With the recent rainfall in the County, our roads are littered with the aftermath of the litter thrown from cars onto the roadsides. Our beautiful lakes have also suffered from this problem. As people may or may not realize, the run off in lots of places runs directly into our Norris Lake. It is a constant problem, and as Keep Union County Beautiful Director, I am asking for your help.

Please take a few minutes to pick up on your road, or if your road is in great shape pick up somewhere else!

Union County residents are invited to bring their unused or expired prescriptions to the Maynardville Sheriff's Dept on April 27th from 10am-2pm. The event aims to provide a safe, convenient location to dispose of prescription drugs and other medications and to raise awareness about the potential risks for abuse and misuse of certain medications, such as opioids. More than 15 tons of drugs were collected statewide on the last National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April of 2018.

On February 28, 2019, District Attorney General Jared Effler presented Certificates of Appreciation to Union County High School students (l to r) Jacob Hensley, Dylan Hensley, Tanner Maples, Andrew Anderson, Sawyer Henderson and Chris Burbage (not pictured Zach Hickman and Tyler Graves) for supporting the Children’s Centers of the Eighth Judicial District through their tireless efforts during the Third Annual Clays for Children Sporting Clays tournament. Because of their hard work, our Children’s Centers can continue the worthy mission of serving abused and neglected children.

Youth look for leaders and direction from people they trust, role models, and genuine folks. Young Life is a Christian outreach organization that has reached out and rooted in Union County providing opportunity for relationship connections and uplifting opportunities between the leaders and the youth in the area.

Family, community, and self-care are areas that Alyshia Victoria, who was recently hired as an Extension Agent in Union County, voices as focuses of importance in her life and in the county. Alyshia began work at the extension office shortly after the New Year and has been hastily working towards training and educating herself in a wide array of activities and programs in order to best serve the community.

Joe Pat McDonald smiles when he remembers his mother, the late Winnie McDonald.

And it's not surprising that he does. Mrs. McDonald passed away 15 years ago at the age of 95, but in those years she touched so many lives as a teacher, author and the Union County Historian. Joe Pat remembers growing up with Mrs. McDonald, his father the late Tad McDonald, and sister Sharon, in Sharps Chapel and later Maynardville. His mother, he said, had a great love of language, reading and poetry, and she loved all of her students, too.

Being from the south, I love to sop. Sop is another word for soak. My Mamaw Jo used to say “Sopping wet” instead of soaking wet. You can sop any type of juice with any type of bread. When I was a girl, I sopped Mamaw Myrtle’s homemade cornbread with juice from my pinto beans. My Papaw sopped every time he ate.

In the past, chiropractic treatment got mixed reviews from physicians. However, in early 2017, The American College of Physicians released new guidelines. It now supports the use of nonpharmacologic therapies, such as chiropractic and acupuncture, as first-line treatments for low back pain, before using medication.

A while back, I was about halfway through a busy Tuesday morning volunteer shift, greeting visitors, answering questions, and running the cash register. A young woman who had been standing back from the front desk came up to it and said, “They said I could use a phone here. I don’t know where I am and I’m kind of freaking out here.” Before I could answer a man standing nearby handed her his phone and, after she made a call, his wife came up and started talking to her. They walked out the door together.

If memory serves me correctly, the then sitting Union County Board of Education ousted sitting Director of Schools David F. Coppock in spring, 2001. Three months later, a new director, Dr. James Pratt from Albertville, Alabama had been hired. It was Dr. Pratt’s philosophy to let principals hire their own teachers and to make very few changes his first year in office. He did make at least one change during his second and final year—he moved me from principal at Sharps Chapel to principal at Luttrell.