An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Pre-Press Conference
I left my motel room thinking I would likely get lost, and the intent of hunting down a notepad. I turned out the back entrance and BOOM! I was there. I could have walked in less than 60 seconds! sigh… Well, I still had a mission on my mind, so I turned on to the main road, in search of a drug store, a grocery store….anything that sold something besides cars. I was sadly disillusioned. There is NOTHING in the area that sold what I was looking for. Oh, I found a convenience store, alright. Half of said store was dedicated to the caffeine needs of it’s customers. The other half dedicated to junk food and quarts of oil. No help. Oh well, I decided to abandon my quest, and make do with print outs of maps and motel confirmations that were floating around my car due to my complete laziness. I take that back, it’s not a 100% laziness….I’m blaming the excess heat in the garage. 
Hey, sounds good to me!
Down to business!
This is my idea of “blight”….
This is not:
I couldn’t get a shot of the whole building because, well, I value my life, and didn’t want to be standing in the middle of the street. Kay Brooks has some much better pictures of the property, and the surrounding area, taken just a couple of weeks ago.
I walked into Country International Records not knowing what to expect. What greeted me was an extremely well kept, modern reception area, with two just as nice, if not nicer offices off to the left.
To the right, there is a hallway filled with can only be called history. Here’s just a small section:
Such pictures and framed country charts line the 20 foot hallway. The young lady in the photo is Miss Joy, just a few years ago. I learned she performed at the Grand Old Opry herself at one time. There were pictures covering the walls of various country stars, some names all too familiar to me, and admittedly, some not, but all signed by the stars.
The lady who put this all together, Marla Sitten of Radio Active Promotions, and two lawyers(Scott Bullock, and still hunting other name). The one on the right is from the Institute for Justice: (here is their press release)
This is NOT a “blighted” building! This is a VERY well kept business. I was a bit baffled by the chain link fence with barbed wire on top. I was told later that had been put there when the area was a bit “rougher”. Across the street are cute little shops and businesses, but all around Miss Joy’s property is land owned by the company who wants to take her life’s business. The business she started with her husband, who passed away in 1999.
I spoke to several people while waiting for the actual press conference to start. ALL there in support of Miss Joy. I also had the opportunity to speak to the lady of the hour herself. Honestly, she is the epitome of the “steel magnolia”. A true Southern lady. Gracious, friendly, and obviously moved by those who came out in support of her. As she spoke to the various people, it was obvious that tears were close to spilling at any minute. Then, she would laugh at something someone said, and her whole face would light up, with an inner glow that lit up the room.
FINALLY, fellow bloggers, Ken (Blue Collar Muse) and Kay (Kay Brooks) showed up!
Miss Kay there had this neat little gadget with her to record the entire event. I’ve gotta get one! It was about the size of an iPod. Her daughter was in charge of recording, and I hope she got it cuz I’m going to be linking, copying and pasting, and whatever else needed. 
Me, on the other hand was making do with scrap paper. Well, I guess I could claim to be recycling.
That’s undeveloped land in the first photo, not blight. More details please – this one looks like a stinker.
@Cindy:
Actually, pictures don’t do the ‘yuck’ too well. It has to be seen. I know, not a help. I had seen the pictures, and I was like you, it was just overgrown. No, it really is an eyesore from hell. What bugs me, the developer has even stated they don’t need this tiny piece of land for their purposes.
[...] ALSO: Photos and reporting from the press conference by Old Broad. A WPLN [...]
Ol Broad,
I too am so angered by this whole situation. I knew that that despicable Supreme Court ruling from ’05 would start rearing its ugly head in our own backyard one day. This is the exact type of abuse that I feared from that un-American legislation. Way to fight the good fight.
- Josh
@Josh from VerdeGoh!:
Silly me, I actually believed the SCOTUS would rule FOR the property owners. But then again, I thought they’d find that McCain-Feingold was a violation of the 1st Amendment.
The necessity of a CONSTITUTIONAL court become more evident by the day.
It was really great to meet you, Kate.
The digital recorder is an Olympus WS-100. Great little machine. It has a USB end so I can plug it directly into my computer to download. Use Audacity to deal with the audio if I need to. Really good microphone. 27 hours of recording time. I can put an index marker to find things later if I need to.
I’d be happy to send you the audio but I don’t see your email on here anywhere.
@Kay Brooks:
That had to be one of the cutest little dodads I’ve seen in a long time! Heh. And it was great to meet you too.
As soon as I learn how to add audio to this confuser blog thingamajig….. LOL
Didn’t I give ya a card with my email address? Hmmm….thought I did. Oh well, I’m emailing ya now.