Patti Lynn Clark Barnett

I spent the week of June 13-21 in Johnson City, Tennessee with family and friends. And for you Else Whereians who wonder if the southern hospitality you've heard about really exists, well, I assure you it is alive and very well!  It was good to see and reconnect with several I had not seen in years. Everyone was so very cordial and I was the recipient of a generous dose of Southern Hospitality.

I'm really not getting paid for this plug, but this North East corner of Tennessee is undergoing a development boom and if you're looking for a dynamic place to relocate, I highly recommend this fast growing area. I hardly recognized much of the locale in and around my home town of Jonesborough and Johnson City. There's a building boom of businesses, fantastic homes and new highway systems everywhere. The health care industry is in the process of a major expansion and I was told there will be a St. Jude's Children's Hospital built soon. This expansion seems to have started with the opening (1974) of the Quillen College of Medicine at E.T.S.U. and continues to accelerate.

The remaining land marks are getting fewer and farther between. But that is the price required for the march of progress, I suppose. Again, if you're starting a career or business you may want to give East Tennessee a shot.

Thanks, again, to everyone that made my visit so memorable with their sweet, generous spirits and by showering me with a load of good manners and that good old southern hospitality.