AN UPDATE FROM CHRIS MASON

Keep an eye on the storefront next to the Princess building downtown; work has begun on the Channel 15 television station that will be housed there. In the very near future students from all around Roane County including TTC and RSCC will be operating this station. You will be able to tune in Comcast Ch 15 for local information, entertainment, sports and news.

This is the first step of the Princess for Arts Education project that will positively affect so many students in our area and in my opinion redefine our downtown as we currently know it.

As Muse Watson was quoted….”We can do this!”

Stay tuned...there's more good news on the horizon!

HISTORICAL 1939 VIDEO OF THE PRINCESS THEATER AND HARRIMAN, TENNESSEE

Some years back a Kiwanis Club member in Somerset, KY discovered an old film clip that had been left behind when a member died. The member was a former manager of the Princess Theater in Harriman, Tennessee and had taken the film clip with him when he moved. The clip was 15 minute Newsreel clip of the 1939 reopening of the Princess Theater after the second fire.

The Kiwanis member thought that the film belonged to the people of Harriman and Roane County, so he got in touch with Cecil Johnson, the last manager of the Princess, and sent him the film. Cecil had the presence of mind to have the strip preserved to DVD and later passed on a copy to James “Dub” Harmon, also a former manager and his brother-in-law. Dub, once being my father-in-law, gave me the DVD and I converted it to an .avi file and uploaded it to FACEBOOK, so I could embed the clip for your viewing pleasure.

This clip means so much to us working with Princess Productions to restore the Princess Theater, and I’m sure you will enjoy it too.

On the clip you will see many people in the street, maybe some of your kinfolks from yesteryear, who knows. If you see someone you know, let us know by either sending an email or leaving a comment.

You will also see Mr. L. W. Bevel, the manager in ’39, being greeting and congratulated by city officials of the day. You will also see many young kids streaming out of both the Harriman and South Harriman Schools…maybe you will see your parents or grandparents!

Let us know what you think of the clip and if you see someone you can identify.