A tradition since 2014, the Dewey Decimals book club at Sunset Bay made their 6th annual book donation to the Sharps Chapel Elementary School library at their annual Christmas brunch at the Sunset Bay clubhouse. They gathered around the fire to see what treasures were donated this year. This is the highlight of the year for many of the members, who share with others in the group why they picked the books they did—often because of memories from their childhood. This year, over 30 books were donated. The club has donated thousands of dollars worth of books to the library over the years.

Congratulations to these students on their outstanding accomplishments!
Perfect Attendance:
Pre-K: Caiden Blankenship, Hayden Cooke, McKenna Tharp, Nathaniel Tharp, Keela Kiser, Brooklyn Canada, Beau Lawson, Zayla Stair
Kindergarten: Adrianna Leonard, Brooklyn Mingie, Camden Murray Peyton Chandler, McKynna Huling, Keaton Mathis, Colton Surrett, Emerie Tolliver
1st Grade: Jake Beeler, Briley Cantrell, Hailee Hensley, Hunter McBee, Kinsley Owens,Mason Adkins, Braden Coaker, Jace Naglitch, Marlee Weaver, Alexis Bullen, Delylah Rohrbach ,Wyatt Williams

I like bananas. I like banana bread. Well, not all banana breads. Most sort of taste like bananas and get hard as a rock after a few days. I found one that stays soft for a week. Of course, I keep it in the fridge, not out on the counter.
Banana bread is a luxury I learned about after World War ll. Growing up, my mother only had that old Detroit Times Cookbook with an assortment of so-so recipes. They were collected from subscribers to the newspaper. You might think they sent in their best recipes. If they did, they were third-rate cooks. Some were downright awful.

Not too long ago, I wrote an article about meeting a celebrity at a sports and memorabilia show in Cleveland, Ohio. It was not my first time at something like this.
My first visit to a sci-fi, collector’s, and/or comic convention—or “con”—was at SaltCon in Utah. I went there twice and met some very interesting people. I have also been to MegaCon in Orlando a couple of times as well. Still, my favorite was AdventureCon, which was held in Knoxville.

Mark 13:8 - For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. (KJV)
Earthquake. That word strikes fear at the hearts of mankind, especially in the heart of anyone who has ever been in and survived a major earthquake.

This is a continuation of the CCC series from "Of Hearth And Hoe". "The Army's valuable performance with the CCC in the summer of 1933, undertaken reluctantly at first, was one of the highlights of its peacetime years. It ran with clock-work precision; the CCC itself was judged first-rate. W.A. Shearer, chief of projects at TVA, reported during the middle of October, 1933, that twenty-five CCC camps were assigned to TVA's soil erosion program and the U.S. Forest Service, one initially in Union County.

I hate mushrooms.

Ugh! I can taste the smallest fragment left behind on a slice of super-deluxe, double-deep-dish pizza. Every single one of my Chinese food orders ends with the phrase, “No mushrooms, please.”

I’ve tried them raw, sauteed, baked, and deep-fried stuffed with cheese. No sir, I do not like mushrooms.

At least not to eat.

I’m starting to like these foul fungi for another reason. It turns out that some of them, including the one whose splendiferous name graces the title of this article, can actually eat plastic.

Farmers have one job and one job only: feeding the world.
To choose such public service as a profession is an honorable feat in and of itself, now more so than ever. The world population is growing at a faster rate than ever. In the next 20 years, the population of the world is expected to grow by 2.2 billion people (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs).

February is walleye time on Norris Lake—big walleye.
Many fishermen reported catching walleye last month and it will get even better in February. According to the Moon Phase Calendar, the full moon this month in Maynardville will be on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2:33 a.m. In case you did not know, three days before and three days after the full moon are typically the best days to fish in any month.

Many of you Faithful Readers know my good friend Roger Flatford, presently the principal of Sharps Chapel Elementary School. Roger stood up with me at my wedding. He told me that if the ceremony hadn’t been at Loveland Baptist Church, and if he thought he could have gotten by with it, he would have had the then-popular song “If You’re Going Through Hell, Keep on Going” played at the rehearsal dinner.