President Wanda Byerley welcomed a full house and a host of entertaining speakers to the Union County Museum during the July meeting of the Union County Historical Society.

Kicking off the entertainment was Bill Landry of Heartland fame. Bill shared stories of some Union County folks and wove their stories into an introduction for his new book, When the West Was Tennessee. He related the story of Luther Woods from Sharps Chapel who captured the first German General in WWII and took a pearl handle gun from the officer. Luther shared his medals and a picture of General George Patton performing a common task in the Rhine River. Landry retold a Jessee Butcher story about a man who walked into a store to buy an air conditioner. When asked how many BTU's he needed the man replied, “ Enough to cover my BUT that is the size of a TUB!” Bill Landry stated that it was this ability to overcome these common things in uncommon ways that gave Tennessee and the Southwest Territory its unique place in the westward movement. He concluded his remarks with a book signing.

The next speaker was Lisa Oakley, Educational Curator of the East Tennessee History Center located in downtown Knoxville. Ms. Oakley has spent some 28 years making history come alive for teachers and students across Tennessee. She related the importance of professional development on the new socials studies standards and how the standards had changed over the last two decades. Currently, Tennessee History will be taught during the final semester of fifth grade. Also, a Tennessee History course is available for high school as an elective credit. But Lisa related the importance of capturing and engaging the interest of third, fourth, and fifth graders by using artifacts to make history a part of their story so high school history courses become more meaningful. Ms. Oakley praised Union County Social Studies Teachers for their initiative to embrace the new standards and incorporating these expectations in their classroom a year earlier than required. She also encouraged everyone to attend the new exhibit, Mountain Dew, currently at the East Tennessee History Museum.

To conclude the program James Perry introduced several musicians who currently live in Union County or are associated with its musical heritage: David Farmer, Dr. Bob, Professor Tim Johnson, Proctor Rodgers, and Frank Smith.

The next meeting of the Union County Historical Society will be on Sunday, August 18, at 2:30pm.