David Patton, Palmer Historian
2009
Due to time constraints, Mr. Patton regrets that he cannot personally respond to every comment and inquiry. Like most small town historians, he is an unpaid community volunteer and makes no claim of “knowing everything” about local history. For a detailed account of Grundy County history, he recommends that you consult your copy of the Grundy County Heritage Book.
However, if you have information you would like to share, you may write him at
50 Dogwood St.; Palmer, TN 37365, and he will attempt to respond through this page as time and circumstances allow. Your courtesy and understanding will be appreciated. Ms. Susan Sissom and other volunteers will be assisting Mr. Patton in transmitting this material, but have no personal knowledge as to the veracity of its contents.
OCTOBER
Press Release/ Palmer Veterans Appreciation
Seann E. Lewis, a U.S. Army veteran of Desert Storm, is the 2009 recipient of the 24th annual Palmer Veterans Appreciation Award. The award, presented each November by town historian David Patton, is sponsored by Citizens Tri-County Bank.
Mr. Lewis was inducted at Fort Bliss, TX, on February 7, 1990, where he completed basic training followed by AIT as a Stinger Missile System Gunner. On June 29, 1990, he graduated from parachutist school as airborne qualified at Fort Benning, GA.
While stationed overseas at McCully Barracks in Wackernheim, Germany, he was deployed to Saudi Arabia on January 1, 1991, in support of the 3rd Armored Division, Alpha Company, 318 Cavalry. Completing his military service at Fort Hood, TX, as a member of the famous Cavalry Division, he was discharged on October 5, 1995, with the rank of SPC-4.
Mr. Lewis’ military decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal with 3 bronze service stars, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Kuwait Liberation Medal, Expert Pistol and Grenade Badge, Marksman Rifle Badge, Parachutist Badge.
A life member of VFW Post 9871, in North Ridgefield, Ohio, Mr. Lewis is a graduate of Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, and currently teaches 8th
Grade at Palmer Elementary School. He and his wife Angela are the parents of a daughter, Lillian Mae Lewis.
“In all these years, this is my first opportunity to honor a teacher,” Mr. Patton said. “Mr. Lewis is a good role model for our young people, especially these 8th graders who will soon be adults themselves.”
Malcolm P. Rankin, a highly decorated World War I soldier, was the first recipient of the Palmer Veterans’ Appreciation Award and was followed in order by Obid Marion “Soap” McNabb, Rufus Kilgore, Jr., Glenn A. Nunley, Robert W. Levan, William “Wet Duck” Dishroon, Alfred “Buddy” Nolan, Earl F. Creighton, Charles E. “Gene” Brooks, Bedford R. Glisson, Herschel L. Finch, Jr., James Lowrie King, J.C. “Tom” Scissom, Carl E. “Teeter” Morrison, John W. “Bill” Partin, Thomas M. Burnette, James Shrum, Jr., Billy Carl Guffey, William “Jack Partin, Daniel “Dan” Coffelt, Larry G. Henry, Bobby Lynn Stinnett, and Dennis A. Sweeton.
October 2009 Palmer News
What’s the weather like in your part of the country? We’re coming to you on October 20 and this has been the wettest, cloudiest, and coldest October that we remember, but hopefully the rest of the month will be sunny and dry like a typical October.
Our first killing frost was October 18, but “Mr. White really killed Mr. Green: the following morning as all the outdoor plants were wiped out.
Happy 80th birthday to our good friend Herschel Finch, Jr. Fiends and family gathered on the 14th to help him celebrate and among those attending were his sons John of California and Herschel III of Florida and cousin Ronnie Finch. Junior’s retired from the U.S. Navy.
Jewel Hamby Goodman of Pelham suffered a mini-stroke earlier this month, but at last report was still running her store. Mrs. Goodman is a former teacher at Grundy County High School and in her 90’s now.
Wanda Hampton Meeks and Patsy Higgins visited Norma Stocker recently. Norma’s the widow of Alfred Stocker and recently lost her son Don to cancer.
On October 20, Wanda, Patsy, and their cousin Nick Creighton visited her brother Melvin Hampton and wife Kathy in Jasper. Melvin recently built a new “cabin” on the Tennessee River and is the retired owner of Hampton Trucking.
Linda Rollins Morrison of Fairmount, IN, visited her mother Luevenia Rollins recently. Linda’s lived in the Indianapolis area for many years.
Close call: Theresia Campbell, wife of James Campbell, was gathering eggs in her daughter Michelle Travis; chicken coop and there found two copperhead snakes. She lives in the Ewing Hampton plane and Michelle lives where Orange Lemon Northcutt lived, both on Big Mine Road. This area of Palmer has always been bad for snakes.
Doug and Carolyn King Hargis celebrated 30 years of marriage this month with family and friends. Among those attending were their Pastor John Kennedy and wife Tressie of Pelham. John Pastors Palmer United Methodist.
Mrs. Ricky (Freda) Layne visited Mrs.Cotton (Sue) Ross and Polly Rogers at the Dunlap Nursing Home. There are in the same room and Polly’s the widow of Hade Rogers and daughter of the late Oscar Ward.
Kat Slatton McHone cooked a birthday dinner on her son Edward’s 60th birthday. Joel Patton recently ran into Edward. In 1969 they took U.S. Army Basic training at Ft.Campbell, KY. Edward went on to Germany and Joel went to Vietnam.
Palmer weather report: We had 10.8” of rain here in September, which was the wettest September that we remember.
Happy 60th anniversary to Willie Howard “Buck” and Dot Conry Sanders of Tracy City. Buck grew up in Palmer and is a retired Tracy City postmaster.
The Gruetli-Laager Senior Citizens Center took their annual trip to Pigeon Forge last month. Among those making the trip were Hazel Hornbuckle, Velma Jean Grooms, Ann Creighton and her sister Joyce Conry and James Brown.
