James Tillison

James Tillison, Pit Master and Federal Prison Guard for 22 Years; Jonesville, Virginia:

"I started doing barbecue for the family, then the community. Then it just took off from there. My secret is slow cooking. I cook my pork all night long. I cook my ribs six or seven hours, don’t cook them on real high heat. I put a dry rub on them.

Being a prison guard is interesting, very interesting. Never know what’s gonna happen from day to day. We see it all. I got out of college and went straight to prison. 

I like it here in the mountains. This is where I’m gonna retire. I like the things we do around here, like the festivals. People in the mountains are more country, more down home. I like a slow pace. I like a small town. Around town everybody knows “Tilley”. That’s what I like".

Jake Boatright

Jake Boatright, Assistant Harbormaster, South Holston Lake; Bristol, Tennessee:

"Growing up in East Tennessee is a blessing that I often take for granted. The people are genuine, the surroundings are therapeutic, and the lessons learned just from talking to an 'old timer' will always be appreciated. Seeing what I know now, it's simple to see why people from all over love this area and the people who make it what it is."

Buren Bloomer

Buren Bloomer, Bowl Maker, Woodworker and Retired School Teacher and Coal Miner, Dryden, Virginia:

I was a miner for fifteen years. I’ve been making handmade bowls for 14 years. My brother made a few and I kept buying them from him for Christmas presents, birthday presents… things like that. Then I retired and didn’t have anything to do so I started making them myself. All hand-hewn, I go out and get my own wood. I don’t buy any wood. I just go out and find it, any kind of wood. 

I just find a log and cut me off a piece, you know, a couple of feet long. I turn it up and cut a couple of blocks out of it. Cut it with a chain saw. I make everything with a chain saw. I cut it and make a block and I more or less imagine what I wanna make and I draw sort of a pattern on it and start cutting. Then I start sanding. Everything is done with the chain saw except the sanding. Then I put a food safe, food finish on it, salad bowl finish. From start to finish I have 18 to 18 1/2 hours in each bowl. 

I grew up at the head of this valley, Powell Valley. My dad owned a recreation center, a roller rink, skating rink, a lake, and swimming, picnicking, horseshoe pitching things like that. That’s where I grew up. I worked there since I was 9 years old. I was a lifeguard during the summer, mowed grass, whatever. I was busy all the time. Worked in the skating rink in the winter.

I went to school at Norton (VA). We drove to school across the mountain to Norton. I got my degree at LMU and my Master’s at Berea (KY).

I went from teaching to coal mining. I like hard work and working with my hands. I was raising kids and needed the money.

There was a lot more money in mining than teaching. Mining is a hard job. It really is. I worked underground. I worked in strip jobs and the prep plant. I’ve worked them all. I enjoyed underground the most. It’s a different world. I was a roof bolter. I’ve been covered up two or three times. It is scary. You have to be real careful. Things happen. There is always danger in anything you go after in them mines. I’ll tell you it’s rough. 

Anything can happen at any time. Everybody has to watch everybody. Everybody knew what everybody else was supposed to be doing. It’s a brotherhood. We all looked out for each other.

John Barker

John Barker, Customer Service Rep (Job Placement), Jenkins, Kentucky:

“Growing up in Eastern Kentucky we dream of leaving and going to the big city and being successful but, as we get older, we learn to see the beauty in every mountain and hollow every season. I moved away time and time again and made a life, but found myself dying inside missing my home. I finally realized that, even though we don't have the hustle and bustle of the big city, we have something they never will. A natural beauty that could only ever be found in the Appalachian Mountains.”

“Being successful in life doesn't always mean working for a Fortune 500 company. Around here, being successful is appreciating what you have, having a job loving what you do cause it keeps you in the mountains you love, having unbreakable friendships that last a life time.”

”I feel sorry for the people who don't live here cause they can't experience the beauty of our mountains on a daily basis like we do. It's all about appreciating what we do have in life instead of worrying about what we don’t.”