Popular teacher and historian of Vonore, Keeble described the changes in the Tennessee Valley and its impact on the people who lived there, including his own family. Keeble and WATeR Board member Don Edmands Jr. both grew up in the Vonore area. Keeble grew up on a farm near what is now Rarity Bay. He works at the Career Center in Tellico Industrial Park and teaches non-credit history courses at Cleveland State Community College in the park. A University of Tennessee graduate in history, Keeble has made the East Tennessee region his main study.

"I stayed here; I spent my life here," he said of Vonore. "There is something of my soul in the blue haze that is still here." 

"Our history is like so many areas in this world," he said. It has always been one of change and strife." 

He related how the area changed from one of the Mississippi Culture - the Native Americans who lived in this area from the birth of Christ until 1300 AD - to the Cherokee Culture, which followed, the Cherokee-Anglo Saxon history, the French and Indian War, American Revolution, Civil War, the Reconstruction after the Civil War followed by a economic boom then the Great Depression and finally the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 

"Nothing has affected the region like TVA had," Keeble said. He described Tellico Village as a jewel in the crown of the Tellico project, which was the creation of Tellico Lake and the dam. 

"The positive from that project surround us every day," he said. 

In addition to hearing from Keeble, the large crowd also heard about the status of WATeR.

WATeR was founded 2001 to focus on the quality of the Tellico Reservoir, said Larry Benson, president of the organization. The Tellico Reservoir Watershed consists of 656 square miles with 15,600 acres of water surface, 357 miles of shoreline, 120,000 acre-feet of stored water, 141 campsites, 1 days use area, 12 boat launching ramps, two major rivers and 49 creeks, according to WATeR's Web site. 

WATeR is currently led by a 2009 board consisting of Benson, Don Edmands Jr., vice president; Leigh Lamb, secretary; Gene Brownell; Marjorie Waldrop, media contact; Edward Clebsch; Nils Johannesen; Patricia Wallace; and Ed Young. 

The organization has scheduled its ninth annual watershed clean-up for March 20 and had sign-ups for that event during Thursday's meeting. Its treasurer is Bob Buchanan.

Edmands continued the meeting relating the improvements made in 2009, such as the Baker Creek testing, shoreline stabilization, Heron Island project, and the Tellico Lake Clean-up, when about 450 volunteers picked up 76 tons of trash; and the trails committee's work on the East Lakeshore Trail, where benches, bridges and kiosks were added as well as adding 1.5 miles to the trail. 

This past year, Edmands said, the board bought a pontoon boat to make getting to the trails easier. To help with this effort, Tellico Village Property Owners Association (POA) gave a free boat slip to the group to store the boat. 

He also showed documents of WATeR's finances. 

"We're solvent," Edmands summarized. 

WATeR members also voted on a 2010 board, which consist of Nils Johannesen, Lloyd Donnelly, John Smith, Lou Livengood, all of Tellico Village; and Gene Brownell of Foothills Pointe.

Additionally, three members received awards: Bill Webster, a Special Outstanding Volunteer Award for his leadership on the watershed clean-up; Bob Kutschera and Jerry Denny, Outstanding Volunteer Award; and Larry Benson, 2009 Outstanding Leadership Award.