The next regular workshop and meeting of the Union County Board of Education will be on Thursday, December 18, 2025 at Union County High School Library. The workshop will begin at 6:00 p.m. with the meeting immediately to follow.

This year, the Lions Club is offering both plain and amaretto-flavored pecans, cashews, chocolate-covered peanuts, and chocolate-covered raisins! And here is the best part: even though prices for these nuts and raisins have risen drastically over the past year, the Lions Club is selling them for only $12/bag. Just in time for holiday baking!

This is the club's primary fundraiser. The monies raised are reinvested in the Union County community. You can purchase them from the Commercial Bank, First Century Bank, or any Lions Club member until they are sold out!

Saturday, December 13 🕘 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM 📍 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.

The Union County Family and Community Education (FCE) Club held its November meeting on Thursday, November 20, at the Union County Extension Office. Members gathered for a morning filled with fellowship, delicious food, and special celebrations.

This month’s meeting featured a Soup and Sandwich luncheon, with members bringing a wide variety of soups, sandwiches, desserts, and side dishes to share. The group enjoyed warm conversation and a strong sense of community as they ate together.

With Forest Fire season now in play thought it good to review our relationship with fire and how to get along with it. We live on a planet where carbon chemically reacts with oxygen at a high enough temperature to produce heat energy and light, a chemical process we call “fire”. The carbon is produced by plants like trees and grass. Since almost any plant material can burn, fire is a very common phenomenon, doing either harm or good depending on where and what it consumes.

A lot can change in twenty or so years. But what if you had slept during that time and woke up to changed surroundings? This is the plot for the story: “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. Rip slept for twenty years to wake up to a changed world. Recently, I had an experience that made me feel like Rip Van Brooke.

It stands on a hill behind the high school, overlooking Wilson Park. Many have seen it from a distance, but only a few stop by. The concrete Union County Veterans Wall was originally painted black to represent the bleakness, the abyss some veterans feel when returning to civilian life. The Wall was completed in 2014 and dedicated on Flag Day in 2015. However, the paint started to blister, and was replaced with a gray stucco that resembled the look of granite, with black marble plaques.

The fantastic annual Sharps Chapel Fall Festival Scarecrow Competition again asked festival goers to vote for their favorite of the 17 scarecrow entries. Each vote cost $1, and a total of 1008 votes were cast. Many thanks to Amanda Rae Simpson and her crew for organizing the competition and donating all of the money raised to the Union County American Legion New Liberty Post 212.

Horace Maynard Middle School faculty and staff enjoyed one of the highlights of their school year this past Saturday as they hosted the fourth annual Turnaround Breakfast, an invite-only event dedicated to celebrating student success.
The breakfast honors students and their families who have demonstrated tremendous gains in the current school year, whether academically, behaviorally, or both. These students have "turned it around," transforming their performance and commitment to their education.