Wed
Oct 10 2007
10:36 pm
Good Stuff in Roane County
By: wylamena

Hey Neighbors!

Where do we report the good stuff that happens in Roane County? It just seems to me that all I ever see is the scandal, murder and mayhem, and the keep us down on the ground info. Maybe it is my choice of viewing and reading. I love this community and I want others to see it as the wonderful place that it is and not the hell hole we have been portrayed as by the media.

PLEASE, will each of you post one positive thing that happened in Roane County this week. Some thing that Roane County can be pleased to see on the 6 PM news...not that they will show it, but by george we can post it!

Here's my part...

This evening I attended a reception at Roane State Community College. It was held to allow the Roane State Foundation Sholarship donars to meet the recipients. The room had quite a few people in it and even though I do not know how many were there from each category, it was great to realize that dreams were being fulfilled and lives altered. Dr. Goff said the total money awarded is around $200,000. That is something to be proud of!

I will now get down from my soap box!
Wylamena

Topics:

Stay up there, Wylamena!

Submitted by RoaneBooster on October 11, 2007 - 1:47am.

It's a soap box that could use more activity!

We too often hear things that, taken without the kind of things you're soliciting, could lead folks to believe Roane County is nothing but bumblers at best, dirty politicians at worst. And tain't so!

So keep it up, kiddo!

RB

Great job Wylamena!! Roane

Submitted by Ray Collett on October 11, 2007 - 7:18am.

Great job Wylamena!! Roane County has a lot to offer and be proud of. Rockwood's "Yonder Hollow" on Friday evenings is attracting a couple of hundred people for some of the best bluegrass, southern gospel, and accoustical music around. No charge, but a donation is asked and the atmosphere is certainly family oriented. A lot of the "pickers and grinners" are youngsters and certainly talented. They come from the Knoxville area, near Chattanooga and as far west as Cookville and Sparta. And "Miss Nell's" desserts are really "mouthwatering." If you haven't been there, you certainly are missing a great time. Ray Collett

Ray,

Submitted by WhitesCreek on October 11, 2007 - 7:39am.

Can we get some more info on Yonder Hollow? Sounds like fun.

I was gone from Rockwood for

Submitted by Ray Collett on October 11, 2007 - 10:04am.

I was gone from Rockwood for 38 yrs. On returning 4 yrs ago, I noticed Rockwood did not have a lot going on. Calling a couple of "pickers", we started gathering in the Homecoming Park downtown on Thur. evening and the crowd kept growing. Winter was coming on, and I met a couple (Nick and Betty Barrett) who had been in the area a couple of years and loved accoustical music. They invited my wife and I up to their building (old Bilbrey Furniture building) to see what they had started. I was shocked on entering, a stage, sound equiptment, couple of hundred chairs...So we printed up flyers, took them to the surrounding area and the people started showing up. Nick later bought the adjoining building, opened a doorway and doubled the size. It has ample room for jam sessions, and usually around five or size bands play on stage, a small snack bar (to be enlarged) serving hotdogs, soft drinks, desserts, coffee, etc. We all volunteer our services, as far as music and my wife volunteers her time at the snack bar. Several bands sell their CDs...I have my CDs there also and my "Rockwood Memories" book. The doors open at 5:30, bands start around 6:30. Any accoustical music is welcome. We never know who will show up as far as bands. A one time donation is asked.. Nick has a business license from the city, pays taxes on the donations and concessions, and is even licensed through ASCAP and BMI. It is a great, family oriented evening and certainly beneficial to the city, being a terrific drawing attraction that is growing. Please come by some Friday, we would be glad to meet you....Ray and Gennell Collett

Wonderfull

Submitted by WhitesCreek on October 11, 2007 - 11:17am.

This is exactly what we need more of around Roane County. I'll be there as soon as an unscheduled Friday evening rolls around.

I'm thinking we need some pictures, so if anybody has any send them on.

Thanks Ray Collett!

Submitted by onetahiti on October 11, 2007 - 12:42pm.

Ray Collett,

This is wonderful news about the music activities! :)

It was the music business that first brought me to West Roane County over 18 years ago. At the time, the world's top maker of master-level electrified mbiras, R. Selman, had his forge and studio here.

It was the non-industrialized fresh air and sylvan charm of West Roane County that inspired me to move here.

Best wishes to all involved in these musical endeavors!

-- OneTahiti

I feel so validated...

Submitted by wylamena on October 11, 2007 - 9:17am.

