I don't know what efforts have been made to improve the appearance of our town that were instituted just for the purpose of coinciding with our annual "Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up Week".

But it's for sure that a lot of improvements are being made for whatever reason including the resurfacing of several streets recently recommended by Street Commissioner Alvin Evans and the street committee and approved by vote of the City Council; work being done to the building at the corner of North Main Street and 4th Street.(old Tibbie's Restaurant Building) is nearing completion; renovation of the old Bill's Dollar Store is planned to begin shortly if not already underway; and John Baird says that the old Coca-Cola Building is still being cleared out and inspected but prospects for its restoration do not look as good as he had once hoped - although correction of an eye sore problem in one form or another should begin before too long regardless of what course of action is decided upon for that structure.

New structures are under construction around town including the condominiums on Sunset Trail and several new single residence homes. And can you imagine the view that the Jerry Llewellyn, Jr. family is going to have once their home is completed sitting just above the lake at Indian Mountain State Park? What a location! That shade of green that I am developing is nothing but pure envy! (While speaking of Indian Mountain Park, it's sure going to make a difference in traffic patterns in that facility once the road work is completed leading in from the back entrance that is being greatly widened as well). Jerome Cummins has certainly been successful in obtaining funding for any number of improvements to our local park.)

I recently talked briefly with Mr. Vince Vannett and his plans are still in motion to open a coffee shop on North Main Street sometime within the next few weeks. In fact Mr. Vanett said that his family was in the process of moving to Jellico at that time. Since that conversation I have had an opportunity to talk to Mrs. Vannett and she is enthusiastic about opening the new shop.

At the times these notes were written, I hadn't observed any new American Flags other than those previously cited at Jellico Housing Authority and Neely's Barbershop. But other places say they will get them up and one lady said that she had purchased a flag for the building where she works following my very first article requesting the flags. She said that she had just not had time to get it up yet. And employees at two other locations said they had requested flags be purchased by their employers but that if the purchases are not approved, they will obtain them even if they have to buy the flags themselves. (One area businessman who is a veteran of the U.S. Army and who has always flown a flag at his establishment, told me that he displays his flag out of patriotism and support for our military. But he said surprisingly that he has found that they make for good advertisement since they draw attention and that he knows of an incident or two when a veteran may have looked for the presence of a flag before stopping at his place of business.)

On a final note concerning improvements being made in Jellico, I don't believe that I have ever seen as much yard work being done around town in any one season as has happened this spring. It would be hard to estimate the amount of mulch that is visible around so many trees, shrubs and flowers. And it really looks great!

Good news for the young folks (and everybody who enjoys the entertainment) - Eddie Barber who has been so popular during previous appearances here, will return to Jellico for a Saturday night, May 28th performance on our Veterans Park stage starting at 7:00 PM.. Free of charge to everyone including the City of Jellico.

Barber has really built up a big following of fans in southeastern Kentucky and a large crowd can be expected to possibly include out of town folks - especially if the weather is good!

Memorial Day is upon us and don't forget the annual fund drive for the upkeep of our Jellico Cemetery that is maintained by the Jellico Cemetery Association rather than the city of Jellico since it is privately owned. (And other groups at this time of year collect funds as well for the upkeep of local cemeteries throughout our area.)

Helen Ruth Sharp (and possibly others) as usual will be at her post that weekend collecting for the Association and I urge everyone visiting the cemetery to "pitch in" with donations to help with its upkeep. There was a time when families were expected to maintain their own burial plots and some did -but many did not. The cemetery eventually reached the point that something had to be done to correct the situation. The Association was revived thanks to the work of Sharp and several others and they went to work to restore the cemetery to the great condition in which we now find it every Memorial Day. But they must have financial support to keep it in such great shape. And believe you me, it is far easier to make a suitable donation than to have to personally perform all of the hard work required to keep grass mowed, litter removed, etc. from the graves of our deceased family members and relatives.

I was asked to announce that Jan's Snip Shop on North Main Street will celebrate its 26th anniversary on Friday, June 3rd and Saturday, June 4th.. Cake and soft drinks will be served and there will be drawings for prizes - accompanied by Caribbean music.

The shop now has both new and used clothing for sale in addition to its usual hair care.

Remember that our annual "Jellico Classic Car Show" is scheduled for Saturday, June 18th..

