Volume # 1, Edition # 29
December 25, 2001
WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH
It was really good to see and hear our Jellico High School band in the Christmas parade. The new uniforms looked great and although few in number, the band sounded very good. (Somehow a high school seems incomplete without a marching band not to mention the opportunity that an instrumental music program provides for students to gain an appreciation for what music can add to our everyday lives.)
Jellico High had award winning bands in the 1914-1940 era but they were orchestra type and there apparently was no attempt to form a marching band at JHS until the early and mid-1950's.
Harvey Crouch from Missouri was hired ca 1954 to develop a new marching band. Strangely though, he was an accomplished musician on several instruments but he had not had much (if any) experience in a marching band. And most of the prospective band members were like the rest of us in the student body at that time - they didn't know cadence from cornbread. When the marching command came for "left", a decision had to be made by each individual band member as to "which" left foot was to hit the ground.
I was recently reminded that John Mays, the current Chief Executive Officer of Barton-Carey Medical Products on Fifth Street, had just transferred into our school from Tennessee Military Institute where marching was as much a part of the daily routine as academic classes. Mays was quickly "commandeered" by Crouch to teach the band members how to march. And in that role, he was designated to be the first drum major in the history of Jellico High.
The new band's first attempts to march resembled something like a fire drill in a wind storm but Mays gradually taught them to march very well together and the band continued to improve over the next several years. Eventually the band even won awards in the "Dogwood Arts Festival" and other high school band competitions. However the small school enrollment of around 400 students (the largest percentage being bused in from sizeable distances) severely limited the number of prospective band members. And the coming of television, electronic games, easy access to automobiles and other factors led to the decline of interest in the band and the program was lost for several years.
There has been a revival of that interest in recent years. And as I reported in an earlier article, current band director Jeff Hauschildt, along with some outstanding students who are dedicated to having a quality band, are making great progress toward that objective. Our town is proud of the progress that they are making and we need to support and encourage them in every way possible.
I have received several comments concerning my story in the last edition about kindergarten student Kelsey Osborne's complaint that Rudolph's nose was not red in our Santa and sleigh display in Veterans Park. A lot of folks seem to have received a kick out of it. (I am sure glad that Rudolph's nose is now red like it is supposed to be and that Kelsey and possibly other kids are happy with the display.)
Our JHS football team had a good year and qualified for the state playoffs although suffering injuries to some key players. And congratulations are also in order for the current boys' basketball team for winning the recent tournament championship with a victory over Leslie County, Kentucky. They also have a home victory over Williamsburg. That's two very big wins. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that in Blue Devil country.
Is it the answer to an awful lot of prayers? Our governor is now considering asking the legislature to take money from the state's "rainy day" reserve fund to reopen our state parks this spring. That's good news but that was the original proposal of several state legislators in the first place. The reserve fund could have been utilized to prevent our parks from being closed just as easily as it can now be used to reopen them.
We will be glad to get our Indian Mountain State Park reopened regardless of how it is done and we won't look a gift horse in the mouth. But two questions remain, "Why close it in the first place?" and "Why not use the money to reopen it now for a Christmas gift instead of waiting until spring?" But I guess we just need to count our blessings that we may get it reopened in time for the spring and summer seasons.
As I stated above, we had a very good Christmas parade this year and they are great for Sunday afternoons in Jellico.
But I still believe that we need to develop some activities that will draw people to town during regular business hours and if I am reelected and with a supportive council, I am going to continue to push for a farmers' market downtown as well as some other activities that I have in mind. We must develop some new ideas that will keep a consistent flow of people into town that will in turn create potential customers for existing and future businesses.
I have heard it argued that we need to get business and small industry in here and that the downtown will take care of itself. But the downtown has not taken care of itself for the past number of years. And I don't believe that it will. I am a firm believer that we must renovate and revitalize our downtown before we can hope to attract business and small industry.
