Thursday's Internet Edition, July 24, 2008.
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Roland Jett brought the Memorial Day event to a solemn conclusion by playing “Taps.” |
By JIM COOPER
Editor - The seed to a revived Roane County Homecoming could have been planted with an old-time music festival earlier this spring at Camp Sheppard.
Larry Dent, the CEO of Roane Family Health Care and the organizer of the first Roane County Old Time Music Gathering, told Roane County Commissioners during their Tuesday meeting that he would like it to become an annual event.
The first gathering centered on the career of Walton resident and renowned fiddle player Frank George and his wife, Jane, an expert on traditional dance. Dent said about 200 people from five states attended the inaugural event.
“We want it to grow into a type of Roane County homecoming,” Dent told commissioners David Boothe, Rodney Cox and John Greathouse.
Boothe asked Dent if the gathering could replace the Roane County Homecoming, an event that took place for decades on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend until it was discontinued three years ago due to lack of interest.
“We’re hoping it will grow into that,” Dent said, “but with a different flavor.”
Along with Appalachian music, the first gathering included a black powder shoot, mountain man encampment, archery shoot and golf contest.
Family Health Care is the lead sponsor of the event and is applying for a $9,930 heritage and cultural tourism grant through the Appalachian Regional Commission to purchase professional video equipment that could be used to record the gathering and other community events. Commissioners voted to issue a letter of support for the grant request.
Now known as the Franklin George Old Time Music Gathering, the event will take place April 24-25 of next year.
Dent said he expects attendance to double in 2009 after a national advertising effort.
Also during the 35-minute-long meeting, commissioners heard a quarterly update from Mark Whitley, economic development director for Roane and Jackson counties.
Whitley said a parts manufacturer had recently toured the vacant BFGoodrich building in the Roane Industrial Park. He also reported that Armacell was leasing all but the office section of the former Kellwood building and that renovations totaling $13,000 were being done, including work on a ramp, to a former Kellwood building leased by Harris Oil.
Before adjourning until their next meeting on Tuesday, June 10 at 6 p.m., commissioners also:
• Failed for a second time to receive any bids on a project to build a storage closet in the courthouse lobby. Specifications for the work will be changed to delete a ventilation system that will not be needed.
• Approved the delinquent tax list for 2008 as well as May 13 primary election results.
• Proclaimed this week as Community Educational Outreach Service Week in the county.
• Received information to review from Boothe about the Citizens Conservation Corps. Boothe said participants in the program ages 16-24 could work on projects such as building a new picnic shelter in the Camp Sheppard grove. The CCC provides AmeriCorps money that can be used for tuition and other educational expenses or to pay off student loans.
