Sunday's Emergency Services Personnel Appreciation Day went very, very well for its inaugural event. As expected we had two evacuation helicopters (Knoxville and Middlesboro) along with representatives and vehicles from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee Army National Guard, Jellico Ambulance Service, Jellico and South Whitley County Volunteer Fire Departments, Jellico Police Department, Campbell County Sheriff's Department, a police dog that was both very well trained and entertaining that the kids loved, local wrecker services and possibly others.
I want to thank organizer Dan Gimbel, the staff of Radio Station WJJT, Tourism Director Jake Bennett, Wayne and Deana Barton (who donated plenty of cold water for participants and viewers in the heat) and everyone who was involved or attended the function.
That was another very moving ceremony held on Sunday night in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of 9/11.. It was a beautiful evening, we had a good crowd and Jake Bennett, Rev. Steve Meeks, Rev. Jerome Walden, and Carbide Warman did a great job with the program. (Rev Meeks as usual gave another very meaningful address in memory of all those who died.)
I talked by phone last week with Lieutenant Colonel Scott Cuel, Squadron Director of Operations for the 172 Fighter Squadron based in Michigan.. Colonel Cuel is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Cuel of Woolridge, a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a decorated pilot of an A-10 jet fighter. (And although the Colonel lives in another state and although we have never met, I am thinking of declaring him an "honorary" citizen of Jellico. He might even want to live here some day and we would certainly be extremely proud to have him.)
As I mentioned in earlier notes, I requested Col. Cuel to do a fly-by in his military jet during one of our city's activities and especially during our Fall Fest. Since that time we have been in contact by both phone and faxes and have completed the paper work required to present a request to the Department of Defense (DoD)..
Nothing is definite at this time. But if granted permission by DoD to make the fly-by, Col. Cuel will probably fly into Knoxville on Saturday, October 1st, refuel and make his flight over our Fest at sometime around 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM that evening. And Tourism Director Jake Bennett and I plan on asking our Veterans Group to do some kind of patriotic observance to correspond with the flight to include playing of the United States Air Force's theme song..
Things are really falling into place for a great Fest! Now if the weather will just cooperate!
(No one around here has the authority that General George Patton assumed during World War II when a continuous downpour created so much mud that his tank columns could not advance. Patton reportedly called in his Chaplain and gave him a direct order to go pray and to stop the rain. And from all accounts that I have read, that's exactly what happened.)
Here's still hoping that area schools - in addition to Boston Elementary - will get involved! Schools in other towns participate in their similar functions and both Whitley County Schools and Williamsburg City School had students to attend and participate in their "Old Fashioned Days".
I signed on last Wednesday night to Governor Bredesen's statewide conference call of mayors in which Governor Bredesen discussed several topics and took questions from mayors from all around Tennessee. The topics included the current status of TennCare and the Health Safety Net, the proposed closing of some military facilities in our state, and of course the Katrina relief efforts in Tennessee. The TennCare issue has been a troublesome one since it was at one time probably the most far reaching state health care program in the country and could not continue to be financially supported at that level. According to Bredesen, although it has undergone serious cutbacks, Tennessee's public health care coverage still rates very favorably with other states.
Also according to the governor, something like 15,500 evacuees from the Katrina ravaged areas have been brought to Tennessee with the largest percentage coming to Shelby, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and the more urban counties. Additionally members of the Tennessee National Guard, police officers, health care workers, etc. are in those badly damaged areas helping with the relief efforts.. And of course the private donations to the Red Cross, Salvation Army and other agencies have been flowing in.
The citizens of our Jellico area have certainly opened their hearts and pocketbooks to the victims of Katrina. Most if not all area schools and school systems have taken up money during regular school hours, at ball games and other activities and collected donations of water, canned goods, tissue, paper towels and other essentials. Lindsay Terry, fifth grader at Boston Elementary, personally collected $ 150.00 in donations. And I have been told that a student at Jellico Elementary who rarely has money to bring from home for soft drinks and snacks during that school's break time, insisted upon contributing what little he had during a fund raising there. (Nobody can convince me that we don't have an awful lot of wonderful kids around here.)
