VIEWPOINT

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 Page 4-A

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Erwin, TN 37650
POSTMASTER: Please send
any address changes to Erwin
Publishing Co. Inc.
218 Gay St., P.O. Box 700
Erwin, TN 37650
SECD: 178660
Keith Whitson
Publisher
kwhitson@erwinrecord.net
Jerry Hilliard
Editor Emeritus
Kayla Carter
Staff Writer
kcarter@erwinrecord.net
Keeli Parkey
Staff Writer
kparkey@erwinrecord.net
Donna Rea
Advertising Director
drea@erwinrecord.net
Brenda Sparks
Circulation Manager
circulation@erwinrecord.net
Damaris Higgins
New Media Producer
dhiggins@erwinrecord.net
David Sheets
Graphic Design
dsheets@erwinrecord.net
Historic
site brings
fresh start
Having been established in
1917 would, in itself, indicate
the historic nature of The
Dillard House, located barely
(well, a couple of miles) across
the North Carolina line in
Georgia. However, according
to the attractions Web site, one
has to look back to the Revolu-
tionary War to get a glimpse of
the rst Dillard.
Captain John Dillards land
grant of 1,000 acres for his
service during the American
Revolution is background for
the legend saying he made
peace with the local Cherokee
Indians by trading a muzzle-
loading ri e, a jug of apple
brandy, one coonskin cap and
$3 cash for all the land between
the two mountain tops.
A brochure I picked up on
a recent visit tells a compel-
ling story: While ghting the
Cherokees at the battle of Little
Tennessee Valley the young
soldier was so taken with the
natural beauty of a pastoral
valley that he dreamed of living
there with a family someday.
The story continues with his
dream coming true in 1820,
when he moved his family to
what is now known as Dillard,
with succeeding generations
working as farmers and inn-
keepers, raising crops which
fed their families and, eventu-
ally, their guests.
John is also the name of the
Dillard family member, who,
asked for his business title,
said chairman. When I spoke
with him while working on this
piece, I learned that although
they do not produce the food
served as in bygone days,
freshness is still key. He said
that they still use locally-grown
produce when available and
buy from the farmers market
in Atlanta other times so that
80-90 percent of the vegetables
served are fresh.
Although those family-style
meals are a destination in
themselves, the lodgings and
other amenities are worth
checking out at this self-con-
tained, year-round resort, as
described in the brochure.
Memories, of course, are
about more than just good food
and comfortable atmosphere.
There was time in a chalet that
allowed privacy on a deck with
our feet propped on the rail-
ing. Another time the squir-
rels came to scamper and eat
outside on a porch overlooking
meadows and pond.
Another time luna moths
came to a woodland cottage
and clung to the outside of its
front. One came inside and
went high into a sleeping loft.
Later it was attracted to a lamp
left turned on in the night so
it could be caught and safely
released.
The last time we crossed
Sams Gap with Dillard in our
sights was for a wedding. It
was just after Valentines Day
and planned to be a small and
very informal affair. It was
not a time for pomp and to-do.
As the groom said, We have
experience.
It was, though, a time for
pause and appreciation for
love, family and friendsfol-
lowed by visiting and fun and
wonderful food, shared at a
long, bountiful table.
Deb and Rick, as I remem-
ber our gathering around the
gazebo on a chilling Sunday af-
ternoon, heres wishing you an
institution as endearing and as
enduring as The Dillard House
tradition.
And nd us on
Facebook & Twitter
218 Gay St., P.O. Box 700
Erwin, Tennessee 37650
Phone: 423.743.4112
Fax: 423. 743.6125
news@erwinrecord.net
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BEST
WEEKLY
NEWSPAPER
by TPA
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9
T
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m
e
s
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
IN YOUR WORDS
Customer expresses appreciation
to Unicoi County Utility District
To the editor,
Recently I had the occasion to call for service at Unicoi County
Gas Utility District. As usual the technician showed up quickly and
answered the two issues. It occurred to me how this is the norm for
this utility.
Their customer support is far above the expected. They are pro-
fessional and are more than competent. When other utilities are
called, standard procedures is to tell you where their point of de-
marcation is and if you have issues toward the house, it is your prob-
lem.
Kudos to the gas company, too bad other services are not up to
their standards.
