Bat, Ball, Glove, Helmet, Kevlar Vest

After several attempts to contact Rogersville city officials to ask when they might find time,  amongst all of their tax raisin’ and salary negotiatin’ duties, to officially opt out of Tennessee’s new park carry law,  I received no reply.   Or I missed the reply.

Then, Pop forwarded me this NRA alert.

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All Inn the Details

Big D, a stringer for Grainger Today and a right fine fellow, attended the Rogersville BMA meeting last night.

He comments:

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Inn It Up to Your Necks

The truth has finally caught up with the rumors.  The Rogersville Review reports: Rather than run the risk of running out of money for the Hale Springs Inn project, the Rogersville Board of Mayor and Aldermen may borrow up to $150,000 to make certain it is completed.  The BMA has scheduled a meeting for February 4, 5pm,  at city hall to discuss issuing up to $150,000 in capital outlay notes. 

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When You Laugh So Hard You Cry…

Today’s Times-News letter to the editor from Rogersville :

Wouldn’t it be interesting…
Wouldn’t it be interesting if voting for a presidential candidate were a privilege and not a right — if there were an IQ test or some form of questionnaire to fill out to show you actually knew what was going on in the country and the world before you could vote? Wouldn’t it be interesting if agenda-driven groups like ACORN were not allowed to troll the skid-row areas for drunks, winos and drug addicts to take them to the polls and tell them who to vote for and sometimes pay them for their votes with alcohol, cigarettes or money? Wouldn’t it be interesting if uneducated, uninformed or misinformed people with neither the desire nor the gumption to get out and vote were just left to sit it out? Would not our nation be better off? Wouldn’t it be nice if the party for FDR and Truman and Kennedy returned to its long-forgotten roots of decency, fairness and love of country? Wouldn’t it be nice if it hadn’t been taken over by the America-bashing ultra-left-wing lunatic fringe groups and Hollywood elitist weirdos? Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democrats could participate in a fair and honest election and let the best man win without all the lying, cheating and voter fraud? I think so.

Thomas Walsh
Rogersville

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Faulk Gets Called to the Office

Shortly after Heritage Days, people took to the nets complaining that Mike Faulk had folks out slapping his stickers on poor, innocent children (Hey, it worked for Phil Roe) and that he was acting as a greeter at the Price Public Soul Food Dinner.  The dinner, which was held during the festival, was a fund raiser for Price Public Community Center and Museum.

Complaints about the organization’s fund raiser continued until the President of Price Public addressed the issue:

It is against the policy of the Price Public Community Center to endorse any canidate that is running for political office! Although we have allowed organizations, businesses and individuals to utilize the building, we have never endorsed a canidate, nor will we in the future. Price Public is not representative of any political party, whether it be black or white.  Concerning the Soul Food Dinner……it was a very busy evening and I was unaware of the situation until someone called it to my attention. I immediately called Mike into our office and I explained our policy. Mike apologized and then left. Price Public has set very high standards, not only for the preservation of this historical site, but also of our officers and board members. Since our beginning, we have served over 30,000 citizens regardless of race, creed or national origin and have bonded with this community. We have received nothing less than compliments of our building and service to this community. Things come to us everyday of which we have no control, but, what is important is how we handle it. In the future, we will certain be more aware of any situations that would not be representative of Price Public. I am so very sorry that this happened and I apologize to anyone that was offended.

Despite Stella’s (Gudger) efforts here, I heard some folks at the grocery store this morning still grumbling about Faulk’s presence and voicing their displeasure with the Price Public board.  Certainly, I can understand how people made the mistake of assuming the non-profit board supported Faulk: the Hawkins County GOP often reserves the building for their shindigs.

However, the center is also used by the Hawkins County school board, the Boy Scouts of America, the Mary Kay party people… and anyone else who can pay the rental fee.  These fees help fund the maintenance of the property (which was little more than a boarded up building before Gudger joined the project) and assist with the organization’s ongoing effort to preserve the African-American history of Hawkins County.

Tennessee Guy (Jeff Bradley) has more info about Price Public here.

Furthermore, while non-profit organizations do not endorse political candidates, it usually not wise to wander around pissing them off either.  Therefore, workers at the Soul Food Dinner were probably wearing “Faulk” stickers for the same reason Mike Williams’ supporters were wearing them while they dined.   Peeling them off in Faulk’s presence would have been awkward, and they didn’t want to hurt his feelings or alienate the guy, who might be the next state senator.

Quite simply they were put on the spot.

