Thanksgiving is a holiday that conjures up many fond memories for me—and not just the typical ones. Growing up in Wisconsin, I experienced the traditional United States version of Thanksgiving, with a turkey and dinner table surrounded with family.
When the air feels crisp and a gentle wind lifts the colorful leaves from their branches before they swiftly swirl to the ground, my heart swells with memories of the women in my life who made the holidays special.
Their tender voices and the smell of my favorite dishes they’d prepare resonate through my mind. For a moment, with my eyes closed, those memories feel like the present.
Reflection is good for the soul. If someone had described this life to me a year earlier, I would never have believed it. Although a friend’s betrayal stung me to the core and my church’s eventual transition ended the season I called “home”, nothing would compare with my next few months.
Vets eating with Commander Darrell White at the head of room.
Union County citizens recognize the work and sacrifice of the over 3800 veterans living in this county. These vets have served in World War II, Vietnam, in the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as served stateside and in support positions. Right now, their first and foremost calling is to support any honorable discharged veteran. Christmas is one of their busy times as they shop for food to fill large boxes for about 40 vets. Every year, they put on a Christmas party for kids who may not have much of a Christmas providing food and presents for all.
Everyone is good at something. As for me, I am very skilled at falling. Seriously, you have to know how to fall so that you won’t be seriously injured. By the way, it doesn’t work as well when you fall backwards.
Turkey has one big problem. There is often too much of it, whether it's the turkey breast or the whole bird. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to use leftover turk. I don't think noodles every saw anything they didn't like. They certainly like turkey. This recipe is a bit different.
Foods served at the first Thanksgiving feast included
pumpkin, squash, and wild wintercress.
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.
When I was a child, my dad worked for a while for the school system in maintenance. I remember he bought a cabinet model stereo and a wringer washing machine from Shoffner’s Furniture and Appliance. He had Irby Monroe make a stand for the small stereo to sit on so that I couldn’t reach inside and mess with the mechanics while those 33 1/3 RPM records were played. The joke was on Dad—I stood in a chair and watched the records spin on the turntable. I loved to listen to that stereo.
Pain in the back or the neck is extremely common and accounts for more healthcare spending than any other health condition. A study compared two non-invasive interventions for treating spine pain, assessing both how well these methods worked at reducing pain and whether either method reduced spine-related healthcare spending.
Do I, or don’t I? Have you ever been in a quandary about attempting to do something?
I was walking through the baking section at the grocery store when something caught my eye. It was a box for making homemade yeast rolls. I read the directions on the back. Dare I try to make them? If you read my article: “Chocolate Mess,” then you understand my hesitation. In case you haven’t read it, when I was kid, I tried to bake a chocolate cake all by myself. Let’s just it didn’t go that well. I had as much cake batter slung across the kitchen as I did in the baking pan. It even went on the ceiling.
Leftover ham doesn't freeze well. So what do you do with it? Make this loaf. In mixing bowl, combine ground ham and pork. In a medium bowl with electric mixer, combine eggs, bread crumbs and milk. Mix well. With into meat with hands. Place a greased 8 by 4 inch loaf pan, forming dome with hands. Top with pineapple slices and maraschino cherries. Bake in preheated 300 F. oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting with pineapple juice. Slice and serve with pieces of pineapple and cherries. Serves 6.
A tree's branches offer a quiet beauty even after the leaves are gone if you are observant, and also reveal a beauty of design.
Now that the beauty of Autumn is past and the trees are mostly laid bare, some folks bemoan the starkness of the winter forest. But now that you can see them, the limbs, branches, and twigs of trees offer a silhouette of graceful beauty all their own, especially with the sun shining behind them. Another overlooked aspect is the beauty of their design and function.
Imagine the effect of 95 RVs and 200 trucks and trailers on the scenery at Big Ridge Park!
Big Ridge State Park needs your opinion on its new Strategic Master Plan. So what is a Strategic master Plan and why should you voice your opinion? The main reason is the plan will drive the changes that occur in the park for the next 10 years and some changes will effect the park for many more years after that. Submit your comments online at https://www.tn.gov/environment/parks-conservation/ppp/form.html.
The Union County Business & Professional Association named Scott Inklebarger and Tonya Atkins, the Union County Man and Woman of 2023 at its 33rd annual banquet on Friday, November 3. Inklebarger is the manager of Food City and Ms. Atkins is the owner of A&B Bookkeeping. Both were chosen based on their outstanding and continuous community service along with their quality business practices.
Marvin Jeffreys stands beside his Quilt of Valor that is being held by his wife, Doris, and Beverly Berry to the right of the quilt.
Many of you may have met Beverly Berry, the area coordinator for Quilts of Valor at the UC Heritage Festival. Beverly collected donations to purchase material to sew the Quilts of Valor. The mission of the Quilts of Valor is to cover service members and veterans with healing quilts of valor. Quilts are of a specific size with a label of authenticity and the awarding of the quilt is recorded.
Volunteers with Under the Tree gather for prayer before the Christmas gift distribution in 2017
It’s that time of year again for the Union County Children’s Charity annual “Under The Tree” toy campaign. This is exclusively for Union County Children ages 0-12 years of low income. Applications were sent to Union County Public Schools and Cherokee Head Starts for children living in Union County.
The Union County Commission met with the Union County School Board during the Board's regular October workshop to have an opportunity to ask questions regarding the new middle school. Specifically, commissioners wanted to know if the middle school sports fields are included in the current plan and if the timeline for completing the sports fields would cause a lapse in availability if the jail is constructed on the current middle school football field. The first concern was put to rest before the architects even arrived.
At the regular October meeting, Union County Commission voted to set aside $3,000 annually to fund the plaques on the wall at Veteran’s Place. Commissioner Sidney Jessee, Jr. stated that the idea had come from a 2nd district citizen who said that paying for the plaques was the right thing to do for our veterans who have given us so much.
The money will purchase approximately 30 plaques a year on a first come, first served basis.
There is still a lack of high-certainty evidence on the effectiveness and safety of commonly used painkillers (analgesics) for short bouts of low back pain, finds an analysis of the evidence published by The BMJ.
Red Golden Pheasant
I remember taking my son, Tobias, to the Knoxville Zoo sometime in the late ’70s. It wasn’t the zoo it is today—it was much smaller with fewer animals in smaller cages.