"All the mattresses and recliners on the side of the road were unsightly anyway. It's something we had needed to improve," Mayor Keith Durham said. "The campaign was the catalyst for doing it."
Even with all these preparations, Thompson -- who has been either second or third in recent GOP popularity polls, even without a formal candidacy -- has yet to commit publicly or privately to a specific date or place for an announcement. A formal invitation by Lawrenceburg and Lawrence County officials has gone unanswered; so have requests for comment by The Times on his hometown's odds.
Nevertheless, people here are confident that Thompson, who lives in Washington's Northern Virginia suburbs, still considers Lawrenceburg home. He graduated from high school here, began practicing law here, and his father and a daughter are buried in a cemetery here.
And those who knew him as an unmotivated high school student named Freddie -- a name he used in legal documents well into his 20s -- say his delay is hardly surprising.
A few yellow dog Democrats who hang around Ledbetter Drug drinking 10-cent coffee may mutter that Thompson is lazy, but most townspeople will tell you their boy is merely laid back -- and cautious. They recall similar uncertainty before Thompson ran for the Senate in 1994. Ultimately, he ran, and he announced his candidacy in Lawrenceburg.
"I want him to get out there, but you know Fred," said Lloyd Comer, a retired attorney and judge here who has known Thompson for 40 years. "If he ever gets around to announcing, I'll send him a check."
While there is much good humor about Thompson, local officials say their plans to piggyback on his notoriety are serious.
The town needs economic help. Lawrenceburg, the seat of Lawrence County, is geographically isolated, more than 30 miles from Interstate 65 and about 80 miles southwest of Nashville. After years of downsizing, bicycle manufacturer Murray Ohio, which provided many of the town's jobs, shut down for good in 2005. The companies that remain are mostly small operations that make, among other things, church pews and cheerleader uniforms.
Smotherman, a leader in the Getting Ready for Freddie effort, was Murray Ohio's first local employee and eventually served as the company's executive vice president and chief operating officer. Since Murray Ohio closed, the town has focused its economic development efforts on promoting itself as a destination for retirees.
