Pal's "Flash" Gallery
Recent Entries
It’s back! The Historic Steele Creek Train
Congratulations to the Fun Fest Treasure Trackers Winner
Traveling Obama: Unfair Coverage?
TN Employees Face Job Cuts, but Fulmer Gets a Pay Raise
Back from the edge: The Bristol Train Station
How you can be a “Treasure Tracker” during Fun Fest
How you can be a “Treasure Tracker” during Fun Fest
The “Friends of Festus” Winner
Happy Birthday Rob! It’s the big 4-0!
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Behind
It’s back! The Historic Steele Creek Train
Jul 24, 2008
It was the sound some feared might never again echo through the hills of Bristol’s Steele Creek Park. But yesterday, the old “peep peep” and “clatter clatter” sounds were back at the beautiful little hideaway on the city’s southwest side.
Bristol had the wisdom to restore the old Steele Creek train. I’m told it almost didn’t happen, but some wise residents and forward thinking city hall types decided otherwise.
I took my family to ride on the train. Turns out, several hundred others wanted to take the 10 minute trip around the park on the train’s grand re-opening day. We decided to come back another day when the lines will be smaller. The promise of pizza lured the little ones away without much heartache.
Friends, the place was packed. Sweaty kids and even sweatier parents swarmed the little depot by Steele Creek lake. There were free balloons, free train whitles, and free train engineer hats. And there were golf cart shuttles between the up-the-hill parking lot and the train depot. For the Smith boys, the golf cart ride made not getting on the train not so bad.
What is it about trains? They captivate us, the really young to the really old.
Let Bristol know you appreciate their investment in the train at Steele Creek park by visiting it Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Not sure on the price of the ticket. Whatever it is, I think it’s worth it.
Posted by Josh Smith Congratulations to the Fun Fest Treasure Trackers Winner
Jul 22, 2008
Congratulations to Patty Jones, the winner of the Kingsport Town Center Treasure Trackers Medallion Hunt. During Kingsport’s Fun Fest, we gave out clues on News Channel 11 Morning Edition. Patty and a pack of others from Kingsport searched for the medallions and, if they found them, one $100 and a 1 in 6 shot at $5000.
Saturday night at the Fun Fest Concert, I got to be on the stage with Patty, the 5 other finalists, and Steve Mann from WTFM Radio. Patty chose the right box, so she won the $5000 grand prize.
She heard the clue on WTFM and told Steve Mann that she just complete the toughest 3 years of her life.
Looks to me like Patty’s life is turning around for the better.
How will she spend the money? She told Steve and me she plans on taking a trip to New York City with her mom.
Traveling Obama: Unfair Coverage?
Jul 22, 2008
It’s the big political buzz today.
Barack Obama is on the road overseas, and he has an army of United States news media traveling with him. Katie, Brian, Charlie, all their make-up artists and personal assistants, and representatives from all the big news agencies and even some that wish they were big are tagging along for Obama’s international ride.
Now, even some in the national news media are questioning the full court press coverage. McCain didn’t get it on his numerous past Middle East visits, some say. Even the great New York Times is under fire for refusing to publish a McCain Op/Ed piece on the Iraq war.
So I ask you: what do you think? Is the American press obsessed with Obama, and is the coverage unfair as a result? Or, is this a case of Obama being the “better story” this campaign with news coverage reflecting the most newsworthy of the two main candidates.
Move over Katie, Brian, and Charlie. What do YOU think?
TN Employees Face Job Cuts, but Fulmer Gets a Pay Raise
Jul 16, 2008
I know this story broke a few weeks ago, but some viewer email prompted me to bring it to the blog.
University of Tennessee coaches Phil Fulmer and Bruce Pearl just got pay raises. Vols fans may or may not agree they deserve it based on the records of their teams. But a viewer was really cranked up about this because of Tennessee’s money trouble and the pending cuts and state employee layoffs
Here’s the Associated Press story from July 2nd.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee signed football coach Phillip Fulmer and basketball coach Bruce Pearl to new deals Wednesday that will keep them with the Volunteers through 2014.
Fulmer’s deal is worth an average of nearly $3 million over the next seven seasons, and the nearly $1 million raise makes him the fourth-highest paid coach in the Southeastern Conference.
He will get $2.4 million for the upcoming season and his salary escalates to $3.3 million in 2014 with automatic raises of $150,000 annually. Fulmer will also receive raises for achieving certain goals, such as an additional $350,000 for winning an SEC championship or an additional $850,000 raise for winning a national championship.
(end of AP story)
I’m surprised Fulmer is just the fourth hightest paid SEC coach. With his record and his years of experience with the Vols, I would have guessed that he’d rank first or second.
What do you think? A slap in the face for state employees… or a well-deserved pay raise for two hard-working coaches?
Back from the edge: The Bristol Train Station
Jul 14, 2008
I was thrilled to pick up today’s Bristol Herald Courier and read on the front page that the Historic Bristol Train Station is almost ready to open after a $5 million renovation.
As a kid in the 1970’s, I visited the train station with my grandparents, both who grew up in Bristol. At that point, quirky restaurants and shops filled some of the massive building’s catacombs. I loved going there even though it was a tad bit creepy.
Going there with my grandparents had special meaning. My grandmother saw four brothers and her future husband pull out of that station en route to overseas service in World War 2. Fortunately, she was able to return there and meet them when they all came home years later.
Unwise add-on’s and renovations put the building in real peril, but now a savvy group of community friends raised money and developed a great plan. Personally, I can’t wait for the big tour.
Sadly, the same can’t be said for Johnson City. Its beautiful train station was torn down years ago. Kingsport now uses its old train station as a hub of business and commerce downtown.
Do you have a Tri-Cities train station memory? Please share.
