It was a quiet Friday afternoon when Genoa and Jay Strickland received an off-color potato joke in their e-mail inbox.
  A little shocked and put-off by the risque joke, the Leemaster native and her husband decided to respond with their own versions of wholesome potato humor.
  But, weeks later, they found themselves continuing to come up with quips referring to the common spud. Whether they were walking through the grocery store or just sitting around, the Stricklands kept potatoes on the brain.
  Genoa says she started writing them down; until two months later, she realized they had compiled more than 50 jokes.
  Eventually, she started thinking they could copyright and publish a book on their favorite tater jokes.
  Genoa was raised in Leemaster, the daughter of Flossie Yates.
  "Around here, we were all raised on beans and taters, you know?" she says.
  And in childhood, she says almost everyone has played various potato-related games, from "hot potato" to "one potato, two potato." In school, kids make potato stamps, try their hands at sprouting potatoes in a windowsill container and learn songs about the potato.
  So, there was no trick to creating a potato joke book.
  "I've always had a quirky sense of humor," Genoa says. "A little off-beat, a little strange."
  When the Stricklands decided to write the book, Genoa says she started taking paper and a pen with her everywhere in case a silly spud joke should arise.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now.  To subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today.

  Santa Claus had a change in his schedule and as a result, the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce has rescheduled its Holiday Kick-Off Christmas parade to Saturday, December 9.
  Entries are still being accepted for the parade which will begin at 11 a.m. on that date and offer cash prizes to winning float entries.
  The theme is "The Music of Christmas."
  Among the special guests expected to take part in this year's parade is Santa Claus.
  Chamber of Commerce Director Mary Belcher noted a number of floats have already registered to take part.
  Last year, with the buildings downtown boarded up, the chamber opted not to sponsor a parade, but this year announced plans to host one and to move the location from the downtown area, which is currently under construction, to the Grundy Plaza.
  Approval for the parade route was granted last month and will see the parade begin at the plaza and travel westbound on Rt. 460 to the Hoot Owl Bridge. Floats and other motor vehicle entrants will leave from the plaza, while marchers will join the parade at the old Advance Auto location.
  Floats, marchers, beauty queens, bands and vintage cars and trucks are being sought now as entrants. Dirt bikes and four-wheelers are not allowed in the parade, however, licensed drivers on motorcycles and street legal bikes and trikes are encouraged to take part in the event.
  Line-up will begin at 10 a.m.
  Entry fee is $10 for most entrants, however floats entering to be judged in the cash prize contest may enter for $25.
  A cash prize for floats will be offered with judging according to the theme. The first place winner will receive $300; second place, $200; and third place, $100.
  For more information, or to reserve a spot in the parade, interested persons may call the chamber at 935-4147, or stop by the office located in the Wachovia Bank building, second floor, suite 1001 at Royal City.

by Cathy St. Clair
News Editor
  Inspection of the plumbing system at Grundy High School began Monday, Superintendent Tommy P. Justus told members of the Buchanan County School Board Monday night.
  Justus noted Comfort Systems, of Bristol, had arrived at the building Monday and used a remote camera on a 200 foot cable to drop down from the third floor to evaluate the internal condition of air vents and pipes.
  Repairs to those areas have been made and Justus reported the odor in the school was either gone altogether or not as strong as it had been.
  The camera dropped Monday, he said was able to locate obstructions in the pipe which for the most part appear to be scaling of the cast iron as it has sluffed off through the years and in some places built up to the point as it fell so as to block the pipes.
  Justus said plans were for the company to return on Tuesday and remove those obstructions with high powered vacuums or a type of small scale blasting of the debris in the pipe.
  “It’s an interesting process,” Justus said. “The old cast iron pipes do seem to be deteriorating.”
  He said it is hoped the plumbing problems at Grundy can be cleared in this manner, adding that if the school division has to go in to the pipes through the walls, the expense will go up significantly due to the need to call in asbestos people for the project if the walls or ceilings at that school are disturbed.
  Justus noted that in 1982 or 1983, similar problems at the school were documented through a memorandum he found from Knox School Board Member Clarence Brown, who was the Grundy High School principal at that time and who advised the central office of problems there.
  “This is something we’ve been working on two decades or longer,” Justus said.
  He noted that Comfort Systems personnel had suggested that some of the cracking found in pipes might be the result of the building settling in the area where the pipe is located, creating excessive stress.
  North Grundy School Board Member Don Newberry thanked Justus for the central office’s quick response in addressing the problem since October, when the board made repairs to the Grundy plumbing a number one priority.
  Brown noted that fixing the plumbing problems as Grundy has been a priority since day one. He noted that of the $3 million in capital improvement funds estimated to be spent on projects throughout the school district, the plumbing was one facet of the plan and was in fact included even before the board made it a priority last month.
  He noted the overall list for projected spending on capital improvements school systemwide using the second $1.5 million allocated by the board of supervisors, was slightly more than budgeted at this point, however, he said the figures at this point are only estimates. He added it was his hope that bids would come in at less than projected to balance out the list. One of the bigger bids outstanding is one for window replacement and he said once those bids are in, the school system will have a better idea of the cost being looked at overall.
  The list of capital projects include roofing at Council Elementary; lighting and ceiling repair at the Buchanan County Technology and Career Center; exterior doors and window repair and replacement at Council High; exterior doors, window repair/replacement and ceilings at Hurley High; restroom plumbing repair, exterior doors, window repair/replacement and auditorium ceiling repair at Grundy High; a new snow plow, diagnostic computer software, a van, a truck, a car, a laptop computer and a truck tire changer for the school bus garage; and architectural and engineering fees for the projects at Council, Hurley and Grundy.
  In other building related concerns. Justus noted that Good Deal Corp. had finished the clean-up of the failed retaining wall at J.M. Bevins Elementary School. A section of the wall recently fell into Slate Creek at the school property line. Justus said Terra Tech is working to complete the specs for construction of a new wall. He estimated bids would be ready to be sought on the project by the end of the month.