Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published Sept. 10, 2003

It's still summer, but autumn is looming

According to the calendar, summer is still with us but with Labor Day our thoughts turn to fall. During the past lazy, hazy days of summer, a stack of stuff has piled up on my desk. It is time to sort and throw away but there are some articles I saved to share with you.

During a visit to Nashville the editor of The Farmer's Almanac was interviewed on his weather forecast for this winter by the Tennessean columnist Gail Kerr. She rounded out her story by calling Melinda Hedgcoth, daughter of the late Helen Lane. For many years as our area's weather predictor, Lane became known nationally for her accurate reports based on nature's signals. She passed on that knowledge to Melinda. You will be reading Melinda's predictions in the Chronicle where as she told Kerr she always gives her forecast to the local newspaper first.

Helen Lane also wrote a regular down-to-earth column for the paper. As I was researching 1970 for the "Looking Back" column, I found her touching remembrance titled "Farewell Tribute to Mom." It appeared July 9, 1970. She wrote of gathering up little treasures to put away in a trunk. There was the toothpick holder, a reminder of all the dinners mom had fixed for friends and oh so many preachers. Lane wrote of her mother's grave beside her Dad and "sleeping in death were so many of their neighbors in real life." She ended with, "We can put away the little moments of this life, but it's hard to pull down the shade on your heart and a lifetime of memories."

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On Sept. 8 a new real life series began on TLC. It is titled Resident Life and follows 20 young doctors in training at Vanderbilt. If you missed the first hour-long program it will continue for 13 weeks on Monday evenings at 8.

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Thirty years ago Grand Ole Opry fans were shocked by the murder of "Stringbean" Akeman and his wife. Two brothers were looking for cash. They found none but killed the couple and took a chain saw and some guns. Earlier this year, one of the brothers died in prison and in July the other one was denied parole.

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Dunlap, TN is proud of their restored coke ovens and the hard work of many to keep the history of that time alive. The town is also known as the "Hang-Gliding Center of the South" and it is a major competition site and home of the Tennessee Tree Toppers hang-gliding group.

The town is often called the "Parachute Capital of the World." It was 22-years ago a small plant called Precision Aerodynamics began operations there. Now 53 years old, the founder of that company was a beginning skydiver and broke his leg on his first jump. He was 23 at that time and as his leg healed he spent time developing his own equipment. His ideas were the foundation for beginning the company.

Today they make the canopies for parachutes and fill orders for military and recreational customers around the world. After the Sept. 11 tragedy they received many orders for emergency escape models.

Dunlap may be a small town but they have much to offer. And to think that before I learned all those things I thought all Dunlap had to offer was canoeing!

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.