Drew Brees, BBQ smoke off coming to Williamsburg

I was saddened to hear about the recent passing of former Whitley County Magistrate Wayne Wilson.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

Wayne wasn’t really a politician as much as he was just a regular guy, who happened to get elected to office.

In addition to having served as magistrate, Wayne also worked as the animal control officer in Whitley County for a number of years.

Wayne was a soft-spoken and good hearted guy.

He was one of those people, who talked to anybody even when he wasn’t an elected official. It didn’t really matter who you were either.

My sympathies go out to his wife, Betty, and their family.

Now for a few other assorted thoughts for the week.

•  Former New Orleans Saints quarterback and current NBC sportscaster Drew Brees should be an interesting speaker for the April 5 University of the Cumberlands’ Excellence in Leadership Series, which is sponsored by Forcht Group of Kentucky.

Brees was the Super Bowl XLIV MVP and won the 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which honors not only a player’s on the field excellence but also his volunteer and charity work.

I have not heard all the past speakers for the lecture series, but I have heard a few. Of the ones that I heard, my two favorites were former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who spoke about 9-11, and Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon. Carson sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, and served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017-2021.

You could tell soon after he started speaking that Carson was one of, if not the smartest man in the room. He attributed much to his mother, who made him and his brother read and write book reports on two library books per week when they were children.

• Let me give a word of thanks to all the couples, who participated in Jennifer Perkins valentine’s piece in the Feb. 16 edition telling us “What does love mean?”

There are some sage words of wisdom in there from an engaged couple to a couple who had been married for 60 plus years.

If you are a couple, who is about to get married or who recently got married, I think you would be well served to get a copy of that piece, cut it out, and put it on your refrigerator or maybe frame it, put it on the wall and read it from time to time.

• Speaking of thanks, let me give a shout out to former News Journal Sports Editor Trevor Sherman, who helped us out last Tuesday night taking pictures at the 50^th District Tournament while current Sports Editor Dean Manning listened to the boys games on the radio.

The Williamsburg High School boys’ team threw a scare into South Laurel taking an early first quarter lead before their season came to a close. The Whitley County High School boys’ team then gave the Corbin Redhounds all they wanted and then some staying within striking distance well into the last minute of the game.

Congratulations to all of our local teams on their seasons.

• I found last week’s story about Lee Bryant leasing several acres of property from the City in Williamsburg near North Second Street and the corner of Short Street in order to create a protected natural habitat for deer and turkey quite interesting. I will be curious to see how it works out.

• For a few years now I have been saying we need to have some kind of barbeque cookoff in Williamsburg, and it’s finally happening. The inaugural Main Street BBQ Smoke Off is set for May 21 in conjunction with the first Cumberland Valley Cruise-In of the season. There will apparently be a people’s choice award in three different categories. Sounds delicious.