Allison Baugh, Knoxville, Tennessee native, is a senior at the University of Tennessee, majoring in Agriculture, Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC) and minoring in Plant Sciences. She is a graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School and the youngest coming from a family with much experience at the University. Her older brother was a Forestry graduate in 2016. Also, her mother, from Spring City, and father, from Chattanooga, are both UT Alums. Allison anticipates graduating as a part of the May 2018 class.

The Union County 4-H Hog Club headed to the state competition last weekend, a truckload of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and the hogs they spent the fall and winter raising. The Hog Club has been going strong since 2014, teaching students valuable skills from animal care to public speaking.

Folks like to complain about “kids these days” with their heads in their phones all the time, but would you believe that the impetus for starting the Hog Club was a teenager? Union County’s UT Extension Agent Shannon DeWitt said it started as a little bit of a love story.

It is the time of year when we are counting down days until Christmas, finalizing shopping lists, spreading tinsel, and tying bows. As quickly as December sneaks up, June peaks around the corner. As we transition from snowflakes to sunshine, Union County 4-H is preparing for the upcoming 2018 4-H Camp! This December we have a special stocking stuffer that would be the perfect surprise for that special child, grandchild, niece or nephew that has it all.

Pie Contest Winners
Grand Prize $100 Elizabeth Tindell Carmel Pecan Pie
Fruit 1st $50 Abigail Foust Salted Caramel Pie, 2nd Kennedy Hill Apple Pie, 3rd Carrie Cook Apple Pie
Nut 1st $50 Abigail Foust Fudge Pecan Pie, 2nd Kathy Venturella Chocolate Pecan Pie,
3rd Emma McMillan Macadamia Nut Pie
Other 1st $50 Emma McMillan Chocolate Pie, 2nd Jonathan Tindell Chocolate Chess Pie,
3rd Jeremiah Tindell Butterfinger Pie

All entries received ribbons.

Rebecca Hughes of Union County Extension coordinated the event.

A fond memory from my childhood is packing the whole family, and quite often several friends, into the vehicle nearing the Christmas season. All of us children, and our parents too, itching with excitement waiting on the darkness to fall so all of the dainty lights could glow through the car windows. Simple or extravagant, that did not matter. The cruising, the laughing, and the twinkle from those beautiful Christmas lights that we had looked so forward to admiring are a strong memory from our youth.

Ashley Mike is a country girl through and through, with a life spent on a farm and a love of home, family and the outdoors. So, it's no surprise that she's found a career in the UT Extension, an organization dedicated to helping families and communities develop important rural skills, stay healthy and be successful right here at home.

Here's some great news for folks in Sharps Chapel. The Union County Farmers Market is coming to you with fresh, local produce, noon to 2 p.m. every Wednesday, at the Sharps Chapel Senior Center.

"We have tossed it around for awhile," said Beth Bergeron of UT Extension. "We realized that there were some regulars (from Sharps Chapel) that we hadn't seen in two years. Apparently, Saturdays are not good for that particular community."

Bergeron said the Wednesday market will continue in the Chapel as long as there is interest.