When I began doing these articles, I announced that the first three would be free of charge but that we would begin charging 25 cents after those three. But so many people seem to enjoy them that I have had a change of heart and now plan to continue them without any cost to my readers.
I will use the very small amount of pay that I receive for serving as mayor to pay for the paper and the printing. I look up on these columns as a service to the community and I will continue to write and distribute them with that purpose in mind.
I have been asked if I have considered placing them in a central location and publicizing that location so that people would know where they could come to get copies. I don't have any place in mind and I don't know how often I will be able to put them out. But several business places do have them and make them available to their customers.
Leeann Mozingo thanked me for placing the note in my last article concerning the Boy Scout drive to raise funds for placement of a plaque and signs at the "Haystack Rock" on Highway 25W just south of Jellico. The scouts want to commemorate and mark the site of the greatest non-combat tragedy of World War II. Over 30 lives were lost and over 200 servicemen received injuries. A great number of homes in our area were utilized for caring for the casualties because there simply were not enough hospital beds available for coping with such a catastrophe.
The event initially received coverage in the media. But in the interest of national security, martial law was invoked and all details closely censored. (Enemy sabotage was feared but such fears later proved to be groundless). Due to the censorship, little news of the event spread much furtber than our local area. (A tragedy of such magnitude today would attract hordes of news people from every television network and printed aews service in this country and from all over the world).
We Often have visitors to our town to see the monument bearing the names of those killed in the wreck and others that later died from their injuries. And among those visitors, we occasionally have former service men who were passengers on the train and who were blessed to survive. We also have relatives of those who died. And unless someone has the time and interest to show them the actual site of the wreck, it is very difficult to tell them the exact location.
The Boy Scout project is a very worthy one and as I stated in my last column, I hopethat our citizens will help them in their drive for funds for the plaque and signs. Contact Leann or any member of the Boy Scout troop.
Apparently our "Jellico/Great American Cleanup" went much better than I had thought. Environmental Control Officer Glennis Monday reported that he utilized work release personnel to pick up the entire Jellico area prior to the Memorial Day weekend. According to Officer Monday, the crews collected 320 bags of litter from our surrounding roads. The bags averaged 50 pounds each which means that something like 8 tons of litter were removed from our environment - not counting what may have been collected by city crews, Scouts, Pathfinders, neighborhood volunteers, etc.
Such success stories again serve to demonstrate that WE can improve our situation if we roll up our sleeves and get involved in the effort that is required. There is no magic formula and no one that we can hire who can come in and do what we ourselves should do as a community.
Every time that I pass the city building housing our library, office of tourism and community conference room, I always check to see if there is any new announcement on the public bulletin board on the exterior of that building. And I am always reminded of the fact that the city council refused my request for a small amount of money with which to buy that bulletin board. I had to find a donor to pay for its purchase and installation - that in spite of the fact that we had over $450,000.00 in reserve funds at that time (the fund has since grown to nearly $ 700,000.00.) Mr. Johnny Mays, CEO of Barton-Carey Medical Products, heard of my request for funds for purchasing the bulletin board and he offered to pay the entire cost for having it prepared and erected. And he did!
I am glad that I did not let the council's action stop me from obtaining a community boHetin board for the center of town. It has been very beneficial in advertising community activities.
The city of Jellico has been informed by letter from Charter Communications dated May 30,2001 that the following cable rates (not including any applicable state and local taxes) will become effective with the July2001 billing statement: Basic Service Tier - $26.56 Tier - $2.00 SatPak - $8.19 Remote Control - .17 Converter Box - $1.38 HBO - $12.95 Cinemax - $12.95 The Cable Guide - $1.75 Wire Maintenance - $ 2.95 (But we are still awaiting the free installation of Sports South Network channel).
It was great to read the notes from Russell Edwards on the www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm website "guestbook". Russell recently again logged on from Chicago, Illinois.
Russell (and his wife) joined with me in my first two years as mayor and helped me to paint and repair buildings in the downtown as well as other projects and he worked absolutely free of charge. (He visited relatives and friends here and grew to love our town and our area and considered moving here permanently. However he did return to Chicago but his notes indicate that he may be thinking of once again returning to Jellico. I sure hope so! As I stated above, we need more citizens who are willing to roll up their sleeves and go to work to improve our town just as the Edwards did while they were living here.
I recently received a special invitation to attend the groundbreaking for the new air strip to be located in Whitley County. My work schedule would not permit my attending that function but it will be interesting to see the effect that the new facility will have upon southern Whitley County and the Jellico area. )The airstrip will be within 20 miles of the "Rarity Mountain" development and it will also be available for use if the proposed industrial development for the area of the Lot community ever does become a reality).
