By Chip Brown | Maynardville@gmail.com

It's taken forty-three years and the efforts of hundreds of people however the realization of a new school for Paulette is a step closer to reality.

April 10, 2010 the public came together to witness the first step toward a new school in Paulette. This is only the first day in a projected three hundred fifty day  process but the public found it monumental. As I told one elected official to look at the faces of the public in attendance, I commented that I had never seen people smile after being asked for a new tax. A lady near me whom I don't know commented, "we don't care for a tax as long as it is for a purpose and not just bigger government."

That comment appeared to sum up the feeling of the crowd as I made my way around speaking to people I knew and was just meeting. Many of those in attendance had once gone to the previous Paulette Elementary. A lady teared up as she told me of her time at the school. She had been in the last class before it was closed. She tells me that the public was promised that the school would be rebuilt. The lady said that she had given up on ever seeing her school again. Could this possibly be the reason for the overwhelming public support?

While people came in forming a crowd that would eventually number 258, the local band Thunder Road played. The beginning of the festivities resembled a reunion. Many people came who hadn't seen each other in some time. Many people came that had gone to the original Paulette Elementary.

School Board Chairman Brian Oaks started the ceremony by introducing those in attendance. He then welcomed Cub Scout Pack #404 and asked them to perform the salute to the American flag. These young men have done so much for the school system already I think it fitting that they led this. I have to say they did an excellent job. I have no doubt that one day we will see several of these young men guiding our county.

The podium was then turned over to reverend Mike Viles of Milan Baptist Church. Mr. Viles gave the Invocation for the groundbreaking and on the efforts building this school.

Larry Lay spoke with some additional opening comments. In those comments he acknowledged that several had worked together to make this happen. He also acknowledged that we had not always agreed on each step of the journey. That made me think about my own efforts toward the school. While my efforts were minimal compared to many I talked to as many officials and members of the public as I could. I made an effort to speak to those who opposed the tax in particular. What I found was I could not find any person who said that the school was not needed. I did find people with different ideas on how to achieve it. Many of these ideas were brought up at County Court and School Board meetings. The public began to see that they were being listened to.

Mayor Lay acknowledged many of those in attendance and recognized their efforts. Among those he recognized was Chad Faulkner. Chad is our State Representative in Nashville. I had the pleasure to speak with Chad on many occasions (even beat him out of lunch at the Capitol one day). It is without a doubt true, as the Secretary of State Tre Hargett pointed out, Chad worked as hard as humanly possible to promote this project. I could see a bit of pride in Representative Faulkner's eyes as he spoke to the crowd.

Surprisingly, I arrived to find Secretary of State Tre Hargett at the function. I have been to several ribbon cuttings and ground breakings. This was the first I had attended that attracted a Secretary of State. Secretary Hargett was instrumental in working with Chad to secure the zero percent interest loan that allowed this to be possible.

Senator Faulk appeared at the groundbreaking and I finally got to meet him in person. I attended a meeting in Nashville to ask questions about the zero percent interest loans. While Mr. Faulk could not be there, he was texting in questions and comments. I know he had traveled to our county many times for meetings related to the project. I began to wonder to myself just how a small county, building a school, could attract the attention of these three public servants. I had never really considered the effort put forth in Nashville by those who represent us. I have to say I am impressed that Tre, Chad and Mike championed us. I am also proud that they saw this as such an instrumental moment, they wished to attend. It wasn't a time where they spoke claiming ownership of the project. Each of the three congratulated the county on what the county had done. I would like to point out that Zack Wamp had wanted to attend but could not. He sent Angie Jarnigan who did a great job on his behalf.

Director of Schools Wayne Goforth took the podium next. In his speech he spoke about the future and past of the Union County School System. He spoke about the efforts that the citizens put forth to get to this day. He pointed out that this was not a project of the Union County School System or even Union County. He made the point that this project belonged to each and every citizen of the county. He told the crowd that each and every child owned a little of this new school. His topic in the program was titled "Reflecting on the Future". He stayed true to the topic spending much of his speech on his vision for the future while still acknowledging the past. I knew that Mr. Goforth and his wife Linda had recently become new grandparents. When I spoke to them about the new grandchild I saw a spark of pride in their faces. I saw a similar spark of pride in Mr, Goforth's face as he spoke of our county and the new school we were embarking on. The spark of pride returned to his face as he spoke of the students of our schools and all the possibilities that are in front of them.

Secretary of State Tre Hargett came to the podium next to reflect on the efforts of our local and Nashville elected officials. He acknowledged that the efforts of Director Goforth, the County Commission and Mayor Lay had not gone unobserved in Nashville. He recognized the efforts on our behalf in pushing this project through. Further he spoke of the hard work Senator Faulk and Representative Faulkner made on our behalf in Nashville. He stated that our proposal for getting the zero percent interest loan was superb.

The group moved toward the area for the ground breaking. There awaited them the best dressed shovels in East Tennessee, all decked out in the new school colors of purple and gold.

The ground breaking was broken into three groups. First were the elected officials including State, School and School Board.

Pictured are from left to right:
David Coppock, Mike Faulk, Don Morgan, Larry Lay, Brian Oaks, Wayne Goforth, Chad Faulkner,  Mark DeVault, Gerald Smith and Bill Sexton.

The next group were County Commission members as well as other local officials:

Pictured from left to right:
Gary England, Barbara Williams, Janet Holloway, Donna Jones, Stanley Boles, Brenda Jessee, Gina Buckner, Joyce Meltabarger, Elmer Bailey, Pam Ailor, R.L. Jones, Wayne Cole, and Lynn Beeler.

And finally the Cub Scout Pack #404 were invited to break ground: