Bonnaroo 2009 canceled; event organizers, city officials say stay away from Manchester

In a stunning announcement Monday afternoon, Bonnaroo organizers and Manchester city officials jointly announced that this year's festival has been canceled. The event, which brings at least 70,000 people to the small Tennessee town each year, was scheduled to begin on June 11. Until today, there had been no hint that the festival might not go on as scheduled.

Officials said...well, if you have not figured it out by now, this is all a joke. Bonnaroo has NOT been canceled. The event will go on as it normally does each year. I am just having a little fun with the folks who will be coming my way in a few days.

I have lived in Manchester almost all my life, and I still have a little trouble believing that my small home town hosts such an important event. For those of you attending, please make sure to spend lots of money. We need every dollar we can get. Please ease my tax burden.

So, come down and have a good time.

Just stay out of my yard.

Flood, May 2009

Like most of Middle Tennessee, Manchester has been on the receiving end of a lot of rain in the last couple of days. Unofficial reports state that we have received between four and five inches. Predictably, this is causing problems.

Photo #1 (see top photo below) was taken at Manchester's city park along the Little Duck River. The white capping seen in the middle of the photo is where water is pounding against the concrete walkway citizens use to walk over the river. This part of the walkway was completely submerged when I took this, which is the first time I have seen this happen. The water behind the trees in the back of the photo shows how far the river has jumped its banks.

Photo #2 shows a different angle of the flood along the same river. The trees in the foreground normally are along the edge of the river.

Photo #3 shows more of the impact the rain has had at the park. The greenway people use to exercise on has been overtaken in several areas by water. This photo was taken from the sidewalk on the concrete bridge that hangs over one end of the greenway.

Let's hope the river subsides soon, and people impacted by all this rain can get back to a normal life.

Coffee County selected third best place to tailgate before high school football games

Each Friday during the high school football season, The Tennessean has been highlighting the best the sport has to offer in lots of categories.

Last Friday, the newspaper selected Coffee County High School (which is located in Manchester) as the third best place to tailgate before a game in the mid-state.

Ranked above us were David Lipscomb and Franklin High.

This came as a big surprise to me because I sometimes wonder whether the newspaper knows we have a team based on their coverage of the mid-state.

Still, it's nice to be recognized.

The unluckiest man in the world (this week anyway)

We've all had bad days, but consider what recently happened to Justin Hill of Rock Island, Tenn.

According to published reports, he got into a car crash when turning into the path of an oncoming car. Upon hearing the crash, Hill's wife left their kitchen stove where she was cooking. This caused their trailer to catch on fire.

Later, he was written a ticket for allegedly failing to yield in his wreck.

So, within a few minutes, Hill was in a car wreck, his home caught on fire, and he was written a ticket.

I've heard that both good and bad luck comes in threes. If a person believes in luck, then this might be an example to support their position.