Last Thursday night's meeting of the City Council will be covered in detail by local media including steps to be taken to resurface numerous streets that so badly need corrective action; the financial statement passed to members by Finance Director John Davenport indicating that our current balance in all funds with only monthly checks outstanding, now totals $ 505,844.01; and approval of a very nice sign for Indian Mountain State Park to be located at the corner of London Avenue and Dairy Avenue.
Mr. Norman Bradley along with Mr. Jim Page representing Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries (SEMACO), appeared before the Council to fully acquaint everyone with that firm's employment practices that emphasizes hiring as many local employees as possible. But according to Mr. Bradley, when locals are not available they use fully approved contractual labor. And in a startling revelation, Bradley said that the Jellico facility is now the only place in the world that manufactures soft headgear for the United States Marine Corps. That is something of which our town and area can certainly be extremely proud. (The heads of Charles Allen and many other local Marine Corps vets will probably swell upon hearing that news.)
(Page's path and mine have crossed previously. He was winding up his career as a Vol defensive tackle under then Head Coach Bill Battle just as I was joining Battle's staff as a graduate administrative assistant. We had a chance to talk over old times prior to the meeting.)
An e-mail from James Ridenour, local Emergency Medical Service (EMS) technician, informed me of a bill before Congress that if passed, will provide a $ 1,000.00 tax credit for active members of both volunteer fire departments and EMS organizations.
Folks serving in all of our emergency services face risks every time they go out since they never know what situation they will meet upon arrival at the scene of a crisis.. Let's all hope that the bill passes and is signed into law as a small indication of appreciation for all those men and women who perform such vital and sometimes dangerous services for us. It would be good if all emergency service personnel were included.
After writing the above, I began to wonder just how many of our citizens know the identity of all those serving in our local emergency services and I would like to make them known:
Our JELLICO POLICE DEPARTMENT includes TONY DAY, Chief; RONNIE LEWIS, Assistant Chief; JEFF PARTIN, Detective; JEFF SMITH, Detective Officers WAYNE CONRAD CHRIS ANDERSON, JOHNNY BLANKENSHIP; Dispatchers JACKIE RICHARDSON, Senior Dispatcher; MARSHA WALP, LARRY WILSON, MARK BELL.
Our JELLICO FIRE DEPARTMENT is currently made up of JOHN "REDBIRD" PERKINS; Chief; KEITH BLAIR, Assistant Chief; JACK YOUNG, Captain; GARY TROXELL, Operator; GEORGE DEUEL, EMD/Director Homeland Security; NELSON KIDD, Inspector; Firefighters ROBERT ROOKARD, BRIAN GULLEY, JERRY "RED" LYNCH, LARRY WILSON, WAYNE CONRAD, WAYNE BARTON, BILLY DOUGLAS, JEFF KIDD, TRACY CREEKMORE, TIM DOUGLAS, JAY D. MURRAY, RUSSELL BAIRD, MARK BELL, ANDREW YOUNG, JEFF PARTIN, MITCHELL DAY.
Our JELLICO RESCUE SQUAD
And the non-city JELLICO AMBULANCE SERVICE EMS personnel that serve us locally include BARNEY BATES, EMT -Paramedic/Director; KENNY HICKS, EMT/Paramedic/ Assistant Director; BECKY HINKLE, EMT-IV/RN/CEN; JARED HUGHETT, EMT/ Paramedic; DARRYL MUSE, EMT/Paramedic; EMT-IV's JOHN CRAWFORD, MAE MUSE, RONNIE NAIL, STEPHEN SMALL, JAMES RIDENOUR, CRISSY MARLOW, EMT Student/Driver JOE HOPSON.
(If any active members of either organization were inadvertently omitted, please let me know and I will be glad to verify and then print them. We want to thank them all!)
Remember that our special "Clean-up, Fix-up, Paint-up Week" is now only a little over a week away. We need everybody to get involved to make a difference in our town! (May 7- May 14).
Last article I related the early history of the Catholic Church in this area with the establishment of St. Boniface on Kentucky Hill around 1882.. The same article from which I took that information states that the first Baptist Church in this area was founded in the early 1800's in Barbourville, Kentucky (originally called the Cumberland Association.)
That first church/association soon established branches in several locations including Jellico Creek, Kentucky. The Jellico Creek church in turn may have helped the very few residents and incoming settlers to this area in establishing our initial Baptist Church in 1844, (Good Hope Baptist Church in what was later to become Oswego.) Once the railroads arrived in 1883, several members of the Good Hope Church then moved from Oswego into Smithburg that they quickly renamed Jellico in honor of their former home and established our Jellico First Baptist Church.
(I believe the present church is the third and possibly fourth church building located on that site.)
(It was also folks moving here from Jellico Creek/Ryans Creek that brought the Headquarters of the Church of God Mountain Assembly to Jellico shortly after its founding in 1906 by members who possibly had originally belonged to the Cumberland/Baptist Association. That church next year will celebrate its 100th year - most of those years here in Jellico.)
Don Bailey read my recent article concerning the mining community of Dowlais, Kentucky (correct spelling according to Don) that was located near Jellico in its early days. But like the town of Jellico, Kentucky, Dowlais just virtually disappeared from our memories and our history. Don who has done a lot of research into our local history, states that I am correct in saying that Dowlais was located off Black Oak Road in the long hollow near the Vermillion residences. He lists the first four major coal operations to initially open in this area once the railroads arrived here in 1883
Once the above mines were open and operating very successfully, our entire Jellico area soon became ringed with mines including the very large Pluckney Coal Company in Tannery Hollow..
I have written many times in the past that I am astonished by the number of people outside Jellico who now tell me that they take this column from the Internet and/or the Christian Journal-Leader. And I am equally surprised by the number of contacts that I receive in that respect.
Margie Beverly of the Stinking Creek area says she and others read them every week, enjoy them and keep up with what is happening in relation to the nearby Rarity Mountain Development.
A city official from another Campbell County town recently phoned me to tell me how much he enjoys these articles that he said he reads every week in the CJL.. And I received an e-mail from an out-of-state former municipal official who takes it from the Internet "I have read your articles and love them as a former mayor of Alexandria, Kentucky located in southern Campbell County, Kentucky. Keep up the good work! I don't care if you use my name. Roger E. Steffen, Alexandria, Kentucky." I greatly appreciate all of the favorable responses whether I can reply or not. And it's especially good to hear from present and former public officials who have experienced the problems that a municipal official must face - regardless the size and/or population of the town.
And I am getting a lot of good help in getting these notes out locally and into the community as well. Ted Tye tells me that he every week picks up several copies, keeps one and then delivers the others to senior citizens who look forward to them. Mrs. Josephine Siler and Mrs. Marcella Lindsay request additional copies as do others that they can pass to friends and neighbors - and I make sure they get extra copies. And two ladies who said that they would prefer their names not be mentioned, last week informed me that they now get several copies and distribute them in their neighborhoods. I greatly appreciate their help and everyone's help in getting them to our citizens.
But last week I had a first time experience in distributing them. I was in a business intending to place them on the counter for customers to pick up who wanted them. One of the employees had told me before that copies go out very quickly there and while some of us were talking, folks shopping at that time kept asking me for one, two, three and even four copies for themselves, their friends and neighbors- until I gave out everyone I had and had to go for more (I loved it!)
E-mail me at: mayor@jellico.tn.us
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