if you need a sugar-free snack, this is for you. Unflavored gelatin takes the place of fruit pectin. Give it a try.

Graduation time is upon us. It’s that time of year every teenager looks forward to—the moment students complete their foundational education and close a chapter of their lives to move on to a new one, more exciting than the last.

After several meetings and much discussion, the Union County Commission passed a resolution at its May meeting to fund the Union County Chamber of Commerce with the majority of the hotel/motel tax annual revenues. The resolution will give the chamber 80% of the last three years average.

At its May meeting, the Union County Board of Education passed a balanced budget with increased funding. Teacher salaries will increase due to a raise in beginning teacher pay from $36,000 to $37,000. This raise causes an increase throughout the scale. There will be no longevity pay for seniority since all educators will get an increase in pay.

The 2020 season at the Union County Farmers Market will be an exciting one, as changes are in the air. Not only does the market look a little different as everyone tries to follow public safety guidelines during this pandemic, there will be other changes in 2020.

While the pandemic has kept people at home, the Heritage Festival Committee has been busy planning the 16th Annual Union County Heritage Festival.
October 3, 2020, is the date to circle on the calendar.

In a recent study of movement-based interventions, researchers discovered that longer duration and high-dose yoga intervention showed reductions in back pain while tai chi reduced acute lower back pain in males in their 20s. Tai chi also was more effective than stretching for lower back pain in young males. In the general community, tai chi showed greater reductions in pain intensity, bothersomeness of pain symptoms, and pain-related disability than the control intervention.

Union County native Kennedy Hill is not your average high school graduate.
She is one of the valedictorians for the Union County High School Class of 2020, she served as the Beta Club vice president and Horace Maynard FFA Chapter president, and has acquired approximately 400 service hours with 4-H over the past four years.
Hill ran for homecoming queen for FFA this past fall raising over $14,000 for her FFA chapter and is currently a state finalist for the Swine Production Proficiency award through FFA (to be announced on June 2).

Are you looking for a reason to play golf?
Union County Business & Professional Association (UCBPA) will hold its 26th Scholarship Benefit Golf Classic on Saturday, June 27, at Three Ridges Golf Course at 1 p.m.

If you have lost or misplaced your 2020 Census Form that came by mail, you can complete your form by phone from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day. For English call (844) 330-2020, or to hear Spanish call (844) 468-2020. Depending on how many people live in your household, the census takes about 10 minutes. You will need to verify your address and then answer 10 questions for each person who lived in the household on April 1.