The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 3

CALL US Questions, comments? Please call: City Editor Barbara Henshaw, 425-9668. Assistant City Editor Terry Hollahan, 425-9760. Assistant City Editor Andrew Henion, 425-9629. Outside Madison County, 1-800-372-3922. Erfnail address is sunaeneas.net INSIDE Across West Tennessee 4A Deaths 6A Nation 8A World 11A Sunday, July 5, 1998 PAGE 3A Squirrel parade at Kenton M'JUili nili in.

Ill'y" i ft Tennessee's little sample of heaven Forget the "angels perched on fluffy clouds" kind of heaven. West Tennessee has more kinds of heaven than a pine tree has cones. For Rosemarie Bowles, heaven is where trees branch luxuriously green over trails etched by hundreds of years of settlers' 7 I i 1 fv ABOVE: Christie Eddlemon, 12, a cheerleader for Rutherford Junior High, wears a flag in her hair while riding on the cheerleaders' float during the annual White Squirrel Celebration and parade Saturday in Kenton. RIGHT: Samantha Gamblin, 5, has her bicycle decorated appropriately for her part in the Kenton parade. Vanderbilt doctor battles spina bifida Remembering Merry High wagons.

"We visited friends in Tennessee in 1995," she said. "My husband and I went back to Chicago and quit our jobs. We jacque HfLLMAN didn't even have jobs down here and our friends thought we were iicrazy." Bowles is now front desk clerk at the Pin Oak Lodge at Natchez Trace State Park in Henderson County. She and Ernest live with their children in Carroll County. On July 4, Bowles was tendine to guests from nine states at the lodge and cabins.

"We have three family reunions going on," she said. "The Johnson, Franklin and Webb families. They book from one year to the next." About 80 percent of the 143 camp sites were occupied. A day of relaxation for most folks was a major weekend of work for park rangers. Things to do During the day, visitors were swimming, picnicking, hiking or fishing on the 42,000 acres in Henderson, Carroll and Benton counties.

It's easy to get lost. Some jinpaved roads snake deep into the forest, and the sky just winks at inexperienced hikers yearning for park headquarters with a Coke machine out front. "We've had rangers have to go hunting for some four-wheelers from time to time," Bowles said. With the maps, and you can hike back to homesteaders' cemeteries dated 1830s. The Morris family and others from North Carolina settled the area.

During 1935 and 1936, the government purchased the land. If you get lucky, youH see deer, raccoons or coyotes. Around noon, the swimming area was full and picnickers stretched out under the trees. Later, the lodge restaurant served a barbecue buffet. After dinner, guests rode a park-van to Beech Lake near Lexington for fireworks.

This isn't an easy time for rangers. There's concern about the East Tennessee ranger who was killed recently. But Bowles said she feels safe. "We have lots of families -who come back year after year. They're friendly people." Compare city life in Chicago to country life in West Tennessee? "We love it here," she, said.

"There's just no comparison." Jacqu Hillman is The Sun's senior writer. She can beeached at 425-9641. fat i iwi-A i Im-nr By RICHELLE TURNER-COLLINS The Jackson Sun When people say Bobby Miller is from he old school," he doesn't perceive it as being old-fashioned. Miller and thousands of Merry High School graduates see it as a. badge of honor.

Miller, 58, of Jackson, graduated from Merry High School in 1958. The school merged with Jackson Central High School in 1970, but graduates never forgot their alma matter. They've been holding annual reunions since 1990. "It's good to say there are some who come from the old school and the old-school mentality," Miller said. "I'm proud to be a part of this legacy." This year's reunion, entitled "Gone But Not Forgotten: Alive and Well," began Friday and ends today.

Alumni from throughout the United States and Europe are expected to Photos by DREW TARTERThe Jackson Sun The mementos chronicle old classrooms and Merry's championship athletic teams from the 1930s. There's also the costume of Bobby John Parrish, who became the horn coordina-" tor for the rhythm and blues group The Whispers. Herbert Slack, who graduated from Merry in 1950, said several alumni have made great contributions to society. He noted Wesley McClure, who is president of Lane College. Miller and other alumni first began talking about the reunions in 1987.

"When we tried to get this kicked off, people said we were crazy," Miller said. "They said the same thing about the Wright Brothers." Several others are helping keep this legacy alive. Miller said this is important because if people forget where they came from, they might forget where they are going. "You have to always remember your heritage," he said. land closing Dollywood's success.

