Those that hold to the tradition of using a real tree enjoy the smell and feel of a natural product that comes from a renewable resource. Buying one can also help support small family farms, so it has many positives. On the downside, a Christmas tree is a living thing that requires some extra care to be sure it doesn’t dry out and pose a fire hazard. Here are some tips from the National Christmas Tree Association on keeping your Christmas tree fresh and green as long as possible.
- When you get the tree home place it in water as soon as possible.

Each month, nearly eight hundred books are mailed out to children across Union County through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation. Maynardville Public Library hosts as the headquarters of the foundation here in Union County, investing their time and efforts in assuring that the hundreds of children in the county that have signed up for the free program are receiving their reading materials each and every month.

This year, fall was slow to move in, but winter has fallen in quickly behind with freezing temperatures and a beautiful early snowfall. Kids, and those with a youthful heart, gleamed with joy as they awakened on Tuesday, November 12 to a beautifully, cotton tinted blanket of snow across the county. The excitement swept across the smiles of many faces as they sprinted out in the early morning hours, some unable to wait until sunrise, in their bundles beneath the gray clouded skies.

Thanksgiving is one of the high holidays of the US, involving traditions of being with family, eating a bountiful meal of traditional foods, and hopefully taking time to give thanks for what we have been given. You know the traditional story of the first Thanksgiving involving Pilgrims, Native Americans, feasting and all that, but history is always good to review occasionally, as you often learn something new.

Human joints come in many shapes and sizes and allow us to move and carry out normal activities of daily living. Without joints, we would be rigid and immobile. But they are also often injured, causing pain and discomfort. The most commonly injured joints are the knees, shoulders, ankles and spine. Approximately 30 million doctor visits a year are due to knee and shoulder injuries alone. Some 150 million to 200 million cases of back pain send people to the doctor every year—and many of those are related to joint injuries. Most sports-related injuries involve damage to the joints.

It’s in the Head!
(or Is It?)

As I write this article, next week will be Thanksgiving. I am thankful, among many things, for opportunities and health to share meals with good friends and coworkers. One of the greatest honors for me is to be invited into someone’s home for a meal or be bought a meal in public. It is also a great honor to be allowed to purchase meals for friends. I have never purchased a meal for anyone that the kindness wasn’t returned many times over.

It was the crash that was heard around the world. Well…not exactly. It was the crash that was heard all over Tim’s parent’s house. After the crash, the next sound I heard was Tim’s mother calling out, “Oh no!” I jumped up and ran downstairs. While I knew she wasn’t hurt, I knew something was wrong and it was most likely my fault.

When I reached the kitchen, the first thing I noticed were pieces of a dish spread out across the floor. It had completely shattered. Standing next to the pieces was Tim’s mother.

Thanksgiving is here;
The big day has arrived.
We're all here together.
Dinner's at five.

Aunt Tilly is mad;
Uncle Matt's in the sauce.
Matilda is sad.
We're all feeling cross.

Let's sit down and eat;
Bow heads and pray.
We're all here together,
Friends for the day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING
TO ALL!

Shirley McMurtrie

If yesterday you had leftover turkey, then it must be after Thanksgiving. What about the leftover dressing that is working its way to the back of your fridge? All this recipe takes is a cup and half or so of leftover dressing. If there is still any gravy, that would make a great sauce for the patties. Of course, cream of chicken soup, thinned with a little milk and a shake or two of poultry seasoning mixed in would be nice.

DRESSING PATTIES
1 1/2 cups leftover dressing
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

It has been mighty cold lately. Doesn’t matter where you live, the temperatures have dipped. And early, too. There have been reasons given, most of them summed up with the initials c.c. (I will not get into that discussion!) But even over the past four decades, the mercury had done similar nose dives at various inopportune times. We expected after moving from Wyoming to Tennessee that such dips wouldn’t happen. After all, Tennessee has a mild climate. Oh, boy, were we wrong.