It was just a matter of time before the right location was found for a new decorative clock, which the City of Dresden had installed on the town square Tuesday. The final decision came only after the Special Committee to Select the Location of the Dresden Rotary Club Centennial Clock carefully considered the pros and cons of various locations for the prominent timepiece.
Several local citizens previously complained that locating the clock on the southeast corner of the courtsquare, as was originally being considered, would be too close to the Weakley County War Memorial. For this reason, the special committee appointed by the City of Dresden decided to locate the clock across the street from the courtsquare in front of E.T. Reavis & Sons at 108 N. Wilson Street. The committee noted that the new location will not detract from the War Memorial, but will still be prominently located for easy viewing by passersby.
Those serving on the site selection committee for the clock consisted of the following members: Mayor Danny Forrester, chairman; Bill McClain, a U.S. veteran; Tommy Thomas, president of the Dresden Rotary Club; Charles Robertson, a veteran and vice president of the Dresden Rotary Club; Tommy Moore, member of the Dresden Rotary Club; Jennifer Branscum, city recorder; and Mike McAdams, who is also a U.S. veteran.
Members of the Dresden Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved the clock project during a January 21 called meeting as part of its city beautification program. And an order was placed for the clock on January 23.
The city has purchased the clock and will accept donations from the Dresden Rotary Club in the amount of $1,000 per year for a maximum donation of $7,000. The end result will be that the city will not be out any money for the clock and the Dresden Rotary Club will have completed a worthwhile centennial project. The advantage of this agreement will be that the city will not have to pay the tax on it. The actual cost of the clock is $6,268.64, but the figure of $7,000 was used to include the installation costs.
The 14-foot high, two-sided clock has word “Dresden” across the top and “Rotary Club” along with the Rotary Club logo printed on the face. The control box for the huge timepiece, which can be mechanically reset, is located a few feet away. The color and design of the clock and the pedestal on which it stands is designed to match the light poles located around the square.
The project will be enhanced even more by the installation of park benches at each corner of the courtsquare, which will be donated by the family of late board member and vice mayor Richard Shannon. The Dresden Board is expected to accept the donation of the park benches during Monday night’s regular monthly meeting.

Members of the 27th Judicial Drug Task Force and the Martin Police Department arrested two Martin men in an undercover drug buy last Tuesday night in Martin.
According to MPD Captain Scott Robbins, those arrested were 42-year-old Earnest Steve (Tiny) Edwards and 37-year-old Antonio Hogard both of Martin. The two were arrested in a buy bust operation after an undercover agent bought a large amount of crack cocaine from them on Smith Street in Martin, Tuesday night.

(Read rest of story in this week's edition of The Dresden Enterprise.)