Dollywood officials said attendance has been helped by good weather. Tom Adkinson, a spokesman for Opryland, said shifts in tourism can be attributed to a lot of factors. "The absence of the Opryland park is going to have an effect. But quantification of that is between difficult and impossible," he said. BRIEFING TODAY: JACKSON YOUR TOWN DREW TARTERThe Jackson Sun Bobby E.

Miller is president of the Merry High School alumni association. Miller said this reunion will be more than a party; it's about leaving something behind. The alumni awarded two $1,000 scholarships to Jackson college students on Friday. They also discussed plans to start a museum. "We've been able to gather together some artifacts, trophies, pictures," said Miller, a salesman at Buddy's Pawn cause of Opryland's closing this year.

Mary Cales, publicity coordinator for Dollywood, said, "Once (Opryland) closed, we just wanted to make people from Middle Tennessee aware of what Dollywood has to offer." Officials with both Dollywood and Opryland were hesitant to draw any direct relation between Opryland's closing and MORNING COURT WATCH Black deputies, jailer MEMPHIS Seven black Shelby County Sheriffs Department employees have filed suit in U.S. District Court claiming they have not been promoted hecause of race. Six deputies and one jailer seek promotions, back pay and $10 million in damages. The suit alleges black employees are "bunched in the lower rungs of the personnel ladder with only a few being al i other surgeries meaning a lesser chance of spinal damage. Two of the seven other babies have died.

Also, doctors said, women who find out their fetus has spina bifida and want an abortion typically must decide by 24 weeks, the end of the second trimester. This gives parents a chance to see if the surgery can work. "This has not been scientifically proven to be I've seen things come and; go, and heard a lot of prom- ises, and it's obvious to me' this is the real thing," said Dr. Joseph Bruner, director of fetal diagnosis and therapy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. Bruner conducted most of the, seven previous surgeries.

"Patients may now have the opportunity of having this surgery done earlier in hope of a better outcome and more options," he said. Meanwhile, Noah's legs work well and doctors say his' only obvious problem is below' the knee on his right leg. He may walk with a limp or need; a brace, said his Kevin. Until he is potty-; trained, doctors won't know' how well his bladder or bowel control works. Mellissa Kipfmiller, meanwhile, is watching her son wiggle his toes right along with the rest of the babies in the hospital nursery.

"It feels good to know my-baby can help others," she" said. "I couldn't help but com-" pare him to the other he didn't seem to be moving any slower than the other ones. For some reason, I. knew all along this was going to work out." SPEAK OUT Callers speak out on fireworks in Madison County. A slight majority of callers say they want law to be changed to allow for fireworks in Madison County.

Results of the unscientific survey: Open-womb surgery used to help correct the devastating spinal defect. The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA Pa. -His palm-sized legs kicking in the air, little Noah Kipfmiller returned home Friday after becoming one of only a handful of babies to survive open-womb surgery to correct a devastating spinal defect. Noah was diagnosed with spina bifida after 20 weeks in his mother's womb. His backbone had never closed, meaning his spinal cord was partially deformed and nerve bundles were protruding from his back.

The disorder is not necessarily life-threatening, but Noah was headed for a life in which he could never walk or control his urine and bowel movements. The only hope was to let doctors operate on the fetus in the womb. Two-month-old Noah returned home to Bay City, on Friday, four months after doctors corrected the deformity. The only evidence of the disease is a small scar on Noah's back and a deficit below his right knee. The surgery is a major step for the estimated 1,500 babies born each year with spina bifida.

While seven other babies in the United States with spina bifida have undergone the open-womb operation, Noah's surgery was done at 23 weeks more than a month earlier in the pregnancy than the CRIME Jackson man reports beating; robbery A 38-year-old Jackson man was assaulted by three men Friday, hit with a brick and robbed, according to Jackson police. The suspects took $570 from him. The victim was treated at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Three Jackson men, ages 22, 37, and 40, were arrested, but Dolly wood gains from Opry The Associated Press NASHVILLE Taking advantage of Opryland's closing, the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge has increased attendance by Middle Tennessee residents 44 percent. The figures were calculated using visitors' ZIP codes, Dollywood officials said.

Dollywood increased its Middle Tennessee advertising be I Phone. or e-mail to sunaeneas.net Feedback Is there a story that interested you that you would like to see us update? Tell us what you would like to see in the paper. sue for promotions I Name Address. City lowed to occupy choice upper-level jobs such as administrative position." Chief deputy Don Wright disputed the claims. "We haven't discriminated We are well-represented by minorities and women in the top staff," he said.

Wright said one of three deputy chiefs is black, half the captains and one of two chief Return to: Feedback, do The Jackson Sun, 245 W. Lafayette Jackson, Tenn. 38301 fax to I have not been charged. I..