Historic Highway 22 Project SM - The Earliest Days ( 1988 only )
Friday, Sept. 02 - visited chambers of commerce in Union City and Dresden, Tennessee
Tues. Sept. 06 - drove to Parkers Crossroads, Tenn., where I-40 & Hwy. 22 cross; Friendship Inn
Wed. Sept. 07 - quick tour of Lexington, Adamsville, Pickwick Dam area, Michie and Acton, Tenn.
Tues. Sept. 13 - Martin, TN: met w/ Jim Perry at N.W. Tennessee Tourism Promotion Council office.
Thurs. Sept. 15 - Memphis: Governor’s Conference on Tourism; met Pat Hewlett Inman.
Friday, Sept. 30 - worked at Reelfoot Arts & Crafts Festival
Sunday, Oct. 02 - drove up into north end of New Madrid Bend
Monday, Oct. 03 - Nashville: appointment w/ Pam H. Inman at her office
Wed. Oct. 05 - lodged at a cabin at Natchez Trace State Resort Park and drafted on Project text
Thurs. Oct. 06 - Henderson County: met Steve McDaniel and Marie Anderson Adamsville: Buford Pusser Home and Museum
Monday, Oct. 10 - started reading in textbook from Tennessee history course at Memphis State Univ.
Tuesday, Oct. 11 - Martin: UTM visited ; went to Sharon and Greenfield ; Big Cypress State Natural Area ( one mile hike through woods )
Friday, Oct. 14 - Martin and Dresden: collected information about tourism council and upcoming county commission meeting
Monday, Oct. 17 - attended Weakley County Commission meeting in Dresden
Tuesday, Oct. 18 - Union City council addressed
Thurs., Oct. 20 - typed on Project text ; then drove to Shiloh ; attended S.W. Tennessee Tourism Association meeting ; lodged in Savannah
Friday, Oct. 21 - toured sites in Savannah and collected info. ; went to Pickwick Dam ;
met w/ Zeb McKinney at Shiloh National Military Park ; visited Adamsville
Tuesday, Oct. 25 - met w/ Prof. Charles W. Crawford at his office at Memphis State Univ. ;
Jackson: Casey Jones Village and downtown library ; met Jack Wood, the new Tennessee Room librarian
Tuesday, Nov. 01 - Memphis: collected signatures in support of Project and Reelfoot Lake’s
Washout area after meeting office lady who worked for Seesel’s supermarkets
Wed. , Nov. 02 - met w/ tourism committee members of Reelfoot Area Chamber of Commerce ; signatures on petition
Thursday, Nov. 03 - Dyersburg: collected signatures ; Tiptonville: met w/ Floyd Roberts of the electric cooperative
Tuesday, Nov. 08 - met w/ Dan Henderson, Assistant Managing Editor of The Commercial Appeal
Thursday, Nov. 10 - Union City: collected signatures at Ducks Unlimited meeting ; received endorsement from Obion County Airport Authority – Al Howell, manager
Friday, Nov. 11 - collected signatures . . .
Sunday, Nov. 13 - Samburg: met briefly w/ J. T. Spicer at his restaurant, The Pier .
Tuesday, Nov. 15 - went south of Hwy. 45 to Jackson ; lodged at Parkers Crossroads
Wed. , Nov. 16 - Adamsville: collected signatures ; met Martha Leitschuh at Buford Pusser Museum
Thursday, Nov. 17 - Savannah: met w/ Hardin County executive, then others in that town
Friday, Nov. 18 - Martin: met w/ UTM’s chancellor Margaret Perry and John Bucy
Monday, Nov. 21 - Martin: met w/ Nick Dunagan and Prof. Doug Blom, PhD.
Tuesday, Nov. 22 - used computer center at UTM
Wed. , Nov. 23 - used computer center at UTM
Sunday, Nov. 27 - Corinth, Mississippi: visited historic downtown area and Fort Robinette ; ( returning from relative’s 50 year anniversary event in Cullman, AL )
Historic Highway 22 Project SM - Early Research & Promotion, Etc.
