MCKENZIE (December 19) McKenzie Municipal Planning Commission members amended the recently adopted sign ordinance to allow small advertising signs in the business and industrial districts.

In a unanimous vote, with planner Lisa Norris absent, off-premise advertising signs up to 50 square feet, and up to 15 feet in height will be permitted in zones B1, B2, M1, and M2.

Keith Priestley said the law was previously too restrictive, preventing the installation of small directional signs for churches and businesses.

The issue was brought to light last month when an advertising sign of Roger Reed's, located near New Generations Furniture on Highland, was deemed nonconforming. The sign is within the new standards.

In other business, State Planner Shelton Merrill presented color-coded zoning maps illustrating the current zoning within the city. Mayor Walter Winchester noted that the master zoning plan is 31 years old, however it has been updated several times through the years. It's like the U.S. Constitution, which needs amending occasionally, said the mayor. He noted a rezoning for Willie's Tire Barn (now McClain's) a few years ago was not spot zoning as indicated last month. Winchester said the business zoning for the tire business joins the other business zone. All public hearings were conducted in connection with that zoning.

Planners will convene January 11, 2:00 p.m. for a work session to review the recent city-wide surveys and to set the agenda for the January 23 meeting.

 
HUNTINGDON (December 19) A two-vehicle accident claimed the life of Dr. Abbott D. (Pete) Marshall, age 79, of Huntingdon on Tuesday evening.

According to a police report by Sgt. Walter Smothers of the HPD, Marshall, driving a Chevy pickup, disregarded the stop signal at the newly installed traffic signal at the intersection of West Main Street and the Veterans Drive bypass near Wal-Mart. Clyde Paschall, age 59, of Albertsville, Alabama, driving a Ford F250 pickup pulling a trailer, struck Marshall's vehicle in the driver's side door. Marshall was eastbound when the accident occurred at 7:00 p.m. Marshall was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Huntingdon where he died.

Marshall was a retired dentist, who practiced in Huntingdon until December 2000.

Pete, as Dr. Marshall was known, was a nickname given to him by his father. He was born in McLemoresville and moved to a farm in Trezevant around school age. His linage in Carroll County goes back to the days of the Civil War when his great-grandfather, William Marshall, was an officer in the Confederate Army, earning the title "Captain Bill." It was he who donated the land for the churches and the graveyard in Trezevant. At the age of 15, "Pete" took flying lessons at Milan's old airport. His colorblindness kept him from being an aviator in the military. Instead, he enlisted in the Navy and served on the U.S.S. Randolph aircraft carrier.

After military service, he studied engineering at Murray State University and transferred to Memphis State to study medicine. He met Jo Anne Griffin, a co-ed med student, who later became his bride. While residing in Memphis, Pete also met Memphis native Sonny Lott, who shared Marshall's love for aviation. The two joined forces as co-owners of a crop-dusting operation. Later the plane was outfitted with neon signs for an unusual method of advertising.

Marshall first practiced dentistry in Trezevant and in 1957, moved his office to the Kennon Building across the street from First Baptist Church in Huntingdon.

In 1999, he was awarded the Tennessee Dental Association Fellowship Award.

Jo Anne is a retired X-ray technologist and worked at McKenzie Regional Hospital.

The Banner wrote a feature on Dr. Marshall in 2001. To read the feature, click here.

 
HUNTINGDON - Ernest "Pug" Vickers, Jr, 85, of Camden died Thursday, December 21, 2006 at Camden General Hospital. Funeral services were Sunday, December 24 at Chase Funeral Home with burial in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Vickers served in politics and in businesses in Carroll County. He previously served as mayor of Huntingdon and as a magistrate on the county court, now known as the county commission. He owned Vickers Motors, a dealership in Huntingdon that sold Buick, Opal, and GMC trucks. He owned Carroll County Bank, which was closed by the FDIC. At conjunction with his automotive dealership, Vickers operated a Honda motorcycle dealership in Huntingdon known as the "world's largest Honda dealership" and was advertised on Chicago's AM radio 890. Vickers also was associated with Vickers Amusement, which owned electronic machines for amusement.

During WWII, Vickers was a P-51 Mustang pilot. He was a general aviation pilot and had a grass landing strip at his home in Huntingdon, which often served small aircraft visiting the county prior to the Carroll County Airport, built in 1986.

See obituary in the December 26 issue of The McKenzie Banner.