Historic Union County

The Cradle of Country Music

Cedar Ford Baptist Church is big on missions, but Pastor Jeff Leach recently felt God’s call to focus on the mission field right here at home.

“The Lord just woke me up and said, ‘This year, the fish are at the dock,’” he said.

So, along with many other ministry efforts within the church, Cedar Ford is reaching across churches and denominations to help facilitate a community worship and revival, set for 7 p.m. July 30 through Aug. 1, at Luttrell Ball Park behind Luttrell Elementary School. Free food will be provided between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Finance Director Ann Dyer reported that Fiscal 2018 ended within budget and all budgets in balance at Monday night's regular Union County Commission Meeting,

Economic growth for Union County will be the topic of conversation at the 10 July Candidate Forum at the Union County Senior Citizens Center. Sponsored by the Union County Business and Professional Association, State and local candidates have been asked to respond to a number of questions at the 12 Noon forum.

In one way or another, Bill and Debbie Morgan have spent most of their lives involved in UT Extension and 4-H. In fact, that’s where the couple first met, as Agent and Assistant Agent at the Union County Extension Office. And their four kids have gone through the program, inheriting a love of rural life and rural skills from their parents.

“How can you put 85 years on one page?” Wanda Cox Byerley asked me at the end of our interview, right before she asked me who’d want to read it.

I told her I’d do my best, and the audience would probably surprise her.

It’s probably an understatement to call Wanda a walking contradiction. On the one hand, the twice-widowed mother of two and older sister to seven brothers calls herself “tough,” and she is. But in the same breath she’ll tell you how much she loves all seven brothers, all her children, step-children, grands and great-grands, and every student she ever taught.

Hickory Star Resort and Marina will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in a few years. The history of the marina goes back to 1947 and possibly further, but no one associated with the marina today can recall. Justin Noah is the current manager.

“I have a photo dated 1947,” said Noah. “The marina may date back before that but I can’t find any records or older photos.”

This history was told to me by people who were not there at the beginning, but who have gained their knowledge from stories passed down. If it differs from what our readers know, I apologize.

For me, my cousin Sharon DeVault Roach was the next best thing for an interview on Chester Atkins. Her father, who was also my great uncle Buster DeVault, was Chester Atkins’ best friend. They grew up together as neighbors in a Luttrell holler and stayed best friends the rest of their lives. Sharon said they talked every Tuesday on their ham radios. No cellphones or emails in those days.

Robert Wilson Johnson 1930 - 2018 Through the prolific Heiskells, I have many favorite cousins. Bobby Johnson is certainly among them. My first real remembrances of Bobby and his parents, Robert and Ella Wilson Johnson, is when we needed to go to Knoxville to shop or to the dentist. Robert was frequently our ride as he went to his job as Treasurer of Winter Garden Frozen Foods. Later, the Johnsons moved to Fountain City so Bobby could attend Central High School. My grandmother Heiskell and Bobby’s great grandmother were sisters–Sarah McClain Heiskell and Emma McClain Chesney, so the families stayed close over many, many years.

Mincey’s Musings
Year One, Week Twenty-Seven

The title of this week’s article is based on part of the lyrics to a song that was popular during my college days, “Let’s Get Physical, Physical.” The obvious reference in the song is to sensual pleasure. Such a view reflects a great portion of the world’s view of love, the satisfaction of desire without commitment.

A call to action on lower back pain remedies has been issued by prominent international researchers in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet. They recommend:

• coordinated international leadership to drive transformational change across health and social services and occupational settings to stop fragmented and outdated models of care

• development of evidence-based medical responses to low back pain emphasizing the concept of ‘positive health’—the ability to adapt and self-manage in the face of social, physical and emotional challenges

We had a dog named Buster. He was a beautiful dog of questionable breed, but we loved him. Isn’t that the way it usually is? I remember him well. He didn’t start out being my dog. When Patty and Don Irwin moved in our middle house, Patty got a puppy and named him Buster. He was supposed to be a little dog, not the monster he grew into. Again, isn’t that the way it usually is?

On the last day of May in 2015, as a gentle off and on rain fell upon the tin roof of an open air shelter, a window into times past opened at a place called Mossy Springs. While seated in the picturesque setting, overlooking the clearing near the spring from which the sacred place takes its name, time seemed to come to halt and at times flow backwards-to the time before “the move”- to the time before the “water came up”.

It has been said that the name for this favorite food of mine came about when some fishermen, surrounded by their hungry dogs, told them to wait. “Hush you puppies. We will have something for you in a little while.” They supposedly fried up some cornmeal in the grease the fish has been fried in and fed it to the dogs. Makes a good story.

Snakes have fascinated and frightened people for centuries, which has led to some pretty interesting stories about some of them. I did some research on some sayings about snakes I heard as a kid to see how they held up under scientific scrutiny and animal behavior. Here’s a rundown of what I found.

The formal name of the Martin Reunion is Martin Luther Miller Historical Society, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. The program consists of an evening meeting that convenes at 6 pm at the Golden Corral Buffet on Clinton Highway at Knoxville. The Saturday, July 21, 2018 annual meeting and luncheon takes place at the Sharps Chapel Senior Center beginning at 11 am. Local attendees are asked to bring a covered dish. Plates, cups, napkins, flatware and drinks will be provided.

The Horace Maynard High School Class of 1960 met June 9, 2018 at Union County High School for their 58th Class Reunion.

4-H is a Learn By Doing club, and there are many 4-Hers doing just that over the summer. Proudly, Union County kicked off the beef and sheep showing season at the County and Region Beef and Sheep Expo on June 25th with great participation. The shows were held at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, June 25-27. Several beef classes were shown including weigh steers, commercial heifers, and registered heifers. For sheep there were registered and commercial ewes and market lambs. There were contests such as skillathons and county-group-of five.

The Fourth of July, 2018 is less than approximately twenty-six hours away as I write this article. It is fitting at this time to reflect on the sacrifices of innumerable veterans and active military that have provided me the freedom to write and you to read these words.
Servicemen and women embody a type of love, the fifth of five endangered characteristics of true character suggested by Bill Hybels in his book Who You Are When No One’s Looking: Choosing Consistency, Resisting Compromise. The previous two weeks have focused on tender and tough love in lives of compassionate and hardhearted people. This week I share with you a third type of love, sacrificial love.

In looking through the Wednesday grocery ads. I came across one for diapers. “So what!” you probably will say. Let me tell you what. Without the store coupon, the price was $24.99 for a super pack.

The Union County Legislative body meeting in regular session at Maynardville, Tennessee, on the 11th Day of June, 2018, adopted a resolution drafted and presented by 1st District Commissioner Stan Dail “Ensuring Public Safety and Paving the Way for Economic Development in Union County.”