We hope everyone has a very enjoyable time "back home" this weekend and if the City of Jellico can be of assistance, we stand ready to provide that assistance where possible.. (Hopefully we have some warm temperatures this weekend.. Local readers will recall my recent article pointing out that our first killing frost usually comes right around October 14th.. It came one day earlier this year - on what else but Friday the 13th?)

During the past year, our citizens have worked very hard to continue the progress in improving the appearance of our town that many noticed and mentioned last year. And I hope that everyone will tour the area again to see for themselves what is taking place toward renovating and revitalizing.. We still have some areas that badly need corrective action that are clearly visible to all but we continue to attack the problem and the number is slowly but surely declining.. Hopefully by Homecoming '07, the old home town will look even better..

Mitch Loomis, East Tennessee Development District and I met last week in the area around the corner of Fifth Street and Sunset Trail along with Member of the Utilities Board Jerry Neal who happened to be in the area at the time and who was invited to go along with us.. We looked at some possible locations for the new "Gateway to Jellico" that will be constructed within the near future.

All of the sketches of that addition to our town that will have sections on either side of Fifth Street, have been in black and white. But now Mitch has had color renditions prepared that really emphasize the beauty of the brick structures with a plaque outlining our town's history, floral arrangements, and colonial style lighting..

We basically chose three possible locations and Mitch plans to work up plans for all three and to determine the feasibility of each prior to our choosing the eventual location.. Mitch told us that he is confident that we can have the "Gateway" in place by next spring.

(We also discussed the fact that there will probably be some funds remaining once the current work being done on some sidewalks is completed. An earlier survey done by Mitch and others established some priorities for future repairs and we discussed that following our special call meeting of the Council last Wednesday evening. Councilman Alvin Evans has been heading up the repairing of existing sidewalks and proposed new sidewalks and he mentioned several areas for consideration that were included in the survey list of approved priorities..)

And in a third crucial area, Mitch agreed to research all possibilities for grants to help improve the very poor lighting on our Interstate exchange. He feels that Rural Development is a good possibility for funding and he promised to make that a priority for his office due to both the safety factor and the present detrimental affect upon tourism.

I was honored to be invited to address the Area Kiwanis Club at its last meeting at the Cumberland Inn in Williamsburg.. The club has members from not only Jellico and Williamsburg but from surrounding communities. And it works for the betterment of our entire area.

As I pointed out to the club that in today's world, what happens development wise in Jellico, now directly - or indirectly - affects Williamsburg. And what happens in Williamsburg directly or indirectly affects Jellico in the same manner And although we may be rivals in all other areas (and certainly in sports), we do need to work together to develop our economies..

Of course there was an awful lot of interest by club members as to what is currently taking place with Rarity Mountain and I gave them an update as best I could. But they were genuinely surprised to learn that another such development with business potential is projected for Jellico along with one and possibly two residential developments on the drawing board.. And they all agreed that Jellico is currently making real progress.

We sure have a lot of our youngsters excited about the fact that we are working to provide them with a skateboarding course - and it's sometimes hard to explain to them why it just can't be done right away. But there are a lot of considerations to be taken into consideration before we can get it in place.. (As I understand it, the course that was offered to us is wood and designed for indoors. Rain and or standing water would buck the lumber in short order if it were located outside as current plans call for us to do.)

But the current Mayor/Council are all committed to coming up with a course in a suitable location and eventually we will iron out all of the problems and have one available to them.. Those with whom I have spoken are really nice, respectful youngsters and very deserving of a recreational facility that is located in a safe area and certainly away from vehicular traffic.

(Some of them are pretty darned good on their skateboards too!)

During a recent trip to Williamsburg, I had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Herschel Roberts who works for the City of Williamsburg. He said that he regularly receives copies of these notes from Mrs. Wilma Tidwell and that he feels that they are very beneficial in getting out the positive happenings within our town.. As we both agreed, the negatives always get publicized but the positives more times than not are ignored.

And recently while talking to some former Jellicoans now living in Lafollette including old friend Elizabeth Davis (as I knew her when she lived on Black Oak) in the lobby of the Days Inn, a couple of gentlemen were listening to us reminiscing.. One of them startled me after hearing my name by telling me that he had heard of me in Michigan and that he and several of his acquaintances read these articles on the Internet on a regular basis. And he said that they greatly enjoy them and look forward to them.

After the initial surprise, I of course thanked him for the compliment and the other fellow agreed with Mr. Roberts statement that it always pays to get out as much widespread positive information about our town as possible. Somewhere down the road it will pay off - probably in some totally unexpected way!

There has been some discussion as to whether to have our annual Veterans Day observance at the Monument or to combine it with other community activities planned for the weekend of November 11th.. But several veterans have mentioned to me that they want to continue with the tradition of having some type of ceremony downtown and in all probability, one will be organized and conducted. (Probably the morning of Saturday, November 11th although I am aware of no definite plans at this time.)

I have pointed out several times in the past that our World War II veterans are passing away at an ever increasing rate and we need to recognize and thank "the greatest generation" at every possible opportunity. And here's hoping that all of the vets of that terrible conflict who can will attend this year. Fittingly Frank Zecchini, WW II veteran of the U. S. Navy and the Pacific Theatre, will celebrate his birthday on November 11th..

(Even if they cannot be present due to ill health or whatever reason, it would be great for their family and/or friends to be there and give their names to those conducting the ceremony to have them announced and thanked..)

It would also be great to have Lt. Col. Scott Cuel, the highly decorated Air Force pilot who does our Fall Fest jet flyovers here as well. During my recent lengthy conversation with the Colonel, we discussed so many things that I completely forgot to invite him. But he is most welcome in Jellico then and at all times. As I have written before, we consider Col. Cuel a Jellicoan regardless of where he may reside..

On behalf of the City of Jellico, I want to welcome Mr. Mike Bethuem and his wife Tanya of Berea, Kentucky to Jellico.. Mr. Bethuem is our new Director of Utilities and from all accounts that I have heard, he seems to be off to a good start after assuming the responsibilities of that position.. We look forward to working with him in the future..

Please don't fail to vote in this city election that is so crucial to our town's future. And vote early if at all possible! The polls are now open for early voting at the Municipal Building every week day Monday thru Saturday from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM except Fridays when early voting will take place 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM.. Early voting ends Thursday, November 2nd.. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7th..