Hey guys,

Thanks for the encouragement. I used to love summer time becuase I knew I was coming to Roane County to visit with family. We would come to Harriman, park (not parrallel either!), and walk down one side of the street and up the other. My grandmother "drug" us in every door...the drugstore, Edwards shoes, Miller & Brewer, and sometimes we went to the Princess to catch a movie. What I remember most was how welcome we were made to feel. Granny knew everybody and everybody knew us. Uncle Clyde always had fifty cents to give us and I could never make up my mind whether I wanted a sundae or a malt from the drugstore, so Granny got me both!

This was and is a great community! I just want us to respect it and treat it that way. We are Roane County and it takes Harriman, Kingston, Rockwood, Oliver Springs, Midway, Midtown, South of the River, Dyllis, Walnut Hill, Emory Gap, and all of the other communities to make it what it is. Our heritage is rich and worthy of pride.

And don't make me tell you this again!
Wylamena

On-A-Roll...

Submitted by wylamena on October 11, 2007 - 3:21pm.

OK gang, we are on a roll. Yonder Hollow (why isn't that Holler?, Roane State, Watts Bar Lake, Friendly people...Don't Stop! There's more, I can feel it! Good Lord this is like pulling teeth!

Wylamena

Patience

Submitted by onetahiti on October 11, 2007 - 11:36pm.

Wylamena,

I'm sure over here we will think of some things; just give us a little time. October is a busy month. Here we are too tired to think! :)

-- OneTahiti

Try this at home, kids!

Submitted by WhitesCreek on October 11, 2007 - 7:06am.

I'm proud to say that RoaneViews is overwhelmingly positive in outlook. All a visitor has to do is scroll down the front page and count the positive stories versus the negative stories. With this being a public forum, it's easy to see that folks around here feel good about Roane County.

Sure we have some laundry, trash, and pest control that needs doing and that's part of this forum too.

As Grandma says, "Cockroaches don't like sunlight, but a garden does."

Yonder Hollow

Submitted by Rockwood Lawyer on October 11, 2007 - 3:12pm.

I'm going to chime in in favor of Yonder Hollow. Went there a few weeks back and had a great time.

No one has mentioned one of the best things about Roane County -- the great outdoors. Watts Bar Lake, thousands of acres of public forest land, the view from (and of) Mount Roosevelt, etc.

And finally, the friendliness of the people. I was thinking today that I may have met and talked with more people in Roane County in the last month and a half than I did in nearly ten years of living in Knoxville.

Thanks gang for the

Submitted by Ray Collett on October 11, 2007 - 4:37pm.

Thanks gang for the encouragement of "Yonder Hollow". LOL and Wilamena, probably why it is not "Yonder Holler", is that Nick and Betty Barrett (owners) being the great civic minded people they are are shhhh, CALIFORNIANS.....even though they are trying to talk like us, they haven't quite mastered it yet...hence "HOLLOW", but they will learn. One other note, on my return to Rockwood after 38 yrs. I remembered how our town was in the 40's and 50's so I approached the Roane County News about writing a weekly article "Rockwood Memories" and putting it in the Rockwood Times each week mainly to keep the name Rockwood alive. After two years, I am still publishing it and send it out on the internet via email to 1118 readers all the way to Hawaii. The first 78 columns have been published in a book, "Rockwood Memories" which is available at "Shacks, O'Those Were The Days Antiques, and Yonder Hollow. By reading the posts and interest in the "good ole days" contact me and I will be happy to add your name on the mailing list. Thanks a lot, Ray Collett rcol110479@aol.com

Last Friday,at "Yonder

Submitted by Ray Collett on October 21, 2007 - 10:17am.

Last Friday,at "Yonder Hollow", there were six groups appearing on stage along with numerous jam sessions going on in the many different areas. When you combine that with more than two hundred people from all over East and Middle Tennessee and "Miss Nell's" famous pies, that certainly makes for a great time EVERY Friday evening in Rockwood. Come on down and join us for a fun-filled evening of fellowship and good "ole time" bluegrass and Southern Gospel accoustic music....Ray Collett

How about...

Submitted by KRB on October 22, 2007 - 9:43am.

Hey WC,

Can Ray's last post here be moved to the front page or a link to it or something? These are great events and we need to get them some notice.

Hey Ray...

What happens when 600 people come in? Just lookin' ahead!

Wendy @ KRB

Ray has publishing privileges

Submitted by WhitesCreek on October 22, 2007 - 9:53am.

I can move him to the front page but since it's a commercial operation, I figure that's his call.

I would certainly encourage it, though, and I'd love to hear from someone who has gone to hear the music. I can't go this Friday either, due to a double conflict.

I have tickets to see Lamar Alexander present the TCWN River Hero award to Wilma Dykeman (posthumously), and I have tickets to see Old Crow Medicine Show at the Tennessee Theater.

Life is really tough sometimes.

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