Posted on 04/28/2005 9:05:25 AM PDT by kingattax
I will side with A&E in that case.
Captain Obvious to the rescue!
But not nearly in the numbers that you will find in Pikeville! : )
While no doubt you can find less than flattering images in any town... these 3 images are not something you are going to find in "every town".
Remember passing through Pikeville, KY on the way to Virginia to visit my grandparents a number of times with my folks when I was small. My dad liked to use the backroads to travel as opposed to the interstate which was linked to a toll road. The backroads weren't patrolled by the police. Remember a one-lane wooden, rickety bridge that we rolled across at about 5 mph. I just knew that bridge was going to drop into the river below. That bridge was replaced about 25 years ago with a concrete one.
Yeah, I can see from the Visitor Page on their official website, and their web page dedicated to their biggest annual happening, "Hillbilly Days", how they are 'vigorously fighting' that stereotype.
Oh, and what's up with a town of 6,000 people having over 100 attorneys? Is it normal for a town's population to be nearly 2% lawyers?
Maybe this publicity will keep out some of the D*&@ Y?*&%%s, but I doubt it.
"Pay no attention to the man with the banjo!"
BLUEGRASS BUMP
BUGS: (Singing.)
Grab a fence post, hold it tight
Womp your partner with all your might.
Hit him in the shin, hit him in the head,
Hit him again, the critter ain't dead.
Wop him low and wop him high, Stick your finger in his eye.
Pretty little rhythm, pretty little sound,
Bang your heads against the ground.
(Bugs continues to fiddle away.)
BUGS: (Singing.)
Promenade all around the room,
Promenade like a bride and groom.
(Bugs leads the boys to a hay baler machine. He opens a door in the machine for them to enter.)
BUGS: (Singing.)
Open up the door and step right in,
Close the door and into a spin.
Whirl, whirl, twist and twirl,
(Bugs throws a switch, turning on the baler.)
BUGS: (Singing.)
Jump all around like a flyin' squirrel.
Now don't you cuss and don't you swear,
Just come right out and form a square.
I dunno...Pikeville is only about forty-five miles west of my hometown, and it sounds to me like that A&E hit the nail right on the head. The town "pillars" should probably keep quiet about the whole thing and not bring anymore publicity upon themselves and their "city," if it can be called that.
"a place most kids will do anything to escape . . ." I know I certainly felt that way.
Hillbilly Days is like the World's Fair in Pikeville. I used to work at one of the law firms there. When Hillbilly Days rolled around, it was time to take off. Even the local school systems always find a reason to cancel school at least one day of Hillbilly Days.
Black lung and disability cases, divorces, and bankruptcies. Lots of 'em.
Downtown Pikeville used to have some actual businesses. At last count, I think there might be ten businesses left, and everything else is a law firm.
I spent two days in pikeville, thanks to being in a wedding. I can say that I saw at least ONE if not more of everything they say was portrayed in the article, in that two day period.
The show was about a series of murders that happened in that town. When the show is about murders and their subsequent coverups, there's only so high on the "portray us in a positive light scale" one can go.
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