This article was submitted for publication on Wednesday, December 8th so no report is included this week concerning our special call meeting of the City Council on December 9th or our annual Christmas parade on December 12th. (The parade usually has media present for that purpose and it may be covered in another section of this paper).
I enjoyed the Elk Valley community parade and appreciate the invitation to participate. It was well planned and showed the evidence of a lot of hard work on the part of the organizers. There was a good turnout although the threat of rain did reduce the crowd from last year's big attendance.
Our "Christmas Downtown" activities are scheduled to start this Thursday night at the stage in Veterans Park. But at the time this article was written, Jenny Bowlin, contact person, reported that she had received confirmation only for Friday and Saturday evenings (singing and live nativity scenes). However she had contacted other churches and hoped to schedule more including some for Thursday evening. Jenny can be reached at 784-6212.
(All evenings are subject to cancellation in the event of inclimate weather and/or hazardous driving conditions.)
The present schedule: Friday at 7:00 PM - Fairview Baptist Church and Girl Scouts; Friday at 8:00 PM - Crouches Creek Baptist Church; Saturday at 6:00 PM - Saxton Baptist Church Youth Group.
We hope to have some type of sound system available on the stage for all groups. (Adequate 110V-electric power is available on the stage and participating groups may want to bring three or four electric heaters for use during their assigned time block.)
Other businesses have decorated since last week's article including Steve Morgan, CPA; Jellico Housing Authority; Dayspring Home Health; Ambassador Thrift Store; Appalachian Health Sevices, Taylor's Barbershop and Russell and Merle Edwards (old Mary's Kitchen). I appreciate the efforts of everyone who has participated and have tried to list each one in this column. But again, if I have missed anyone, please be sure to inform me for inclusion in next week's article.
And the decoarations have certainly drawn attention. Sister Yvonne who has been so active in community activities in Newcomb and throughout our entire area, stopped me to compliment me on starting a drive to get our town decorated at Christmas each year. She had recently visited Jonesboro, Tennessee and that town annually goes all out to decorate. And it has the effect of drawing a large amount of tourists there to see the decorations and to shop.
It would be great if we eventually can do something comparable - even if we only keep our local folks at home to do some of their shopping. But if we get enough businesses to open and to participate, anything is possible.
A city employee wrote to commend the Christmas decorations and to also inform me that he had recently placed our flag at the Veterans Memorial at half-mast in memory of President John F. Kennedy who had lost his life on that day. President Kennedy was not only the Commander in Chief but he was a decorated Naval veteran of World War II as well.
I certainly appreciate the thoughtfulness of that employee and I also appreciate the work that he and all of our city employees perform for our city. Someone recently wrote me a note commending our employees for the job that they do. I also sincerely appreciate those who do take the time to say thank you for their services.
I received a complimentary letter from Mrs. Carolyn-Garner Hughes expressing her thanks for the progress that is presently being made in Jellico. In her letter, Mrs. Hughes pointed out that we badly need a recreation center for our young people and I can not agree more. We have several projects in progress at the present time which will require several more months for completion. But when those are completed - we need to turn our attention toward attempting to obtain some type of recreation center for our community. A recreation center can be used by all age groups if properly managed.
Mrs. Joyce Hicks, Director of the Jellico Senior Citizens Center, wrote me on behalf of the center and I certainly appreciate her taking the time to do so. Our senior citizens organization is a very important part of our community and one that is very deserving of our support. It, along with our Rescue Squad, Community Health and Development Team, other civic organizations and student organizations perform valuable services for our community that we would not otherwise have available to us.
Veterans to be added to the overall list include James Henry Garner, Edward B. Hughes, Billy Stanfill, Roger Stanfill, Lee Justice, Thomas Martin, J.M. Partin, John Louis Turnblazer, James C. Thomas, Robert R. Lay, Jack Ivey.
Folks still continue to give me names as we meet; telephone them in to my office, and mail them to me. I appreciate everyone who does so and as I have stated on several occasions, I will continue to publish names of veterans as long as I receive them.
Many of the jobs that must be performed by our city government go virtually unnoticed by all except those involved in completing those jobs. But often times they are vital to the future of our town and require help on the part of our citizen volunteers.
Two good examples are the work that we are presently required to do to comply with Public Law 1101 and the preparations for the National Census to be conducted next April. Both projects require numerous meetings, planning and hard work.
Public Law 1101 stipulates that all land within each county in Tennessee must be identified as Urban Growth Areas, Planned Growth Areas and Rural Areas. Deadlines for completion of the several phrases of that project have been established by the Tennessee State Legislature and there are strong penalties for towns, cities and counties that fail to meet those deadlines.
We are fortunate to have Mr. Roy Price to serve as our representative on the County-Wide Committee that is overseeing the development of the Campbell County Plan. The total plan will consist of a compilation of outlying areas. Roy formerly served for several years on the Jellico Planning Commission and has accumulated a great amount of knowledge that has been very helpful in developing our particular section of the overall County Plan. He has worked closely with the State Planning Office, collected data, held public meetings and attended out-of-town meetings on behalf of the city of Jellico - all on a strictly volunteer basis with no reimbursement even for his travel expenses.
The 2000 Census will also require numerous meetings and extensive planning along with training sessions for both volunteer and paid workers and the formation of a "Correct Count Committee". Compiling a correct count is crucial since municipalities can lose grant funds and low interest rate loans for every individual who is not counted.
Mrs. Wanda Perkins and the staff at the Mountain Womens' Exchange (MWE) are coordinating our preparations for the 2000 Census since the city of Jellico does not have the workforce to properly carry out that function. The MWE worked with the 1990 Census and is well organized for the upcoming April canvas. Meetings have been held at the MWE Center and training sessions conducted. The MWE will also perform the function of the Correct Count Committee and carry out the series of checks to help insure that all of our citizens are counted.
