KNOXVILLE — Marcy Gregory has rented a 26-foot moving truck and parked it where drivers on Kingston Pike can see it. Original TADOS is offering dissatisfied newcomers a free move back home, provided they speak up before the governor’s election.
The truck can be returned in California for an extra charge. Gregory is paying that herself.
Gregory went emeritus last month, after the reactivated chapter’s own audit found that more than a third of its members had arrived after 2019. She started Original TADOS the following week; so far it has her and the truck. The chapter is welcome to take a position on that at its next meeting, which she will not be attending.
Dennis Weller of Hardin Valley was the first to call. He and his wife, Elaine, moved from outside Sacramento in 2022. He wanted to be clear that they were staying.
“We’re very happy here. Very happy. There are a few things, though, and I didn’t know if your group was somebody we could talk to.”
Gregory spent the next several minutes hearing about a field the county should buy before it becomes another subdivision, the lack of a bus downtown, and how far Weller has to drive to see a decent performance. Then they got to the neighbor who burns leaves on Saturdays.
“We’ve called everybody about him,” Weller said. “He’s still doing it.”
Weller also sent four photographs of a shed belonging to a man two lots over.
“At first I thought he was asking for help to move the shed since we have that truck,” Gregory said. “Then he tells me it’s his neighbor’s shed and he wants somebody to go over there and make him take it down. I said, Dennis, it’s HIS shed! Besides, you took this photo from your rooftop, can you even see it from anywhere else? I doubt it. Anyway, I can see MY shed from the kitchen. I’ve been meaning to paint it since 1998.”
Weller considers himself fiscally conservative. He believes the county could provide the improvements he wants by eliminating waste, although a study would be needed to locate it.
Elaine was willing to discuss the moving offer until Gregory explained which direction the truck was going.
Selling their California house had paid for a larger house in Hardin Valley and allowed both Wellers to retire early. Returning would require considerably more than help with the furniture.
“Dennis, we can’t buy our house back,” she said. “You know that.”