TENNESSEE'S CUMBERLAND COUNTRY

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In addition, if a child wants to be in a playhouse production, he or she won't be denied the chance. For example, in the recent, spectacular production of Peter Pan, the eight "lost boys" the script called for were increased to 26 (a task in directing and choreography that was done so well, you would swear these talented children were old-time professionals).

The playhouse also finds inspiration from the area's local history, producing-among other things-original musicals based on such subjects as the Homesteaders and Andrew Jackson ("Old Hickory") in its Living History Series.

This is a land of many churchesone nudist camp

The People

Creative talent has always abounded in this region, which was originally settled by the Scotch-Irish from Virginia and North Carolina. It expressed itself primarily in crafts such as woodcarving and quilting, and today the best of such craftspeople can't produce enough to fill the demand. Some of this talent can be seen every Saturday and Sunday at the Crossville County Flea Market, the second-largest in Tennessee-and additional land has been bought for expansion.

Though many of the natives proudly call themselves "hillbillies," they are not the stereotypes often pictured. Warm, friendly, intelligent, and forward-looking, they regret in some ways that they've been "discovered." On the other hand, they have a long history of tolerance and the acceptance of different views. Their state senator and representative, for example, are women. In fact, all the county political offices are evenly split between males and females, for Cumberland County residents feel sex has nothing to do with whether a person can do a job. In the Civil War, they were about equally split between those who supported the Union and Confederate causes. (Richard Flynn, the "Red Fox," was a part of the Union Underground in Cumberland County.) A few years after the war was over, veterans from both sides paraded down Crossville's Main Street on what they called "Reunion Day."

That tolerance might also be seen in the fact that the county has 121 churches and is also the home of East Tennessee's only family-oriented nudist resort. At the present time, however, the county's population is made up entirely of Caucasians.

One should also be aware that there are six nuclear plants, including the experimental breeder reactor at Oak Ridge, within a 100mile radius of the area. But even in post-Three-Mile Island/Chernobyl days, most of the local population seems to be totally unconcerned about it. "The prevailing winds blow the other direction," was the reply I received from those who had given it a second thought.

Let's hope their lack of concern is well-founded, because-for the lover of a peaceful, country life-beautiful Cumberland County is surely the creme de la creme.

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