| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 18.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Jul 2005.
Just Plain Talk
„E2005 NPT PHOTO BY DAVID POPIEL Keeping cool on a 95-degree day in Newport are, from left, Donald Gentry; Fred Barnes and sister-in-law Barbara Barnes; and her son, Jimmy Barnes¡Vthe Shade Tree Gang at Fred's produce stand
By: David Popiel
Source: The Newport Plain Talk
07-30-2005
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Corn rows and highway weeds stood a little straighter and greener after Wednesday night's summer storms blew in cooler temperatures to our hometown.
Monday was a particularly hot day in Newport¡Vand you knew that while driving to work or looking out from your front yard at the amount of haze in the air. So, it seemed like a good time to get a cold ice tea. Tom Rosberg, of the chamber, and I traveled all the way to Eastport.
Construction is going full swing on the new car wash next to John Dale Ramsey's Eastport BP and deli. Louise Palmer's yard looks empty with a maple tree missing¡Vyou recall the photo and story about the storm knocking it down. Junior Shropshire, and county deputies Carroll Crumbly and William Senn also had the same idea, as we did, to leave the heat outside for sit-down coolness in the deli. Barbecue chicken was new on the menu and I have this thing in my heart for chickens, although I do prefer pig meat. After eating the huge barbecue sandwich, I praised the cook Ruth Ann Layman and her helper, Julie Rathbone for creating some good tasting food¡Vbut it's good to know there are cooks everywhere who don't mind the added heat of the kitchen during July. One interesting and humorous thing caught my attention. It was a small bumper sticker with a colorful rooster and the following words of wisdom: ¡§My rooster can whip your rooster!!¡¨ I' m guessing the sentiment has something to do with the recent cockfight news in Cocke County.
After leaving the Eastport BP and deli, I traveled east and saw a produce stand under shade trees. Sure enough, Fred Barnes was back at work after cancer surgery. He has had several cancer surgeries for colon and throat cancer and this has not slowed him down. You old timers will recall that Fred served as county deputy for 14 years starting in 1958 with Doc Smith and later sheriff's Kin Holt and Tom O'Dell.
The shade tree gang included his sister-in-law, Barbara Barnes, and son, Jimmy, and friend Donald Gentry. There were plenty of ripe tomatoes and at a good price, said Fred¡V$2 a tray. He makes sure the elderly and handicapped get free delivery and low prices. He even helped one senior by cutting up okra for him and every Christmas donates produce for charity grocery bags. ¡§They fed me for 35 years,¡¨ he said referring to his county service, which included 20 years at the landfill where he retired as supervisor. He is proud that during a past era of more crime and tough guys that he ¡§never hurt nobody and never got hurt putting a lot of mean people in jail.¡¨ Since he retired, and his wife, former sessions court clerk Charlotte Barnes died of cancer, he does a lot of gardening. He can still put in a 16-hour day and ¡§work two or three youngsters into the ground.¡¨ Fred takes the time to deliver produce to folks in wheelchairs and to others who can't get out, and at age 75 he still feels like working. He is the younger of three surviving children of 10 born to Alfred and Isabell (Fowler), of Indian Camp. Hattie Grooms, 83, is the oldest, followed by Wallace Barnes, and then Fred. So, if you need a ¡¥mater' or a cuke drive over to Eastport.
Later in the week, Wal-Mart beckoned and as I was returning merchandise a young woman with unusual hair waited on me. She was Kim Davidson, who told me her unique twisted hair was done in Nashville and it took stylists more than 8 hours to do the hair weaving. After walking into the store, I saw a slim, tall fellow in my favorite Newport Police blue. Apparently the heat has melted a lot of fat off Chief Maurice Shults, who said he has dropped 30 pounds dieting. Chief Shults looks great and said staying away from sweets accounts for the weight loss¡Vbecause he has sugar problems he must watch his waist. Like you, he had picked up an extra air conditioner for the house. We had J. B. Stinnett visit the Plain Talk pressroom on Wednesday because it seemed that at 90 degrees inside the A/C wasn't working, but J. B. said they were just running too hard in hot weather.
You recall we talked about the new pastor of the Bybee Methodist Church, Joshua Felton. He called to tell me that a group of youngsters was working on repairing houses in the Bybee area and invited me over for lunch. They too had barbecue, so I did show up and met Randall and Karen Bible. Other church folks, Charlotte Wood, Donna Buckner, Linda Black, Mary Redmon, and Stephanie Widmann were preparing meals for the workers. Joshua is a tall, young man still in seminary training. He lives in Knoxville and is now pastoring the church.
They seem like good folks. Randall looked familiar and I discovered he had worked for about 27 years with my old friends Charlie Moore and Ed Cates at the Waterville power plant (now Progress Energy). Karen is the daughter of Ven Ball, of Cosby. Another familiar face was Donald Butler, related to the Bogard Butlers. Karen and Randall live off Bybee Road, where I discovered¡Vyes, you guessed¡Vanother hidden restaurant, which I will visit and tell you about soon.
In plain talk, a good heat wave can cause us to change our routine patterns so we can learn some new cool things about the community.
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name: Alfred Barnes
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Isibel Green
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 28 Jan 1906
Marriage Place: Cocke, Tennessee
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I03562-1
System Origin: Tennessee-EASy
Source Film Number: 1928642
Reference Number: 485
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Abt 1930 - (~ 94 years)
, d. 8 Jan 1956 (Age 71 years)