by Mike Steely | Jan 13, 2014 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely Last week’s huge Ninth Annual Advertising Auction at Fountain City Auction inspired me to go dig out some old promotional buttons or pins I found years ago in an abandoned theater. The place is long gone now, but back 30 years or so the building was...
by Mike Steely | Dec 9, 2013 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely Niota, Tennessee, is one of those places that isn’t on an interstate, although it’s just a few miles east of I-75 between Sweetwater and Athens. It’s one of those places with one stop light and the old downtown is actually almost empty and a couple...
by Mike Steely | Dec 2, 2013 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely steelym@knoxfocus.com A suggestion from his grandson prompted Thomas Wright to become Abraham Lincoln. Or at least take on the Lincoln character. And now the Oak Ridge man, who is a facility supervisor for an engineering and construction company,...
by Mike Steely | Nov 18, 2013 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely A day away drive from Knoxville, granted it’s an 8 or 9 hour drive, gets you to Savannah, Georgia. It’s a trip worth the drive. It’s rare to see a southern city that survived the Civil War, yet there is Savannah in all its glory. Savannah was one of...
by Mike Steely | Nov 4, 2013 | Columnist, Steely
By Mike Steely How does history treat you when you are second at something? Poor Archibald Roane, Tennessee’s second governor, might be able to tell you. Who can follow up John Sevier? Roane could, but he only with one term. Sevier had been elected and reelected and...