You know, this is the stuff I hate about election years – and I’m starting to understand why Hawkins County Gas would no longer allow their community room to be used for political gatherings.

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Local Politics: On the Ballot

WRGS Radio in Rogersville has an online roster for the Nov. 4 game race.

After looking it over, I’ve learned some things I didn’t know before:

(1) Mike Faulk, the Church Hill attorney and candidate for 4th district state senate seat, lives in Kingsport. In fact, he’s on the far side of the [Holston] Ordnance. So, technically, if he walked over to the river and jumped in, he wouldn’t be eligible to run in this district. Not that I’m recommending he go jump in a river, I’m just making an observation on geography – that’s all.

(2) Chris Lugo did not drop out the (US Senate) race. I thought he had. Of course, since the vast majority of people here have never heard of him or think he’s a county music back-up singer, I’m not sure it matters one way or the other.

(3) The forgotten Rogersville City School Board seats, which the entire town got their grannies panties twisted over and demanded an expensive special election to be held immediately, are on the ballot. Seats 1, 2 will be filled by current members (and sole candidates for the seats) Frank Testerman and William E. Phillips II. Seats 3, 4 will be filled by incumbent Reed Matney and newcomer Todd Biggs. With challenger Dan Brooks dropping out of the race, there is no race.

As for the rest of those folks threatening to put their name on the ballot, I guess they realized that seeking a role of leadership and serving the public would seriously cut into their time spent sitting around and complaining to the public about its leadership.

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IT'S ALIVE! Could Rock Resuscitate Rogersville?

History, Bluegrass, Yarnspinnin’, Whittlin’, Fiddlin’, Crafts, and County Music.

For years, Rogersville has been convinced these aspects of our cultural heritage will attract droves of tourists to the area. The problem is it’s a heritage we share with countless cities throughout the region. Not to mention, the market has subdivided itself into smaller, competitive niches. So, while we do attract some visitors – it’s not the droves we wanted.  And we’ve been so focused on finding ways to stand out in the crowd,  we did not notice the crowd is changing.

But Jimmy Southard did.

Southard, a local musician and owner of the House of Music, realized that much of the entertainment and events offered locally held no appeal for the younger generation. While he remains supportive of existing markets, he points out the lack of diversity has been driving a large number of musicians and fans out-of-town to seek alternatives.

Quite simply, Jimmy says, “There’s nothing for them here.”

So when the Mystery Man (no seriously, he wants to remain a mystery) behind Concert Guy Promotions approached Southard with an idea to do something different, unheard of, something that’s never been done before - are you sitting down for this? A non-country, non-bluegrass End of Summer Rock Bash in the Rogersville City Park, Southard jumped at the opportunity.

And he hasn’t stopped jumping since.

Rock? In Rogersville? Really? Let’s face it. He had his work cut out for him – particularly since Rogersville is a tiny speck of urban fringe, outside of Kingsport and too many miles away from Knoxville.  It wouldn’t be considered a “major market” by any stretch of the imagination – so even if there were someone willing to organize and promote the event, what rock band would come here?

Well, despite the doubts and disbelief, Southard used his connections in the industry to help net an impressive line-up for the August 30th event.

The End of Summer Bash includes Egypt Central, whose January 2008 release debuted at #8 on Billboard’s Top Heatseakers chart, currently sits in the Top #50 on the Mainstream Rock Charts and has appeared on motion picture soundtracks for The Cave and The Condemned.  They are one of the most requested bands on XM Squizz. (In fact, prior to their Rogersville gig, EC has been invited to seize control of Squizz and play anything they want on August, 5 at 8PM ET/5 PT… replay August, 8 at 12PM ET/9PT)

Also appearing at the Bash will be well-known bands such as Framing Hanley, 32 Leaves, since october, the Amend, Blindsight, venejer, Waiting to Break, Adire and Doomsday Revival. (No, they probably don’t know where Rogersville is located, but it’s okay. They can get a Google map.)

The added benefit of booking well-known acts is that each of these bands come with their own fan base, which has helped the promotion go viral.  According to Southard, ticket sales, which are $10 advance and $15 at the gate, have exceeded expectations with a surprising number of the online sales going to out-of-state fans. (Tickets are available at the House of Music and online.)

Of course, securing the talent and getting the word out is only one aspect of creating a successful event.

