During the weekend, individual after individual commented to me on these articles that they take from the Internet.. I explained to them that I sometimes use quotes from folks who make such comments but that I do not use their names unless given specific okay. And that specific okay came from several including Chuck Estep, Canton, Ohio and Pete Smith, Jr., Bradenton, Florida.. (How would you like to go back to the fountain in Smith Drug Store - now Jellico Drug - and have Pete's father fix you up one of those great malts, milk shakes, etc?).. Actually Pete says that he does not have a computer any more and that relatives in Dayton, Ohio take them off the Internet and mail them to him.

Harold Johnson, Bristol, Tennessee who usually only comes to Jellico for the annual homecoming not only gave me permission to use his name but told me to be sure and quote him as to the great improvements he is seeing each year - and to keep up the good work. On the other hand, Dr. Robert Mackey, Corbin, Kentucky who comes here on a fairly frequent basis made virtually that same statement to the reunion of the class of '56.. People do notice and the word is becoming more and more widespread of what is going on here of a positive nature.. We just need to be sure to stay at the task!

Did you happen to see the commercial for Rarity Mountain in the September edition of SOUTHERN LIVING magazine? That popular publication had a full page layout and identifies Jellico, Tennessee as Rarity's location.. Such favorable publicity -although intended to advertise the Rarity development throughout our country - can place our town in a favorable light as well - and leaves no doubt as to its Jellico address.

That was great news that the legal issues concerning the deteriorated residence at the corner of Fifth Street and Kentucky Street are being resolved and that the property can soon be placed on the market for sale.

In an e-mail read at our last meeting of the City Council, the present owner stated,
"We have filed the ancillary probate and are preparing the application to sell………..

…………………I think that the best thing is to try to move quickly to sell the house to someone who can take over the property and ensure that it gets the attention it needs and deserves. I hope that I can finalize my arrangements and come up to clear out the house and prepare it for sale."

The structure itself appears to be sound. And although an awful lot of work will be required to completely renovate it, the potential is there for a very beautiful residence - just as it was when many of us were growing up. There have been inquires concerning availability of the property in the past and here's hoping that once placed on the market, it will be quickly purchased and restored to something like its original appearance.

I must apologize to the Jellico Community Hospital (JCH), JCH Administrator David Butler and his staff for not reporting that wonderful 2nd Annual Community Concert of gospel music in my last edition of these notes. That free community concert sponsored by JCH, was hosted by the Church of God, Mountain Assembly Tabernacle on Florence Avenue and had some truly outstanding singers in every sense of the word..

The Kevin Walden family (Kevin, Kim and Kennedy) started the affair with some very fine singing. They were followed by Jennifer LaMountain and Steve Darmody and both had voices so good that it is difficult to describe them. In fact afterwards, I got as close to La Mountain as possible just to see if that voice came from someone so petite.

We have now scheduled that "health/introductory walk" for our new sidewalk to the baseball fields.. Weather permitting the walk will be held this Thursday, October 26th at 5:30 PM.. We would like to make this a community event with good involvement - and if most are like me - they can stand a lot more exercise. I have been able to tell a few folks about the activity and they indicate that they will seriously consider participating.. And I know that sponsor Alla Faye Rutherford will certainly get the word out.

Alla Faye asks that everyone meet at the caboose in Veterans Park on Thursday at about 5:15 PM prior to starting the walk at five thirty...... We will move out South Main Street to London Avenue, make the short circle next to the ball fields and then return to Veterans on the same route.. It should be fun, not take too long and not be too physically taxing upon participants.

I recently received an e-mail from Mr. Bailey Francis whom I understand is on the staff of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia and who is a descendent of Philip Francis. As I have written before, Philip Francis rose from a very rough life as a young man to become one of Jellico's (and Campbell County's) wealthiest and most influential individuals. He wrote an autobiography entitled, "Seventy Years in the Coal Mines" outlining his experiences and meteoric rise from rags to riches.

In his e-mail, Bailey writes, "You may be interested to know that I have created an annotated edition of my great-grandfather's autobiography, "Seventy Years in the Coal Mines"…………………………………..You may be surprised to know that I quoted you from a previous column (September 2, 2006) on page 128 of the annotated book in annotation # 115………."

Bailey I am both surprised and honored by your use of this column.. As a boy growing up in a wonderful and loving family but literally from the "other side of the tracks", and hearing of your locally famous and wealthy great-grandfather, I sure never dreamed that I would ever in any way be connected to him..

And your e-mail once again confirms this column's extremely widespread popularity. Thank you for taking the time to contact me and inform me of its inclusion in your annotated version..

Tuesday, October 31st is Halloween and the City Council has established the hours of 6:00 PM -8:00 PM for "trick or treating". As always, there are certain safety precautions that need to be followed by parents/guardians with their children - and those precautions are always disseminated by the Jellico Police Department prior to Halloween.

We want all of the youngsters to have a great time and at the same time we want to insure their safety and security.. We live in a far different world than the one in which many of us grew up and we simply cannot be too cautious in protecting our children..

Fortunately our parents/grandparents/guardians, city officials, police department personnel, rescue squad personnel and citizen volunteers all working together have always done an outstanding job in that respect.

Tourism Director Jake Bennett has informed me that local veterans will definitely conduct a ceremony at the Veterans Monument on Saturday, November 11th at 9:00 AM.. Although there is seldom any distinction made between the two observances, Memorial Day is considered to be intended more to honor deceased veterans and Veterans Day to honor surviving veterans. And as I wrote last week, here's hoping that we have surviving World War II veterans present who are able to attend. And if not, it would be good to have relatives and/or friends there to announce their names.. We simply cannot honor them enough for what they endured!

A program for the ceremony will be announced within the next few days.

Everybody is reminded that early voting is still in progress and will run through Thursday, November 2nd at the Municipal Building.

Early voting hours are 9:00 AM -1:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Early voting on Fridays will be 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM..

EVERYONE PLEASE BE SURE TO VOTE!