ST. Patrick's Day Long Ago

My father kept postcards from his childhood. I found them after he passed away. I never knew they existed until then. He was born in 1899 in Sandstone
Township of Jackson County, Michigan It was a different time. Dad would have been horrified to see how this old world is turning nowadays. It was a gentler time. Boys on the farm didn't have the distractions that abound now.

Choosing Healthy Nursery Trees

Spring approaches, and with it will come the itch to get your fingernails dirty and plant stuff. Landscaping adds beauty and value to the home, so it’s a good investment, and you always want your investments to do well, so choosing healthy plants is important. Here are some guidelines:

Molded Lemon - Beet Salad

I like beets just about any way you can fix them. Fresh ones, topped and cooking in boiling salted water taste the best. Then peel them, slice them and top with butter and some of the warmed water they were cooked in. Everyone I know likes them fancied up. This is a fancied up recipe. Good, too. Please forgive me for using canned beets. Fresh ones aren't always available.

Red Devils Baseball Win Opener

Maddix Wyrick’s walk-off was a picture perfect ending in Horace Maynard’s victory over Claiborne Bulldogs. Horace Maynard took Tuesday’s game in dramatic fashion, with a 3-2 walk-off with Claiborne Bulldogs. The game was tied at two with Horace Maynard battling the bottom of the sixth with an error and a fielders choice led to the winning run for Horace Maynard. The pitching was strong on both sides, Horace Maynard pitcher struck out ten, while Josh Cinnamon sat down five.

Melissa Stevens: The Illustrated Author

In the literary world, a catchy title or risqué focus may draw the eye of an interested reader, but have you ever thought about how influenced one may be by elegantly designed book cover art? Melissa Stevens saw the need for such involved illustrations in forums in the mid-2000s.

Melissa, who is an Anderson County native, is the owner and operator of a thriving graphic design and illustration business, Illustrated Author Design Services. She began in 2011, working with a small press.

Scouting Scholarship Fundraiser

The Boy Scouts of America has been teaching patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues to America’s youth for more than 100 years. It is an organization that children have been proud and happy to join for generations. Believing that scouting is a tradition worth supporting, local Cub Scout Pack 401 is raising money to build a scholarship fund to ensure no child is excluded from scouting due to the family’s inability to pay. This is a new project for the Pack to address a new need.

March is Extension Month

UT Extension provides a gateway to the University of Tennessee as the outreach unit of the Institute of Agriculture. With an office in every Tennessee county, UT Extension delivers educational programs and research-based information to citizens throughout the state. In cooperation with Tennessee State University, UT Extension works with farmers, families, youth and communities to improve lives by addressing problems and issues at the local, state and national levels.
Extension Month:

Why is good posture important?

Good posture helps us stand, walk, sit, and lie in positions that place the least strain on supporting muscles and ligaments during movement and weight-bearing activities. The benefits of correct posture are as follows:

• Helps us keep bones and joints in correct alignment so that our muscles are used correctly, decreasing the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in degenerative arthritis and joint pain.

• Reduces the stress on the ligaments holding the spinal joints together, minimizing the likelihood of injury.

Pioneers and Butterflies

For those of you who don’t know my mother, I like to call her: “Ms. Pioneer.” She would have preferred to live in the pioneer days instead of today.

When I was still living at home, our water heater went out. Before it was repaired, my mother ran water in the tub and then marched into the kitchen. “I’m going to take a bath like the pioneers did.” She politely ran water in a large bowl and stuck it in the microwave. “I’m gonna pour hot water in the tub.”