Mrs. Perkins and the MWE staff are also performing this service free of charge to the city of Jellico. And she too has attended out-of-town meetings with no reimbursement from the city.
I sincerely apreciate Price and Perkins as well as everyone who works on a volunteer basis to help provide services for our town. We cannot make the improvements in Jellico that we want to make without such voluntary citizen support.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has informed Ms. Jamie Dugger, President, Jamie's Curtains and Decor, that funds will be made available in the form of a loan to provide for the purchase of machinery and equipment required to support an expansion of that firm.
In the letter granting approval, Jane C. Fowler, Northeast Regional Manager for Economic Development stated, "We are pleased to be a partner in this project and congratulate you on the endorsements which the project received from Jellico Electric, the city of Jellico, Office of the Campbell County Executive, and the Campbell County Total Quality Partnership. We look forward to the benefits it will bring to your company and the region."
That is certainly good news and hopefully will allow for an increased work force in the future.
I have received the grant application material that I requested from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. And as I reported last week, I intend to apply for grant funds to enable us to correct the potentially dangerous situation existing on the 4-lane leading into town.
A short median strip lies almost directly between the two Rocky Top Markets located on either side of the highway. Vehicles leaving the Rocky Top Market on the right (north) side of the highway must travel a few feet west toward town to avoid crossing the raised strip and then u-turn back to the other side of the highway to head in the direction of the interstate. (Some have driven directly over the strip and risked damage to their vehicle)
It is a situation that could result in vehicles being broad-sided by the traffic coming down the hill as they attempt to cross the highway. That is especially true of vans, trucks and buses.
I am currently collecting the data required to complete the grant application. I will ask for sufficient funds to contract the work and remove the strip, resurface the area and properly stripe the resurfaced area to designate the divided highway.
There is no guarantee that the grant will be approved but the funds are badly needed for corrective action and I certainly hope that my application will be favorably considered.
I have also received notification from the Tennessee Historical Commission that my application to designate the Jellico Commercial District that roughly includes North Main Street and South Main Street in the National and Tennessee Registers of Historic Places by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior has been approved. The registration occured on November 12, 1999.
I want to thank everyone who helped in the drive to get that action accomplished including our building owners, the East Tennessee Development District (ETDD) and Chris Baird who helped collect the data and process the application. Certain advantageous tax provisions may apply for buildings included in the register.
This column is now literally read world wide! Mrs. Lisa Casey of Interstate 2000 gave me the tabulation of accesses on the internet for the week of November 21st. During that week alone, there were "hits" in Canada, Australia and Korea. The number of hits from outside the United States continues to increase as do those within this country. (The total number of hits for this year for the web site now exceed the 10,000 mark).
The seven days total included hits in the states of Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, California, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, Washington, and Maine. The site was, far and away, the most popular in Virginia with a total of 166 hits. That number exceeded even those in Tennesse which ranked second. And most (probably all) fifty states have now had hits at different times during the past year.
I want to remind everyone that anyone travelling abroad or anywhere in this country (or having relatives and friends in other areas) can access this column anywhere in the world where internet facilities are available. The site location www.jellico.com/jellico/jellico.htm has extensive information at that location in adddition to this column. The base page for Jellico www.jellico.com also has a great deal of items of interest about Jellico and this area and there are numerous information links.
I continue to advertise our internet locations because the web is fast becoming the media of choice for everything from sports, to news, to weather, to all types of markets and an endless number of other topics.
And the popularity of this column on the internet continues to completely amaze me. I just never dreamed that we had so many former residents from this area who are hungry for news from the Jellico area. One of the students at Whitly County High School told me that he recently printed one of my columns from a school computer and took it to his grandfather who lived in this area many years ago.
Final note:
Some long-time residents are aware that Newcomb once had a large furniture factory. The building housing that facility ran for some distance along side the railroad track in the "strait" area.
The Newcomb Furniture Factory employed local carenters and woodworkers (Mrs. Lillian Ballard's father was an employee there) and was involved in community activities. It once sponsored a powerful amateur baseball team that helped to launch employee Earl Webb of Lenoir City toward a very successful career in professional baseball. Webb later went on to set the all-time major league record for most doubles in a single season while playing for the Boston Red Sox. Sports Illustrated indicated a few years ago that that record will be hard to break and may stand for many more years.
The factory was known for the beautiful mantels that were placed around fireplaces and "grates" in most area homes during the first years of this century. The story has often been told that the builders of one of Jellico's better hotels (all of our hotels are only memories now) wanted an especially nice mantel for the large fireplace in the lobby. They went to quite a bit of trouble and expense - including the transportation charges - to order one from a large northern city. Upon arrival, the containers were opened to reveal a mantel bearing the inscription, "Manufactured in Newcomb, Tennessee".
I formerly owned a house that was constructed in the mid-1920's and it had a mantel that was clearly recognizable as one made in Newcomb. (They all have a distinctive style). But it showed the wear and tear of all those years and was in a very poor state of repair. I had it removed. But a professional woodworker completely disassembled the mantel, performed all necessary repairs and then reassembled it to its original condition. It is once again a beautiful piece of woodwork in a different location.
When the mantel was detached from the wall, the notation, "Made in Newcomb, Tennessee, July 1925", and someone's initials could easily be seen. Apparently those were the initials of the woodworker or quality control inspector.
There is little, if any, trace now of the factory building in Newcomb and many of the mantels have been destroyed. But others still remain in a few of our older nhomes. More and more, they are becoming the objects of interest and restoration. And preserving the mantels is preserving an important part of our area's history.
View the Archives of this column.