September 9, 2006
JELLICO NEWS / MAYOR'S COLUMN
Folks are still favorably commenting on our Tractor/Antique Engine Show combined with our Downtown Day/Night.. Mr. Wesley Jones, retired Whitley County school principal who lives in Williamsburg, came to the show and told me that he greatly enjoyed looking at all of those tractors made between 1921 and very recent years.. And several have predicted that the number of entries next year will be greatly increased. One fellow who says that he goes to shows all over our region called the organizational work done by Jake Bennett the best that he has seen anywhere. And he vowed to contact numerous other exhibitors and spread the word before next year. Others exhibitors were equally complimentary of the show and promised to do the same.
We received great coverage of the event in our local papers including the Whitley County News-Journal that covered the event.. And all had some great photos.
And a local insisted to me on the Sunday following our special Saturday night, "Anybody who has not heard Bill Rigney and the members of his family sing just don't know what they are missing.." According to that individual, a $ 25.00 ticket to a concert in Knoxville doesn't provide any better singing -if as good! To hear Bill, no one has to even leave town; it's free of charge; and all anyone needs to do is bring a good lawn chair in which to sit and enjoy.
And if you haven't heard Bill's sister, son and nephew sing, you are in for a real surprise! We will definitely be having them back!
There is one rule that I insist upon Bill following! He has to always open his performances with the George Jones song, "Grand Tour". That has always been my top favorite among many favorites done by Jones - in my opinion the last of the great true country music singers. (One summer several years ago during our annual military training, we had been in the field for a lengthy time and when we finally returned to the barracks, someone had a tape of one song and that was "Grand Tour". He played it over and over and over - but rather than getting sick and tired of it - I learned to love it more and more with each playing. And should you close your eyes now when Bill sings it and not know better, you might insist that it is ole George himself.
Bill also gets a whole lot of us fired up patriotically when he goes into Merle Haggard's "Walking on the Fighting Side of Me!" It's an understatement to say that he has a very large repertoire of great songs.
The Rigney family - like the Cupp, Petrey and several other local families - just seem to have the genetic makeup for being born with very good singing voices. Or as we around here like to say, "It runs in the family!" That's hard for me to take since the one time I attempted to sing in the Community Conference Room, a lady said that it "gave her a headache"! (But I realize that she's probably just one of those folks that doesn't recognize true talent!)
We will have our second "Emergency Preparedness Day" in Veterans Park Sunday, September 10th.. (1:00 PM -5:00 PM).. That activity that drew such a great deal of interest last year was initiated by Mr. Dan Gimbel who works in surgery at the Jellico Community Hospital.. Dan's objective in conducting such a special day is to recognize and honor all of our emergency personnel and to make our area citizens better prepared for emergencies when they do occur.
Dan hopes to have two Medivac helicopters here depending upon their work load at the time. All types of emergency services personnel and vehicles are also expected to participate along with some great demonstrations. He hopes folks will come to Veterans to learn about all types of emergencies and how best to cope with them...
That Sunday activity will be followed by our annual "Candle Light Vigil" in Veterans the very next Monday evening, September 11th. We will gather to remember the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who died on that terrible day in 2001.. The commemorative program was not complete at the time these notes were being written but it will be a very meaningful one.
Remember that the Candle Light Vigil will be preceded by a short "Freedom March in Support of Our Troops". We will line up shortly before dark in the area of the state line and make the short march to the stage in Veterans prior to the commemoration.. We ask everyone who can to make the march and to carry American flags, banners, etc. to show support for our troops. Those who cannot make the walk are invited to follow in vehicles.
And we certainly want our active and reserve military personnel, our veterans, and our emergency services personnel to be involved in the march.. We must never forget that many who later lost their lives at the World Trade Center and other areas were emergency service workers.
(I have asked the Jellico Utilities Department to have our flags up for both events starting on Friday, September 8th..)
When we first began the drive to renovate our downtown, we announced that we would like to restore as much of the 1930's and '40's look as possible. That is why we asked business owners who could to install fabric awnings like those seen in photos of our town during that era. And as I wrote last week, Orin Buck and Jake Bennett reminded me that I had many times stated my desire to "light up the downtown" as part of our renovation.
Well the Bucks have come up with something that will add light to one or both of their buildings and one addition will take us back to the early 1940's (1940 to be exact). Once it is in place, that building will look something resembling the way it did in the 1940's..