Spring football practice at Jellico High ended just before school was dismissed for the summer and I had an opportunity to talk witb Assistant Coach Danny Oakes after its conclusion. The Blue Devils will be moved this fall back imto the division where they belong (Class A) and that fact has a lot of fans excited. But that does not insure that the competition will be easy by any means. Every school (even the very small ones) now have weight and other off-season-conditioning programs and the intensity level is up greatly at all schools. And the district competition to be faced by JHS is a very strong one.
However everyone that I have talked with induding Coach Oakes is cautiously optimistic and is looking forward to the opening of the season. The team does have some impressive weapons including running back William "Peanut" Kellogg, quarterback Josh Sharp and lineman Darren Owens among others.
And the season will kick off early with a loud bang. The team will open at home on August 24th versus traditional rival Williamsburg. That game promises to draw one of the largest crowds in years and possibly one of the largest ever.
(We also have numerous Whitley County High fans in our area and WCHS will open the season even earlier (Sat August 18th versus Logan County at home in the annual "Alumni Bowl"). The Colonels have grown stronger with each passing year and now regularly contend for state honors.
The sport of NASCAR racing is growing by leaps and bounds and the number of fans in this area is showing a similar increase. But I was surprised at the number of motorists who were slowing down on the four-lane in front of the Best Western Motel three or four weeks ago. The two very big rigs marked "Ford Racing" parked there for the night were really drawing attention from a lot of passing locals. I kept wondering what would have happened if they had arrived during the day rather than early in the evening.
A few years ago an eighteen years-old and very talented baseball player from one of the Carribean islands reported to the Knoxville Smokies. Extremely talented in that sport, he was a star form his first game and throughout the season. He was qually intellegent and learned to speak very good English with six months. He often went into the stands to find kids who might want his autograph. Some of those kids that he treated so well were from Jellico and they soon spread the word about Delgado until you could often find a good number of Jellico amilies in attendance at the Smokies games. Many still remember that remarkable young man and he still has an "unofficial fan club" in Jellico pulling for him.
Delgado is now a major league super star in tbe making with the Toronto Blue Jays and he hit his 19th home run on June 5th.. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy and I hope that he still takes time out for the kids.
I received a call from Carolyn Leach a few days ago to call up website www.terraserver.com which I did just in time to see the very clear picture of our house, car and lawn being beamed from a satellite in its orbit in space. That worldwide service is now regularly available but it is still amazes me.
During tbe past few months I haw seen and heard of the the passing of several of my former students from the days that I served as principal at White Oak Elementary, Jellico Elementary, and Jellico High. And occasionally I learn of the deaths of students fiom my teaching days in Ohio and Anderson County, Tennessee. Those repotts bring on a flood of memories and I often feel a strong sense of personal loss.
Principals and teachers work with students in an entirely different setting from the parents and they often develop relationships that are very close and relationships that can last a lifetime. That has certainly been true with me. And I appreciate every former student who takes the time to remind me of some incident or interesting activity that may have happened years ago and an incident or activity that I may have forgotten. To share a laugh or a special moment with former students means more to me with each passing year and I am glad that they still recall those days and continue to share them with me.
I have been asked why I have not submitted an application for city administrator (CA). I have not submitted an application nor will I. And there are several reasons including the fact that although I once supported giving the concept a try, I have long ago become convinced that we do not need the position and that it creates an unnecessary expense upon the city.
I two-years ago asked for the position of CA to be combined with the office of mayor when two years still remained on my elected term of office - because a CA is required under the present city charter and also because I had a four-years plan to accomplish including the renovation and revitalization of our downtown designed to attract people, businesses and jobs to Jellico. The plan would have required four years of hard work and I had already applied two years of that hard work. I needed two more years, especially two more summers when most work can be accomplished. Although I offered to fill tbe combined position full-time (actually to work more than "full-time") for only one-half the allocated salary and with no benefits, I was rejected by the council majority.
Last summer passed with little accomplished toward the renovation and revitalization and most of this summer will probably be gone before the hiring of a CA can take place. So I expect little more to be accomplished this summer in meeting those objectives. Too many of the hopes and plans that I had for our town have now gone by the wayside. And the makeup of the city council is still the same as it was at the time my offer was rejected.
But there are even more compelling reasons that I will not apply for the job. I am presently working a job that I thoroughly enjoy and a job that compensates me far above the salary paid to the city administrator not including a great package of benefits. But more importantly it is a job that gives me a great feelinp of satisfaction and I have a great working relationship with the Boston school community.
Whatever takes place between now and April; whether or not a CA is employed before that time; and regardless of who the candidates are for Mayor and Council, I again repeat my hope that our citizens vote to insure that our top administrative officer - whether it be a Mayor or a combination Mayor/CA - is elected and accountable to all of our citizens. Many very big cities still get along very well with the Mayor/council form of government and I am now satisfied that a small town like Jellico can do likewise.
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Mail any comments or suggestions, etc. to:
John Clifton
P.O. Box 533
Jellico, TN 37762
E-mail: jclifton@whitley.kl2.ky.us
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