On Wednesday, November 30, Governor Bredesen came to the Morristown City Center to announce the award of a $600,000 grant to the City of Morristown for greenway construction at the Morristown College Campus site.
I stopped in to watch the grant award and to hear Morristown Mayor Gary Johnson discuss the new Sesquicentennial Time Capsule.
The greenway construction is part of the city's ongoing trail development. According to the Tribune, last year the city got $1.2 million for trail construction between central Morristown and the lake.
This newest $600,000 is for greenway construction at the college campus in order to construct a walking and biking trail around the college site and link the campus with the main greenway artery.
There were jokes about how welcome the governor is---particularly when he brings money with him. The governor was given some Christmas ornaments at the ceremony and he quipped about this "exchange" of gifts.
Someone behind me laughed and whispered that we ought to give the governor some more ornaments and he can give us some more money! Not a bad idea.
Also on Wednesday, there was a special local activity tied to the Morristown Sesquicentennial (150th birthday). A Time Capsule containing all kinds of reminders and items from 2005 was buried to be unearthed in the year 2055 when Morristown celebrates its bicentennial (200th birthday).
I was around during the 1955 Centennial. There were all kinds of events then with women running around in long dresses and bonnets and men sporting old-timey beards and mustaches.
I participated in a play about school days. My role in the play was to run up about three steps and hand an apple to the teacher. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, try running up steps in a long dress that goes to your ankles in your acting debut.
I fell almost every time we performed the play.
I probably won't be around for the Bicentennial in 2055, but I want my children to know about the history of Morristown and Hamblen County. I picked up one of the brochures containing the list of over 180 items that have been placed in the Sesquicentennial Time Capsule that was buried on Wednesday.
The Capsule has items like school yearbooks, area newspapers, scrapbooks, club information, postcards, history and information about area churches and hospitals, and lots more.
One of my personal Time Capsule favorites is the book Hamblen County, Tennessee: A Pictorial History by local historians Jim Claborn and Bill Henderson. I have a copy at home that I treasure, and future generations will no doubt enjoy this book when the 2005 Time Capsule is opened in 2055.
Now, we have just 50 years to go before the celebration of the Morristown Bicentennial begins!
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