The greening, interspersed with assorted early spring blossoms, prepares our hometown for St. Patrick's Day, and the first day of spring on March 20. Mid week in Newport with the temperature in the 70s, some folks were out walking whether for exercise or with a destination in mind. It was time for a coffee and snack, so I walked along Broadway to the new business in the Bettye Ann (Bullard) Bewley building, a collection of shops across from Newport Ace Hardware. Near Diana's Beauty Shop, at Hop Byrd's garage, I saw this fellow finishing up a wash job on a sharp medium blue early 1990s Cadillac. The fellow is new to Cocke County, so we talked about his background. Phillip Giordano is an interesting man who spent most of his time either working for major circuses or running his own big top around the US. I am sure he has some tales to tell so you will hear more about him when we chat again soon.

At the East Tennessee Coffee Company, where a bright red, green, and white flag is flying out front, shop owner Cheryl Querry was chatting with two women. An older man was seated by the sun-lit front window sipping Costa Rican coffee. Cheryl and her husband, Scott, had most recently been living in Arizona but moved to Newport about three years ago. They are both originally from the East Coast, she from Massachusetts and he from Pennsylvania. I though to myself, that's a switch, most newcomers are either from Michigan or Florida. Scott is a retired paramedic. Cheryl said the reason they ended up in Newport was because of her sister, Shelley Taylor Black, who moved here about 20 years ago. The Querrys raised six children and have a four-year-old, Elijah, at the home. With more time on her hands, Cheryl thought it would be a good idea to open a bookshop. That's really her main interest, but she knew it would take coffee, jars of fresh coffee beans, tea, and snacks to bring people in.

It was thoughtful of her to open E.T. Coffee Shop on my birthday, February 29, and there will be a grand opening in May. I was back at the business on Saturday because our long-time columnist and friend, Roy D. Brown, had a book signing for his "Tis A Fact" collection of stories. By the way, Roy said he is having a wild hog problem and several have been trapped near his home. Artist daughter, Thelma Ogle, was with him. Also at the Coffee Co. last Wednesday was retired Detroit area machine tool maintenance man John Vasileff, (that's a Bulgarian name.) A Michigan native, he retired in 2004, gave his snowblower away, and moved to Cocke County. How did he find out about our hometown? He and his wife were looking to vacation in the Smokies, but had a pet pit bull dog at the time. She has since died. They found Iva Prince's Cosby cabins and noticed that pets were welcome so they felt welcome too. If you know Iva, you know she loves animals, wildlife, is an artist, and great person. That was about 2001; they moved here in the fall of 2004 into a house built by Don Norwood in the Edwina community. One of the things John likes to do, along with drinking coffee, is stained glass artwork. He showed me a large six-pane window featuring a lighthouse done in stained glass that is at the Coffee Co. and for sale. Other artwork is also displayed for sale, and, yes, piles of books.

Speaking of artists, at the other coffee shop across town, The Spot, I interviewed artist Marshall Knight, who I learned was married to the former Sandra Branam. He was at the The Spot as was artist Chrissy Clark, who was featured in the Plain Talk recently. She does extraordinary art depicting fairies and Anime characters. With her was a woman who obviously was not from here or Michigan. Octavia Cheetham is from Devon, England, and stopped to see the Clarks on her world travels. Octavia does beautiful fairy art and showed me a motorcycle helmet covered with her artwork. It took 20 hours to do the female "Olivia" image and purple scalloping. Chrissy said she met Octavia on the Internet and invited her to visit Newport.

It was out of the blue that an old friend and fellow Plain Talk worker rolled into the parking lot on Thursday in his burnt-orange Hummer. It's been at least 20 years since I've seen Nickey Maxey, who shot photos for us during the 1970s. He was about 16-17 and enjoyed the crime scene. That explains why he went on to be a deputy roaming the countryside with Bryan Murr and Fred Barnes under Sheriff Tom O'Dell. Nickey next went to work for the state highway patrol and got into the payphone business where he made a ton of money. He now lives in Hilton Head and updated me on the disappearance of a prominent SC couple who made national news, as law officers search for their bodies, ponder the suicide of a friend and look for answers. In an upcoming column I tell you more about Nickey and his family.

In plain talk, all around you life is changing so sit by a sunny window awhile and wait for something new.