 On Monday, January 8th, the City of Pikeville called for a meeting at City Hall to showcase some of the major events planned for the Pikeville 200 project. Many gathered in attendance to learn about the spirits of Pikeville past at the app, the Long Hunters Association, and some other surprises. Assistant organizer Sarah George comments on the positive reception. Pikeville has a lot of things that distinguish it from other small coal mining towns in Central Appalachia, and I think it really is the financial and health care and education and entrepreneurship hub of Eastern Kentucky, and I think people are always looking for ways to brag on Pikeville, if you will. And last night just emphasized that there are many people who are not only interested in the history of our town, but who are interested in coming together to celebrate that history. There are 70 chairs in that room, and we had standing room only, so I didn't count how many people were there, but I was really, really just thrilled with the response. Pikeville story is made up of many smaller stories that come together. Because of this, George is asking that all Pike County authors lend a hand to the experience. I would like to point out that at many of our events this year, we want to have local authors there selling and signing their books. Now I don't know off the top of my head who all of our local authors are, and I'm not just talking about Pikeville, but also Pike County. Even though this is Pikeville's 200th birthday, we have local authors in the entire county that are important to the fabric of our lives. And I would like for any local author who is interested in participating in one or more of these booksellings and book signings to contact us. You can contact us on our Facebook page. You can contact me on my Facebook page. You can contact City Hall and get our phone numbers. Contact Kathy Atkins or me or Kim Carter, Kitty Baird, Randy Roberts, Kevin Hall, Randall Osborne. Reporting from Outantop News, I'm Nick Colum.