ridge east of the Mississippi River, begins there and "ends near Jellico, Tennessee". Those of us from Jellico instructed him to go back and tell those folks to correct that marker to read, "Pine Mountain starts near Jellico, Tennessee and ends at that point". He good naturedly promised to do just that!
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