Thank You From The Cannon Communities’ 4th Of July Celebration



When Dale Peterson went to Harold Patrick the Mayor of Woodbury, Mike Gannon the Cannon County Executive, and Roger Turney the Mayor of Auburntown last January about having a fireworks show we thought it was a great idea. 

The name of the show would be Cannon Communities 4th of July Celebration and the named summed up how it would be a joint effort.  None of us had any recollection of any project in which Woodbury, Auburntown, and Cannon County worked together.

We knew it would be challenging project because we would have to use all of our resources to work together to make the project work.  We knew it would be hard, but with the way the economy looked we thought we had a chance to show how we felt about our country and thank our citizens for make Cannon County a wonderful place to live and the let them know we care about them.

On the 2nd of July all of our hard work went up in smoke as the fireworks exploded over head in front of an audience for more than 800 people at Dillon Park and more than 300 hundred people around town.  It just goes to show that even if the future looks dim if we work together, treat each other with respect, and aim high, we can make things better.

We want to thank everyone who came to the event and we sincerely hope everyone enjoyed themselves.  We want to thank the JRB & Friends Band for giving us a wonderful show and David Rigney and his crew at   S & N Displays Fireworks, Inc. for lighting up our skies with color and wonder.  Cannon County Boy Scout Troop # 327 of Jacob Williams, Zachary Melton, Garrett Bacon, and Adult Leader Jennifer Stevens gave us a wonderful flag retirement ceremony for the Tennessee and American Flags that flew over our Courthouse.  Tristan Morten is also a member of this troop, but could not be at the show.  

Dale wanted us to give a special acknowledgment to Teresa Stoetzel at the Cannon Courier for everything she did to help us with the show.  Dale went to her with some information to include in the Courier, but he missed the deadline.  Mrs. Stoetzel had been putting many late hours on a special project and despite everything she worked got the information in the Courier.  Thank you Teresa and the Courier.

Doug Combs at WBRY Radio gave us all airtime to run information about the Celebration.  Perhaps for the first time the Mayor of Auburntown, Mayor of Woodbury, and County Executive appeared in the same radio ad.  It was a lot of fun.

We also wanted to thank Dale Peterson and all of our government employees, business partners, and volunteers who helped make the show such a success.  Special Thanks go out to Ronnie, Anna, and Jason Pitman with J.P.’s Fine Swine who provided the hot dogs and watermelon.  Watching Jason cut the watermelon with his knife skills was a show unto itself.

We also wanted to thank Arna Smithson of Piggly Wiggly for providing us with drinks and David Rogers with Dollar General for the giving us drinks and chips.  John House, Ashley Greenwood, Jonathan House, and Charles Wilder from Woodbury Law Enforcement Explorer’s Post # 88 helped collect food with volunteers, Rosemary Corley, Orval and Esther Gray, Carl and Patsy Hirlston, Estel and Cathey Parker, and Trisha Richards from the Cannon County Emergency Food Bank help to collect over 400 pounds of food.

If you forgot to bring your food donation or you would like to make one you may do so at the Food Bank’s Office located at 301 West Main Street in Woodbury (the old hospital down the hall from the election office) and their hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Special thanks go out to all of our partners: Affect Plus, Inc.: Karen Zabriskie, Anderson Graphics, LLC: William Keathley, Andy Duggin, Auburntown Lion’s Club, Awards & Trophies: Lu Ann Curlee, Bobbies Embroidering at Higgins Flea Market, Bobby Moore, Bourgeois Leather Goods at Higgins Flea Market, Brevard House: Bill Smith, Brother’s Bail Bonding: Charles Mount and Mary “Peaches” Floyd, Cannon Carriage Driving Center: Elizabeth Keathley, Cannon County Board of Education, Cannon County Register of Deeds: Debbie Morris, Cannon Courier, B.J. and Nancy Coomes, Cutting Edge: Norma Knox, Dollar General Market: David Rogers, DTC, Fine Swine Bar-B-Que, First Baptist Church of Woodbury, Frito Lay, H&R Block, Historic Cannon County Chamber of Commerce, Nathan Hollandsworth, Jason, Anna, and George Pittman, Judge Don Ash, Judge Royce Taylor, Jean A. Keathley, Hal and Lois Larimer, Middle Tennessee Mule Skinners, Mid-South Psychiatric Associates: Dr. Ravi Singh, Old Feed Store Antique Mall, L.L.C., Paul L. Reed Funiture Co., Pepsi, Christopher Peterson, Dean Peterson, Donna Peterson, Kristen Peterson, Preston Brother’s Construction, Co., Prince’s Repair Service : Joe and Kathy Prince, Project Hometown Help: M.T.N.G. Utility District, Quick Shop Market C/O  D & R Ventures, Inc., Reed Realty: Neal Appelbaum, Reed Realty: Wanda Reed, Region’s Bank: Debbie Vaughn, Richard Barbaras Masonry, Shirt Shack, Smith Funeral Home: Tim Gentry and Christine Dillon, Smithson’s Piggly Wiggly, Southern Villages, Inc. d/b/a  Cannon Inn, Tammy’s Tot to Teen: Carolyn S. McDonald, Tenpenny Wood Shop: Lee Wayne Nichols, The Arts Center of Cannon County, Valhalla Farms: James Keathley, Vintage Mountain Printing and Embroidery, WBRY: Doug Combs, Woodbury Baptist Church, Woodbury Church of Christ, Woodbury First United Methodist Church, Woodbury Funeral Home, Woodson’s Pharmacy.