September 1988 - began initial research on Project by visiting chambers of commerce in Union City and Dresden, Tenn.
January 1989 - spoke to Obion County Commission meeting at courthouse in Union City, Tenn.
February 1989 - attended special meeting at Ellington Hall at Reelfoot Lake State Park pertaining to possible lodgings tax ; speakers included Mr. Gail Trussle, TVA ; Commissioner Sandra F. Fulton, Tennessee Dept. of Tourist Development and her assistant commissioner ; Carter Hooks, Obion County Chamber of Commerce; Sami Dietrich, Dyer County Chamber of Commerce ; Commissioner Carl Johnson, Tennessee Dept. of Economic Devel0pment ; my letter to the editor appeared in three area newspapers.
June 1989 - first edition of Project text debuts at “Delta Commission” public hearing at UT-Martin; Arkansas represented by Rodney Slater, Mississippi represented by Gov. Ray Mabus ;Commercial Appeal newspaper reports that emphasis of meeting is tourism.
August 1989 - attended 51st Annual Meeting of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission (and Great River Road Association) in Dubuque, Iowa
September 1989 – Tiptonville and Ridgely sponsor Project texts to state officials, etc.
January 1990 - attended McNairy County Historical Society meeting at Selmer library ; speaker is former Gov. Ray Blanton
February 1990 - travelled to New Orleans and convinced officers of MRPC and GRRA, mentioned above, At their mid-winter meeting to support idea of a reference book published that would list cultural and technical books about the Mississippi River
February 1990 - attended river studies conference in Memphis, co-sponsored by Memphis State Univ. and federal “Delta Commission”
March 1990 - issued proposal to re-district tourism regions in western third of Tennessee
April 1990 - attended two-day tourism conference in Hickman, KY; speakers included Allan Worms, PhD, UK Cooperative Extension Service and Jean Othic, Missouri Division of Tourism
July 1990 - Jackson Sun newspaper publishes four-part ‘Highway To History’ series using Project text as guide. Series begins on page one of July 4th edition with color picture
August 1990 - both Kiwanis Club and the American Legion post at Reelfoot Lake sponsor Project texts to West Tennessee legislators
November 1990 - attended Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting at Anne Washington House in Paducah, KY ; speaker was historian from Ft. Donelson Military Park ; (I was in a vocational training program in Mayfield, KY that winter)
December 1990 - attended special event at Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Center featuring several candidates for Kentucky governor ; meeting was sponsored by a tourism council
June 1991 - attended first meeting of the Mississippi River Corridor Study Commission in downtown St. Louis ; gave brief commentary ; Comm. Sandra F. Fulton from Nashville was there as well as many ‘regulars’ from the Miss. River Parkway Comm.
Summer 1991 - local chamber of commerce moves into old dining room near Reelfoot spillway that was renovated by state prison labor ; I sent correspondence to Comm. Elbert Gill in Jan. 1990 about that building
August 1991 - attended 53rd Annual Meeting of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, and G.R.R.A. in West Memphis, AR ; at my suggestion, the new Mississippi River Corridor Study Commission held its second public hearing afterwards
January 1992 - Dyer County Commission passes resolution approving my tourism region re-districting Plan ; it was approved in committee in Nov. 1991
April 1992 - main Project servicemark appears in two-color format in the Union City and Martin newspapers (first publication)
June 1992 - attended public hearing of Mississippi River Corridor Study Commission in Little Rock, AR ; speaker was U.S. Army Corps of Engineers historian
July 1992 - local public official sponsors list of 25 names to receive Project text
December 1992 - number of first edition Project texts sold or distributed is almost 500
March 1993 - Lauderdale County Commission becomes second county to endorse tourism region re-districting plan
September 1993 - attended the governor’s conference on tourism ; held in Jackson, TN, for the first time ; Lauderdale County supported this effort w/ a $ 150 donation.
March 1994 - Lake County Commission becomes third county to endorse tourism region redistricting