February ended with a full moon and more winter fury that might extend its cold hands well into March in our hometown, yet the weekend sunshine holds out some rays of hope for our spring greens.

We left you on a bluegrass note last week visiting Strings 'n' Things, and since then I have talked with skilled banjo picker John David Ford, who is a graphic designer for Food City's parent, K-VA-T Foods. You will be reading more about him. We got to meet Tony Olivent and wife, Mary Ann, of Memphis and how they love our mountain town. The bottom line is Tony has created a job he enjoys, gets to play banjo at the store, jam with other musicians, and build friendships. Tony and Mary Ann hope to have public music sessions in the parking lot as the weather warms. I think they will succeed because you can't get any more southern than Georgia and Memphis and appreciating Appalachian musicians, who play for fun and play well. "We are getting a new customer base." Before I left two others came in, Charlie Dunn, a guitar player, and Greg King, of Dandridge, and David McClary, He is a former owner of Fiddlin' With Music.

Another reason I think they will succeed is their obvious commitment to Newport, service to customers, and "We've put our retirement into it," said Mary Ann.

You recall that last week we chatted about Tommy Strange and his new ownership of an old business, Eastport Exxon. One of our readers called to add some important information unknown to me. The caller was Martha Poe, of Dandridge. She gave me some background on the old station and wanted my readers to know that her late husband, Eunice "Bill" Myers, had started it as a partner with the late Roger Myers. The two men saw an opportunity to run an Exxon station then located across from Jabo's Pharmacy on property now used as a parking lot by Con Agra. I believe the property was owned by the Lyle Moore family, according to what Mrs. Poe said. In order to get the station opened, Bill Myers went to Nashville to obtain the proper license. He also had to take special training. Mrs. Poe described him as a hardworking, talented businessman. After about five years, Bill and Roger then opened the new station just east at its current location. She said there used to be a sign at the business that stated: "Bill-Roger-Harvey Eastport Exxon." Bill died in April 1979 and since then both Roger and Harvey have died. Martha, who is from Cocke County, later married Paul H. Poe, who is related to Quinton Parrott. So now you know the rest of the story.

Days ago I was among many people who received an e-mail from Betty Carver seeking help for a family in dire need after a recent vehicle accident. District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn notified Bettye about the situation of Sheila (Black) Buckner, who, as Jimmy said, "Has had horrible things happen to her in the past two years." She lost a son about two years ago in a car accident. Last December, their home at Grassy Fork burned leaving them with little except a bed and sofa. Then, Sheila's children and grandchildren were in the bad accident. Bettye followed up and determined the family had little money and none for cellphone calls to make important contacts. The major problem was having to transport the three-year-old grandchild to Atlanta because she is partially paralyzed. I called Bettye on Wednesday to see how the Plain Talk could help. She mentioned that some folks, such as First Baptist Church, Pat Spurgeon at Douglas Cherokee, had responded quickly. To find out more, I called Sheila and reached her in Atlanta that morning. They still have not recovered from the Dec. 16 fire. And, during our talk she reminded me that many years ago, probably in the 1980s, she worked with us at the Plain Talk and with our former circulation manager, the late Shelby Sweeten. Sheila is originally from Bybee but has lived at Grassy Fork for more than 20 years. She said her son, Jerry Black, suffered a broken hip. Daughter Maschae suffered internal injuries. It was obvious she was very distraught and couldn't give me much more information. Bettye did mention in her e-mail that daughter, Tamara Carver, at Benchmark Physical Therapy has volunteered to accept household items for the Buckner family. In case you don't know, Tamara is a professional physical therapist at the center located near Goody's, which I am glad to hear will reopen soon. As we get more information, you will read about it.

Like many of us, Roger Lane is getting up in the years, though he really doesn't look it when he dropped into my office last week. He shared a photo with me and talked about what he has been doing after being forced to slow down because of the declining construction economy. Most of his life has been in building trades. Now, Roger is partly retired and helps his son, Joe Lane, an expert electrical contractor. The other son, Sean, is long-time owner/operator of Lane's grocery. Roger, 65, said his older brother, Ronnie, is 70 and has been in poor health. Veteran Plain Talk readers and older residents remember the heinous murder of their brother in the 1970s, Jimmy Lane, a Newport restaurant operator. Their other brother, Earl, lived in South Carolina, and died four or five years ago. The reason for Roger's visit was to share some bear hunting photos. One was of three Carolina hunters with three bears killed last year with total weight of more than 1,300 pounds. The other photo was of a fellow I recognized from his years selling for Ken Wilson Ford. Denny Russell lives in Smithville, NC., and hunts with the Crystal Coast Bear Hunters, as did Roger last season. Roger said that among fellow hunters from this area are Jason Chrisman and Shawn Hudson. The black bear that Denny shot weighed 585 pounds. Roger said he visited the central NC coastal area last summer to do some scouting and was surprised at the number of bears he saw. "The bears live on corn" and thus they walk across the highway to cornfields. On one day in July he counted 51 bears.