An unusual occurrence on the construction site of Ashe Park has caused a delay in work, and has thousands believing that a Christmas miracle has been witnessed in Knoxville, Tennessee.
One of the construction workers on the site was the recipient of this supposed ‘miracle’ that is making headlines throughout Bible Belt. Scott Isabel, backhoe digger, had paused before lunch for a quick smoke and this is when many believe divine intervention was witnessed.
Scott’s smoke break was anything but quick. Inexplicably, the cigarette looked almost new one hour after it had been lit. “Not only was I able to smoke all I wanted, I was able to let everyone on the worksite smoke until they were almost sick. It was just like Jesus and those fish and biscuits.”
Since Scott’s potentially religious smoke break, no other cigarettes have lasted any longer than normal. But this hasn’t stopped the hopeful believers from descending upon Ashe Park en masse. Smokers from hundreds of miles away have appeared to make the most of their cartons. The crowd is estimated to be nearly twice what it would have been any other time of the year because of the large number of Southerners that have recently received cartons of cigarettes as Christmas gifts.
Damage to foliage from second-hand smoke is already estimated at over $22,000 and no end is in sight.
Due to the fact that it is now unknown when the park will be completed, Bill Haslam has had the signs announcing an April 2004 opening removed and hidden.