Nearly 3,000 visitors answered the Union County Heritage Festival invitation to “Take a Country Road” to historic Maynardville, the cradle of country music, for the 16th annual event on October 2.
Visitors clapped hands and tapped toes to tunes by Flashback, Southern Spirit, Norris Freeway, Sleepy Eyed John, The Gospel Strings, Joseph Hensley and Dustin Ford. They marveled at young Silas Tian's fiddle playing of “Millionaire's Hoedown” and celebrated Eric Nafziger, Austin Stovall, and Marshal Murphy as they placed first, second and third in the 3rd annual Heritage Fiddle Contest.

1 Peter 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.
Today we have a lot of misunderstanding regarding what Peter is trying to communicate in the above verse. I once heard a prominent TV preacher theorize from this scripture that Jesus Spirit while he was in the grave literally entered into hell (the under-world, Hades, Limbo, Purgatory, an intermediate place for the lost, choose your own noun) to give a second chance at redemption to those people long dead.
“Houston, we have a problem!”

Country Connections by James and Ellen Perry
Sitting on the porch this mid-October afternoon the leaves turning to their glorious fall colors, the afternoon sun throwing dark shadows from the hickories, oaks, black gums and dogwoods in my yard brings back memories of this time of the year in the early 1950s.
The fall and winter wish book had arrived a few days earlier from Sears and Roebuck. We all took turns slowly looking through the wish book making mental notes as to what we would tell our mother and dad as to what we wanted to order for our winter clothing and footwear.

I should have known better, but I let the image in my mind get the best of me.
Jaimie was one of the few girls I played with while growing up. I don’t remember how old I was exactly when I got to spend the night with her. I may have been around nine years old. Anyway, I was so excited for my little adventure. That is until supper that evening.
Her mother had fixed a roast with veggies. I have always loved roasts, so I was ready to dig in until her dad sat down at the table. The first thing he said was, “That’s a possum I caught.” Yep, he was pointing to the roast.

Big Ridge State Park had a record year last year in visitation despite being closed for about a month in the spring.
This summer was another record year for Big Ridge as it was for all parks across the nation. As the season winds down the staff here at Big Ridge can finally take a deep breath.
Everyone that works at Big Ridge deserves a great big shout out for their hard work the last couple of years. We truly have a great team working together.

I try most every yeast bread dough that comes along. These doughnuts are especially good. They are light, airy and melt-in-your-mouth yeast raised doughnuts and stir together quickly. They don't need kneading. That is a plus. Try them.

I had lunch with some dear friends today. One was Debbie Gillenwater, currently co-director of the Union County Family Resource Center. Many Union Countians will remember Ms. Debbie as a wonderful first grade teacher at Maynardville Elementary School.

By: Steve Roark
Volunteer Interpreter, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
Deer are social creatures and they need to communicate with one another. Sometimes it’s one-on-one trash talk, while other times it’s an alarm to an entire group.

For Molly, she had looking forward to going to Papaw’s garden
She and her brother Johnny each get to pick out a pumpkin

Johnny looked at the large ones, but kicked the small ones away
Molly knew her pumpkin had to be special, so she closed her eyes to pray

She asked God to send her the perfect one to use
Something hit her foot, which sent mud on her shoes

It was a little pumpkin that Johnny had left behind
Molly picked it up and ran her hand over the rind

Starting your day the right way can give your body a little boost as it prepares for the activity that’s ahead of it, Whether that be work or play. here are some tips:

When you get out of bed, greet the day with some stretching. There are lots of different stretches, but try this: stretch your arms above your head and hold for 10 seconds and feel your spine straighten out. Put your hands on your hips and rotate gently at the waist. Hold for 10 seconds to the right, and then 10 seconds to the left.