I realize that a list of honorees for Jellico High School Alumni Awards '05 has been announced for some time now. But a name that would be good to add to the list is Mrs. Martha Evans Thornton, JHS Class of 1932.. (She may well be the last surviving member of that class that was unique in the history of JHS in that it had several "sets" of brothers in a relatively very small class enrollment.) Mrs. Thornton is certainly one of our senior members of the alumni and attended Jellico (County) High on Florence Avenue when Jellico may have still maintained a Jellico (City) High School on South Main Street next to the First Baptist Church that lasted until the early '30's.. (As I understand the arrangement in those days after the Florence Avenue building was opened in 1917, students living within the city limits could attend either school.)

I recently enjoyed talking with Mrs. Thornton who advised me that in those days many surrounding communities had a two-years high school (grades 9 and 10) and Mrs. Thornton lived in the Tackett Creek area that maintained such a school. She did not begin attending Jellico High until 1931 when she entered as an eleventh grader.. And living in the very mountainous Clearfork area, attending school in Jellico was no simple matter in those days. Automobiles were not always totally dependable and she and three or four other students were brought by car down to Morley. Then they caught a train into Jellico. How they got from the train station to the south end of town I didn't ask. Maybe they walked! But in our conversation, she did point out that it wasn't too uncommon for them to arrive at school a little late. (Wonder why?)

She couldn't remember right off what time they arrived back at home but one would have to imagine that it was late into the evening - and presumably just in time to do the chores that almost all young people were assigned to perform in those days. (Wonder how many high school graduates we would have each year if they had to make that kind of effort every morning and evening nowadays to attend school?))

Mrs. Thornton is a part of our school's heritage and it would be very appropriate to recognize her at Homecoming 2005.

And on the subject of local history I believe it is Fred Brown, Knoxville News-Sentinel human interest writer, who often comments on roadside historical markers and plaques that we just pass right by time after time after time and never pay any real attention to what is written upon them. Brown usually relates the complete story connected with the markers and it often makes for very, very interesting reading.

I am sure that there are many locals who cannot relate where Campbell County got its name and why. And I wonder how many of our students fresh out of their studies in Tennessee and American History can answer that question. Yet all we have to do is take a few seconds and read the historical plaque mounted atop the city limit/state line marker sitting between the Dollar General Store and State Line Discount Station that has been there since 1941.. Sometimes we travel great distances to visit historical sites and yet ignore those that are right under our noses.

(As cited on our Jellico marker, Campbell County is named for Colonel Arthur Campbell who commanded the 70th Virginia Militia (later National Guard) during the Revolutionary War and helped to win our independence from England. He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses (later state legislature) and was instrumental in negotiating treaties with the local Indian tribes throughout this area for the new United States government.) The same is probably true of our Kentucky neighbors. I can't but wonder if they all know where the name Kentucky originated. That same marker that may have been there for the past 64 years states that Kentucky is the name given to that area by the Iroquois Indians which means "Meadow Land" and was an area hunted by tribes from as far away as the Rocky Mountains.

I never see anyone stopping to read that marker anymore but I can remember as a kid when North Main Street (north/south highway U.S. 25-W) was very heavily traveled and motorists would pull over and read it or walk down and look at it while their vehicles were being serviced at L.A. Campbell's State Line Service Station (now the site of the State Line Discount Station). And guests at our hotels located just across the street for many years found it an item of interest as well. However there was no Dollywood in those days and Myrtle Beach had not yet become so popular. Such markers hold little interest for folks today and it's too bad! We all need an occasional reminder that this wonderful country just wasn't created by accident or magic wand.

Several have told me that they save these notes and hold on to most if not all of them since they believe that may be of increased interest sometime in the future. In fact Ted Alsip once told me that he and his wife Thelma "collect" them.. Melvin Weaver offered to distribute them for me during the period when I was still recovering from my broken ankle to insure that folks wouldn't miss any of them. (Anna Kate Elliott didn't wait for me to finish my deliveries last week and came to meet me. She said that she eagerly awaits their arrival and that she too has obtained and saved a copy of every issue.) I reported a first last week when I gave out all of the copies I had in a business place before I even had time to place them on the counter. Rev. Ozell Bunch called for more copies of a recent edition and this week I was informed by a lady that that she and some fellow employees planned to "buy" several additional copies of my last article about Beech Tree Manor. I assured her that there is no charge other than to read and hopefully enjoy them...

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