Kingsport Times from Kingsport, Tennessee • 41

1 Poor Valley Park: The Wait Goes On if 1 I 1 By SHEILA JOHNSTON Timcs-News Correspondent Jaycees across the State of Tennessee have adopted a project that has been in the making for over thirty years If they are successfull in finalizing the proposed Poor Valley Project they will have accomplished what many known figures have not been able to accomplish including six governors of the State of Tennessee several congressmen and senators officials of TVA conservation officials state representatives and residents of Grainger Hamblen and Hawkins Counties Even an appeal to the President of the United States this year for help in getting work started on the long-delayed Poor Valley Park has not helped The proposed park area lies in Hawkins County northeast of Mooresburg The 1900-2200 acres being considered for the park requires a dam to be constructed by TVA to be built parallel to the James Rogers Memorial Bridge on US 11W It would hold back the water of Poor Valley Creek which runs into the reservoir waters of Cherokee Lake The fluctation of the Cherokee waters cause unsightly mud flats around the park area and very little water is left in the area for recreation during late summer and even in mid-summer The two major principals involved in the project TVA and the State of Tennessee have both agreed to certain terms TVA will transfer the land and water for the park to the state at no cost and will pay 80 percent of the cost of the dam design and construction The State would be responsible for the development of the park But neither party can complete the terms of the agreement because each year the needed funds which have been appropriated in the TVA budget are cut out by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and never reach Congress William (Bill) Towers Manager of Holston Electric chairman of the Hawkins County Industrial Committe and co-chairman of the Push The Park" Committee has compiled information on the park dating back to the early days of the forties when it first began Towers became acquainted with the project in the mid-fifties when he came to Rogersville and served as vice-president of the Rogersville Chamber of Commerce along with Omar Robinson secretary-treasurer and Winfield Hale Jr who was president and the son of the man who began the drive for the Poor Valley Park These men spent many years in trying to carry out the work that the late Judge Winfield Hale had started Over the years many names have been added to the list of those who tried to help the park become a reality They worked for a while then saw how fruitless it all seemed and dropped into obscurity All but Towers More On Page 8 I Elrod Falls in Hancock County is one of the scenic attractions Poor Valley Park may make more accessible MCanMl i erys imh I 1 Lf mm Hawkins Edition Wednesday October 27 1976 Hurley Willis Mace Bleats Up i i I i 5 I I I i 1 4 1 I Will the funds restore or replace the Kenner House? More Pictures on page 2 member of the legislature He is chairman of the 11W committee which monitors the progress of that highway from Kingsport to Knoxville Hurley said the state legislature appropriated $37 6 million to build the highway five years ago He sponsored the bill that proposed the Kingsport to Knoxville highway "We have more construction of highways now than people in Hawkins County can remember Hurley said Hurley feels that his greatest accomplishment has been being able to work with the people in the area on the 11W issue We had 200000 names on petitions to get that highway started" He said Hurley can list the following among his accomplishments He helped establish the vocational-technical school in Rogersville He cosponsored an amendment of the bill that established the school He co-sponsored a bill that took the tax off of prescription drugs He got the volunteer fire departments and the rescue squads to be classified as charitible organizations with the phone company so they would not have to pay for their bills by the commercial rate He voted for a bill that established a uniform franchise tax for all the industries Tennessee Hurley stressed that the voted for it because it benefitted the state as a whole and not the special interests Hurley is also a member of the subcommittee that will monitor future prices at tobacco warehouses This will stop tobacco being sold be allocation Hurley said Concerning why he did not appear with Clyde Willis in front of the media Hurley said Ive been working on informing the people by my newsletter on with legislative days I'm keeping them mfoi med and will continue to 1 11 run my campaign the way I want to and the others can run theirs the way they want to "If I was the losing candidate Hurley continued I might be trying to debate 1 strongly feel that people want of finals to keep them informed with what's happening in Nashville Hurley continued I have done this with my questionnaires and my newsletters It is my duty to help people wuth their problems People need government officials to talk to to answer simple qu estions Its time to run a positive campaign Hurley urged I am real pleased with the campaign ROGERSVILLE With the Nov 2 election just six days away the race between Ninth District Representative Bruce Hurley (R- Surgoinsville) and Rogersville Mayor Clyde Willis (D-Rogersville) is getting more and more high-strung The mayor of Rogersville has a lot of suspicions about the three-term lawmaker from Surgoinsville Mr Hurley voted for a $1 million tax break for Cook Industries in Memphis Willis Said They have just pleaded guilty to ripping off people that they sold grain to And Mr Hurley at the same time wont vote for the disclosure of campaign funds Makes you kind of wonder doesnt it9 "When the Dunn administration was in office Willis continued he couldn't even get along with his own party And if thats the only link you have between you and Nashville you know something is wrong Willis has continued to strike at Hurley on the issue of taxes Mr Hurley has voted for every tax that the legislature has brought up to be voted on Willis charges But Hawkins County has nothing to show for it Willis said that Hurley has voted for a one cent sales tax increase at the same time that the legislature voted to cut 45 per cent from the rural roads fund That one cent sales tax increase represents a 28 2 per cent increase in the sales tax Another issue in the campaign according to Willis is Clyde Willis He likes to expose his record as mayor of Rogersville Weve worked long and hard and shaped up the budget Weve used the cash flow from city hall wisely Weve paid up all debts and have been able to pay $100000 on our park and street paving projects "It is the voters duty he continued to send representatives to the legislature to get your fair share of their tax dollar And we haven't been getting that "I'm not going to