Spencer Cox and Patrick Middleton were friends who loved to fish before they became partners to compete professionally four years ago.

The City of Plainview awarded its 2021 Academic Achievement Scholarship to Mason Weaver. The annual scholarship for $500 is given to the graduating senior with the highest grade point average who resides in Plainview. Mayor Chandler congratulated Mason for his outstanding academic achievement and and thanked his parents for all of their support for him.

Despite the many drawbacks forced upon students during the 2020 ‒ 2021 school year due to the coronavirus, Union County High School seniors managed to make their mark with scholarships and awards. Each of these students listed below deserve a huge round of applause.

Every year in the spring, the park hires a Seasonal Interpretive Ranger. This person’s job for the summer is to interact with the park visitors. One of the most important jobs at the park is the Seasonal Interpretive Ranger (just called SIR for short).

Late one afternoon while sitting on the porch, shadows getting long, a song came on the computer. It was a pretty song by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood and released in 1966.
The first line lyrics were, “Strawberries, cherries and an angel kiss in spring.” The name of the song was “Summer Wine.”
While listening to the song I drifted back to 1956 and the summer when I turned eleven years old.

Just as surely as a purple finch is crimson, the stories I share with you in this article are true to the best of my ever-aging memory.
I was probably about 12 years old. I was visiting with my sister Ruby’s family at her house in East Knoxville. Ruby was actually my half-sister, the oldest daughter and second child from my father’s first marriage.
Ruby’s husband was Alfred John “Buddy” Foulks, Sr., a captain with the Knoxville City Fire Department. They had four children, though the first three were older than me, grown and living on their own.

Humans seem hardwired to fear snakes, and it is useful to help us be cautious around poisonous species.
But most snake species found in our area are harmless and perform a useful service of keeping rodent populations in check.
There are two well-known poisonous ones in our woods where caution is advised, though.

I bet you’ll never guess what my favorite jewelry was when I was a girl. Here’s a hint: it could be rather itchy at times.
When I was kid, we mainly played outside. No smart phones or computer games. Just us and the great outdoors. This was especially true at school where the schoolyard was blessed with little wildflowers. At the time, we didn’t know their names. All that mattered was the fact that we could make jewelry out of their blooms.

2 Timothy 4:3 KJV
[3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Have you ever scratched a hound dog behind its ears? Dogs just can’t seem to get enough ear scratching. I can recall countless times when my boyhood hound dog Sam would cozy up to me, nudge my hand and encourage me to scratch behind his ears. Seems like Sam especially enjoyed this if I told him he was a “good dog.”

Imagine you are seven years old and you have just been awakened in the middle of the night, maybe by police officers or apologetic social workers, and ripped from your parents’ arms.
If you’re lucky, you’re handed a trash bag to toss your entire life into. If not, then you may find yourself arriving empty-handed to a state office where a frazzled, full-time employee will try to wash the lice out of your hair in the bathroom sink, then stick you under a waiting room chair to sleep for the two days you’ll most likely be there.