Nothing in this world lasts forever. I offer a personal example. In 2009 I had my basement waterproofed. The sump pump came with a lifetime guarantee of free replacement if it malfunctioned. Just this past Thursday the dreaded malfunction came after twelve years. The basement again flooded. The company is going to honor its warranty and replace the pump free of charge, though I will have to pay the service fee, of course.
While trying to salvage as much as possible of the waterlogged contents, I came across my wife’s 1968 Horace Maynard High School Echo, her yearbook from her senior year. Inside the yearbook was a copy of the Union County Times, 16th Year—Number 16, Thursday, May 16, 1968. A single copy of the paper was five cents.
This is a fascinating piece of Union County history. The lead story on the front page was “Seventy-Seven Seniors Graduating”, featuring a picture of the HMHS Class of 1968 standing outside the old front doors of the school. Another picture on page one was of members of the Maynardville Elementary PT-A (sic) Helen Graham, treasurer; Doris Graves, president elect; Dorothy Williams, immediate past president; and Ann Richardson, vice-president. These ladies attended the annual convention of the Tennessee Congress of Parent-Teachers, Inc., held in Chattanooga April 23-25. Also attending the convention, but not pictured, were delegates from the Luttrell PT-A Mrs. Mary Hill, Mrs. Jean Skeen and Mrs. Judy Stowers. The third and final picture on page one was of SP/4 Keith A. Adkins, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Adkins, Maynardville, who was named Soldier of the Month for the 97th Engineers Construction Battalion serving in Permashans, Germany. For this honor, SP/4 Adkins received two three-day passes and a $25 defense bond.
Another item on page one was “Two Receive Heart Fund Service Awards”. Jake Butcher, of Maynardville, and Mrs. George (Judy) Day, of Harrogate were awarded Distinguished Service Awards of the American Heart Association for serving as Heart Fund Chairman for their counties. Bo Shafer, general campaign chairman, announced the award at the 19th Annual Meeting of the East Tennessee Heart Association held at the Senator’s Club, Knoxville, May 7. Butcher and his volunteers raised over $700, a new record for the county. Butcher was also named to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Association and to a two-year term as a delegate to the Tennessee Heart Association Annual Meeting and General Assembly. Fourteen years later Jake Butcher would be chairman of the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville.
Other front page stories were: Governor [Buford Ellington] Announces Summer Programs for Youth”; “Farmers Market Discussion Set”; “AT&T Lists Safety Practices”; “Murder Trial is Postponed”; “New Speed Limits in Maynardville Being Discussed”; “Pool Rooms Will Be Regulated in Maynardville” (it was noted in the article that at that time only two pool rooms operated for the public—one at McCarter’s Drive-In and the other at Bill Wills’ Beer Parlor); “Problem Develops in KU-Powell Valley Sale”; “Singing Scheduled”; “Alumni Banquet at Horace Maynard Saturday Night”; “CCHS Student Gets Award”; “Members Fail to Appear for [Tazewell City] Council Meeting”; “UCL [United Citizens League of Claiborne County] Will Meet”; “Union County Health Department Receives Grant [to begin construction of the new health center]”; “Theft of Boats Plagues State”; “Former LMU Grads Listed in Publication”; and “Visiting at Home [Ralph Williams]”.
The entirety of page two was devoted to advertisement for IGA (prices good at Munsey’s IGA Foodliner, New Tazewell, Tenn.; Maynardville IGA Foodliner; and Jones IGA Markets, No. 1 Liberty Hill, Tenn., No. 2 Harrogate, Tenn.). Stroll backwards in time and check out these prices:

Lay’s Spiced Lunch, P & P, Liver Loaf Lunch Meats 49cents
“Bean Seasoning” Fat Back 10 cents lb.
Tablerite Ground Beef 49 cents lb.
Tablerite Shoulder Roast 69 cents lb.
Chuck Roast 49 cents lb.
Boneless Chuck Roast 69 cents lb.
Nabisco Honey Maid Grahams 39 cents 1 lb. pkg.
Nabisco Oreo Crème Sandwich 49 cents 1 lb. pkg.
Lykes Potted Meat $1 for 10 3 oz. cans
Lykes Vienna Sausage $1 for 5 4 oz. cans
Lykes Beef Stew $1 for 2 1½ lb. cans
Blue Bonnet Oleo 25 cents 1 lb. pkg.
Sealtest Modified Milk 93 cents gallon in plastic
Starkist Chunk Tuna $1 for 3 6 oz. cans
IGA Tabletreat Bread $1 for 7 14 oz. loaves
Good ‘n’ Rich Frosting or Cake Mix 10 cents 8 oz. pkg. all flavors
Pancake Mix 10 cents 8 oz. pkg. with free syrup
Vegetable Shortening Crisco 59 cents 3 lb. can (limit 1 with $5 or
more grocery order)
Super or Regular Kotex $1 for 3 pkgs. of 12
Liquid Palmolive 59 cents 22 oz. size
Dry Detergent Ajax $1 for 4 1½ lb. boxes
Winter Garden French Frys 10 cents 9 oz. pkg.
Sea Pak Brd. Shrimp 79 cents 10 oz. pkg.
Sealtest Ice Cream Sandwiches 39 cents 6-pack
Delsey Toilet Tissue $1 for 4 2-roll pkgs.
Clorox Bleach $1 for half gallon
Gala Towels 37 cents big roll colors

