THE CHRONICLE

of Mt. Juliet

The Largest Circulation in Wilson County

Celebrating our 28th year as the leading newspaper in Mt. Juliet and West Wilson County

www.thechronicleofmtjuliet.com

Volume 29 August 12, 2009 Number 31

Page 3

You Heard it First

MJ leadersapprove movetoward moretrafﬁc cameras

The Mt. Juliet Senior Citizen Center has started a weekly “music jam” on Thursdays from 1 – 3 p.m. The weeklymusic jam is a free event to anyone interested in listening to some great country, bluegrass, and gospel musicfrom our regional talent. It is also a free and open venue for musicians and singers alike to share their talentswith our seniors and community. “We hope this weekly event will continue to grow, and as it grows, our seniorcenter will hopefully grow as well,” commented Center Executive Director Donna Stephens. “Warren Hickmanassisted me greatly with planning and organizing this first music jam. The seniors were beyond appreciative forthe music and laughter of the day.... it was rejuvenating for everyone! The musicians, singers, and audiencewere thrilled to have this venue to share, laugh, dance, play and sing. We are encouraging the public to join usevery Thursday for this event... we hope to grow and grow and grow!” ~ Photos by Tomi L. Wiley

It’s that timeagain: how toget involved atthe WilsonCounty Fair

Page 7

Getting toknow the newMJ cityplanner beforehe takes ofﬁce

Page 5Page 2

MJ nativesturn dip ineconomy intorisingopportunity

Rockin’ at the Senior Center

Page 2, The Chronicle of Mt. Juliet, August 12, 2009

They say thatnecessity breeds invention,and for one former Mt. Julietman and his family thatnecessity has resulted in anew publication focusing onthe history of Nashville.Allen Forkum andhis family, including fatherGarnett and brother Barry,recently published the

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rstedition of

The Nashville Retrospect

, a broadsheetnewspaper focusing onhistorical events andexperiences in Nashville.Allen said two things spurredthe idea for the newspaper:“the slumping economy andmy old house.”“

The Nashville Retrospect

is published byAutoGraphic PublishingCompany which has beenprinting newspapers aboutthe auto industry since1988 when my father,Garnett Forkum, and Istarted the company,” Allensaid Monday. “The recentauto industry slump forcedus to consider other ideas.One was a newspaper forolder Nashvillians, and onefeature we considered wasa local history page. Butthe more I thought about it,the more I thought that anentire publication could bedevoted to the topic.“I became intenselyinterested in local history in2007 when my wife, Anna,and I purchased an old housein the Belmont/12th Southarea of Nashville. Because of historic zoning restrictions, Ihad to research the house’spast so that any changes we made to the exterior were consistent with itshistory. I had a wonderfultime doing the research. Ifelt like a detective, scouringmicro

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lm and looking atold maps. I learned that the1907 house was older thantax records indicated andthat it was built by a blindman whose grandson andgreat grandson still buildhouses today (that’s a wholeother story).“In short, I foundlearning about local historyvery enriching, and I thoughtothers might enjoy it, too.”Allen said thepublication took around

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vemonths to come to fruition – from the

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rst idea in Januaryto its release at the end of June. All of the contributorsto the

Retrospect

arefreelance, and they rangein expertise from scholarsto those writing about theirpersonal experiences.“To name a few:Mike Slate is editor andpublisher of the

Nashville Historical Newsletter

; for ushis topics have ranged froma street in Donelson to anEnglishman’s 1797 visit tofrontier Nashville,” Allensaid. “George Zepp writesregularly for

The Tennessean

about the city’s past; for ushe wrote about the now-gone Bijou theater and thecity’s

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rst prohibition raid.Paul Clements is a historiancurrently writing a major work on the founding of theCumberland settlements;for us this month he wroteabout John Donelson’sfamous journal of his river journey to the settlements.”But much of the content alsocomes from old newspapers, which is more aboutresearching than writing.Other articles go back to theearly 1800s.“We have over 230 years of the city’s history todraw upon,” Allen noted.Allen said theresponse to the

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rst editionhas been “overwhelminglypositive.”“There’s anexcitement about it that I didnot expect. We knew somepeople would like it, but weunderestimated how manyand how strongly,” he said.“The July issue featured aphoto of Cascade Plungefrom July 4, 1957. We gota huge response from people who remembered goingthere. We receive phonescalls and e-mails every dayabout the paper, often fromolder Nashvillians who wantto tell us their memories, which is something we will

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MJ native uses slump in economy as launching point for new, popular publication

Allen ForkumSee PAPER, Page 4

The Chronicle of Mt. Juliet, August 12, 2009, Page 3

By Tomi L. Wiley

Managing Editor

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Mt. Juliet leaderstook a step toward installingtraf

ﬁ

c light cameras onseveral of the city’s busiestintersections Monday nightand toward renaming amajor road fromI-40 to LebanonRoad.The Mt. Juliet board of commissionersapproved 4 -1 on

ﬁ

rst reading an agreement with ATS, a company thatprovides technology andbusiness solutions for phototraf

ﬁ

c safety and electronictoll enforcement programs(www.atstraf

ﬁ

c.com), toinstall traf

ﬁ

c cameras inMt. Juliet after a studyconcluded that dive of 15intersections warrant thecameras, according to CityManager Randy Robertson.Mt. Juliet PoliceChief Andy Garrett saidMonday that ATS sub-contracted a company toconduct the study, anda view of one particulartraf

ﬁ

c light recorded 22 carsrunning the red light in aneight-hour period. None of the intersections includedin the study were identi

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edby Garrett or Robertson onMonday night due to theearly stages of the project.Garrett said he will work with ATS on a “publicinformation blitz campaign”and post signs at the citylimits to alert drivers to thetraf

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c light cameras beforethey are actually installed. The contract with ATS is anagreement for three yearsof service with an optionto renew at the end of thattime, said City Attorney Jason Holleman, and theCity would have to “showcause” in order to break thecontract or opt out within30 days of signing it. Theagreement was approved on

ﬁ

rst reading, with District4 Commissioner JimBradshaw voting against it.Commissionersalso discussed renaming what is now consideredBeckwith Road at the I-40intersection, then CurdRoad, then Beckwith Roadextension once the roadproject is

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nished, linkingI-40 to Lebanon Road (Hwy.70). Commissioners agreedupon renaming it GoldenBear Gateway and willchange the name of

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ciallyonce all phases of the roadconstruction are

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nished.Local residents – and thenew Mt. Juliet High School – will have to change theiraddresses at that time.Also in New Business,the board appointed MayorLinda Elam as its continuedrepresentation on the WilsonCounty Joint EconomicCommunity DevelopmentBoard as required per aletter from JECDB DirectorG.C. Hixson, who attendedthe meeting. Elam will servethrough January, when thecity commission may chooseher again or someone else toserve a four year term.While they had hisear, commissioners voicedtheir concerns that Mt. Julietis not fairly represented onthe JECDB Board, sincetechnically Mt. Juliet’spopulation is higher thanLebanon yet Lebanon hasmore representation on theboard.“It has becomeglaringly obvious thatMt. Juliet is larger butLebanon still gets morerepresentation,”remarked District 3Commissioner EdHagerty.“That needsto be clari

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ed – recti

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ed,” added Elam.Hixson said he willreturn in January with “anexplanation” for the board,if that was acceptable tothem.“It’s gone on so long,”shrugged Hagerty, “what’s waiting ‘til January?”In Un

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nishedBusiness, commissionersapproved on second reading

Cameras for many MJ interesctions approved

A view of one particular trafﬁc light recorded 22 cars running the red lightin an eight-hour period.