ELIZABETHTON — In the first meeting of the Carter County Commission since last month’s extremely cold weather, Mayor Patty Woodby presented a plaque to express appreciation to Harmony Free Will
ELIZABETHTON â Seth Whitehead, 14, is working on a project that is not only important in his own life, but also should have an impact on the community.
It is a project he is undertaking as a key part of his effort to become an Eagle Scout. Even more important, his project is designed to help a community remember four young men who died while working to defend the town of Hampton from a forest fire on Jenkins Mountain on Feb. 27, 1954.
Whitehead said the four who were killed include 15-year-old Robert Simerly, a volunteer with the Hampton/Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Department, and three employees of the Tennessee Division of Forestry: Herman Carden, Kenneth Pierce, and Jerry Woods. All three were 19 years old. Somehow, most people in the community have no knowledge of the tragedy, and Whitehead wants to change that by leading an effort to raise funds to purchase a memorial for the four young men.
ELIZABETHTON â The Elizabethton City Board of Education unanimously approved dual credit agreements with Northeast State Community College and with East Tennessee State University during the boardâs meeting on Thursday.
The agreements are for the 2021-22 academic year. The new agreements supersede similar agreements both post secondary institutions had with the Elizabethton City School System last year.
In other matters, Board Chairman Eddie Pless said an evaluation of Director of Schools Richard VanHuss has been completed. The members of the school board and school principals participated in the evaluation. Pless said VanHuss received high marks even with all of the uncertainty caused this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.