Downtown Crossville came alive Friday with hundreds of people walking the sidewalks and visiting stores, playing on the bouncy house, sipping strawberry lemonade and having a good time.  It was the second Friday at the Crossroads Event sponsored by the Noon Rotary Club.  Family and friends discovered new merchants and restaurants up and down Main Street, side streets and Highway 70.  Music could be heard for miles around.

In the middle of the fun, someone came up to me and asked “you hear about the City Councilman being charged with assault?”  With me being in the news business I’m sure they were surprised when I said “Why no, haven’t heard about it”.  The good informer began telling me the whole story of what happened earlier in the day about one Council Member pressing charges against another Councilman over a heated exchange outside City Hall two months ago. (I’m reminded of the Andy Griffith episode where all the guys started punching each other in the nose over a 20-year-old unresolved assault case Barney found in the files and just HAD to bring it back up)

It’s no secret the two Council Members involved have been notorious for causing a disruption of one kind or another for years so this really wasn’t “news”.   Mostly their squabbling has done little more than given Crossville a black eye in the opinion of outsiders…and insiders for that matter.   I got home and read the account of the summons (misdemeanor) issued against the Council Member on all the online local media sites (he just went to the Justice Center, got booked in and left: court Aug 29th).  It occurred to me that both of these Council Members days are numbered on the Council anyway and Crossville is about to progress forward hopefully in the very near future – I don’t think I’ll write a story on this issue.  Crossville people are just down right tired of reading  about the squabbling and bickering down at City Hall. (you’ll notice the names of the Council Members have been omitted- sadly, most folk will know who they are.) What people would like to read about is that a brighter future may be in sight for our community soon. Hopefully, the City Government will soon be controlled ‘entirely’ by mature, conscientious, sound minded and reasonable leaders who will step up to the plate and make Crossvillian’s proud to say they’re from Crossville Tennessee.

It was refreshing to see so many participants in the Friday at the Crossroads Event- laughter, socializing face to face (not through a digital device) and lots O fun, – almost like being at the county fair.  A definite revitalization of Downtown is on the move.   Friday at the Crossroads is what Crossville needs.  It was bigger the second go around than the first…much bigger and tremendously successful.   City leaders can learn a valuable lesson from Friday at the Crossroads Event…cooperation without selfishness along with a genuine zeal for the betterment of the community is essential for success.