In order to provide a quality experience fans will want to repeat next year (which is precisely what Southard intends to do) he has also enlisted help from a few familiar faces.  Musicoxide, a Johnson City production company who has turned knobs and tweaked sound for some of the best acts to pass through the region, will be providing their services. Immortal Security, a company accustomed to working large venues such as Freedom Hall, is on board for the event – and GoTricities will be lending their promotional power. (See the GoTricities promo video here.)

Southard has also acquired a respectable list of donors and sponsors – including Dean Guitars, who will be donating a guitar autographed by members of Egypt Central to be given away at the Bash.

Unfortunately, there are few local names on the list.  Some of the larger businesses, known for their generous sponsorship of local events, have shied away from the Bash perhaps fearing it would be controversial or not quite mainstream enough.  The exceptions are @Work, Comfort Inn and Old Stage Printing.  Likewise, area food vendors haven’t been standing in line to participate: so the options are a bit more limited than promoters would like. (Interested vendors can contact Southard at House of Music.)

And honestly, I find the reluctance short-sighted.

In speaking with Southard, it’s clear his primary motivation is to give the kids in the community something to call their own; he is not, however, unaware that his efforts will be tapping into a fast-growing, under-served demographic with expendable income.  The Bash has vast appeal to scores of Generation Yers (ages 15-24) and more than a few Xer’s (ages 25-34+) – groups which account for about 43% of Hawkins County’s population.

We already know the Xers have been dubbed $1 trillion generation based on the group’s aggregate buying power – but what about those young Gen Yers?  According to marketing studies, the 71 million children of Baby Boomers, who are now coming of age, will be an enormously powerful consumer group.  In fact, research indicates the biggest distinction between leading Gen Ys and their Gen X predecessors is Generation Y loves to spend.

A Northwestern Mutual study revealed that 37 percent of Gen Y currently owns three or more credit cards, while only 13 percent claim none – and that overall, college students have a purchasing power of $108 billion.  And the second wave of the Ys (12-17) spent $165 billion in 2006,  $3 billion more than they did in the previous year – this being the fourth annual increase in a row.

Certainly, the concert goers will purchase gas, food, many will need lodging – but what remains to be seen is will they return? Will something here entice them to come back?  You know, within the next five years, these kids will be the heartbeat of the economy- they will be buying cars, houses, starting out and settling down.  Why not support events, which could help Rogersville catch the attention of these up and coming consumers now.

Personally, I think we may benefit by rolling out the welcome mat and getting with the program – STAT.

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The Inquisition Transcript

The Shill of the Brethren called a few days ago to announce, “The Republicans aren’t pleased with you.”

WAIT. Before we proceed, I’ll need a disclaimer.

[DISCLAIMER: The following transcript may contain politically incorrect statements, stereotypes, profanity, brief nudity, mild violence and a general disregard for the Republican party. It probably won't have all of those things, but just in case, reader discretion is advised. Any resemblance to AP content is purely coincidental. All opinions and statements herein are solely those of the individual persons or participants in the conversation, and are not adopted or endorsed or verified by any national, state or local political party, candidate, County Commissioner Charlie Newton, my hairdresser or the Ron Paul Truth people. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this transcript, DeMarCaTionVille cannot accept any legal responsibility for errors, omissions, misstatements or mistakes in the transcript considering the conversation took place during the TMC airing of The Trouble With Harry. So, I may have missed some things. And for the record, I do hold the Shill in high regard. I just can't hold him there very long once he starts talking, because I tend to get bored, drop him, and wander off in search of beer and ear plugs... only to come back later and realize I've forgotten where I put him. Good thing I've got a couple of spare Republicans lying around to displease... otherwise, I'd be without a hobby, aye?]

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Mayor Jim Sells goes all "George Bush" on `em

… and according to the Rogersville Review, vetoes a decision to resurface Broadway.

Saying it was the first time he had used the authority in 31 years in office, Sells used the veto in order to determine the condition of other streets and to “include those with the greatest need for repair” in any paving projects.

At the next BMA meeting: mayor set to declare war on Kingsport and authorize use of new spy equipment to detect, divert and destroy evil plans to jaywalk in front of the Post Office.

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when I pretend not to love you, i'm only being coy

Consider this my love letter to the state of Tennessee.

You can order J.S. Moore’s books here, here, here, here and here.

Buy Christabel and the Jons CD’s here: preview here or catch `em June, 23 2008 at WDVX “Blue Plate Special” w/ Miss Tess @ downtown visitor’s center, corner of Gay St. and Summit Hill Blvd., Knoxville, or listen at 89.9 and 102.9 FM, streaming online at www.wdvx.com.

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