Road signs, lights and ice cream on all on the docket in St. Elmo.

A spectacular new historical work on the history of St. Elmo, focusing on Colonel A. M. Johnson, St. Elmo’s “founding family,” is now available from Gary Jenkins. The 200 page book contains numerous photographs, prints and important historical information, as Jenkins tells the story of the Johnson family and the mansion they built on Alabama Avenue across from Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church. The Johnson home, known as “Thankful Place,” was claimed by fire in 1956, but Jenkins’ book brings it back to life again, along with the plans for the St. Elmo community.

July 18 is the second “Sundown in St. Elmo” event from 6 to 9 p.m., sponsored by the business district.

I biked along Riverfront Parkway the other day and was reminded of the presence of Alstom Power beside the Tennessee River. If you haven’t been by their massive facility lately, you will be impressed by the new buildings and facilities.

There’s nothing quite like banana pudding for dessert, and St. Elmo residents are fortunate to have the best of the best right in our own neighborhood.

Old trees falling in St. Elmo is a fairly common occurrence, sometimes damaging homes, cars or other property.

The St. Elmo Merchants Association is sponsoring a new series of Saturday evening monthly events that coincide with the popular new World Music Summer program at the Incline Railway Lower Station. Sundown in St. Elmo features working artist receptions, live music and giveaways from participating merchants. The first Sundown in St. Elmo will kick off Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. All events are free, open to the public and include the following:

Even though it's more than a year away, the Historic Preservation Committee is already hard at work planning for St. Elmo’s 125th anniversary in November 2010.

Two recent news items announced more good news for St. Elmo.

Among other things, the summer months mean younger children are home from school, looking for fun things to do. In order to meet that need, the St. Elmo Reading Center is ready again to launch its “Tuesdays at the Reading Center” program.

St. Elmo’s Annual Neighborhood Yard Sale is slated for May 23. It’s an all-day event, with individual yard sales set up around St. Elmo. The Community Association of Historic St. Elmo has posted banners and taken out an ad in the newspaper to publicize the event. Individual residents are encouraged to create their own signs as well.

Calling all Lookout Junior High School graduates!

Have you been to the Southside Recreation Center at 1151 W. 40th St. lately?

St. Elmo has received a wonderful gift courtesy of Rock City Gardens.

St. Elmo resident Roger Lambert was in Boston on Monday for a little business — running the Boston Marathon. Dr. Lambert, who retired from the Biblical and Theological Studies Department at Covenant College in 2004, participated in his second Boston Marathon, this time at the age of 70. Dr. Lambert began long-distance running in the years after retirement and qualified for Boston by completing both the Chickamauga Marathon and the Ridge-to-Bridge run in Morgantown, N.C. He completed his first Boston Marathon in 2007 in 4 hours and 8 minutes. Low temperatures and a steady headwind this year pushed his time up, but he did finish the 26-mile run. Due to developing knee problems, the 2009 Boston Marathon will be Lambert’s last distance race, but he said he will continue to run shorter distances for the exercise, so be on the lookout for him running through St. Elmo in the days ahead.