MY DREAM AND THE MAN THAT CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!

What's more American than the mechanics of a mayoral election in "small town USA"?  Nothing - it's the envy of the third world.  There's nothing more democratic or screams freedom more than the free periodic elections held in our country.  That freedom is again coming to life this month in my hometown of Harriman, Tennessee with a new mayoral campaign.  It's time to elect the next mayor of our fair city, and you can bet it is going to be a heated contest.

There will be lots of handshaking, baby kissing, stump speaking, and gatherings of townsfolk enticed by the smell of BBQ and the promise of cool lemonade!  That's part of the reason I'm involved, that and the photo opportunities, but those are not the only reasons.

Why am I so concerned over an election I can't even vote in?  

Mainly it's because I know the incumbent personally, and I know he's as honest as the day is long.  I've watched him with his family and I know how much he loves his wife and children, and extended family.  To me, that speaks volumes about a man.

However, one of the strongest reasons I want Chris Mason to win another term is because we believe in the same dream.  That dream is to see my hometown come back to life and be as close to what it once was as possible.  We both think that can only happen if our beloved Princess Theatre comes back to life first!  It's not the only issue I like his stand on, but it's the most important to me.

Since September 4, 2009, the dream to give new life to the Princess has been moving forward.  Adding to a $300K+ grant from the State of Tennessee for the construction of a "trailhead", the Tennessee Valley Authority donated $1.7M toward the restoration of the Princess.  This came completely unexpected after an unfortunate mishap involving the breach of years of impounded coal ash that spread out in a tsunami like wave covering and destroying local property.

The dream continues to move toward life daily as restoration work continues, having never stopped since it began last August. 

This is the dream work I want to see continued, and Chris wants to see it completed and operating fully during his next term.  Actually, it will most likely be opened prior to the election, but there are a lot of benefits to the city's prosperity that will be associated the Princess opening, and Chris knows how to address these future opportunities.

The Mayor's office has recently received letters of promise and intent from 4 or 5 new businesses to move into downtown Harriman.  The central part of the city has been virtually dead for several years, and these new promises lift everyone's hopes that our beloved "small town" will come back to life.  

Maybe it won't be like it once was, but, there is potential for Harriman to actually be better than it was!  With new college and high school student foot-traffic downtown taking classes in media and the arts, someone will want them to spend the money they carry in their pockets.  Someone will want some of them to live downtown in refurbished apartments, to eat a meal, drink a cup of coffee, by a book or art supplies, or...whatever!  

To ensure "the dream" comes alive and remains alive, I want Chris Mason to be reelected.  After that, I personally don't care who comes in to pursue their own dream.  By then the Princess will be fully functional, being perpetually supported by Roane State's educational funding, and the city will have begun to reap and understand her importance to its well being.

So, that's why I went to Thursday evening's kick off to Chris' campaign.  Well, it could have been the free BBQ, but I'd rather think it was because I supported a man that supports my cause; my dream.

It was my small way of getting involved in my community and giving back just a little. If I didn't have such first hand knowledge of this man's integrity, and if I didn't believe in "the dream" so much, I wouldn't have gotten involved at all.  But, I believe in the dream and the man that can make it happen!

Good news...he said he will have another, more publicized, gathering closer to the election, and than means more great BBQ for me!

THIS IS MY HOMETOWN

This past Saturday was the last "Crusin' In Harriman" for the summer. The event occurs every second Saturday beginning in April through the second Saturday in August each year. The City of Harriman makes no money on this event, but it does keep the spirit of the city alive by bringing folks together downtown!

While standing in front of the Princess Saturday, looking over the "Crusin'" event on Roane Street, (click to see my Flickr photos) I looked up and saw the yellow “caution tape” flapping in the breeze on the roof of the theater and a single open window over the marquee. It was a reminder of the new roof currently being placed on top, and the symbolism of the open window. Our Princess is about to emerge from her chrysalis!

Over the past two decades, the city has declined. It started with Wal-Mart and K-Mart moving into town, drawing customers from downtown, and the loss of jobs from the closing of the Kraft Mills, Mead Corporation, and the various hosiery companies like Burlington. Finally, in 2000 the Princess closed her doors, and began a slow moldy decay.

Downtown Harriman lost all but a handful of stores, and in the years following, other buildings began to follow in decay.

However, there is something new on the horizon that gives us, those who still care and remember, hope. That hope comes from a dream that started with Gary Baker and Muse Watson. The dream was that children of Roane and surrounding counties would have a place to learn about "the arts". The facility is to be called the “Princess Performing Arts, Education, and Conference Center", and is to be perpetually operated and funded through Roane State Community College.

This is the dream, and a long way around my point in making this post. That point is to restate the dream which begins with the restoration of the old Princess Theater (the building) and move toward a Princess Theatre (the art). There is no dream to show movies there again, unless, of course, some local resident creates their own movie, but to showcase live entertainment while providing a learning experience.

The dream is to provide a center where Roane State and high school students can come and learn "hands on" about careers in the arts. Planned is a local TV station (Channel 15), a live entertainment facility, utilizing the 900 seat auditorium of the Princess and the newly designed stage, and later a conferencing center will come online.

But, the point to remember is that students will run the total operation of the TV station, and have hands on experience when live entertainment is presented on the Princess stage. It may be a theatre production of the Roane State, or area high school, drama department, or a music concert presented by local groups. All the productions will be beamed live or taped from the TV station to multiple counties!

The best part, is that students will gain experience that will serve them in future careers in the arts, radio, TV, or the theatre.

From this, downtown Harriman will reap the benefits of foot traffic on the sidewalks once again. Apartments will constructed within the old classic buildings, and store fronts of antique, boutique, specialty food shops will open, bringing jobs and further restoration and spirit back to "our hometown"!

While the dream was all about "some day", it has moved into the "coming true" column with the windfall, which came at the expense of other’s dreams, to the Princess Foundation after the Tennessee Valley Authority awarded $1.7M to the city of Harriman, specifically for the restoration of the Princess.

People who lost their property and homes, after the devastating "coal ash spill" for the Kingston Fossil Fuel Pant near Kingston in 2008, were rightly upset over this grant, and the other education and restoration awards to Roane County. However, this blessing cannot be overlooked or refused. We must carry on with the dream regardless of what God, or fate, sends our way.

The only dreams left now are those of limitless possibilities for the community! Whatever we can imagine now has a stage waiting for us to produce it, show it, and enjoy it!

This is our collective dream. Beyond this it is still our HOMETOWN. Please, PLEASE, get involved and continuing dreaming. It is all up to us now...it may be our last opportunity to make it just like we remember it.

Let me also give you a heads-up. Property values Downtown Harriman will be going up once people begin to see investment opportunities gained from having more foot traffic downtown. Pat Mynatt told me Saturday, while I was cooling off from the heat, that she started her “Red Door Antiquities” shop now in order to get ahead of the rush! I think that was a wise decision...don’t you!?