Jackson helped many in Bluefield

There has been a quite a bit in the paper about Mr. Basil Jackson over the past few days. Mr. Jackson held many offices, walked in the high circles of the financial world and no doubt could be called a pillar of the community. Mr. Jackson also had another side. He did look after those of us who needed some help and he did help many of us buy our homes.

Had it not have been for Mr. Jackson’s help my wife and I might not have been able to purchase our first home many years ago. We were young, didn’t have one of those famed pots, and with a little one on the way we needed a small home. Mr. Jackson personally saw to it that we could buy that home. That wasn’t the only time he helped. Over the years he never forgot us and was always very nice each and every time we saw him. I should have thanked him a million times.



June sure flew by in a hurry. It seems like it has only been a few days since May. Now we are looking toward the Fourth of July. Every year I say that by the time I’m ready for summer, it’s over. Summer is my favorite season. However, the older I get spring seems to be gaining ground. But then there are those beautiful summer mornings and warm summer nights.



“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken,” said James Dent.



The sidewalk on U.S. Route 52 in Bramwell has finally been repaired. A portion of the walk was removed to replace a failed pipe. Then for months (or has it been years) the walk was not replaced. The West Virginia Department of Highways, or someone, eventually made the repairs to return the walk to service. Thanks.

Now, if the state would just see fit to shovel up all those tons of winter abrasives that have accumulated on the walks and bridge on U.S. 52 in Freeman, the highway would look a lot nicer.



The West Virginia DOH has completed paving a major portion of Interstate 77 here in Mercer County. The highway is now smooth and very nice to drive on. The paving included both northbound and southbound lanes, ramps and exits between Ingleside and the tunnel through East River Mountain. The West Virginia turnpike has also paved a portion of the toll road that was in poor condition near Beckley



It just occurred to me that this year would be the 75th anniversary for the class of 1936 for Bramwell High School. There were 24 members of the Class of ’36: Nannie Bennett, Alexander Bertok, Earl Davis, Eva Falls, Class President Raymond Gross, Edith Harris, Paul Haynes, Class Secretary Lillian Hill, Margaret Hill, Class Vice President Harry Johnson, John Karnes, William Kuhary, Cavil Linkous, Margaret Lowe, Verl Mahaffey, Dorothy Osborne, Margaret Poteet, Lacy Sexton, Lillian Stanger, Dorothy Tabor, Nancy Tate and Marie Wilson. Some of us may remember some of these folks. The class was also the first graduating class for Bramwell’s legendary principal Mr. Dwight W. McCormick who remained principal until 1968.



“GPS may soon work everywhere in the world except in the United States.” I had to take a second look when I read that. We surely do not want those great little navigators that help us drive across country or find some address nearby to become useless, and that is exactly what some experts are predicting. It seems that the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) granted a “waiver” to a major broadband provider to operate a terrestrial (land) component within the same L-band range in which GPS has operated for the last 30 years. What is happening is that the government is sacrificing GPS as acceptable collateral damage for improved broadband. Some believe that the interference threat is real and will likely render most GPS systems useless.