Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, today I commemorate the sesquicentennial anniversary of Cheatham County, Tennessee.

May 5, 2006 marked the official 150th anniversary of the county, and this week, with Ashland City Summerfest and Redd Stewart Homecoming Days, Cheatham County residents will take part in the culmination of a year's sesquicentennial celebrations.

Cheatham County was founded on February 28, 1856 when the Tennessee General Assembly designated the 50 acres of land to the west of Nashville and north of the Cumberland River as Cheatham County. It was named after Speaker of the State Senate, Edward Saunders Cheatham. Ashland City was established as the county seat. After the sale of the first town lots, the county was able to build its first courthouse and jail on the public square, where they stand today.

Cheatham County is the third fastest growing county in the State; today more than 38,000 people call it home. It is also a center of commercial and industrial growth with A.O. Smith Water Products, Triton Boats and Trinity Marine as the county's top three industrial employers. While agricultural production has declined in recent times, many Cheatham County farmers remain major contributors in the beef and tobacco sectors. Despite all the growth and industry, Cheatham County's beautiful rolling green hills are preserved in the Cheatham Wildlife Management Area, a 21,000 acre game reserve for hunting and fishing.

One of Cheatham County's most notable citizens was the late Redd Stewart, a singer and songwriter who wrote our state song, the ''Tennessee Waltz.'' This week, the events of Redd Stewart Homecoming Days will pay tribute to the musician with two days of free bluegrass concerts. In addition, Cheatham County residents will commemorate the sesquicentennial anniversary at Summerfest in Ashland City. We'll get together at Riverbluff Park on the Cumberland River to share good times as our Cheatham County founders did: eating home-cooked food, playing games and dancing to old time bluegrass music.

I am proud to honor all the generations of Cheatham County families who have contributed so much to this special place. I join with everyone in Tennessee's Fifth District in commemorating Cheatham County's 150th anniversary, and I commend County Mayor Bill Orange and today's residents for ensuring that Cheatham County remains a community where folks can live, work and raise future generations of great Tennesseans.

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Jim Cooper
Member of Congress