A little over 100 UCBPA members and citizens attended the first annual Light the Night in Wilson Park on December 1. Unfortunately the lights on the Emily Link Gazebo were on for only two seconds before the ground fault interrupter shut off the power.  Martin Shafer and Bill Collins, the county maintenance supervisor, spent much of December 4 correcting the issues and adding timers purchased by Union County Business and Professional Association. Thanks to the cooperation between Union County and UCBPA, the gazebo remained lighted each evening until after the holidays.

President Charlie Hamilton read the winning ticket number for the handmade Christmas Tree Quilt at the Union County Historical Society Christmas Brunch on December 17 at the Union County Museum. Judson Palmer won the quilt. Proceeds from the quilt donations will go toward helping pay for needed repairs.
Palmer announced that the museum will receive a grant from the Tennessee Museum to replace the flooring. The museum will most likely be closed from January 28 through most of February while the flooring work is completed.

Plainview announced the opening of the new bay at the Plainview Fire Station on December 30. The new bay is large enough to accommodate a 3500-gallon pumper.
“Having this large of a bay opens up all kinds of possibilities for us,” commented Brad Woods, Chief of Luttrell Volunteer Fire Department.
Chief Woods further explained that this new bay means that structure fires can be fought in Plainview, Luttrell and especially in parts of the county where no hydrants exist with minimal transporting of water.

Union County Retired Teachers Association sponsored a luncheon on December 6 at the Union County Senior Center. UCRTA provided pizza and dessert while the Senior Center added the drinks and warm hospitality and fellowship for all attendees.
The Union County High School Chorus performed a medley of holiday tunes under the direction of Hannah Haynes. Dawn Patelke entertained on the piano with Joy to the World. UCRTA made a donation to the chorus program and thanked all for attending. Everyone went home with treat bags and joyful hearts.

Happy New Year everyone. This is Tammie and I have hijacked Isabella’s article this month.
I thought I would share a little bit of my journey as the mother of a child that is differently abled. I will start with a little backstory of why we consider Isabella our miracle child.
We struggled for several years to get pregnant and during this time I had three miscarriages and lost Isabella’s twin sister at 22 weeks gestation. Isabella was born 13 weeks prematurely and weighed one pound and five ounces at birth.

A new study published in BMJ Open sheds light on potential benefits of chiropractic care for adults with radicular low back pain (i.e., sciatica). The study looked at the relationship between chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (CSMT) and the prescription of gabapentin, an off-label treatment for radicular low back pain.

Driving through South Dakota was interesting on so many different levels. One very noticeable difference for me at the time was that over a third of the other customers we saw at truck stops were masked. This was Fall 2019 Covid season. This was noticeable because we seldom saw people wearing masks in ID, MT or WY. I was kinda surprised to see this in SD - I guess just because of the vast emptiness all around us.

A Good Dog. Every man should sometime in his life be blessed with a good dog. A dog that is as smart as Lassie. Every dog isn’t as smart as Lassie. Most are dumb as a block and lazy to boot.
There are large dogs, medium size dogs and some that resemble a dust mop. Some dogs belong to blue-haired women who put ribbons on their heads and paint their toenails pink. I don’t think the dogs care what color their toenails are or what color the ribbons are. They (the dogs) still like to sniff each other and eat roadkill. They’re dogs.

I want to thank Marilyn Toppins for her article on Union County’s mayor and commissioners, along with the TVA and TWRA to decide to drastically change Big Ridge State Park to appeal to motorhomes and campers, and to ignore local residents’ need for a recreational facility nearby. Norris Lake has been bought by outsiders and is, for now, closed to locals for swimming, fishing and camping.

We played a fun game at Storytelling Camp a few years ago. Each person told three statements about themselves, but one had to be false. Then we guessed which one was untrue. I had so much fun. Best of all, everyone incorrectly guessed which of mine were false. Can’t say that I blame them.
I don’t remember what my other two statements were but, the true one that fooled everyone was: “I kissed John Schneider.” Yep, I kissed the guy who played Bo Duke on the “Dukes of Hazard.”
Of course, everybody wanted me to tell them the story of how I managed to accomplish that feat.