Last year I wrote my first article for Historic Union News on “Union County Health Council Working Hard to Improve Lives in Our Community.” Of course, the Coronavirus derailed so many things including Health Council meetings — although the Health Department continued its important work of keeping services available to our community while also striving to educate and address the pandemic.
With the new year, the Health Council is looking for ways to be more effective in making life better in our community.

It’s Chick Chain time in Union County!
The 4-H Chick Chain is one of the best 4-H projects to get started with.
This year, we will again be ordering from Cackle Hatchery in Lebanon, Missouri. These chickens will be layers, meaning they will lay a lot of eggs. The other main type of bird in the chicken industry is a broiler, which is used for meat production.

New research shows that people with chronic low back pain have better results from yoga and physical therapy compared to reading evidence-based self-help materials. While this finding was consistent across many patient characteristics, a much larger effect was observed among those already taking pain medication to treat their condition and those who did not fear that exercise would make their back pain worse.

Zola Hurst
After my father returned from Europe at the end of World War II, he along with my mother and me moved to his home county that was Union County, Tennessee.
For two-and-a-half years they rented a home in the Central Peninsula that is now called the Chuck Swan Management Area. Then they moved to the Hacker place between Hickory Valley and Kettle Hollow.

Dr. John C. Osborn was only 18 months old when his father started dental school, so in a sense, he’s been through it twice.
He grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, but his mother’s family was from Knoxville, so there were plenty of visits to this part of the country.
At 15, Osborn started working in his father’s lab, pouring moldings and such, so it was always front and center as a career path choice. After graduating from high school he moved to Chattanooga for college, then on to Nashville for dental school.

Big Ridge State Park is a perfect example of the ridge and valley topography that makes up most of East Tennessee. These ridges in the park are surrounded on all sides by Norris Lake.
All this together makes for a great place to hike — great for the beginner hiker as well as the experienced.

An ecologist named Joseph Grinnell way back in 1936 once asked how it was that oak trees could colonize the tops of hills and ridges. Acorns are too heavy for wind to disperse them, and gravity tends to make them travel downhill rather than up. He concluded that animals must be responsible for getting acorns to high places.
Many animals use acorns as a valuable winter food source. Deer, turkey, wild pigs, and bears are heavy users, but an eaten acorn cannot germinate and make a tree.

Want a yeast roll that doesn't require kneading? This recipe stirs up fast. Of course, it does take an hour or so to proof. Then they are shaped and set to rise again. It is great for the holidays. You can set it out of the way to rise. When your oven is freed up will be time enough to bake them. If you prefer another shape of rolls, do whatever you like.

Matthew 16:19 - And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Please be aware it is not my intent to be divisive, to exclude anyone or any church denomination. The Gospel itself will take care of that in due time. However, I don’t think I could pick a better chapter than Matthew Chapter 16 to jump flat-footed right in the middle of the fray regarding divisions within the Christian church over doctrinal differences.

I absolutely love colors. That’s why I paint so often.
Let me clarify that: I only paint walls.
If you have read any of my previous articles, you know I don’t have any artistic abilities — at all. I even struggle to do a paint by number correctly.