Thanksgiving is one of the high holidays of the US, involving traditions of being with family, eating a bountiful meal of traditional foods, and hopefully taking time to give thanks for what we have been given. You know the traditional story of the first Thanksgiving involving Pilgrims, Native Americans, feasting and all that, but history is always good to review occasionally, as you often learn something new.

When I was a child, my dad worked for a while for the school system in maintenance. I remember he bought a cabinet model stereo and a wringer washing machine from Shoffner’s Furniture and Appliance. He had Irby Monroe make a stand for the small stereo to sit on so that I couldn’t reach inside and mess with the mechanics while those 33 1/3 RPM records were played. The joke was on Dad—I stood in a chair and watched the records spin on the turntable. I loved to listen to that stereo.

Pain in the back or the neck is extremely common and accounts for more healthcare spending than any other health condition. A study compared two non-invasive interventions for treating spine pain, assessing both how well these methods worked at reducing pain and whether either method reduced spine-related healthcare spending.

Do I, or don’t I? Have you ever been in a quandary about attempting to do something?
I was walking through the baking section at the grocery store when something caught my eye. It was a box for making homemade yeast rolls. I read the directions on the back. Dare I try to make them? If you read my article: “Chocolate Mess,” then you understand my hesitation. In case you haven’t read it, when I was kid, I tried to bake a chocolate cake all by myself. Let’s just it didn’t go that well. I had as much cake batter slung across the kitchen as I did in the baking pan. It even went on the ceiling.

Leftover ham doesn't freeze well. So what do you do with it? Make this loaf. In mixing bowl, combine ground ham and pork. In a medium bowl with electric mixer, combine eggs, bread crumbs and milk. Mix well. With into meat with hands. Place a greased 8 by 4 inch loaf pan, forming dome with hands. Top with pineapple slices and maraschino cherries. Bake in preheated 300 F. oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting with pineapple juice. Slice and serve with pieces of pineapple and cherries. Serves 6.

Now that the beauty of Autumn is past and the trees are mostly laid bare, some folks bemoan the starkness of the winter forest. But now that you can see them, the limbs, branches, and twigs of trees offer a silhouette of graceful beauty all their own, especially with the sun shining behind them. Another overlooked aspect is the beauty of their design and function.

Big Ridge State Park needs your opinion on its new Strategic Master Plan. So what is a Strategic master Plan and why should you voice your opinion? The main reason is the plan will drive the changes that occur in the park for the next 10 years and some changes will effect the park for many more years after that. Submit your comments online at https://www.tn.gov/environment/parks-conservation/ppp/form.html.

The Union County Business & Professional Association named Scott Inklebarger and Tonya Atkins, the Union County Man and Woman of 2023 at its 33rd annual banquet on Friday, November 3. Inklebarger is the manager of Food City and Ms. Atkins is the owner of A&B Bookkeeping. Both were chosen based on their outstanding and continuous community service along with their quality business practices.

Many of you may have met Beverly Berry, the area coordinator for Quilts of Valor at the UC Heritage Festival. Beverly collected donations to purchase material to sew the Quilts of Valor. The mission of the Quilts of Valor is to cover service members and veterans with healing quilts of valor. Quilts are of a specific size with a label of authenticity and the awarding of the quilt is recorded.

It’s that time of year again for the Union County Children’s Charity annual “Under The Tree” toy campaign. This is exclusively for Union County Children ages 0-12 years of low income. Applications were sent to Union County Public Schools and Cherokee Head Starts for children living in Union County.