by Jeriah Brumfield | Apr 17, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
JOSH NEAL, the principal of Winchester Christian Academy’s Upper School, remembers his eighth grade year as the moment that jumpstarted his career in education. “There were a couple of teachers along the way who inspired me to become a teacher,” he recalled. “My...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Apr 17, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
IN THE tiny “classroom” of her childhood playroom, Diane Gipson was already a teacher. Barbie dolls and teddy bears sat in neat rows, listening intently as Gipson pointed to chalk scribbles on a board and assigned homework no one would complete. She didn’t know it...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Apr 1, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
SLOW-COOKED BARBECUE fused with the cozy scent of wood smoke as Bob Reynolds leaned out of the Squidbilly Vittles BBQ food truck window, greeting the growing line of customers with a smile. Behind him, tongs clattered and sizzling meat hissed, audible even through the...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Apr 1, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
LAURA LOWNDES sat quietly beside her father in the car. It was her favorite time of day when the world slowed down, and she could simply be with her dad. Maybe it was the engine’s steady rumble, the brakes’ soft creak, or the way the tires kicked up dust...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Apr 1, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
SCENTS OF coffee and fresh-baked biscuits collide with the crisp bite of winter air as the doors of First United Methodist Church at Winchester creak open at dawn. Inside, warm air welcomes guests, but it’s the conversations, the clatter of plates, and the...
by Wesley Bryant | Apr 1, 2025 | Franklin County, Stories
THE SOUNDS of the self-checkout registers beep through the entire store. The short lines of people with baskets and carts move across the reflective tile like a conveyor belt and out the door. Uh, oh. A man at the checkout stood frozen. The total amount due on the...
