In our area Spring seems to be a crap shoot with all the cold snaps in between warm ups. And when I looked into it, I found that there is more than one opinion of when Spring begins, and so here is a rundown of the possibilities.

I had the pleasure of visiting your beautiful county in November of last year. Many of my ancestors have their final resting place in old cemeteries in Chuck Swan State Forest. I was able to find several of them. I'm sharing a photo I took from Highway 33 a few miles east of Maynardville, shortly after dawn of November 18, 2018 as the fog was lifting. My mother, Retha Shelby Elrod, told stories of her visits there and how proud she was of the place where her mother and father were born. I was happy to find that her pride was well founded.

When I was glued to my TV set last year watching the rescue of those soccer boys trapped in a cave in Thailand, I thought about times I had been in caves. Most of those experiences were in Tennessee. Caves in Tennessee are fascinating. One of my encounters was in a primitive cave near South Pittsburgh. Usually a primitive cave is one that is undeveloped, with no pathways, no paid guides, and no admission fees. Those types of caves are on private property. Of course, all of the well-known caves were once primitive, until someone saw the opportunity to make a little money.

TreesI was having lunch with a friend the other day. We had finished our deliveries for the FISH food pantry and were waiting for our burgers to arrive. The conversation turned to the problems older people (like the two of us) have with technology, and Don described a conversation he had recently had with tech support. “I could follow him down the tree,” he said, “as long as he didn’t go too fast.” Don is a retired chemist, and he was talking about a decision tree.

Moving from Idaho to Tennessee brought many surprises after I transported Frankie, our rescued barn cat, to my lakeside home in Tennessee. Following is a part of the Sixth Chapter:

Autumn leaves covered the driveway and a slight chill filled the air. The moving men had now delivered our possessions to our home in Tellico Village. After they left and all the cardboard boxes were deposited in specific rooms, Larry, my husband, and I began unpacking. Frankie explored his new surroundings, and, as an indoor cat, he was amazed by an open door from the kitchen to the deck on the second floor.

Do you like strawberries? Do you like rhubarb? I say yes to both questions. I learned how to make Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie just a few years ago. Previously, when I thought of Strawberry Pie it was the one with fresh strawberries in a baked crust, cover with strawberry glaze and piled high with Cool Whip. There was a serious gap in my pie repertoire.

Young women of Union County are being presented an extravagant scholarship, personal growth, and transcript building opportunity. Union County is officially hosting a preliminary division of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant. Ladies from Union County and surrounding areas can compete for the Miss Union County and Miss Thunder Road titles. This is an Official Miss America Local Competition.

Dave and Tomica Whaley are not strangers to restoring historic homes. At the encouragement of Dave's Grandmother, Freda Doyle Whaley, they purchased the historic home of well-known Knoxville Jeweler, Max Freedman, located in the 4th and Gill neighborhood where they lived for 2 years. They then purchased and restored the historic home of a turn of the 20th century, Knoxville Contractor, D. W. Brimer, on Glenwood Ave., in the Old North Knoxville neighborhood.

Mayor Bailey announced that Union County would be holding a Ms. Union County Contest to enable some young lady to compete in the Ms. Tennessee Contest to be held in Knoxville later this year. The Mayor also introduced the new trifold informational pamphlet that Thomas Skibinski and the Chamber of Commerce developed to advertise Union County. Finally, the Mayor encouraged everyone to review the new website: unioncountytn.com.

The Commission approved three notaries: Carla Beeler, Jamie Bowman, and Bethany Winstead.

Volunteers from 61 counties were honored at the Eleventh Annual Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards ceremony at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs on February 10, 2019. The awards celebrated the efforts of 108 volunteers statewide who have strived to improve their communities through service. Miss Tennessee 2018, Christine Williamson, presented the awards, and NewsChannel5 weekend anchor, Jennifer Kraus, served as emcee for the event.