Had those making the above argument been with me three and one half years ago when I was attempting to attract a Morristown, Tennessee firm to relocate to Jellico, they would understand my reasoning. I took the potential employers on a tour all around town and they seemed to be thoroughly impressed with our schools, our hospital, nursing home, our state park, etc.. But when we drove through the downtown that I left until the last area on the tour, I could tell by the looks upon their faces that we would be eliminated from consideration. There is no guarantee that they would have moved to Jellico in any case but the appearance of our downtown at that time certainly eliminated us in a hurry.
(Like I said in my last article, I am going to keep writing about renovating and revitalizing our downtown until we get the job done!)
At least part of the H. T. Hackney Company is moving again. That large Knoxville firm began in Jellico and was here for many years. However it was eventually moved to that city where it has grown to the point that it is now one of the largest grocery suppliers/hardwares in the entire country employing a total work force of 3000. It could not find a suitable site for one of its warehouses in the Knoxville area that employs about 350 people so it is moving that facility to Roane County.
The late John Louis Turnblazer and I made overtures to the company to possibly relocate the warehouse back here (as did some some Campbell County folks from the "other" side of the mountain). But none of us were successful since we were so far from the desired area.
As I travel around our entire area, I sometimes see businesses and small industry that we have lost from Jellico down through the years and I cannot help but wonder, "What might have been"? Our town was founded on - and for - the coal industry. And coal has been very good to Jellico and fed and clothed most of us. But when the coal industry virtually collapsed - so did much our local economy.
As we strive to bring our town back, we need to realize that diversity is desirable. When one area is suffering recession, another may be enjoying prosperity. And all businesses and industries have their ups and downs if they remain in business for any length of time.
The depositions in the "Open Meetings/Sunshine" case filed by some Jellico citizens have been rescheduled from December until well into February, 2002. However the 30 days period for responding to the court case filed by four members of the city council designed to remove Jim Dobson from the Jellico Utilities Board required a response by December 17th.. And it is my understanding that that case too may not be heard until sometime in February. A decision could come down at any time but probably not until late February or early March. Regardless - the current tenure of Dobson on the board will expire at almost that same time and he must be reappointed anyway if he is to remain in the position.
For the life of me I cannot understand why several hundred dollars (and possibly more) of taxpayer money are being spent for that legal action. It makes no sense to me at all!
And speaking of the election, potential candidates wishing to qualify for our city election on Saturday, April 6th will have until noon on January 17th (now less than one month away) to submit their petitions to the Campbell County Election Commission Office in order to have their names placed on the ballot. After that date they will have until January 24th for withdrawal from the race if they choose to do so.
Deadline for voter registration will be March 7th and I would encourage every non-registered voter to register and to vote in all elections whether local, county, state or national. There is no guarantee that any election or any candidate(s) will cure all or any of the problems that we have in our town or our country. But we have servicemen and women in the field at this very time risking their lives in the name and cause of freedom. And one of the greatest freedoms that we enjoy in this country is the right to vote.
There may be a few extra perks to come out of these articles. A lady in the Boston community read what I had to say about home churned butter in a previous article. And she says that she has a relative who has continued to churn her own butter for home use and that she will see if she can get me a "pod". She said that it will be complimentary since she enjoys reading about those by-gone days and the butter will be payment for my writing about them.
Another lady has offered to pick, clean and cook me some fresh turnip greens with fatback seasoning. The fatback is hard on the heart but great for the taste buds. And the greens would sure go good with some hot cornbread covered with that melted home churned butter. I hate to push my luck but I think I'll try to get a little home churned butter milk to go with all that. And a few skillet fried potatoes would go good. And maybe a pot of slow cooked pinto beans. And some home canned kraut. And some home baked apple pie. And maybe....? I'd better stop right there!
We had a poster contest recently at Boston Elementary School designed to draw attention to the problem
our country is facing with water pollution. One student had a nice poster stating that if the problem grows much worse and we continue to pollute our lakes and streams, "We will have to buy bottled water for the fish". Now that will be bad!!! And expensive too!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!
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