Sunday, March 21, 2010 3:43 am

I’m Neal Appelbaum. I was born in the northeast and moved many times growing up each time gaining new life experience and meeting many kinds of people. My college degree is in economics. I later studied for and passed the certified public accountant exam.

While I will never be a Cannon County native, I did choose this beautiful place to live and have committed my time and money to seeing that it remains a healthy, vibrant community.

On the Woodbury Square my family renovated what had been a boarded up storefront; now it is the home of TriStar Title. On Parchcorn Hollow we purchased over several years five parcels of a farm that had been split up at auction; we have restructured those parcels so that they can never be subdivided again. That property came with a house that we have since renovated as a demonstration energy efficiency project; we also installed solar electric panels and a solar hot water heater. We now spend just a few dollars each month on total utilities.

Several years ago, we planted 1500 seedling trees along our stream to help manage stormwater and drought issues. Our hay fields are now being cut to feed neighboring cows; those cows are entirely grass fed and are consumed locally.

On the north face of Short Mountain we purchased a large tract of land, and again set up a legal structure that would ensure that any building there would be gentle on the Mountain. Ninety acres of that property will be forever limited to forest.

2010 will mark my fourth year sitting on a statewide grant review panel for the TN Arts Commission. I am a board member of the Stones River Watershed Association. I have helped organize and have cooked for the first three Watershed Summits: multi day meetings of middle-TN land and water preservation organizations.

This year we are organizing the Stones River Relay which is advertised across the state and will encourage both tourism to Cannon County and financial support for the preservation of our hills and streams. I am also a board advisor to the statewide TN Parks and Greenways Foundation. With their assistance, I have worked for the last three years to preserve another significant amount of land in the County: land that will encourage hunting, recreation and the related tax revenue, and preserve our natural environment.

By day, I work for Reed Realty assisting people in finding affordable homes.

I will be out and about in the next few days collecting signatures for my nominating petition. If elected to be a District 4 County Commissioner, I will continue to work for the economic betterment of the entire community while preserving the unique character of Cannon County.