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TOP STORIES FOR
WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 2003
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Hope Left His Mark on McKenzie,
Bethel |
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By Jim Steele and Joel Washburn
washburn@mckenziebanner.com |
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Just two months after his
100th birthday, perhaps the greatest entertainer the world
has ever known passed away.
Bob Hope, known for his one-liners and straight-man role,
master of stage, TV and screen, died at his home Sunday
from complications of pneumonia.
It's hard to say how Hope was best known. Perhaps it was
indeed for his rapier wit, his well-timed delivery. Maybe
it was his "On The Road" series with friend Bing Crosby.
One might argue that his service to the nation's military
through the USO tours was his biggest claim to fame. Then
there's golf, his association with U.S. presidents and his
Texaco advertisements.
Hope indeed straddled and spanned numerous eras, yet
always maintained his greatness, whether it was
Vaudeville, his TV specials or sparring with Der Bingle.
For McKenzians, he will forever be remembered for his
benevolence to this town and Bethel College. Hope appeared
in a benefit show for Bethel College on May 25, 1975 to
help the financially beleaguered school.
"Bob Hope cared so much about education," said Jodie
Gaines-Johnson, who knew Hope and his family well. Her
father, the late Ben Gaines, was instrumental in getting
Hope to McKenzie for the benefit show.
Hope and the late Fred Bryson, who served as acting BC
president while on the board of trustees, were friends and
Gaines was friends with Bryson, through their mutual
association with Bethel.
Gaines got the bold idea to see if Hope would do a benefit
on behalf of Bethel. So he nudged Bryson to ask Hope if he
would do a fund raising show for the college. Hope agreed,
brought an entourage, intertwined it with the Bethel stage
band and famed Balladeers and a McKenzie was treated to
nothing less than a Hollywood production.
"Dad wasn't afraid to ask anyone to do anything," said
Johnson, "and next thing you know Bob Hope was coming to
Bethel. And he and Daddy remained friends until the day he
died."
Mrs. Ludie Gaines was saddened by the news of Hope's
passing. "We thought so much of him," said Mrs. Gaines,
speaking on behalf of herself and her late husband, Ben.
"Like Ben, he's in a better place," she said of Hope's
death. "I'm so sad."
The Gaines family, including daughters Jodie and Pattie
visited with the Hopes in their California home. "He was
such a gentlemen and loved everyone. They were so gracious
when they invited us to their home for dinner...Ben so
loved being with Bob and playing golf with him," said Mrs.
Gaines.
It was, indeed, a red-letter day in McKenzie in May 1975.
Gov. Ray Blanton was here as was Miss Tennessee Debi
Kincaid, celebrity singer and actress Patrician Price,
then-Tennessee house speaker Ned McWherter and then-state
representative John Tanner to name a few. Dr. Ed Perkins
served as master of ceremonies. Blanton was late arriving,
so Blanton's wife had to introduce Hope.
"That was an incredible day for Bethel and McKenzie," said
Johnson. "I don't know that we'll ever see anything like
that again ever. Bob Hope was just a great man and he
cared for people."
Virginia Claire Edwards recalls Hope's performance in
McKenzie. She remembers the anticipation of the crowd and
their roaring applause when Hope's entourage entered the
fieldhouse. "This isn't happening in McKenzie and at
Bethel College," she recalls thinking at the time. He made
the appearance at Bethel and a second performance in
Memphis to help the financially struggling Bethel College
in honor of his friend Fred Bryson. Through the years,
several scholarships have been provided at Bethel in honor
of Hope. At least two of those scholarship recipients now
hold high-level positions in Bell Helicopter and Nissan.
"He was hilarious and very gracious," recalls Deby
Kincaid-Gooch who joined Hope on the stage at McKenzie. "I
just happened to be Miss Tennessee at the time...I sang a
couple of songs," said Mrs. Gooch, who now operates
Kincaid Studio in Alamo. She drove from her home in Bells
to McKenzie to perform. One of the songs was "Once in a
Lifetime", which she also performed at the Miss America
pageant that year.
Hope entered the Roy N. Baker Fieldhouse, which had a
square stage at midcourt, a stage that resembled something
of a boxing ring without the ropes. He took the stage to
thunderous applause. One of his first remarks was the
seating capacity for the fieldhouse.
"How many people does this place hold?" he asked someone
in the crowd. "Three thousand," said a voice in the
audience about the sellout crowd... "I see," said Hope, "a
place for everyone in town."
