Friends of Edgar Evins State Park Receives Grant

July 27, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The Friends of Edgar Evins State Park are the happy recipients of a $500 Small Grant from the Friends of Tennessee State Parks. The money will be used toward the cost of the new “pages” on the Storybook Trail. This is the second year a grant has been awarded to the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park by the Friends of Tennessee State Parks.

The check was presented to the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park at their July meeting by Fount Bertram, a member of the Board of Friends of Tennessee State Parks. Mr. Bertram is also the former president of the local group.

The Storybook Trail at Edgar Evins State Point, Silver Point, has become a popular attraction at the park for school and community groups as well as other visitors since it opened in June 2018. It’s purpose is to encourage youngsters to read and to be outdoors for exercise and pleasure. The trail is a project of the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park, an all-volunteer group that is dedicated to helping the park. It is planned to change the story displayed on the trail each year. Pages from a nature themed children’s book are reproduced in in full color on large metal signs that are framed with wood and posted at child height at intervals along the ½ mile trail near the Interpretive Center. This year the book is Anybody Home? by Marianne Berkes, illustrated by Rebecca Dickinson and published by Arbordale Books. The story is about an expectant mama possum looking for a home among the many other forest creatures. Last year the story was about the life cycle of butterflies.

For information about the Friends of Edgar Evins State Park please visit the website at www.foeesp.com or find them on Facebook. The website for Friends of Tennessee State Parks is http://friendsoftennesseestateparks.org The nonprofit Friends of Tennessee State Parks is comprised of Friends Groups from Tennessee State Parks and Tennessee State Natural Areas statewide and individual members.

(Pictured: THE OFFICIAL PRESENTATION OF THE GRANT CHECK: Pictured left to right – Ron Davies, Woodbury, Barbara Comfort and Jerry Comfort, both of Smithville, Lynn Brown, Treasurer, Brush Creek, Fount Bertram, Bradyville, representing Friends of Tennessee State Parks, Brad Halfacre, Park Manager, Anna Bertram Bradyville.

July 27, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The DeKalb County unemployment rate for June was 4.8%, up from 3.6% in May but below 5.2% in June 2018.

The local Labor Force for June was 8,001. A total of 7,614 were employed and 387 were unemployed.

Data released Thursday by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD) indicates unemployment increased in Tennessee’s 95 counties during June 2019.
Sixty-one counties have unemployment rates below 5 percent, while 34 counties now have unemployment rates at, or above, 5 percent.

With a rate of 3 percent, both Williamson and Davidson counties have the state’s lowest unemployment. The new figure represents a 0.8 of a percentage point increase for Williamson County and a 0.7 of a percentage point jump for Davidson County.

Sevier County has Tennessee’s second-lowest unemployment rate for June at 3.1 percent, which is 0.6 of a percentage point higher than the county’s rate in May. Sumner and Rutherford counties have the third-lowest rate at 3.2 percent, which is up by 0.8 of a percentage point in both counties.

Hancock County recorded Tennessee’s highest unemployment in June. At 7.7 percent, the county saw a 2.4 percentage point increase in unemployment when compared to May. The current rate is 1.4 percentage points higher than it was in June of last year.

Clay County’s unemployment rate is up by 2 percentage points to 7.4 percent. That figure is also up 2 percentage points from June 2018.

“No one likes to see unemployment increase in every county across the state,” said TDLWD Commissioner Jeff McCord. “But the rates typically increase this time of year because we see a lot of seasonal unemployment during the summer months, mostly because school is not in session.”

Tennessee’s statewide unemployment rate also experienced an uptick in June. The current statistic is 3.4 percent, up 0.1of a percentage point from the previous month. The state reached its all-time low unemployment rate of 3.2 percent in February and it remained at the level for three consecutive months.

Nationally, unemployment increased from 3.6 percent to 3.7 percent in June.

County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted, while the state and national rates use the seasonal adjustment to eliminate outside influences on the statistics.

July 26, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A Native American artifacts show will be held Saturday, July 27 at the county complex auditorium from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and proceeds will benefit the DeKalb Animal Coalition. Admission to the event is free.

The artifacts show will feature displays ranging from arrow heads to pottery and some items will be available for sale or trade. “I think we have about 65 tables. We sell the table (space). It cost $15 for the table per person and that money goes to pay for all the expenses of the show and any money left is donated to the DeKalb Animal Coalition,” said Mike Foster.

“Tennessee has probably three or four major shows of this kind and this is one of them so we want to invite everybody to come to see the artifacts. I think you will be pleased with what you see”.

“We will have people who will be buying and selling as well as displaying their artifacts but a lot of trading also goes on between the collectors. We also try to make up some gift baskets of artifacts for those really interested including kids to encourage them to learn more about the early history of DeKalb County and Tennessee,” Foster said.

“I like shell beads so I will have a lot of them there along with bone work and tools they (Native Americans) used but I guess the main attraction is flint including arrow heads, spear points, and things like that but there will be some pottery too. I even have a wooden bow from the 1600’s time frame. We’ll have collectors here from Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama among others”.

“You can probably go to any museum in the state of Tennessee and you won’t see the amount of quality and the number of artifacts you will see there. It’s really enjoyable for people who like history or artifacts and it’s free so come on out Saturday because you’ll see some really good collections,” Foster concluded.

The show is sponsored locally and by the Volunteer State Archaeological Society, a non-profit educational organization devoted to the study of prehistoric America. This society is one of the largest of the independent state societies affiliated with Central States Archaeological Societies.