A fellow in Jellico who has always been interested in litter removal and control told me the other day that in addition to our annual spring "Clean Up, Paint Up, Fix Up Week", that we might want to consider conducting such a week late in the fall as well.. According to him, litter just collects over the summer that is unsightly and needs to be removed before winter - along with all of the leaves that fall.
That is a good idea and we might consider some dates in October or November that would be suitable for such a special week.. Our Campbell County Environmental Officer Glennis Monday is always willing to help us with such clean up campaigns when not involved elsewhere.
But as we always point out, if all individuals and/or property owners maintain their areas (and thankfully the large majority do), our problems with litter will be greatly reduced.. As I constantly emphasize, our town will look only as good as we make it look!
The last time I talked with Tanya Brock, "Habitat For Humanity" still needed a lot suitable for construction of a residence. If you have one you would be willing to donate, call 784-8380..
A candidate has been passing out literature calling for our City Council meetings to be run strictly according to Robert's Rules of Order. That is our official parliamentary procedure for meetings of the Council and we try to follow the rules laid down in that guide as best we can.. But we all realize that we are not the United States Senate with a professional parliamentarian to advise us on every minute detail found in the manual..
However the referral to Robert's Rules of Order brought back some very fond memories to me of former Jellico High School Principal and my predecessor as principal at that school, Mr. Hoyt Morton. I have often mentioned the time at a Tennessee Education Association meeting in a huge hall in Nashville jammed packed with thousands of educators when Mr. Morton arose to speak. A public address system was of course required for such a very large area and crowd. But the PA system had some feedback in it which continued to frustrate Mr. Morton in getting his point across.. Finally he yelled out in that booming voice that some of us will never forget, and heard by everyone, "Cut that (expletive) thing off! I want these people to hear me!"
The escapades of Mr. Morton are legendary but the one that really sticks out in my mind was the meeting of the then Jellico Parent Teacher Association (PTA) chaired by a demure little lady who considered herself somewhat of an expert on Robert's Rules of Order - and who insisted upon following their prescribed procedure to the umpteenth degree.
An issue developed questioning one of Mr. Morton's decisions made at the high school. He arose to defend himself when the chairlady ruled him out of order "according to Robert's Rules of Order". So he sat down! With more of the same criticism forthcoming from someone else in attendance, Mr. Morton's anger grew and he again arose to speak. And he was again informed that he was out of order "according to Robert's Rules of Order!" He sat back down for the second time! Finally after rising for a third time and receiving the same response from the chairlady, "You are out of order according to Robert's Rules of Order", he bellowed out, "To (expletive) with Robert's Rules of Order" and spoke for the next fifteen minutes..
As I wrote following Mr. Morton's death, he was one of a kind and I am sure that hundreds of his former students will totally agree with that statement. And ever since that long ago meeting of the PTA, I never think of Robert's Rules of Order without also thinking of him!
Many years ago when our local deep mines brought about the creation of large communities, one such community in the Clearfork area became concerned about law and order and the lack of available police officers. Eventually they and the mining company decided that they needed to have their own police officer to enforce the law.. The position was established, the salary announced and an election held that included several candidates.
One candidate drew tremendous ridicule when he was seen on the streets of Middlesboro, Kentucky every weekend campaigning for the job. But the laughing stopped immediately when he was elected by a good margin. It turned out that many of the miners were going to the then wide-open Middlesboro on weekends to spend their hard earned money in "riotous" living and he got the chance to "politic" them while they were in a partying mood.
Now in case you have noticed one of my campaign signs on Kentucky Highway 1804 in the middle of the Boston community, you are not the only one. I have sure taken a good ribbing over that sign. One fellow told me that he thinks I will carry Boston by landslide numbers.
But there is a story behind that sign being where it is. A lady in Boston offered to put up a sign where her relative had lived in Jellico and where her family still owns property (or so I thought). When I didn't see the sign placed in the yard where that relative lived, I questioned her why and she informed me that that property had been sold. But she said that she had put the sign up in a great location along the highway in Boston where other relatives do reside.
According to her, a lot of Jellico people travel through that area for different reasons and will probably take more note of it there than in any other location since it looks so strange - being not only out of Jellico and out of Campbell County but even in another state.
In a weird sort of way, that kinda' makes sense. Ya know!
E-mail me at: mayor@jellico.tn.us
Visit the Archives of the Mayor's Column .
Visit the City of Jellico's Web Site at: www.jellico.tn.us