Some of my articles evoke much more comment from readers that do others - and a great example of that was the recent issue pertaining to the late Dr. Charles "Doc" Prater. Few things that I have ever written received the response that one did (and folks still mention it to me and often relate their personal recollections of Doc..) And I have even had a few requests for copies of it by folks who missed it and either do not have computers or were unaware of the fact that it is on the Internet www.jellico.com/mayor (now placed in the archives link of this column).

Webmasters's Note: To search for mentions of Dr. Prater (or anything else) in Mayor Clifton's columns, go to Netlink 2000's front page: http://www.jellico.com and scroll down to the Google Search. Type the word you are looking for and choose to search "www.jellico.com". I did that just now using Prater as my search word and discovered that Mayor Clifton has written about Dr. Prater twice lately.

But a good number of people have also commented to me concerning my last article that dealt with the special call meeting when the future of our Utilities Board was discussed. Without exception, everyone who has talked with me has expressed their satisfaction that the Board will remain in place and function as it has for the past seventy (70) years or so..

For the Utilities Board and the Mayor/City Council to function properly, we have to be able to put all of our differences and personalities aside and have no axes to grind with anyone when we are performing our city's business. And I believe (and certainly hope) that we are in a position to do just that now that some areas of conflict have apparently been resolved.. And I for one will be very, very disappointed if that does not turn out to be the case.

Our February meeting of the City Council is expected to discuss Ordinances and Resolutions establishing Manual of Rules, Policies and Procedures for the Police Department, Proposed General Personnel Policies and Regulations, and make-up of the Jellico Utilities Board.. We will also receive our second monthly report on the progress of our animal control program..

(As written earlier, the Utilities Board if expected to soon -if it hasn't already - begin work on a Utilities Personnel Policies Manual and a Job Description for position of Director of Utilities.)

Although we certainly had a snow of significance over the weekend that ranged in reported depth of from 5 to 9 inches depending upon the locale, we may have dodged a bullet since the ground was so warm when the snow first began falling. It is hard to estimate what the depth would have been had that not been the case. (It's even possible what happened in the east and northeastern parts of our country could have been what developed here.)

The "perfect winter storm" happens around here very infrequently when moisture laden air moving up from the south meets very cold air coming down from the north. That apparently happened over the weekend and reminded me of 1993 when two such strong systems met right over us and dumped 24 inches or so on us. The "Blizzard of '93" was termed the winter storm of the century and no one that I have talked with had ever seen anything like it -before or since.

During the two winters that I spent in New York City many years ago while in the military, I saw several snows each winter that usually ranged from 4-12 inches. But I never saw such a snow as was depicted on the television networks from some of the areas that I frequented during that time - especially Central Park. To see 27 inches on the ground there - not including some huge drifts - reminded me of why I did not remain there after my discharge from service. (And what made things so tough on us was the fact that we lived virtually like civilians until we had to go to the mountains of New York State during the very worst times for marksmanship and other training. Coming from nice warm barracks into below zero chill factors left an impression upon me that I have not forgotten and probably never will.. It's sure miserable when you are so cold that every part of your body feels the terrible pain and there is no escaping from it.)

I mention that fact since I have great empathy for our city crews who must get out in all kinds of weather to keep our streets open and our utilities on line. They were out well into the very early morning hours on Sunday spreading salt and attempting to keep ahead of the snowfall as it really began coming down. Sometimes the snow just overwhelms the best of efforts but they were able to keep our main thoroughfares open. And due at least in part to their efforts, we had only a couple of very minor fender-benders and no personal injuries of any kind reported.

I will never forget the night many years ago when I was principal at Jellico High and was returning home from a road basketball game very late one bitterly cold night and saw men from the Utilities Department in a ditch attempting to either thaw a main line or to repair a break in the line. I remember thinking how miserable they must have been. (And when I got out last Sunday morning to drive around town, one of the first individuals I saw was Woody Swafford from the Utilities Department checking things out. It is more than just pure luck that we had no power outage or loss of water services during the entire period.)

Sometimes I receive an e-mail that makes my day and makes me glad that I write these columns. I recently received one from "Mike, Shirley + Sierrah" that I include in that category:

I just found your web page and I love it. My mom was born and raised in Jellico, (dad was from Williamsburg). Mon's dad was Jake Hatfield the preacher in Morley for many years. Mon has many memories of your land, She does not have a computer but would answer any questions you have. Her name is Lizzie Hatfield Barnhill. Dad was Ernest Barnhill. Mom's phone is ____________. She lives in _______, Ohio now. Thank you. Shirley

Thank you Shirley for the nice compliment and I will make your e-mail address along with your mom's phone number and Ohio town of residence available to any who remember her and your dad and may desire to talk and/or correspond with her.

