Historic Union County

Spreading the good news of Union County

Every August, on a bright and sunny summer morning, students from across East Tennessee load up their grills and meet at the Appalachian Gray Fair in Gray, Tennessee, between Kingsport and Johnson City.

A frequent question I hear is “Can I use an electric multi-cooker, such as the Instant Pot®, for canning?” Well, the answer is simple. No. Why? Below are some of the reasons:

John 21:12 KJV:
[12] Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine.
It’s the third meeting Jesus is hosting for some of his disciples after his Resurrection. Like any good host, Jesus wants everyone to be relaxed before they really get into the serious business at hand for them. So he starts his meeting with a fish fry as it were. Fish sandwiches to be exact or at least their version of a fish sandwich, which was simply bread and fish—a highly appropriate meal for a meeting with a bunch of fishermen, cooked by someone that once said, “man does not live by bread alone.” (Matthew 4:4)

The state of Tennessee is the greatest place on earth. I have not lived anywhere else so I might be a little partial but most that live here, or visit will agree it’s a pretty great place.
Tennessee has a list of things that are symbolic to the state. One of the most recognizable symbols is our state flag. The flag has the iconic three stars that represents the three parts of the state that have their own qualities due to geographical and cultural differences. Those differences come together to make a state like no other.

In the summertime, fresh from the garden, Mother would stir up a cucumber and onion salad. She never put sugar in her dish. I do. She combined vinegar, salt and water with the sliced cucumbers and onions. Mother never used sour cream in anything. We didn't have a refrigerator back in the day.

I started school eighty-six years ago. I was four years old. We lived in a tenant house on the farm owner’s land. Dad earned forty dollars a month milking cows and working in the fields. The Great Depression was well under way. Farm work was the only job Dad could find. He had worked previously as a lineman, setting poles and stringing telephone wire. Most country people didn’t have phones until them.

I was at the tender age of 16 when I received the message. It wasn’t a text since we didn’t have smartphones back in the ’80s. And no, it wasn’t a note somebody slipped to me during class. This one came from a higher source.

With autumn comes the nostalgia of the apple harvest, a fruit whose history goes back a long way. Legend and art have made the Tree of Knowledge that led to the downfall of Adam and Eve an apple, but the Bible only refers to a fruit. What follows is more apple knowledge of this famous fruit than you probably care to know.
Apples were first brought to America from England in 1629 by Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop. The first apples probably came from the trees Winthrop planted in Boston, from which “ten fair pippins” (apples) were picked in 1639.

Country Connections by James and Ellen Perry
It’s early autumn now, nights getting cooler, days getting shorter with cool mornings and warm afternoons. Some trees are showing color and goldenrods are bright yellow with flowers.
Goldenrods are the last honey flow for the bees before winter sets in. The reptiles are searching for underground places to overwinter in. Black bears and groundhogs are hunting food to build fat reserves for their upcoming hibernation.

After helping my mother put up our humble, four-foot artificial Christmas for a few years, the responsibility was turned over to me. I’m not sure Mother was ever really fond of putting up a Christmas tree. I had an unspoken rule that the tree was to be put up two weeks before Christmas and taken down the day after.

The annual application period for the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program is October 1-7, 2021. New application materials are available online and at the UT Extension office.
Please note Hay Storage and Hay Equipment rotate each program year. Hay Equipment will be offered in 2021-2022. Approval notifications are scheduled to be mailed mid-December.
Program purchases can be made starting October 1, 2021, and must be completed by the program’s final reimbursement request deadline.

It was 1972 and Bill Nickle was walking the steep mountainside of Hogskin Valley when he realized that his dream was becoming reality.
A dream born in the late 1960’s was starting to come to fruition as his vision of Narrow Ridge was laying before his eyes.

Tennessee SNAP Recipients Encouraged to Assess Food Needs and Spending

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in several decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is revising a guideline called the Thrifty Food Plan, which helps determine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits nationwide.

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The annual Northeast Tennessee Beef Expo is scheduled for October 7 at the Northeast Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center. A day of programs will educate beef producers on the latest research and practices.

After the experience of a nine-month pregnancy and delivery, few of life’s pleasures measure up to taking the new baby out to meet the world. That could be in the form of a walk, run or hike. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has some thoughts for you to keep in mind on how to best enjoy that experience and avoid injury.

Some people believe in them. Some don’t. No, I am not talking about aliens or
ghosts. I am referring to coincidences. Or as we say here in East Tennessee: “It just so happened.” Recently, we experienced quite a few of them in one afternoon.

I was on my way to work the other day. I was tuned in to the BBN radio station and heard a preacher tell a joke. A preacher was in the pulpit preaching his sermon. He noticed all through the sermon that a lady kept staring directly at him.
When the service ended, the lady marched up to the preacher and said, “There are frayed strings on your bow tie and they have been driving me crazy all through your sermon. Your attire is offensive to me!”

Apples make a delicious coffeecake. This recipe only takes two. What a good way to use up those two apples withering away in the fridge crisper drawer. Peel 'em and use 'em.

September is noted for having heavy dews that bejewel cobwebs and soak your feet when walking through grass. The reason is that nights are getting longer, which allows the grass and other objects more time to drop below the dew point temperature and moisture in the air condenses on the cooled surface. Dew forms on vegetation more readily than other surfaces such as pavement because leaves and grass typically are thin and suspended in the air, causing them to cool more readily to reach dew point temperature.

Holding true to the belief of freedom in reading, learning, imagining, discovering and creating, the Maynardville Public Library has three events on the fall calendar that students do not need to miss.
Providing an opportunity for independent education for our community since 1959, the Maynardville Public Library is continuing that through library card month which is currently taking place.