The family of the late J. Hugh Layne had their annual reunion last month at Laager Independent (Cotton’s) Methodist Church. All the J. Hugh Layne Family is gone now. Willie Mae Brown Layne, widow of Andrew Layne was probably the oldest person there.
Faces in the crowd: We ran into Ronnie Nunley, Archie Jones and Johnny Parsons recently. Ronnie’s adopted parents were P.T. and Agnes Nunley and Archie’s a son of the late Kat Roberts Jones. Mr. Parsons lives in Coalmont and is such a nice man. He is the brother of former Palmer Elementary Principal Claude Parson and a cousin of Mary Ruth Rogers of Palmer.
Kayla McCullough, granddaughter of Danny and Betty McCullough and Clayton and Joyce Hargis, is serving in the U.S. Army. Also in uniform is Jonathon Grimes, son of Wayne Grimes and grandson of Hershel Grimes. We’re really proud of these young people.
The home of the late Ronnie Cox in Chiggertown burned recently. It had been rental property since Ronnie’s death in 1995.
What’s for supper? We enjoyed some of Ricky Layne’s stew a couple of weeks ago. Some people have a knack for making certain things, and Ricky can sure make stew and chili.
The Hosanna Harvest of Hope, a facility providing a home for disabled adults in Chattanooga, held a fundraiser October 8. Former Palmer resident Lanny McNabb was the auctioneer.
For years people in Palmer and Gruetli-Laager have received a free weekly “Sequatchie Valley Shopper” in their mailbox. That ended this summer and the little paper with its ads and community calendar will be missed. Soaring postal rates are putting many publications out of business.
On sick call: This has been a year of sickness for Mike Gifford, and he’s now recovering from surgery. We hope his health stabilizes.
Hallie Knight and her 96-year-old mother Agnes James are both recovering from a car wreck in Marion County last month. Hallie’s brother Alvin “ Kit Fox” James, is also seriously ill.
Jim Rollins is recovering from cancer surgery and MacArthur White McPherson is recovering after a near death experience from complications of stomach surgery.
Jerry Harrison is recovering from his third major surgery in the last six months and Mrs. Nelmon (Dorothy) Savage is recovering from surgery.
We celebrated our 62nd birthday on October 12 and the first card we got was from Jim and Martha Carroll Cox Hensley of Weeki Wachee, FL.
The Hensleys welcomed their third great-grandson, Logan Nicolas Young, who was born June 25, 2009. Logan Nicolas weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 oz. and was 20 ½” long. He has two brothers, Steven and Noah. They are the great-great grandsons of the late Reno and Nell Dykes Cox of Palmer.
We also received a card from Miss Susan Faye Sissom, son Ross, and husband Smoky Colston; the Crandel McNabb family; Bruce and Gail Bryant Coffelt; Gary Bouldin; Ann Creighton and Joyce Conry; Ricky and Freda Layne; Beverly Scissom Riley and her sister Charlotte Haggard of Elkhart, IN, and Randal Nolan of Chattanooga.
We told Randal that we heard from former Palmer Elementary principal Raymond Hargis frequently and asked if he remembered Mr. Hargis. “Yes”, he replied. He was one of the best principals we ever had.” Randal served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam during the 1960’s and since then has spent most of his life as a security guard in Chattanooga. A sincere thanks to all of you for the cards. They really brightened my day.
Bobby Stinnett was in Knoxville for the Tennessee-Georgia football game October 10. Tennessee won in one of the most exciting games of the season. Fans saw a 100- yard kick-off return, blocked punt, touch down passes, interceptions, fumble recovery and most of all Coach Lane Kiffin’s first SEC win.
Time is moving on in this first month of fall, and the leaves are turning their glorious colors on our beloved mountain “where the good people live.”
Halloween is on Saturday night this year, and hopefully we’ll have clear skies and a big shiny moon as the little trick or treaters make their round in the crisp night air.
If you have Halloween memories from years past, share them with us by mail at 50 Dogwood St. Palmer, TN 37365.
Good-bye for now. Get outside and enjoy the fall season, and check in with us in November.
Old Sayings and Figures of Speech in Grundy County, TN
1.
He looked like he had a scary face on. A scary fact, of course, was a Halloween mask. People used to say “scary face: to describe someone who had a beard or looked like they’d been on a drunk. Years ago unshaven men or those with long hair were looked down on.
2.Money makes the pot boil. Have you ever heard this one? We hadn’t, but a woman close to 60 says she remembers her grandpa saying it. Money makes a lot of things happen, so I guess it makes the pot boil too.
3.He’s much of a man. You seldom hear this anymore, but we did just the other day. It described a big strong man back in the days when physical strength in jobs like coalmining and saw milling were big advantages. When people like this got older, people would sometimes say, “He’s still much of a man.”
4.He thinks the world owes him a living . This was said a lot to describe a lazy person and can still be heard today.
5.He wears hand me downs. Years ago clothes were hard to come by in Grundy County, and now everyone has more than they could ever dream of wearing. This old saying meant used clothing usually passed down from older family members to the younger ones.
6.She’s about gone. This was someone on his deathbed whose passing was imminent.
7.Thank you kindly. I’ve always thought this was a very nice response to someone who did something for you. These days you’re lucky if you get a “thank you” at all. In order to promote courtesy among our young people, in 2007, we were honored to establish the “Louise Geary Layne Courtesy Award” at the Grundy County Spelling Bee.
8.I think the world of him. Obviously this was someone you really liked. You don’t hear it expressed this way much any more.
9.Thats a dead end road. This mostly referred to bad behavior or bad judgment. It meant that if you continued in your ways, you had no chance of success.