Area churches and the Jellico Community Hospital have all done likewise and I understand that we may possibly have volunteers taking part in the rescue operations. At the time these notes were being prepared, there was also talk of some additional activities to help in the relief efforts in conjunction with the Salvation Army. (Most military veterans have a special place in their hearts for the Salvation Army!) But no plans of any kind have been finalized as yet!
It's good to see the work now going on in Jellico including the closing of the ditch on South Main Street in preparation for the walking trial to be constructed later that will run from the caboose in Veterans Park to the city baseball/softball fields.
Construction is also underway on the Tabernacle on Florence Avenue that is going to give it an entirely new and beautiful appearance - both exterior and interior.
The Bucks' continue to labor at the task of renovating their buildings - although most of the work at the present time is taking place on the interior of those structures.. But Ronnie Buck informed me that he expects the new glass panels to be installed any day now - along with the awning for at least one building to be put in place within another week or so.
As I have pointed out several times in these articles, we hope for -and expect - some out of town media coverage for our Fall Fest. The more improvements that we can complete by that time the better. And the annual Jellico High Homecoming is now only a month away when we will have so many former residents returning. Several have e-mailed and/or called me to say that they are anxious to see what all has been done to improve the appearance of downtown Jellico since last year's homecoming. In fact one fellow told me that he is about as interested in coming home in October to see what has taken place since last year as he is in attending homecoming.
No matter where they live and no matter how long they have been gone, JHS alumni members and former Jellicoans still take great interest and pride in their school and hometown.
I also talked briefly last week with Rarity Mountain developer Mike Ross who still is pleased with the progress being made on that development. In response to a lot of questions from those who have seen drawings of the proposed village, Ross did clarify for me that the theatre depicted in the graphics will not be a motion picture theatre.
Rather a very nice "community theatre" type facility is projected that will be suitable for dramatic productions, concerts, etc. much like we see in theme parks. (It will be great to have an opportunity to attend such entertainment so close to Jellico and not have to drive to Knoxville, Gatlinburg, Lexington and other areas.)
I discussed the current situation of Radio Station WJJT AM 1540 with owner Marvin Douglas over the weekend. According to Marvin, the station's new studio to be located in the old Jellico High School Vocational Education Building near the Tabernacle is well on its way to completion.. That building was constructed by the Federal government during the "great depression" to provide young people (including Jellico High Students when our high school was located on Florence Avenue) with practical job skills; was later used as a garage for several years by a strip mining company; and more recently served as a storage facility for Imperial Cantrell.
He also stated that a contract has been signed with the Tennessee Radio Network to greatly expand the station's coverage including up to date news broadcasts. The station is expected to have much greater range with clarity resembling FM once all improvements are completed.
Marvin says that the only hold up to getting the station completely ready to move from its present location and begin broadcasting from its new facility is the fact that the Federal Communications Commission must grant final approval to the plans for the erection of the station's tower to include the concrete platform, electrical wiring, and actual tower construction. But engineers are very hopeful of receiving their final approval within a short period of time..
I know that football schedules are made up years in advance, but our schedule this year borders on suicide even if we shake off the UAB game and play like we are capable of playing.
We now have to go to Florida, Louisiana State, Alabama, and Notre Dame. (And don't forget we go to the frozen tundra to play Kentucky that always plays us so tough regardless of talent levels.)
If through some absolute miracle we should come out of that schedule unbeaten, they could justifiably declare us national champions without our even having to play Southern Cal..
Vol basketball fans are anxiously awaiting this year's recruiting class in that sport. Coach Pearl appears to be off to a good start after having received commitments from two of the top 100 prospects (that are rated even higher by some recruiting gurus). If those two do sign with UT, that alone will sure brighten the future. And according to some reports, Pearl has a chance to land some more top caliber players. But we have thought that before and we will just have to wait until November. But I for one feel much better about the future of the program.
Talk about someone that I would have liked to have met and talked with.. Charles Allen was telling me that he was in Buddy's Barbecue last Sunday morning and met a senior citizen couple from Columbus, Ohio. It turned out that the gentleman, like Charles, was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps which immediately gave them something to discuss.
The fellow had been assigned to the great U.S. Marine Corps Band although he had wanted to be a Marine infantryman. But he was a member of the legendary Glen Miller Band that still has a huge following even sixty years later. When the war broke out, that most famous big band of all time was disbanded and its members inducted into our Armed Services.
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