We are recovering from our Memorial Day weekend just in time to begin preparing for the Fourth of July activities. We had a great number of out-of- town visitors over the holiday and Mr. Jerome Cummins, Park Ranger at Indian Mountain State Park, reports that facility filled to capacity for the first time in the history of the park. In fact, the park capacity of 49 camper pads was exceeded for two consecutive nights.
Some were so impressed with the park that they set up in grassy areas around the lake without benefit of the usual camper hookups for water and electricity.
And the number of family reunions, casual visitors and local people filled the park far beyond any previous attendance figures.
That is what we expect to happen to our Office of Tourism and Library as more and more visitors from out-of-town become familiar with the new facility and its location. It required a period of several years for Indian Mountain State Park to reach the status it now enjoys among tourists.
We did not have an overwhelming turnout for our open house basically due to all the area activity that was taking place. But those who were in attendance were entertained and very impressed with the Library. Mrs. Dorothy Potter, Librarian, stated that she had three pages of visitor signatures and has now enrolled over 50 children for the summer reading program. That alone made the day a successful one.
I want to sincerely thank everyone who gave up much of Memorial Day to prepare and conduct the open house. Without volunteer help, such community activites would not be possible.
I also want to especilally thank Adam Shackleford who did such a great job playing requests on the piano. And also Gasco Distribution Systems for providing the refreshements as well as donating the gas lamps for the front of the building.
Our town received numerous compliments from our weekend visitors. Some made a point to contact me and comment upon the improvements that have been made since their last visit to Jellico. Among those were Mrs. Merline Dosssett of Louisville, Kentucky; Mr. Bobby Leach of Thomasville, Gerorgia; and Mr. Joe Paul and Phylis Faulkner of Chattanooga.
Locally Mrs. Dale Woodall expressed her appreciation to me and to everyone involved for the work and effort that went into obtaining a badly needed new Library. Other parents made similar comments concerning the Library.
Mrs. Charlene Walden thanked me for taking the time each week to write this article to keep our citizens informed of what is taking place in Jellico. Mr. A.B. Forman and his family were all very complimentary of the improvements being made.
I appreciate every one of those comments and the many other nice things that were said by numerous other individuals. The mayor's position and council members receive very, very little in the way of salary so the appreciation of our citizens means a great deal to me and to the other elected officials who serve basically as a public service.
(I was also greatly surprised by the number of people who either say that they now take my column from the internet or who requested the correct site location so they can access it.)
But by far and away the most remarkable comment came during a long distance telephone call that I received on Wednesday, June 2nd. Mrs. Cheryl Galant of Kettering, Ohio called to say that her parents are originally from Jellico. They and several other of her relatives had been here for Memorial Day and were extremely impressed with what has taken place over the last year.
In fact they were so favorably impressed that for the first time, they are considering the possibility of returning to Jellico to live. Mrs. Galant was highly complimentary of our town and requested information concerning plans for more improvements, possible business opportunities and the availability of residences.
Mrs. Joann Watts, Director of Tourism, and I are in the process of gathering the requested information to forward to Mrs. Galant. Her telephone call only served to verify what I have been saying almost every week in this column - improvement in the appearance of our town will help to create interest, both here and out-of-town.
Our plans for the placing of flags on every single grave of deceased veterans did not materialize. We did not have sufficient funds with which to purchase the flags but we had intended to place them on credit card and finish taking donations until we did have enough to pay for them.
But we were unable to find anything like enough flags to place upon approximately 550 graves at such a late date. We were able to purchase just over 100 flags from several different sources and they were place on the perimeter of each local cemetary in honor of all veterans buried in those cemetaries. (We certainly did not want to place them on some graves and have to omit others.) We feel that we honored them all by the action that we were forced to take under the circumstances.
We had a few flags left from the 100 and we only expended $ 85.00 so we still have funds remaining. We will retain those flags and the remaining money until next year and purchase flags well in advance to be sure that we have them available for Memorial Day.
However, if anyone would prefer that their donation be returned we will be happy to do so.
Another group of veterans purchased the Armed Forces flags that were placed around the Veterans Monument. And as I stated last week, they were very meaningful and they added alot to the memorial.
It was also decided to purchase two more flags prior to the Fourth of July- one to represent the United Staes Coast Gaurd and one for our prisoners of war (POWs) and those missing in action (MIAs). The four flags that were displayed represented the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Like visitors to Indian Mountain State Park, there seemed to be more who visited the monument this Memorial Day than on any previous occasion. Visitors made numerous still photos and video tapes after locating names of relatives and former friends on the plaques.
Charles Bruce, Jr. and Wanda Bruce Sign Company painted the handicapped parking area around the monument free of charge in honor of our veterans. They also placed new lettering and numbers on the caboose as a contribution to the downtown renovation project.
We certainly appreciate the donation of labor and money by Bruce Signs.