Nashville and vote for taxes when my district keeps losing money Willis said Willis says that he is confident that his party has the organization and the campaign that can make a difference The real issue according to the Rogersville mayor is to see which candidate can work with state and local government and the federal government to get projects done in the county Even as mayor Willis said Ive worked with the county court and members of the community and you can see the results Rep Hurley prefers to run on his record and his accomplishments since becoming a Kenner House Restoration Project May Depend On Local Citizens after his grandfathers home in Kentucky After Clay was with General Morgan when he was ambushed and murdered in Greeneville Clay escaped back to Rogersville and hid in the old house here Some stories circulated that he had remained in hiding in the house's secret room where all the family valuables were stored throughout the war places that need immediate attention he said This he explained would give those interested in its preservation time to get some financing to do the actual job of restoration There is no money available at the state level in this years budget for historical restoration he added and the time has already passed to ask for funds from this years federal pot COUNTY LANDFILL PROBLEM MAY GROW MORE SERIOUS ROGERSVILLE Hawkins County's plight in disposing of its solid waste is a serious one the County Court noted here last Monday The present state approved solid-waste sanitary landfill located between Persia and Rogersville has only about six months more usability landfill chairman Frank Tester-man told the court here Monday Because of the state regulations governing a state approved facility the court could take no action until a soil test can be completed by state health department officials The county is hampered Testerman explained by having so little land the state feels could be approved drom all aspects In order to ditch the property to the proper depth for covering and recover it with two feet of earth plus six inches of topsoil the land has to be fairly rock free It must also be situated so that runoff from the covered solid waste does not run into an adjacent water supply Following all these criteria makes for a difficult selection of sites Testerman added The matter will be discussed again at the next court meetting by which time the state should have approved another site One which the committee has looked at Testerman said would involve 10 acres of land but would only supply an estimated two-and-one-half additional years of capability for disposing of waste More Pictures On Page 2 LAST WEEK IN HAWKINS COUNTY By gene McClelland Assistant Area Editor ROGERSVILLE The house where Henry Clays grandson lived and hid during the Civil War has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places the State Historical Register and is in the Historic District of Tennessees eecond oldest town But all that may not be enough to save the old house if local citizens dont care enough about the heritage to put up some money explained Miss Cary Lewis a direct descendant of Clay Were trying to get a group together who are interested in restoring the old house she added Recently when the town got a $354000 grant for a new library through a Housing and Urban Development Bloc Grant the figure included a minimal amount to prevent the old Kenner House as it has come to be known in recent years from further deteriorating said Herbert Harper executive director of the Tennessee Historical Commission In his dual role as State Historic Preservation Officer Harper had some m-j)ut about historic sites in (he state We didnt feel a large amount would need to be spent at this time from those funds" he said but we do feel it should be shielded from further ravages of the weather on Were allowed to ask in the spring of each year and although we usually ask for $2 to $3 million we usually get about $250000 The money we do get has to be matched by 50 per cent from local sources said Harper There may not be a great deal of hope from state or federal sources but there could be a lot more local interest than anyone knows about said Miss Lewis The house dates back to about 1830 when it was built for the first marriage of Nancy Phipps Bynem Mrs Bynum was a young widow when Clay the grandson of Henry Clay came to Rogersville on the staff of General John Hunt Morgan He met and married Mrs Bynum and moved into the house which had been modeled Family members later denied he story But they declined to pass down the information about where he really did hide They did admit that he kept his horse in the basement After the war Clay became a prominent and respected farmer in Hawkins County and when he died in 1919 the Church Hill Chapter of the Masonic Order had named its organization Clay Lodge" in his honor The couples daughter Mary Clay married Keer and their long residence in the house gave it its present name Miss Lewis is their granddaughter In addition to the secret room the old house features a curved circular stairaay in the entryway marble fireplaces in almost A wreck on Rogersvilles Mam Street Tuesday morning sent a Rogersville woman to the Hawkins County Memorial Hospital where she was treated and released Glenda Clevinger Rt 7 Rogersville was x-rayed and released after the car she was driving struck driven by Cecil Matthews Rt 8 Rogersville when his brakes failed as he started to leave a service station and his car pulled in front of her In Circuit Court here Mrs Beatrice Brawley charged with the April 30 second degree murder of her husband in their Mt Carmel home was sentenced to 60 days and fined $50 after evidence indicated the man had been drunk and abusive prior to the shooting He died from a single shot to the heart from a small caliber pistol Curt Albright of Rogersville was treated and released from the Hawkins County Memorial Hospital with head injuries following a single car accident on the Grassy Creek Road east of Rogersville Mt Carmel Mayor Sidney Snodgrass proposed in a letter to Church Hill officials that a central county police dispatcher be used by all law officers to coordinate efforts Church Hill Mayor Marsh said his town is interested but the next move is up to Snodgrass every room a curved solid cherry door that still fastens perfectly after almost a century and a half and built-in china cabinets that grace the dining room I think it's a unique house and the town will have lost something important when it is gone said Miss Lewis If it goes down Ill expect the courthouse to be next We have visions of the house being restored and used as a social place or a museum after some of the artifacts have been returned she said The front yard would make a beautiful park she added explaining that the National Parks Authority is sending a representative in More On Page 7 i O'1 a -A.