Hope talked about his afternoon stay in McKenzie, joking,
"I've stayed in hotels where the walls were so thin I've
heard the people next door, but I'd never seen them
before." He quipped about this new cologne he was wearing
in honor of his appearance in McKenzie, called "Afternoon
in Skullbone," which drew belly laughs from the crowd.
Hope talked about the flooding in California at that time,
saying the rain had "washed all the hippies into squares."
One of his biggest laughs on the afternoon came after a
joke about the flood. Hope said that he was on a log
floating in the floodwaters when he noticed a man on the
roof of his house, moving his head back and forth as if
watching a tennis match. Hope said he asked the man what
he was looking at. "See those bubbles," the man on the
roof said of a series of bubbles going back and forth.
"That's my neighbor. He told me he was going to mow his
yard come hell or high water."
He told the joke about a man going into a bar and ordering
a drink called a "grasshopper," a minty potable. At the
end of the bar was a grasshopper sitting on a stool. The
man in the bar said, "hey we have a drink named after
you," to which the grasshopper replied, "Oh really?
Oglethorpe?"
Hope's sold-out appearance, which drew 3,000, netted the
school $100,000 and perhaps saved it from drawing its own
curtain.
"That was a lot of money in those days," said Johnson.
"That was a big deal."
In the months and years following the show, Johnson said
she and her family were close with the Hopes. She spoke in
awe of sitting next to former president Gerald Ford while
watching TV at the Hopes' house in California.
"They treated us so nice," said Johnson. "He even called
me when I was going through my ordeal (Johnson's
kidnapping in the spring of 1978). I was thankful to be
around him and it didn't matter to him that we were from
McKenzie, Tenn. He treated us like family and he really
cared about people."
Johnson said she remembers with great fondness the
conversations Gaines and Hope had regarding golf, World
War II and chasing the American dream.
"It was neat seeing them share so much," she said. "He
left a legacy and a lot of fond memories."
Thanks, Bob. |
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Archeological Survey Clear on
Proposed Recreational Lake |
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By Joel Washburn
washburn@mckenziebanner.com |
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Work on the proposed
977-acre recreational lake in Carroll County is
progressing. Archaeological studies of three sites
eliminated concern that any archeologically important
items might be disturbed if the lake is developed in the
Leach community.
In November 2002, the U.S. Corps of Engineers approved
the 404 permit allowing the construction of the water
impoundment. That followed a November 2001 vote by the
citizens of Carroll County to impose a $10 wheel tax to
pay the local share of the lake's development costs.
During the quarterly meeting of the Carroll County
Watershed Authority on Tuesday, July 15, Kevin Young of
J.R. Wauford Consulting said TRC of Nashville conducted
a phase II archeological survey on three suspect sites
of the lake. The Nashville firm's survey results have
been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers and are
awaiting approval by the Tennessee Historical
Commission. Young said the Historical Commission would
probably approve the report since the Corps approved the
findings.
Engineers are designing a tail water monitoring station,
which will be located between the proposed dam and Hwy
70. Young said the station must be in place for a
minimum of 12 months prior to the construction of the
dam, which will be designed to assure the quality of
Reedy Creek is equal in quality to the current
condition.
Boundary surveys of the proposed wetland mitigation
project were approved. The mitigation is in two parts-
(1) to restore a portion of Crooked Creek to its
original channel, and (2) to plant 90 acres of hardwood
trees in the mitigation wetland area. The Board
authorized Chairman Tommy Surber and Secretary Dale
Kelley to negotiate purchase of easements for the
mitigation site.
A budget with revenues of 380,228 was approved for
FY2003-2004. Estimated expenditures total $379,488.
Expenditures include: Phase II Archeological Study
$28,823; Implementation of Phase I of Wetland Mitigation
$10,000; Mitigation Site -Option for property
acquisition $60,000; Mitigation Site- Boundary Survey
$7,100; Consulting Engineering Fees $50,000;
Geotechnical Engineering Field Investigation and Report
for Dam $50,000; Miscellaneous $30,000; Bond Renewal
$200; Audit $1,365; Media Publications and Printing
$1,000; Tail water Monitoring Station Construction
$25,000; Acquisition, appraisals, and surveys related to
Monitoring Station $110,000; and Analyses of Water
Samples Collected for Monitoring Station $6,000.
