Have you ever felt like just getting away from it all? Perhaps in moments of trouble or frustration you, like I, have thought how wonderful it would be just to keep driving in the direction you were going, turning away from all the job struggles, family worries, quarrelsome friends, and debt.

Here is an easy version of chicken pot pie. The hard work of cooking the chicken, preparing the veggies and making the sauce and biscuits is all done for you. It does take a while to bake, but you can be doing other things while it does. Nothing beats finding an easy entree for supper.

The above high rainfall we’ve had past couple of years seems to have caused a boost in lichens. Lichens are those flat light green blotches or hair-like tufts you see growing on tree bark and rocks. Like all life on Earth, lichens have found a niche where they can grow without much competition. Most older trees in our area have at least a small colony growing somewhere.

Most people who hear someone mention the Parthenon will think of one place—the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. However, for most folks in Tennessee, they also know of the Parthenon in Nashville, the “Athens of the South.” I have seen both.

In 1982, we held our collective breath as a little boy named Elliott desperately struggled to help his little alien buddy “phone home” in “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial”. The diminutive, so-ugly-it-was-cute critter had to somehow contact his home world before he died from some unknown illness assumed to be associated with being on Earth. As the movie’s popularity soared, people everywhere could be heard quipping, “E.T. Phone home!” Even today, you can hear that quote used frequently as an attempt to inject humor into some activity around an attempt to communicate.

There is a new weekly video series airing on www.HistoricUnionCounty.com called “Uniquely Union.”
The show is hosted by Dr. Ronnie Mincey, a long-time contributor to the website and newspaper. You may have read his column “Mincey's Musings”. In this new video series, Mincey conducts interviews with Union County residents and business people that have helped make our county the great place it is to live and work.

At the February meeting, Union County Commission approved a resolution entitled “Resolution Urging Governor Lee and the General Assembly Fund and Begin Construction of Improvements on State Highway 33 aka Maynardville Highway from Knox County Line Northwardly to the Municipal Limits of Maynardville.”
This section of Maynardville Highway is the last one to connect Knoxville and Maynardville with a four-lane highway. The five miles from SR 144 to the Knox County line has been “shovel ready” for several years.

At the February Union County Board of Education meeting, Sydney Jessee, a parent of two school-aged children, addressed the board during the workshop.
Jessee had received an attendance letter regarding his older child's absences due to flu and a stomach virus. He related that his child had doctor notes for all but one day and he had written a parent note for the stomach virus.

The Maynardville Public Library is launching a new reading incentive program for Union County elementary school-aged children. Through this program, the library offers kids incentives for reading and a buddy sloth to read to every day.
What’s more, this year-round program is completely free. The idea is adapted from Kim Todd’s “Read to a Pal” program at Luttrell Public Library, in which children can choose from a variety of stuffed animals to adopt and read books to.

The Luttrell City Council met in regular session on Feb 17.
Present: Mayor Jerry Lawson, Councilman Kyle Muncey, Councilman Lloyd Railey, Councilman Phil Ruth, Councilman/Vice Mayor Jody Smith.
Absent: Councilman David Williams