Work is progressing on the new permanent stage in Veterans Park Annex donated by Mr. W.H. Bowlin and should be completely finished in time for our Fourth of July activities.
The Jellico Community Hospital has also announced that it will participate in this year's events and will setup several interesting games near the stage for our young people. We certainly appreciate the hospital's contribution and expect the added number of activites to increase our crowd over last year's very large turnout.
Note: Visitors this year may want to wear and bring as much protection from the sun as possible. The annexed area where the stage is to be located does not have trees or other cover and we were forced to trim many ofthe large Sycamore trees in the park last fall due to the tremendous amount of leaves that were collecting on the sidewalks and in front of business places.
Everyone seemed to like the new awnings on the Library/Office of Tourism/Community Conference Room and one business has told me that they may purchase the same type and color for a building.
I am looking forward to seeing the new "Community Bulletin Board" that will be located under the side awning (purchased by Mr. John Mays, CEO of Barton-Carey Medical Products). The board will announce future events and will be lighted at night. It too should add a lot to the appearance of that corner.
Mr. James H. Siler contacted the "Billy Graham Museum" and the museum has sent me a tape of Mr. Homer Rodeheaver singing several of the traditional hymns. I once heard Mr. Rodeheaver play his trombone during one of his infrequent visits to Jellico when I was a small boy carrying the newspaper but I had never heard him sing. After finally hearing his voice, it is easy to see why he was one of the best known vocalists in the entire country.
During our town's 75th anniversary, then Vice-President of the United States, Richard Nixon, sent a telegram in which he expressed his amazement that such a small town could produce two individuals with the talent of Rodeheaver and Grace Moore.
Deregulation of utilities is now a fact and the Tennessee State Legislature has also enacted regulations dealing with that subject.
All local utilities (including our own) will need to begin evaluating their current operating conditions within the next several months. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has offered to help local systems gather pertinent information if requested to do so.
I mentioned in an earlier article some of the increases in monthly utility rates and tax increases that have been required in other areas while ours have remained relatively stable. And that in spite of the terrible situation we face with waste water treatment.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel recently ran an article that the city of Knoxville might face a tax increase of 55 cents. And other towns around our state are faced with at least some increase in rates and/or taxes.
Compare that to what I cited in last week's article. Although local property valuations have been increased in many cases, our Certified Tax Rate (CTR) has been decreased from $ 1.03 to $.88 - meaning that revenue for the city of Jellico from that source will remain virtually unchanged from last year.
Jellico, like all other areas, has its problems. But it certainly has advantages as well.
Mrs. Jamie Dugger has informed me that she has been contacted by an official representing the State of Kentucky since our City Council meeting in May.
According to Mrs. Dugger, the official has offered several state incentives to keep her firm, "Jamies Curtains and Decor" located within the State of Kentucy.
Some of those incentives are not offered in Tennessee but I did point out to her that we do not have a state income tax and that other employers have told me that our utilities here run much lower when based upon greater volume of usage.
Mrs. Dugger says that she will make a decision within the next week or so concerning her final plans for relocation. We are still hopeful that she will relocate to Jellico.
I talked with several local citizens and out-of-state visitors over the holidays as to their ideas about the best approach to increasing job opportunities within this area.
Almost without exception, the advice I received included placing a high level of emphasis upon developing the tourist trade in addition to the two developments that are projected for the surrounding area - one to be located two or three miles north of us and the other only five miles to the south.
Most say that if either of those two projects become reality, jobs will be available to more than occupy the number of potential local employees. Implementation of both projects would almost certainly require the importation of workers.
Even if both of those projects are completed, we will still continue to explore every possible source of employers for both buildings that are currently vacant.
Officials of Gasco, Zanesville, Ohio have been very supportive of our efforts to renovate and revitalize our downtown. As one pointed out to me recently, almost every small town in America (and they visit many of those in the eastern part of the United States) is desirous of attracting small industry. But we are doing something in Jellico to make our town more attractive to potential employers and we just need to continue with our efforts.
We are receiving contacts asking for more information about our town and what we have available and eventually we should be successful in our efforts.
Final Note:
We have received notification from the State of Tennessee, Department of Transportation, that our grant appplication for $ 180,000.00 for a "Jellico Trail System Project" has been approved. The city of Jellico will be required to provide a 20% monetary match.
Hopefully that grant will enable us to do some very badly needed work on sidewalks all around town (although the grant will specify where and how the money is to be expended and we may not be authorized to use it in some areas of our choosing).
We have also sent in some preliminary cost estimates prior to filing for a grant to restore the old City Hall. If that grant materializes, the restored building must be used for a visitor center. However we hope to be authorized to place offices on a second floor and rent the office space as a source of revenue for upkeep on the building.
An old City Hall restored into a visitor center utilizing grant funds would, in all probability, induce the state to place signs along Interstate-75 and result in a tremendous increase in the number of visitors to our town.
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