Sarah Fredericks asked me to include a note that Flora Lou Crawford Bray of Lafollette who grew up in the Cane Creek Community near Jellico, has written an autobiography. The true story of her life entitled "Wednesday's Child" will be printed in paper back and available for sale this summer. If anyone wishes to obtain a copy of "Wednesday's Child", please contact Sarah at 786-6395. It should make interesting reading for local folks..

That information reminds me that one of our area's all-time greatest high school basketball coaches also came from Cane Creek and ended up in Lafollette.. John R.W. Brown who has been with State Farm Insurance for many years now, had few peers as a high school coach when he coached the old Lafollette High School to the state championship game - losing in overtime to one of the very large Nashville schools. (That was in the days when there was no classification system and when schools like Lafollette High, Jellico High, Wynn High, etc. had to compete with not only schools of their own size, but with the much, much larger schools in Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and other metropolitan areas with four and five times their enrollment - if they were to advance in the district, regional and state tournament..)

During that never to be forgotten season, John R. W. dispatched them all up to the final game and only a turnover or two cost his Lafollette team the true state championship.

He had a real talent for developing players and he emphasized the fundamentals of the game to the highest degree. And there were few in the coaching ranks who could match him strategy wise when games were on the line in the late stages.

He was a fine high school and college player in his own right prior to his coaching days and until recently he could still play a mean game of one-on-one against much younger players.. Added to all of that, he was even smart enough as a young man to marry a pretty Jellico girl..

With the exception of our last snow, snows haven't been much as winter snows used to go when we had several "good" ones every winter. At least the kids finally got their wish and missed school and even had more than enough to make a snow man and to go sledding. But it seems we are experiencing March weather in February when the sun shines brightly one day and it snow flurries that very night - only to see the sun again shining brightly that afternoon.

Several of us were in Indian Mountain State Park the other afternoon on one of those days when the sun was shining brightly (although there was a rather cold wind blowing at the time). Suddenly a group of 15 -20 Robins landed in the grass and began picking. None of us had seen any previously so we believed that we had probably seen the first arrivals in this area. It was a very welcome sight but certainly no guarantee that spring is here as yet. (And one has to wonder if even those Robins got fooled and came back a little too early for their own good.)

But those Robins started me to thinking about just some of the things I am really looking forward to seeing and doing this spring and summer:

• Having breakfast on the back porch.
• Seeing Mr. Clyde Brown sitting underneath his car port in the cool of the evening reading his Bible.
• Thinking about putting out a garden with great emphasis upon thinking about! (In fact I'm thinking about putting out a bigger garden this year than I thought about putting out last year.)
• Determining how many of our ole-timer baseball players (including yours truly) can still bend over far enough to attempt to field a ground ball.
• Having a good mess of "poke" cooked with fatback and some hard boiled eggs (maybe with a little bit of vinegar.)
• Seeing completion of a lot of the renovation work now going on in town including Buck's Hardware, the Tabernacle, etc..
• Listening to that great sound for the first time that our local radio station is expected to produce once the tower and all of the state-of-the art equipment is in place in their new studio.
• Having some garden lettuce and green onions "killed" with meat grease.
• Sinking my teeth into that first mess of green beans from anybody's garden.
• Staying up much later at night after school is out and going to work much later - having stopped by Hardees for a cup of coffee and listening to the gang of regulars gathered there as they solve many of the world's major problems.
• Our spring and summer activities in Veterans Park..
• Walking in Indian Mountain State Park after the sun has gone down while counting the number of newly hatched ducks and geese swimming behind their parents in the lake - all the while watching our for that mean Canadian goose that has demonstrated such a disliking for me in the past.. (I've been thinking about taking him some grain or something as a peace offering.)
• Finding a good "June Apple" tree to replace the one cut down on someone's property (not to be named) that was there for years and had some of the best tasting apples I have ever filched, 'uh saved from rotting on the ground!
• Finally getting to pull some of those great home grown tomatoes right from the vine (provided that Jenny and her Miracle Grow raises them of course.)

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