What could be more fun for students than spending a day experiencing Ag in the Classroom activities? During the Annual Union County Farm Day on October 27, the Farm Bureau brought farm lessons to the students at Sharps Chapel Elementary.

With aging comes a tendency for the head and the neck to shift forward from the shoulders. Over time, this tendency will make the upper back more rounded and noticeable. This area of the back is sometimes referred to as the “hump pad,” and it’s a result of the body depositing fat over the newly exposed area. more technically it’s known as an upper thoracic hump, a reference to the thoracic part of the spine.

The Union County Heritage Festival Art Show on October 2 had nearly 100 entries. Betty Bullen and her staff welcomed numerous artists and tourists to Union County.

Nearly 3,000 visitors answered the Union County Heritage Festival invitation to “Take a Country Road” to historic Maynardville, the cradle of country music, for the 16th annual event on October 2.
Visitors clapped hands and tapped toes to tunes by Flashback, Southern Spirit, Norris Freeway, Sleepy Eyed John, The Gospel Strings, Joseph Hensley and Dustin Ford. They marveled at young Silas Tian's fiddle playing of “Millionaire's Hoedown” and celebrated Eric Nafziger, Austin Stovall, and Marshal Murphy as they placed first, second and third in the 3rd annual Heritage Fiddle Contest.

1 Peter 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.
Today we have a lot of misunderstanding regarding what Peter is trying to communicate in the above verse. I once heard a prominent TV preacher theorize from this scripture that Jesus Spirit while he was in the grave literally entered into hell (the under-world, Hades, Limbo, Purgatory, an intermediate place for the lost, choose your own noun) to give a second chance at redemption to those people long dead.
“Houston, we have a problem!”

Country Connections by James and Ellen Perry
Sitting on the porch this mid-October afternoon the leaves turning to their glorious fall colors, the afternoon sun throwing dark shadows from the hickories, oaks, black gums and dogwoods in my yard brings back memories of this time of the year in the early 1950s.
The fall and winter wish book had arrived a few days earlier from Sears and Roebuck. We all took turns slowly looking through the wish book making mental notes as to what we would tell our mother and dad as to what we wanted to order for our winter clothing and footwear.

I should have known better, but I let the image in my mind get the best of me.
Jaimie was one of the few girls I played with while growing up. I don’t remember how old I was exactly when I got to spend the night with her. I may have been around nine years old. Anyway, I was so excited for my little adventure. That is until supper that evening.
Her mother had fixed a roast with veggies. I have always loved roasts, so I was ready to dig in until her dad sat down at the table. The first thing he said was, “That’s a possum I caught.” Yep, he was pointing to the roast.

Big Ridge State Park had a record year last year in visitation despite being closed for about a month in the spring.
This summer was another record year for Big Ridge as it was for all parks across the nation. As the season winds down the staff here at Big Ridge can finally take a deep breath.
Everyone that works at Big Ridge deserves a great big shout out for their hard work the last couple of years. We truly have a great team working together.

I try most every yeast bread dough that comes along. These doughnuts are especially good. They are light, airy and melt-in-your-mouth yeast raised doughnuts and stir together quickly. They don't need kneading. That is a plus. Try them.

I had lunch with some dear friends today. One was Debbie Gillenwater, currently co-director of the Union County Family Resource Center. Many Union Countians will remember Ms. Debbie as a wonderful first grade teacher at Maynardville Elementary School.