Roger Turney wants to thank his wife, Shirley and his son, Travis for helping with the show.  He also wants to thank Chris Fletcher and Kyle Caito who worked very hard on the show.  Special thanks goes to Tina Fletcher who out worked all of us.  We don’t want to forget the City of Auburntown City Council of Ruby Jo Davenport, Treasurer Rita Davis, Tina Fletcher, City Recorder Winfred Gaither, Beth Hancock, and Frank Patrick for giving approval for the show.  We are also at a loss because Ruby Jo Davenport died before the fireworks Celebration.  She worked hard to make Auburntown and Cannon County a better place to live.  She would have enjoyed the Celebration and she will be missed.

Harold Patrick wants to thank Charlene Odom because like so many other projects he puts together, Charlene is the one that makes it work so well.  The other ladies of the office Amy Reed, Sandra Leonard, and Faye Womack also put a lot of time and effort in making this work.   We could not have put on this show without the support of Clayton Cason, Jo Ann Davis, Dottie Duggin, Vice Mayor Charlie Harrell, Faye Knox,  and Lois Larimer on our Town Counsel.  Harold also wants to recognize Fire Chief William Johnson and the Woodbury Fire Department for providing the fire trucks at the event.  The show couldn’t have gone forward without them.  Chief Burnett and Assistant Chief Darrell Young and their officer’s provided police support for the Celebration.  Many of the officers volunteered and came in on their day off and worked the Celebration on their day off.  Alan Paschal and Raymond Barlow from the public works helped to prepare Dillon Park for the show and cleaned it up after the show.  Mr. Patrick told Raymond that he needed to do whatever was necessary to get the show ready.  Gregory Brown and David Stone from Public Works did a lot of the heavy lifting for us to make sure that Dillon Park was ready for the Celebration.

Mike Gannon wants to thank Diane Hickman and Charlotte Duke of his office for their help.  They were the ones that had to answer many questions so all of the different agencies could be coordinated.  The County Commission unanimously voted to put on the show and Karen Ashford, Mark Barker, Kevin George, Todd Hollandsworth, Greg Mitchell, Kevin Mooneyham, Nathan Nichols, Rebekah Parton, Robert Stoetzel, and Joe Wimberly should be thanked for all of their efforts to make sure we had a successful show.  Thea Prince help to coordinate the recycling of the cans, hot dog wrappers and the plastic bottles that were created at the Celebration and her help is greatly appreciated.  Many thanks go out to Sheriff Billy Nichols, Deputy Charlie Wilder, the Deputy Sheriff’s that help provide protection at the Celebration.  We also want to thank the inmate supervisors and inmates that helped set up the park and pick up the litter after the show.  Ricky Cope of the Cannon County Ambulance Service provided an ambulance and Emergency Medical Technicians for the Celebration.  Barbara Parker and the Cannon County Board of Education help in provided bus shuttle service from the Arts Center of Cannon County, First Baptist Church of Woodbury, Woodbury First United Methodist Church, Woodbury Funeral Home, and the Woodbury Church of Christ is greatly appreciated.  Andy Duggin and Bobby Moore volunteered to drive the buses, which was a great help.  Furthermore the Cannon County Historic Chamber of Commerce helped to get us advertising time on various places.

If we forgot to mention anyone we are sorry.  As you can see a lot of people put in a lot of hard work to make the Cannon Communities’ 4th of July Celebration a success. All of this hard work was worth it if you enjoyed the show.  

Let us not forget that the United States was created during hard times and has survived through a lot of trial and tribulations.  By working together we can succeed and make this a better place to live.  We also want to take a moment to thank all of our Troops protecting us at home and overseas.  Their sacrifices give us strength.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR 4TH OF JULY WITH CANNON COUNTY, TOWN OF WOODBURY, AND THE CITY OF AUBURNTOWN!