Roger R. Collins,
Unicoi
Letters Policy
The Erwin Record welcomes Letters to the Editor. All submissions must be signed
and include, for verication purposes only, the authors full street address and
telephone number. Therefore, anonymous letters are never published. Letters are
limited to no more than 500 words. Deadline is Friday at noon. The newspaper re-
serves the right to reject or edit letters for libelous content, space, clarity or gram-
mar. Send letters to The Erwin Record, PO Box 700, Erwin, TN 37650, e-mail letters to
news@erwinrecord.net or fax letters to 743-6125. You may also drop letters by the
newspapers ofce, located at 218 Gay St. in historic downtown Erwin.
Last week I attended a meet-
ing for the Downtown Mer-
chants to discuss the upcom-
ing Revitalization Project in
Erwin. We have featured this
project many times in The
Erwin Record as it has taken
development, but now the
beginning date is quickly ap-
proaching.
I know it has raised concern
among some of the businesses
in town as to how it would af-
fect the patronage during the
stages of construction. The
meeting last week was to ad-
dress some of those concerns.
I will have to say that I am
proud of our town and the de-
tailed processes that have been
undertaken to better Erwin for
all of us. I feel the new design
will in no way take away from
the character or uniqueness
visible when driving down
Main Avenue, but will enhance
the store fronts and claim the
attention from motorists pass-
ing through.
As City Recorder Randy
Trivette explained at the meet-
ing, Erwin was established be-
tween the mountains and the
river. The mountain naturally
needs to ow into the river but
it is blocked by the town, rail-
road tracks and an interstate.
Many of us have witnessed
the ooding through the down-
town streets when a hard rain
comes. There arent any good
ways to x that without digging
up the streets and putting in
larger pipes.
This project is going to give
the town the opportunity to not
only do that but to check out
and replace water pipes, bury
underground wiring properly,
revamp sidewalks and en-
trances to businesses and give
us all a better street to travel on.
Not only will we get these
needed xes, but at the same
time the project will add beauty
to the surroundings. Trees and
greenways will be established
to add an aesthetically pleas-
ing drive for visitors as well as
regulars in town. Hidden elec-
tric lines, new lamp posts and
attractive signage will also add
to the design to help eliminate
unsightly distraction now.
The project is set to begin the
rst part of May. Phase one,
which goes from Second Street
to the Gay Street intersection,
will be completed sometime in
September prior to the Apple
Festival. Next year phase two
will begin, which will extend
the project around the curve
onto Love Street and end at the
Church Street intersection.
I am very impressed by the
detail put into this undertak-
ing. Engineers and design-
ers have spent months upon
months of extensive hours to
draw up the perfect plan to suit
Erwins needs. Working with
town ofcials, they have seem-
ingly thought of every aspect to
make this process as effortless
as possible.
Also stepping in to embrace
the project and support the
Downtown Merchants is the
staff of the Unicoi County
Chamber of Commerce. Ex-
ecutive Director Amanda Delp
along with Cathy Huskins, and
Dawn Edwards were at the
meeting last week to offer ideas
for taking advantage of the
project to increase business.
They have many plans to
entice tourists and shoppers
into town. Amanda said many
motorists would want to come
through town out of curiosity
to see the progress. She sug-
gested store owners gear sales
toward the progress.
One idea she offered was
hosting a Hard Hat day,
where business owners could
wear yellow construction hats
and embrace the situation with
a themed sale. Stores could of-
fer discounts or samples to at-
tract customers in. Other ideas
pertained to holiday shopping.
The Chamber has also con-
tracted with a rm to develop
a Web site for updates and
events. The Web address will
offer local businesses the op-
portunity to announce upcom-
ing events. The site will also
document and follow construc-
tion progress.
As business owners met last
week they had a few questions
and ideas that hadnt been
thought of out of the many de-
tails already covered. Randy
said he appreciated the addi-
tional thoughts and would see
that they were addressed.
This is a big project for Erwin
but one that will correct exist-
ing problems and put us in the
right direction for beauty and
growth to meet the needs of
generations to come.
FROM THE PUBLISHERS DESK
Project paves way for future growth
Keith Whitson
ON THE DRAWING BOARD
with
Charles E. Holt Jr.
A DENNEY FOR
YOUR THOUGHTS
Connie Denney