| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 167.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 15 Apr 2011.
Just Plain Talk: Mid April news a mixture of dandelions and dogwoods
(c)2011 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL
Annette Gibson is glad to be getting her home and life back in order thanks to church workers from Michigan via the Sunset Gap work program directed by Josh Dunn. With Gibson is her granddaughter, Lee Ann Gooderham, a real estate agent from Cosby.
Author: David Popiel
April put us on a weather see-saw with extremes from the mid 80s to the low 40s, as our hometown eases through mid-April with showers and milder days and Easter on the horizon.
For those who love to fish, the French Broad River banks have been an enticing place to be when it is not too windy or cold. I chatted with Steve Hollenbeck, a local Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agent, early last week. There were many cars parked around the Rankin bridge and TWRA accesses. Steve explained that white bass were running and spawning as they swam upstream. There were at least a dozen persons trying their luck. While talking weather, Steve pointed to the state's green truck's windshield. A recent windy day caused something to hit and break the windshield, when the truck was parked at his Parrottsville home.
After the good news story next you will soon read about the shooting death of a Huff Hollow family's pet dog. It is good to have witnessed a positive story in the making. During one of the early April sunny, warm days I drove over to Thompson Lane, across from First Free Will Baptist Church and went to Lethco Lane where I saw dozens of young people using their spring break to repair the home of Annette (O'Neil) Gibson. Her granddaughter, Leann Gooderham, introduced me to Annette, who was staying next door while the Sunset Gap work crew made repairs. The group included middle school and high school students from Michigan and were sponsored by Okemos Community Church. Church leaders told me they had been working with Sunset Gap for their ninth year. They built a wheelchair ramp, did painting and cleaning yard work at the Gibson home. While in town, they also did some finish work at the Sunset Gap Bogard View project home for sale. Leann said her granny turned 91 on February 7. She uses a walker to get around and spends some time, as she was that day, with her senior friend, Perry France. Unfortunately, bathroom waterlines in the Gibson home broke during the winter, thawed, flooded the house, and did extensive damage. This will be repaired by another Sunset Gap-hosted church team soon. I got a chance to learn a bit more about Mrs. Gibson. She was married to Robert Gibson, who died in 1970. Many of you know her daughter, Sherry, who has operated Sherry's Market with James Winter at Cosby. Leann is Sherry's daughter and operates All Season's Realty. Mrs. Gibson's other child is the late Bobbie Jean Phillips, who died in 1988. Annette has lived off Thompson since the 1980s and spent most of her life working in restaurants. She has also lived in Atlanta and New Jersey, working at an apple packing house. You probably bumped into her years ago when she worked at the 25/70 Truck Stop for about 22 years, one of her bosses being Jack Allen. She was famous for her biscuits and cooking.
As an interesting aside, at least to me, stopping in at Sherry's Market Friday morning, looking for more info on Mrs. Gibson, I learned that Sherry retired on March 1. The store is now leased by Wanda "Dolly" Hicks and operated by her daughter, Crystal Coggins. That's what the clerk, Vesta Cutshaw, told me. Some of you know Vesta as a Plain Talk newspaper carrier. Sherry is spending more time with James, who is disabled, and catching up on her homework. Leann added that in addition to Mrs. Gibson's other home repair disasters, the heat pump quit, too.
Speaking of clean-up projects, I got a call from Sheriff Armando Fontes about the inmates cleaning up a trashy lot behind the Memorial building. Sure enough I found a dozen or so inmates being supervised by Sheriff Fontes, Chief Deputy John Carroll, and Detective Derrick Wood, on the project. I also saw Dayton Livingston with a weedcutter. He is director of Feed My Sheep Ministries, just around the corner from where folks were working, where Helm Lumber used to be. The reason jail labor could be used on private property is due to the use by the non-profit church of the leased property. Dayton spoke to Kiwanis after this and explained that there will be a downtown ministry and Jam for Jesus outdoor events soon.
Did you know that the largest peanut in the world might be in Cocke County? Yes, I thought it was a joke too when Fred Lee called to tell me of his find. Well, it isn't exactly an edible peanut. Well, it is actually a large rock that looks like a peanut. Wanting to see it, I drove over to Manes Funeral Home where Fred was sitting outside talking with Deputy Josh Hall, who was off duty. I found out he is the grandson of the late Newport Police Officer Harold Medford, who was shot to death many years ago, and widow, Shirley Medford. (As a news editor, I covered the shooting death of Medford.) Fred got his peanut out of his truck and this caused folks to gather around. The surface of the peanut-shaped rock looked exactly like the texture of a peanut, all pockmarked. Fred explained that he borrowed it from his daughter, Deborah Boyd. She got the peanut rock from Al Carson and wife, Jean, who live off Happy Hollow Road. I guess they gave her the rock because she lives off Peanut Road. The peanut weighs 37 pounds, according to the scale at Overholt's Hardware Store. Al Carson is a retired police officer from New York and Jean is a retired nurse, who bought a house that Don Norwood built many years ago.
Next week you will read about the death of Kujo. But you might be able to help Rebecca Harris this week to find her missing blue heeler/Australian mix dog, gone since Jan. 25. The dog wears a blue collar with rabies tag and wandered away from home near Carver's Orchards, Cosby Highway. The dog was last seen near Kineauvista Hills, where I saw missing dog signs off O'Neil Road. Call Ms. Harris at 865-322-2196 if you know anything.
To Be Continued
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- 1970
, d. 27 Jan 2014 (Age 93 years)