Rewind Momma

My mother was so excited when she came into my house carrying a small bag. As for me, I soon regretted it.
You see, she had just bought a box set of Christmas movies for Sara. VHS tapes. Yep, this was a few years ago. Anyway, at this time, Sara was a toddler and mom wanted her to enjoy all of the old TV shows we had enjoyed over the years. One of these movies was, “Frosty the Snowman.”

Big Macs and Birth Control

I was talking recently to a lady. In the course of our conversation, she told me that she has two children, one a post high school graduate, the other an early elementary student. I remarked that there was a lot of years between her two children’s ages. She told me that she lost a lot of weight before conceiving her second child. We determined then and there that Big Macs were a good form of birth control.

Coconut Macaroons

There have been times I needed a package of coconut macaroons to make a dessert recipe. If you do too, this is a good one to save you a trip to the store.

Old Christmas

You can learn a lot from talking with elders. In a conversation about Christmas with my mother some years ago I learned that the Christmas of her childhood had an extra bit of celebration. Her father Sillus Day would always hold back some candy from Christmas in a big, locked chest and would give it out on January 6, a day he called “Old Christmas”.

UT Launches Farm-to-Table Beef Program

Cuts of beef from the UT Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center are now being prepared and served as part of a new farm-to-table program on the UT Knoxville campus. Image by M. Patterson, courtesy Aramark, which operates UT Dining Services.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – High-quality, locally sourced ‘UT Beef’ is now being served on the University of Tennessee Knoxville campus.

Produced at UT’s Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Greeneville, and being prepared and served through an agreement with UT Dining Services managed by Aramark, the farm-to-table effort supports sustainable agricultural production by utilizing locally grown beef as a reliable food source while maximizing supply chain resiliency.

Big Ridge FCE

Back Row - Connie Wilder, Gloria Holcomb, Glenda Cooke, Carol Pratt, Shirley Grabko, Leslie Sharpe
Bottom row - UT Extension Agent Alyshia Victoria, Brenda Osborne, Sharon Hansard, Linda Effler, Margie Collins, Lyndora Lindsay, Sherry Jones, Kaye Whaley, Ashley Mike UT Extension Administrative Assistant.

The Big Ridge Family Community Education Club celebrated with a festive lunch on Dec. 16th at St.Teresa’s Catholic Church. After a short business meeting and donations made to a local Food Bank and a needy family, the group exchanged small gifts. A game of Secret / Dirty Santa was played and enjoyed by everyone. Lunch consisted of lots of delicious Finger Foods.

Panicked Papas

There’s nothing like a good last-minute adventure, especially one on Christmas Eve. This happened to me many years when my daughter Sara was still small.
It started on December 23rd when we went to a cousin’s house for an early Christmas gathering. I so enjoyed being with my family and watching Sara open her gifts. That is until she opened the one with a doll.

Back Pain Shows Association With Increased Mortality Risk In Women Part II

New research from Boston Medical Center identifies elevated mortality risk for women with back pain when compared to women without back pain.

The research cites chiropractic care among the treatments that are effective and safe for managing back pain.

Beautiful Clichés

It is rarely that anything seems to surprise me. I suppose that is common as one grows older, but occasionally I am reminded that there might be a few surprises yet to come.
I went to the credit union to pay my car payment earlier in the week. I walked in just barely before the lobby closed. I walked up to the only available teller, a friendly young lady who grew prettier in my estimation throughout our brief encounter.

Old Christmas Superstitions

Christmas has been well entrenched in our culture for centuries, with most of our traditions coming over from Europe with the early settlers. It’s not surprising that superstitions about Christmas worked their way into the holiday. Here are a few that have hung around

Smashed Spiced Sweet Potatoes

I like sweet potatoes about any way you can fix them. In fact, I buy a 20 pound box of sweet potatoes every fall from a man who brings them up from the Carolinas and parks in front of Janet’s Hair Salon in beautiful downtown Maynardville. It takes me all year to finish that box. I am always looking for new ways to fix them. I come up with this recipe the other day. It is a variation of a rutabaga recipe I tried. They are spicy but not like a pumpkin pie. Try them and see what you think.

UCHS welcomes new head coach Steve Smith

"Friday nights lights" is a phrase used quite often by many community members and fans as they talk about the excitement around their hometown football games.
Whether the team has a winning or losing streak for the year, there is a nostalgia surrounding Friday night lights.
High school students celebrate the event with face paint and cow bells, while the football players prepare themselves by wearing their jerseys to school that day.

String up your Christmas lights

Do you love decorating for the holidays? Do you love driving around to see Christmas lights? We have a fun contest for everyone who likes Christmas lights.
UT Extension Union County will host its annual Light Up Union County Contest in 2021 to get our town decorated for the holiday season. Whether your skill is closer to the Charlie Brown tree or Clark Griswold, we want to see your lights.

Reed elected BOE chair pro tem

Periodic absences for various reasons continue to cause the Union County Board of Education to barely have a quorum.
At the November school board meeting, Chairman David Coppock and Vice Chairman Marty Gibbs were absent along with Brad Griffey from Luttrell. Dr. Jimmy Carter, Director of Union County Schools, chaired the workshop and oversaw the election of Andrew Reed, who represents District 6 (Paulette), as the Chairman Pro Tem to preside at the November meeting.

Aaron Russell and Shannon DeWitt are Man and Woman of 2021

Aaron Russell with 2021 Man of the Year award, Shannon DeWitt accepts 2021 Woman of the Year from Martin Shafer.

Aaron Russell and Shannon DeWitt are Man and Woman of 2021
Union County Business & Professional Association named Aaron Russell and Shannon DeWitt as Man and Woman of 2021 at its Annual Banquet on November 19, at Hubbs Grove Fellowship Hall.
Aaron Russell, publisher of Historic Union County News, was praised by Robbie Corum, the 2020 Man of the Year, for Aaron's “out of the box thinking.” With this “tackle the unknown attitude,” Aaron has given Union County its first online newspaper, as well as a printed monthly edition.

4-H welcomes new agent in UC

Olivia Howard, Union County 4-H Agent

Last month, Olivia Howard joined the UT Extension Office here in Union County as the full-time 4-H agent. Olivia was born in Kansas, lived in Michigan and moved to the Knoxville area when she was in 4th grade where her love for agriculture started.
This led her to pursue a degree in Animal Science at the University of Tennessee. Olivia’s experience in Extension started when she completed an internship with the Knox County Extension Office in summer of 2020 where she worked in agriculture and natural resources.

Back Pain Shows Association With Increased Mortality Risk In Women Part I

New research from Boston medical Center identifies elevated mortality risk for women with back pain when compared to women without back pain. Back pain was not associated with mortality among men, indicating long-term consequences of back pain may differ by sex. The overall findings suggest that mild back pain (pain that does not keep a person from exercising or doing daily activities) is unlikely to impact the length of one’s life, but risk of mortality was increased among adults with more severe back pain.

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