🎁 Yuletide Treasures Market. Saturday, December 13 🕘 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Heritage Park Farmers Market Pavilion

Spend locally on Saturday, December 13, from 9 a.m. to 1 pm at the Yuletide Treasures Market at the Heritage Park Farmers Market Pavilion.

Step into a festive wonderland of local gifts and holiday delights! The Yuletide Treasures Market is your one-stop shop for meaningful, gorgeous, handmade presents and delicious seasonal treats. From artisan crafts and baked goods to winter produce and value-added goodies, there’s something for everyone on your list.

It’s the final festive fling before Christmas! Join us for the Mistletoe & Makers Market at the Heritage Pavilion on Saturday, December 20, from 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, where last-minute shopping meets local charm! Discover beautiful handcrafted gifts, delicious holiday treats, and fresh ingredients for your Christmas table — all in one joyful, open-air setting!

The Union County Line Dancers. led by Janie Hamilton visited the Maynardville Nursing Home “Willow Ridge”, on Wednesday Nov. 26th, to entertain the residents. The residents enjoyed the dancers very much.

THE 2025 “Under The Tree” Toy Campaign is almost over. There are some exhausted Elves. These Elves pick up the Black Bags packed with toys each year from the local businesses that have trees: Mission of Hope Therapy, Janet’s Hair & Tan, Tolliver’s Market, Bookers Market, UT Extension, American Business, Commercial Bank, Union Discount Pharmacy, First Century Bank and Food City. They then process the bags making sure the children’s wishes are met. Some ornaments are not pulled off the trees and these Elves shop for those toys. They ensure every bag is complete.

We often come up with mind games to pass time with our grandkids on extended road trips, and being the Christmas season, we recently played a guessing game that involved plants and animals associated with Christmas. It was interesting enough that I decided to share the list and researched how certain plants and animals became synonymous with Christmas.

Christmas Tree: Germany is credited with starting the tradition of Christmas trees as we know it back in the 16th century but using evergreens for winter decorating goes back to early Roman times. Initially, trees were decorated with edible ornaments such as apples, nuts, and other foodstuffs. Candles were later used to mimic stars on a moonless night, which later went electric. It might interest you to know that in a survey taken in 2004 concerning favorite smells, real Christmas trees in the house came in 8th place.
Holly: the bright red berries and green foliage during the drab winter months helped holly become a colorful decorating tradition.

On December 2nd, the Union County Extension Office hosted a Simmer Pot Kit Class, offering community members an opportunity to learn the basics of dehydrating fruits and assembling their own holiday simmer pot kits. The class was led by Abigail Thomas, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent.

Is there something that you don’t ever want to outgrow? For me, it’s my love of Christmas ornaments. Honestly, it’s kinda dangerous to let me loose by myself in a store that has them for sale. But I don’t always buy them for my own Christmas tree; I also love to give them as presents.

Low back pain in school-aged children is a common occurrence, and the prevalence of low back pain increases once children reach school age — one percent at age seven years; six percent at age 10 years; and 18 percent at ages 14-16 years, yet only seven percent of adolescents with lower back pain will seek medical care.

“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”

This statement by Jesus is an excerpt found in three of the four Gospels and is commonly known in Christian circles as the story of the Rich Young Ruler. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record a wealthy Young man’s discussion with Jesus regarding gaining entrance into heaven.

There are many points worth considering and discussing in the story of the Rich Young Ruler. We could consider why Mark and Luke chose to frame the Rich Young Ruler's question in terms of inheritance. Which begs the idea, can Heaven be inherited? Perhaps more notably, why did Matthews account record the Rich Young Ruler asking a different question? There are more questions one should ask regarding this short encounter recorded in these Gospels, such as whether a person can work their way into Heaven.

Imagine it’s 2075 in the former USA which is now part of the CCP’s new slogan “The sun never sets on the Chinese Empire. This slogan was conscripted from the former now gone Colonial British Empire which fell simultaneously with the former United States of America in 2030. It took the triad powers of China, Russia and Iran to accomplish the downfall of the world and gain and alter the capitulation of the white English-speaking superpower the black and brown countries fell like dominoes one by one in rapid succession. After the fall of the white English-speaking superpowers, China starting eradication of their partners in Russia and Iran. There were mass killings wiping out leaders in Russia, Iran along with remaining leaders in the USA, England, South America, Africa, and the Moslem Countries. There were millions of humans eradicated worldwide during the 2030’s and 2040’s. By the late 2040’s China controlled the entire earth.