Well,
“Hello 2001, Goodbye 2000”! What
a year you were! A lot of things happened.
Both, happy and sad; good and bad. Not
the least of which was that event in Florida that happened in the last two
months of your reign. Now the jury
is still out on whether that turned out good or bad and we may not really know
for another four years. However, we here in the Coal Creek Watershed communities
had some events that (I believe) we already know were good. The first event
occurred last spring when the Coal Creek Clean Stream Initiative sponsored Coal
Creek Watershed Day 2000. On
that day, residents, mostly school children, fished and if they picked up trash
and turned it in they were given a commemorative cap. Also the children had previously participated in a Dream
Contest at their school. In
the contest they were asked to tell what they would most like to see happen in
their community. Most chose cleaner
water. So on that day they were
also shown how to test the creek water.
A short while after Coal Creek
Watershed Day, the Coal Creek Clean Stream Initiative and the Coal
Creek Flood Prevention Committee merged and formed the Coal Creek Watershed
Foundation, Inc. with the goal of improving the quality of life in the watershed
including flood control. The next event was Deadwood
Removal Day 2000. On that day, 145 volunteers, 11 were volunteer
county prisoners, removed tons of deadwood and other debris from the creek and
around the bridges. After which,
the ladies of the watershed communities served everyone a home cooked dinner at
the Briceville School. Representatives
from Al Gore's Presidential campaign also visited us on that day. The next event
was the Coal Creek Discovery Day 2000,
and what a day it was! Everything
from flycasting demonstrations to a concrete boat made by students from the U.T.
School of Engineering, to the catching and identifying of creek life was the
order of the day. The high point of the day was a visit by U.S. Congressman Zack
Wamp who presented the Briceville Elementary School with a U.S. flag that had
flown over Washington D.C. and a Tennessee state flag presented by
Representative William Baird. Our Boy Scout Troop raised the flags in a
beautiful ceremony. Ladies from the
Briceville Church of God presented Congressman Wamp with a Coal Miners quilt
they had made, in return. The ladies of the watershed again provided a home
cooked meal.
The
fourth event was the Coal Creek Scrape
Paint and Clean Day 2000. On
this day over 50 volunteers which included 14 volunteer prisoners scraped the
150+ year old Briceville Community Church and revisited some of the unofficial
dumps that had be cleaned on Deadwood Removal Day
and cleaned them up again. As before, the ladies provided a wonderful
home cooked meal. All of these events helped Anderson County to qualify for Project
Impact funding. So the
next event was brought about by the success of the previous events and should be
looked at as a goal achieved.
On
November the 28th a F.E.M.A. team visited Coal Creek along with Mark
"Hollywood" Whaley, Project Impact Coordinator for Anderson County;
Barry Thacker CEO, Coal Creek Watershed Foundation; Wally Pressley, Chamber of
Commerce Director for Lake City; and Rev. Roy Daugherty, CCWF Board member.
After the tour, the party met with County Supervisor Rex Lynch, Carol
Moore CCWF member, and watershed residents at the Briceville School.
At the meeting it was decided to address the flooding of Coal Creek one
trouble spot at a time. To do this a trouble spot has to be identified and a
plan specifically for that spot designed. Then the plan will have to be
submitted to TDEC for a permit to do the work and to Project
Impact for funding of the work. Three spots were identified as a
beginning and Barry Thacker, who is an engineer, agreed to work out the designs
for these spots. All things considered I believe I can honestly say we have had
a very productive year as a community.
Now!
What can we expect for 2001? I
personally have great expectations and hopes for the year ahead.
Of course the flooding problem is and will remain top priority.
We have our foot in the door grant wise. So I hope that we can get the
People's Clinic reopened. We are hoping to get an AmericorpsVISTA
volunteer by June to help us with the requests for grants.
I also hope to help get the Historical Motor Trail up and going in the
months ahead.
I
feel that I must point out that Project
Impact is a partnership between F.E.M.A. and the communities they
are helping. Folks, that’s not my
rule, it’s theirs. So if you want
the creek worked on we need to keep doing our part in the partnership. The main
thing that they look at is the attendance at meetings and the number of
volunteers and community support when needed.
So, let’s keep the faith and keep on pushing and we will look back on
this year as a productive year.
Per. Rev. Roy Daugherty
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