I want to thank Marilyn Toppins for her article on Union County’s mayor and commissioners, along with the TVA and TWRA to decide to drastically change Big Ridge State Park to appeal to motorhomes and campers, and to ignore local residents’ need for a recreational facility nearby. Norris Lake has been bought by outsiders and is, for now, closed to locals for swimming, fishing and camping.

We played a fun game at Storytelling Camp a few years ago. Each person told three statements about themselves, but one had to be false. Then we guessed which one was untrue. I had so much fun. Best of all, everyone incorrectly guessed which of mine were false. Can’t say that I blame them.
I don’t remember what my other two statements were but, the true one that fooled everyone was: “I kissed John Schneider.” Yep, I kissed the guy who played Bo Duke on the “Dukes of Hazard.”
Of course, everybody wanted me to tell them the story of how I managed to accomplish that feat.

Holidays hurt for some people, especially the big three for a Christian, which are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. As we grow older, more and more family and friends have passed, more seats are empty and more loneliness creeps in. Years rapidly pass and then it’s just one or two of you left. Christmas becomes more about memories than presence, and presents are few if any. As Christians we know the best gift has already been given to us. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15. The indescribable gift is the Son of God that offers us eternal salvation.

Back in July of 2023, we started our study of the Corinthian Church, set up in the first century A.D. by Paul. Our goal, as always, is to foster readers’ interest in the Holy Bible, that they may study the scriptures further for themselves.
So as not to lose our readers’ interest, we attempt to keep our articles reasonably short. We also try to choose pithy titles, to help capture the intent of the original author’s subject matter.
For our introductory article to 1 Corinthians, we chose “A church gone wild” as our title to help summarize what 1 Corinthians is all about.

The deer population has been steadily increasing over the past few decades, as has the human population. The recent trend of wanting to build a house in the country or in the woods has put both populations in closer contact with each other. Deer are opportunistic feeders and will eat food wherever they can find it, which could be your favorite apple tree, tomato plant, or landscape shrub.

Here is another zucchini recipe. Zucchini goes with anything. You can even bake bread with it. However, the only bread in this recipe are the crumbs in the patties. They’re good, too.

Welcome to another new year, Dear Reader!
One of the things that helped me most during the past year was the philosophy of our current Director of the Union County Schools, Mr. Greg Clay. He has impressed upon the Central Office staff that obstacles are opportunities.
Perhaps if I’d had his vision my life might have taken a different path during the year just past.

In the midst of school shut down in 2020, Van Richardson’s baseball games and others came to a halt and he had to look for an activity to occupy his time.
Growing up on a small farm, he had always enjoyed being out in the pasture working cattle but amid the pandemic he decided to try something new.
After some brainstorming, Van bought his first show heifer in May of 2020

The pendulum of opioid prescribing for pain has swung sharply in the last decade, as the epidemic of opioid overuse, addiction and overdose has led policy makers and health care providers to ratchet back on the prescriptions patients receive.

But for about 5 million Americans who have taken prescription opioids for years to address their chronic pain, that pendulum swing has led to trouble getting refills, finding new providers when their former ones retire or relocate, or getting access to multi-modal pain care that goes beyond pills.

Surprising others used to be a challenge for me. If you read “Christmas Present Fiasco,” then you’re very well aware of this fact. After I grew up, I not only conquered that, but I lifted my ability to surprise to another level.