A Red Bank Ditch Dweller is a person who likes living in the town of Red Bank.

Red Bank is a town of about 12,000 residents that is independent from, but fully encompassed by, the city of Chattanooga’s city limits. Red Bank is situated at the bottom of nearby Signal Mountain, which is also the location of my husband’s job (I swear that’s relevant here, keep reading to find out why.)

Most people who work on Signal Mountain also live on Signal Mountain - my husband is one of the few that does not, and his coworkers jokingly say to him at the end of the work day that he drives “back home down into the ditch” - the “ditch” being Red Bank since it’s at the bottom of Signal Mountain.

We thought this was hilarious, so my grandma, being the very creative and tech-savvy lady that she is, designed a logo and made shirts for his Christmas gift that year.

That’s the background info - now we get to the juicy part:

In August of 2023, Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp stated in a Pachyderm Club meeting to all his lil pachyderm friends that Red Bank’s leadership was driving it “into a ditch.” This quote was printed in newspaper articles all around town, and I, being very happy with Red Bank’s leadership and all the incredibly positive changes they’ve made in the time we’ve been here, said to myself, “holy shit, I literally have the perfect thing for this moment!” I made a post on my instagram about Mayor Wamp’s statement, included a picture of my handmade diner-style Red Bank Ditch Dweller mug (shown in above pic), and opened up a pre-order for other Ditch Dwellers who want a mug to show their pride and to raise money for Red Bank’s leadership to continue doing their work.

They have done things like updated and added crosswalks to make the town more walkable, replaced playground equipment, built a connector trail to link our neighborhood to a trail hiking system, improved and updated a huge dog park, made it easy for local small businesses to open in Red Bank, paid the town staff fairly, go above and beyond to post videos explaining the agenda in the next town meeting every single week, engage with the citizens of Red Bank in a positive and meaningful way, asked for input on how to use a piece of land in a way that would best serve the town, added more pickleball courts because people wanted them, supported local businesses in every way possible, throwing holiday parades, hosting a free live music event every week during the summer, movies in the park, Food Truck Fridays, and clearly stating that Red Bank is a place of inclusivity, equality, and diversity, and that exactly that is what makes Red Bank strong.

So yes, Mayor Wamp, if Red Bank’s leadership is driving it into the ditch, then please keep doing so.

This is exactly the type of ditch I want to live in.