Every September I buy a 20 pound box of Carolina sweet potatoes. A truck would be parked in front of Janet's Beauty Shop in Maynardville. Since I am the only sweet potato aficionado at this address, the supply lasts most of the year. I keep the box in the hallway just off our Great Room. I am telling you this because long red sprouts are rising from the box. It is past time to finish up my supply of sweet potatoes.

The Union County Heritage Festival Fine Arts Show has added a category for photographic entries, and the UCHF Student Art Show will accept photographs.
Participants will be able to enter an original photograph pertaining to the Union County area or best exemplifying the festival theme: ”More Fiddlin' Around."
The show is a juried mixed-media exhibition open to artists 18 years of age and above and is held at the Snodderly House on Main Street in Maynardville.

Plainview Police Chief Eddie Muncey encourages all drivers to watch for children playing in our neighborhoods. Muncey stressed the importance of obeying the 20 mph speed limit. Mayor Gary Chandler responded to a concerned parent that some better signs may be needed. Alderman Gordon Bright echoed Muncey's comments and stated that the signs that say “We love our kids” might help. Muncey reminded everyone that his department would be more vigilant, randomly check each neighborhood, and write more tickets for speeders.

Who takes on the job of taking care of Great-Grandma and Grandpa's graves? Most likely our older generations are forgotten once they have died and are buried, and oftentimes the old cemeteries are abandoned. In order to keep the Hamilton Cemetery from being covered with briars and brambles as it once was, we need donations to cover the mowings each year. The Hamilton Cemetery began on the farm of William Hamilton, who was in what is now Union County, in 1794.

There is a little country store packed with vintage goods, antiques, homemade soaps and love opening in the Corryton community. The little slice of a country market, called Becky’s Hen House, will host a Grand Opening event on Saturday, September 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bring the family out, discover the new business, and be treated to complimentary hot dogs, chips, drinks, and cookies, not to mention a chance to shop at Snow Cone Eddie with his legendary snow cones and Ada Bee’s Boutique with clothing, hats and jewelry.

What exactly is reality? Think about it. Look around you. If you are blessed with the gift of normal vision, you can perceive all sorts of colors and shapes around you. You can appreciate beauty. You can navigate around obstacles. You can do simple things like picking up a crisp, red apple from a granite countertop and bite into it – knowing it is wholesome and good. That apple is as real as it gets. Or is it?

The Asian longhorned tick (ALT) is a menace to livestock, companion animals, wildlife, and humans. This invasive species can transmit a number of pathogens to humans and animals, uses animals for dispersal, and is an economic threat to the agricultural and livestock industries. As of July 31, 2019, the ALT is confirmed in Union county on canines, cattle, and deer. Unlike other North American ticks, this exotic and invasive tick has a one generation per year life cycle and can produce offspring without mating, which permits rapid population growth.

So, what is preaching?

Well, the answer to that question sometimes depends upon who you ask!

In the general sense, preaching means to herald or proclaim openly something which has been done. Biblically defined preaching means an open public proclamation of the “gospel,” such as demonstrated in the New Testament by John the Baptist, Jesus, the Apostles of Jesus or other Christian followers. I could not do this article justice without pointing out that the word “gospel” means “good news” as it relates to Jesus’ redeeming work towards all mankind.

The first books I read as a child were the Dick and Jane readers in school. They had pictures with the prose. Later I discovered the Sunday comic strips in the newspaper. They were a step above Dick and Jane and their dog Spot. I fell in love with the Sunday comics. They were in color. The dailies were in black and white. I was much older when I discovered comic books. Married, with children, I secretly read their comic books while my kids were at school.

“It’s a gift.”
That’s the response I give now, but when I was younger, I didn’t see it that way. At all.
In case you don’t know, I’m a left-handed writer. I use that term instead of just saying left-handed because the only thing I do left-handed is write. I do everything else right-handed. No, I am not ambidextrous, which is the ability to use both hands equally well. (Ed. note: Using different hands for different tasks is known as cross-dominance or mixed-handedness.) I don’t fit the qualification because I can’t write with both hands with the same level of skill.