Fried apples are an old timey breakfast treat. Back in Depression days before WWll, fresh oranges and bananas, for instance, were out of reach for most farm families. You made do with what you had. We usually had apples.

Pie Contest Winners
Grand Prize $100 Elizabeth Tindell Carmel Pecan Pie
Fruit 1st $50 Abigail Foust Salted Caramel Pie, 2nd Kennedy Hill Apple Pie, 3rd Carrie Cook Apple Pie
Nut 1st $50 Abigail Foust Fudge Pecan Pie, 2nd Kathy Venturella Chocolate Pecan Pie,
3rd Emma McMillan Macadamia Nut Pie
Other 1st $50 Emma McMillan Chocolate Pie, 2nd Jonathan Tindell Chocolate Chess Pie,
3rd Jeremiah Tindell Butterfinger Pie

All entries received ribbons.

Rebecca Hughes of Union County Extension coordinated the event.

Best of Show - Debbie Toney for Good Morning Clinch Mountain

Best Union County Heritage - Carol Pratt with Molasses Making

First Place - Ruth Mihaltion for Billy Joe

Tie for 2nd Place - Shirley Keaton for Blue and Yellow and Ann GlennSherrill for Hickory Valley Farm

Tie for 3rd Place - Dianne Becker for Tribal Girl and Ann Glennsherrill for Fall In The Leaves

5 Honorable Mentions to - 1) Sherry Railey for Dog Days of Autumn 2) Ellen Perry for Zinnia Garden 3) Sloan Becker for Farm House 4) Nikki Riddle for Birds 5) Stephen Hamilton for Hidden Pond

Friends and neighbors gathered at Wilson Park in Union County TN, many driving their antique cars for the cruise in and the lighting of the Christmas tree. I drove my 1929 Ford replica and parked next to the Veterans Wall to be part of this event. The tree at the top of the hill stands approximately 20 feet tall and shaped nearly perfect. It is not just an ordinary tree, it is special, placed in that particular spot and folks gathered to celebrate the beginning of the Christmas holidays.

Students walking to and from Luttrell Elementary School will soon be a bit safer with a grant from Safe Routes to School.

The federally funded program, which promotes the health benefits of walking and biking to school, will fund the paving and lighting of an existing path that residents at Lafollette Housing Authority apartments in Luttrell use to get to school, Luttrell City Park, and Luttrell Library. The $98,000 grant includes funding for the path, along with an education component, including traffic safety classes for kids and educational materials.

As the rain rolled off the skylights and wind beat the window panes, Cruz Contreras and Sam Quinn of the Black Lillies tempered the crowd with the somber emotional sounds of “Whiskey Angel”. The enthusiastic audience whistled and clapped their appreciation at last Saturday night's house concert hosted by Knox Heritage at Westwood on Kingston Pike. The concert was one of many fundraisers to pay off the note for Westwood. Knox Heritage and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance contributed various resources and materials to help restore Oak Grove School in Sharps Chapel.

Several people have called me after the stories about tattooing houses. One call was from Robert Lee “Bobby” Fields, whom I have not seen since school days and had not spoken with in over 60 years. It seems that Edgebert Lee and Melba Lovell had stopped by to see him and brought a copy of the Union County Shopper. Bobby and his wife now live at Strawberry Plains. Bobby retired from Bell South with 37 years of service.

Bread pudding is an old fashioned dessert. Back in the day you made do with what you had. Going to the grocers more than once a week was unheard of. Bread pudding was my first attempt at making a fancy dessert. It was at my second job. I made ten dollars a week plus room and board.

A very prominent educator suggested we use this slogan for www.HistoricUnionCounty.com, "Today's Events are Tomorrow's History”. We all know we can’t change history, but we can improve our future by knowing the successes and failures of our past. Our goal for www.HistoricUnionCounty.com is to promote businesses and bring jobs to our community.

The miracles found in snow stems back to when I was a little girl, about 6 or 7. The Christmas forecast was for sunny and warm temperatures, in the 60s, but I prayed for a white Christmas. I had the childlike faith that it would snow. My grandfather, Roscoe, was teasing me by saying, "It's not going to snow. It's going to be too warm." I replied, "Don't you believe in the Bible?