Union County churches and community groups stepped up amidst a season of cancellations and closures and packed 2,979 shoebox gifts for needy children around the world. Shoebox gifts prepared by generous donors were filled with toys, hygiene items and school supplies and were collected during National Collection Week, Nov. 16 – 23, at Milan Baptist Church.
Each shoebox collected will reach the hands of a child who may be receiving his or her very first gift. Every child who receives a shoebox gift will also have the opportunity to hear the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Union County Commission closed out its final meeting for 2020 by supporting a couple of changes with huge local impact.
It seems that local cattle producers are enduring a waitlist of 18 to 24 months to get their beef processed.
Commissioner Jeff Brantley brought the issue to Commission's attention and introduced James Acuff, a Grainger County Commissioner and President of Grainger County Cattle Association to explain the issue.

At the November 2020 Budget & Finance Meeting, Chairman Larry Lay and the other members of the Union County Budget and Finance Committee along with Mayor Jason Bailey noted that all Union County Government Commission and Committee meetings scheduled for December are being postponed to January due to concerns over the pandemic and no urgent business to conduct.

Out of concern for the rise in COVID-19 cases and the need to keep its citizens safe, the City of Plainview is canceling the December meeting for the Board of Aldermen (City Council), the Planning Commission, and the Neighborhood Watch. Municipal Court will meet as usual during December and January.
Senior Brunch is canceled until the Governor's Emergency Order expires.
Regular meetings will resume with the Planning Commission and the Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, and the Neighborhood Watch on Thursday, January 21.

Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available for the treatment of neuromusculoskeletal complaints. Although chiropractic has an excellent safety record, no health treatment is completely free of potential adverse effects. The risks associated with chiropractic, however, are very small. Many patients feel immediate relief following chiropractic treatment, but some may experience mild soreness, stiffness or aching, just as they do after some forms of exercise.

Pearl Harbor
by Frank "Tommy" Sharp
Tension had been rising between Japan and the United States for years. Japan’s position in the Far (Kennedy, 1994) East over the “China Incident” (Marco Polo Bridge) was more perilous by the hour from which it couldn’t extract neither honor nor victory. It was fatally dependent on immense shipments from the United States of scrap iron, oil and aviation gasoline, getting 90 percent of her oil from the United States. Such assistance was highly unpopular in America.

Multi-published author Brooke Cox says that while it hasn’t taken an actual millennium to write her latest book, it often seemed that long since she penned the first draft of her latest release, Dinosaur Eggs.

I try to keep acorn squash on hand during the winter months. If I am baking something, I can slip it in the oven and have an easily prepared veggie to go with whatever meat we would be having for supper. It will be done in about half an hour. You can double the sauce if you need more to cover the squash.

The term “mill” has several meanings. In regards to the historic site at Big Ridge State Park called the Norton Grist Mill, it was used for grinding dry corn kernels into cornmeal.
The idea behind this type of mill was to use the energy of a stream’s running water to power the mill. Inside of the mill, the power was used to turn a large flat stone on top of another stone to grind the corn. Some mills used their energy for other tasks like sawing lumber, blowing air into a furnace of a foundry, or pumping water uphill.

Country Connections By James and Ellen Perry
The sun had made its daily trip through Southeast Alabama and had set in the west. Everyone that night in the Elmer Hunter home near Columbia, Alabama, was enjoying supper, and after eating, cleaned the table, washed the dishes and retired to the center room to sit around the fireplace while listening to the radio, talking small talk and getting ready to retire to bed.