CHEROKEE – About a year and a half ago, Nancy Giles was tired of hearing from travelers say that they didn’t know when they entered Cherokee on Highway 72 and when they left the West Colbert County town. They just didn’t have a clue. So the Chair of the Cherokee Industrial Development Committee started working on some proper signs. Nancy started out with her Committee Members. They all liked the idea. “Let’s put Cherokee on the proverbial map,” they decided among themselves.
One problem… After they got some preliminary design sketches, the Committee found out that to do it right, the signs were going to cost about Ten Grand. They called County Commissioner Howard Keeton. They called State Senator Roger Bedford. Before they knew it, their ‘beating the bushes’ for some funding paid off. They got most of the money in the form of grants, and the Industrial Development Committee finished funding the relatively small amount left.
Well the morning was off to a great start. A little after Eight o’clock today, two trucks from General Sign Company in Sheffield eased up to the first spot on the east side of town. They began putting the first of two really nice welcome signs on the slab that had been prepared a couple of weeks earlier.
A small group of folks who were instrumental in the year-and-a-half project had gathered. Mayor Terry Cosby remarked, “Well, they’ll know where Cherokee is now.” He was smiling. Before they knew it, the guys from the sign company had the first one installed. The other sign on the west side of town was next.
Nancy had called The Quad-Cities Daily earlier to see if we could come over and photograph this auspicious event. And there we were. We hope that you enjoy these photos. Make some copies for yourselves!