Attending the meeting were members Dale Kelley, Janice
McClain, Kenny McBride, and Tommy Surber and consultant
Kevin Young. |
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Bus Driver Seeks Reinstatement by
County Board |
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By Pat Cole
pcole@mckenziebanner.com |
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 After 30 years of driving a county school bus, Wayford Washburn Sr. is questioning why he was not
rehired for the 2003-04 school year. He states he has
been unsuccessful in his request for information from
Carroll County Director of schools Charlotte Tucker. A
list of school drivers was approved by the Carroll
County School Board during its June meeting. Without
discussion, the board approved a list, which excluded
Washburn's name. A vacancy remains for the driver of bus
#6, serving the McKenzie Special School District and
Washburn has been informed by Mrs. Tucker that he will
not be employed for the new school year. Washburn has
requested to be heard during the boar's meeting Thursday
evening.Mr. Washburn began driving for the Carroll County School
System as a substitute driver for his son. During those
years, he has transported band students and athletes to
games and other contests as well as driving his daily
route to the schools.
Mr. Washburn stated that he and his son and Jackie
Kirksey, spokesman for county bus drivers were at the
last meeting of the board and the subject of
reemployment of drivers was acted on without discussion.
Following the meeting, it was his impression that
drivers were not included in the board's business for
the night. However, he was called by Mrs. Tucker and
told he had not been reemployed.
Mr. Washburn also alleges he twice attempted to get Mrs.
Tucker to fill out a form stating why she did not
reemploy him to drive a bus.
Mr. Washburn believes he was not rehired due to an
incident which occurred on May 12 as he was transporting
students. On that date, Mr. Washburn alleges he stopped
at the railroad tracks on Main Street in McKenzie,
looked to the left toward Huntingdon and then right. He
also stated he had his door and window open during this
time with the radio off and did not see or hear the
warning signals at that time. He then proceeded across
the tracks, looked back to his left and saw a train's
headlight coming. At that point, he proceeded across the
tracks. He was called on the evening of May 19 and told
that a substitute would be running his route for the
final two days of classes on May 20-21.
Mr. Washburn believes he was not reemployed due to this
incident, without a chance to defend his position before
the board. He sent a registered letter on Monday, July
21 to Mrs. Tucker requesting he be placed on the board's
agenda for the July 31 meeting in an effort to regain
his position as a bus driver for the county.
Mrs. Tucker stated that she received a call from
railroad authorities on Monday, May 19 in regards to the
incident related above. She also stated she had received
two calls from women who allegedly also saw the incident
with one refusing to identify herself. She would neither
confirm, or deny that incident had anything to do with
Mr. Washburn's suspension last year or his lack of
employment this year. She also stated that she had a
replacement for his position in mind, but had not at
this time actually employed anyone.
She acknowledged she had received a registered letter
from Mr. Washburn and sent a reply to him by registered
mail telling him that she needed to speak with him
regarding what he wished to say and to apprise him of
rules regarding his appearance before the board. Again
she did not state he would be placed on the agenda, nor
did she deny it as a possibility.
Following the complaint filed by railroad officials,
Mrs. Tucker and Supervisor of Transportation Wanda
Williams took a bus to the location where the incident
involving Mr. Washburn's bus took place and recreated
the incident. When asked if a train was coming from the
same direction at the time of the recreation, Mrs.
Tucker was evasive, stating that the incident was
recreated as much as possible. Although the board did
meet, the matter was not discussed in that meeting and
she alone made the decision to suspend Mr. Washburn for
the remainder of the year.
Mrs. Tucker noted that the Director of Schools does not
have to apprise the board of personnel matters in
regards to non-tenured personnel (bus drivers fall into
the non-tenured category where they are simply not
rehired, but cannot be fired at the conclusion of a
yearly contract) while it is prudent to do so. She also
stated that her decision not to reemploy Mr. Washburn
may or may not be related to the alleged infraction on
May 12.
The Carroll County Board of Education will be meeting on
Thursday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. |
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These
stories and more exclusively in the
print edition: |
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- Huntingdon Citizens Petition to Reopen Paris
Streets Connection
- Two Seriously Injured in Separate Accidents
- City Contributes $2500 to Gordon Browning Museum
- Trezevant CP Church Honors Firefighters, Police
Officers
- Amazing Turnaround - Hillview Apartments
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Phone (731) 352-3323 or Fax (731)
352-3322
washburn@mckenziebanner.com
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