The entirety of page four was a full-page advertisement for Stowers General Merchandise, Luttrell, Tenn. The store gladly accepted USDA Food Stamps and Reserved the Right to Limit Quantities. Compare prices with IGA and see where you would rather have shopped in May, 1968.

Stokley’s Tomato Juice $1 for 3 46 oz. cans
Stokley’s Peas 29 cents 2 303 cans
JFG Peanut Butter 59 cents 2 lb.
Nescafe Instant Coffee (Save 50 cents) $1.09 10 oz. size
Stokley’s Corn White Cream Style $1 for 5 303 size
Large Eggs $1 for 3 doz.
Hamburger 39 cents lb.
Wampler’s Weiners All Meat 39 cents 12 oz.
Stokley’s Fruit Cocktail $1 for 4 303 can
Lanolin Plus Hair Spray 39 cents
Fat Back 8 cents lb.
Little Girls Dresses Reg. $1.98 59 cents sizes 1 to 6X
Flowers (Assortment of Flowers for Mother’s Day) $1.98 to $4.29
Lay’s Pure Lard 39 cents 4 lb. carton
Vahlsing French Fries 10 cents for 9 oz.
Gold Medal Macaroni (Save 20 cents) 29 cents 2 lb.
Freshlike Diced Carrots 10 cents 12 oz.
Stokley’s Fruit Drinks $1 for 4 46 oz.
FREE! $14.95 (Open Stock Value) 24 Piece Set of Wm. Rogers & Son Stainless Flatware When You Buy Jumbo Size Dash at $2.19 for 9 lb. 13 oz.

Page three was fascinating. The upper left-hand corner listed the admissions, births, hospital news and dismissals from Claiborne County Hospital. If a paper published this information today it would undoubtedly be sued for violation of HIPPA. Not only were names listed, but addresses as well. I fear even today to write an actual name from this list, so I will make up one so you, Dear Reader, can understand the information imparted. Following in an example of an admission: May 6—Mary (Mrs. Ronnie) Mincey, Rt. 3, Maynardville. Dismissals were much simpler, just the name listed: May 9—Baby Girl Mincey.
Another item of great interest was the article “WANTED BY THE FBI, JAMES EARL RAY, also known as Eric Starvo Galt, Harvey Lowmyer, John Willard, James McBride, James Walton, W. C. Herron and James O’Conner.” This article described Ray as a “white American, born in Alton, Illinois, on March 10, 1928, Ray is 5’10” tall, weighs 163 to 174 pounds, has blue eyes and short brown hair. He has a nervous habit of tugging at an ear lobe and his left ear protrudes noticeably. Known as a ‘loner’ and ‘drifter’, Ray has worked as a baker, laborer and color matcher. He has taken dancing lessons and completed a course at a school of bartending.”
Other articles on page three included: “Baptizing Set at Taylor Grove”; “ASCS News”; “Telephone Talk by Charles B. Guy Your Telephone Manager”; “News and Views by Murray Miles, Jr. Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation”; Farm News from the County Agents” (“County Agent—Use Gasoline and Kerosene Safely, by W. Harold Julian, Union County Agent”); (“Home Agent--Check Your Nutrition Vocabulary, by Anne S. Hobt, Union Home Agent”); “Washington Comments by Rep. John J. Duncan”; “Taxpayers Ask IRS”; “Buy a Shrine Paper May 19th”; “Tips from a Pro, James A. Martin, National Truck Driver of the Year”; and “From Washington—Report to Tennessee” by Howard H. Baker, United States Senator.
I hope you, Dear Reader, have enjoyed this brief glimpse back to a little over half a century ago. Wouldn’t it be interesting to take a trip into the future and see how things are then? Perhaps in a future article . . .