Don't Cry Out Loud.

I had no idea that Grandpa Jones of the long-running series Hee Haw was from Henderson County, Kentucky -- same as my mother, although he was born 19 years before her.

Jones liked to say that truth is stranger than fact. It isn't known whether he ever visited New Albany, which puts this thoughtful axiom to the test on a daily basis.

In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that Hee Haw provides more sound a basis for marketing Nawbany than other suggestions made over the years, up to (and including) the immortal "Come To City," which came close to causing a riot back in 2011, the final year of Doug England's third term.

If you're new to the (ob)scene, "Come To City" is a saga worth revisiting.

From 2011 and 2015: Regaining consciousness in a city “coming” to? Or, the infamous Come to City marketing fiasco of 2011.

"Top-down is superfluous when the grassroots are mobilized, and now, more than ever, small business has the means to come together and take a seat at the table."

Of course, these disasters were pre-COVID, now a line of demarcation between past and present, although curiously the Sherman Minton Bridge has a way of circling back to take pounds of flesh from the general vicinity of our posteriors (as in 2021).

Truth? It's still stranger than fact. In other recent news, there is this.

New Albany comes up with fun idea to get people to explore city, by Andrew Chernoff (WLKY)

Scavenger hunt created based on the game "Monopoly"

It's important for people to support businesses during this COVID-19 pandemic, especially local businesses.

Develop New Albany came up with a fun way to get people to do so. The idea that "Develop New Albany" came up with is a scavenger hunt based on the game "Monopoly" ... 

On Roy Clark, Hee Haw, Joe Huber's Restaurant and Gospel Bird.

That's good!

No, that's bad.

In the wake of Roy Clark's passing, there have been many appreciations focused on Clark's amazing skills as a musician, but also for his decades-long contribution to popular culture in the form of co-host of the syndicated television series Hee Haw.

Clark himself told the story in 2015:

My lukewarm-at-best initial commitment to Hee Haw turned into a job that lasted 24 years (from 1969 to 1993) amassing 585 one-hour episodes. How the show came about and how it lasted and prospered far beyond anyone’s wildest hopes foreshadowed the incredible growth in popularity country music would demonstrate over the next few decades.

Yesterday was a one of those good news/bad news moments. I've no intention of rewriting the script because I don't need a haircut, but here's the lowdown.

That's good: "Joe Huber’s Restaurant and nearby property will stay in the family and in business after an auction Saturday at the iconic Starlight, Indiana, tourist destination. And much of the farmland that many worried might get chopped into subdivisions will be preserved."

That's bad: Gospel Bird bows out after a three-year run ... but maybe that's good, too. Eric Morris and his crew (as it turned out, a crew of both past and present employees) had the chance to say goodbye on their own terms. Not everyone in the brutal restaurant business has the opportunity to play a farewell card -- and after all, Hull & High Water is still very much in business.

Photo borrowed from my cousin Sabrina.