Historic Union County

Spreading the good news of Union County

Carrots are great dressed up with just a little butter, salt and pepper. They peak their orangy heads out of soups and stews, too. Carrots and orange are a great combination as well. Try it.

Everyone who has walked off the beaten path has had an unfortunate run in with sawbriar (Smilax glauca). It's the green woody vine that wraps around your legs and proceeds to slice into your skin with sharp thorns.

Grab your cowboy hat and join us at Union County's annual rodeo and festival featuring rodeo contestants competing in calf roping, bull riding, barrel racing, team roping, bareback riding, and bronco riding. Prizes awarded to the top 4 finalists. For the young and young at heart: pony rides, face painting, fair food, and western-wear vendors. Visit Union County Rodeo for two days of excitement, competition, and fun.

Walk the Market!, as Union Gets Movin’ with the Farmers Market once again! This program is designed to promote a more active lifestyle increasing overall health, as well as building community. Afterall, the market is “where the community meets.” The program will begin on Saturday, August 14 at the Union County Farmers Market – sign-up when you arrive! They are open from 10am – 1pm through Saturday, October 2.

The Union County Farmers Market on Saturday, August 7 was all about the corn. The Annual Youth and Corn Festival took place at Wilson Park and included competition and activities for the entire family.
After a welcome from Union County Mayor Jason Bailey, Keaton Roach opened the festival with his beautiful a cappella version of the Star Spangled Banner, then led the crowd in The Pledge of Allegiance.

(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — Today, State Rep. Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro) announced that House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) is the keynote speaker for this year’s Campbell County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. 

Good posture is the correct alignment of body parts supported by the right amount of muscle tension against gravity. Without posture and the muscles that control it, we would simply fall to the ground. Several muscle groups, including the hamstrings and large back muscles, are critically important in maintaining good posture. While the ligaments help to hold the skeleton together, these postural muscles, when functioning properly, prevent the forces of gravity from pushing us over forward.

The term “hair pony” has a special place in my heart. Ever heard of it? Chances are you have them in your home.
A hair pony is any kind of hair accessory. My daughter Sara came up with that phrase when she was a little girl. She confused the term pony tail with the band that held her hair in the pony tail. She absolutely loved having her hair fixed. Me, not so much.

In last week’s article I wrote about “firsts” in life. Also important in life are the “lasts”.
The Scripture records in Matthew 20:16 (KJV): “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” I have over the years attended many meetings and church services. When presenters at meetings or preachers during sermons utter the word “finally” or another similar expression, it seems to have an effect on the audience or congregation. It seems if not another word in the entire presentation excited interest, that one word or expression indicating the end is near breathes new life into a weary group.

There are only a few ways to fix fresh sweet corn. Here is a different one. I hope you like it.

The more I learn about plants the more I realize they are not the inanimate life forms they seem to be. Yes, animals are cool with the leg and wing thingees that allows them to move about and get our attention. But plants now, plants stand there quiet all day long and perform a miracle: they make things appear out of thin air.

The Union County Farmers Market Annual Youth and Corn Festival will be returning to Wilson Park on Saturday, August 7. Mark your calendar, plan to join us and have some fun!
The Youth and Corn Fest will have activities for the entire family. There will be contests, like the Corniest Joke Contest. Cornhole will be available for family play and the Children’s Tent will be staffed by the Union County Retired Teachers Association where there will be crafts, activities, and StoryThyme every hour. There will be food trucks and of course, corn!

Every summer 4-H Camp is anticipated by 4-H-ers across Tennessee. Union County youths go to Clyde Austin 4-H Center in Greeneville. Typically, it is a week-long camp where students stay in the cabins and stay busy daylight to dark. This year, as everyone eased back into normal, 4-H camp looked a little different. As many camp activities as possible were packed into a one-day event in June, full of fun activities and new friendships.

Collins Insurance Agency took first place in the 2021 UCBPA Scholarship Benefit Classic held at Three Ridges Golf course in Knox County. Team captain Josh Collins also sponsored the Putting Contest.
Second place honors went to Ryan Burkhart's Team. When GRIID Infrastructure's team had a last-minute conflict, D Jay Taylor offered to play for GRIID. D Jay's team brought home third place for GRIID Infrastructure.

It’s time to get those quilts ready for the 16th Annual Union County Heritage Festival Quilt Show on October 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Union County Museum at 3824 Maynardville Highway in Maynardville.
All quilters are invited to bring their quilts to the museum on Thursday, September 30, between 1:30 and 6 p.m. Ellen Perry and Patricia Campbell will be at the museum to accept entries. Quilts will be judged and ribbons placed to be ready for viewing on Saturday during the festival.

Colleen Beeler, Leadership Union County President, introduced the Class of 2021 to Government Day on July 20.
The itinerary began with a trip to the Union County courthouse to become acquainted with the elected officials. Kicking off the day was Judge Darryl Edmondson, Sessions and Juvenile Court, who related the duties of the various courts.

UT Extension Union County is actively taking applications for a third Extension Agent in the county. There are currently two agents.
Shannon DeWitt is the County Director and Agriculture and 4-H Agent, and Alyshia Victoria is the Family and Consumer Science and 4-H Agent, with the agents splitting the responsibilities for 4-H.

In the July Union County Board of Education Meeting, Director of Schools Dr. Jimmy Carter explained that trying to develop a plan for the use of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds was extremely challenging due to the changes in the requirements that seem to occur almost daily.

At home south of Tennessee, we had been thinking about our trip to East Tennessee for weeks when the time finally arrived to attend my annual high school class reunion in Maynardville.
We normally take I-285 over to I-75 then northward to Knoxville but a close friend of mine suggested using State Route 411 to bypass the interstate.

Poor posture can lead to excessive strain on our postural muscles and may even cause them to lose tone when held in certain positions for long periods of time. For example, you can typically see this in people who bend forward at the waist for a prolonged time in the workplace. Their postural muscles are more prone to injury and back pain.