
Buddy Carter: Threading Quilts and Seeds of Encouragement
Buddy Carter settles into the seat facing the sewing machine. Turning the handwheel, he ensures the needle pierces the folded edge of the purple and blue calico fabric. He pushes the toe of his...

Mackenzie Respress: From Nurturing a Sourdough Starter to Nurturing Herself
Mackenzie Respress “kneaded” a way to nurture herself during a turbulent time in her life, so she turned to the art of baking sourdough. As her confidence in the kitchen rose, along with her...

Letter From the Editor
A nurse walked down the hallway his mother walked decades before he did. Beep … beep … he could hear the sounds from patients’ rooms. He kept a small keepsake pinned to his scrubs, a pin his mother...

Amy Neese Jones: Compassion in Action
Amy Neese Jones grabs her buzzing phone from her purse and presses the answer button. Before the “hello” brushes her lips, a dear friend on the other end unravels a series of heartfelt pleas. “My...

Kimberly Williams: The ‘No’ That Birthed a Greater ‘Yes’
Kimberly Williams ripped open the envelope and frantically scanned the letter from the College of Nursing. Her excitement shifted to bitter tears as she dialed her mother’s number. When the phone...

Tina Michelle Johns: From Folktale to Holistic Healing
Prior to Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” the Brothers Grimm published the original folktale in 1812 titled “Briar Rose,” and prior to prescription medication, families relied on gathering wild herbs to...

Angela Wojtkowski: Hope Reins Equine Therapy
At Creekside Farm on the outskirts of the Flat Creek community, the aroma of freshly mowed hay mixes with the salty sweat of the horses. They stamp their hooves on the dirt floor, begging Angela...

Manuel Rodriguez: From Outsider to Overcomer
The measure of a man’s life is not in the riches he accumulates, but in the friends he gathers along the way. Manuel Rodriguez scratched out a living alongside his parents in Dolores Hidalgo in...

Mike Corrado: Music Is Good Medicine
After fastening the gold buttons of his dress blues in October 2020, Col. Mike Corrado plunged his fingers into the snow-white gloves that he and other United States Marines reserved for formal...

Touchdown Wings: Where Flavor Scores Big
Touchdown Wings, a small and unassuming restaurant specializing in all things wings, is a haven for those who crave bold and satisfying flavors. It’s Friday night after a hectic work week — the last...

Letter From the Editor
The people of the year 1000 faced division, uncertainty, and fear for the future. They didn’t know it then, but they stood at the edge of change, transitioning from the Dark Ages to the Middle Ages....

Kingdom Ranch Academy: Out of the Box
The parking lot of Gateway Church on Madison Street is abuzz with activity as homeschooling parents unbuckle their toddlers and strap them into their strollers while their other children grab their...

Riverbend Ranch Rolls Out the Welcome Mat
Darren and Deena Delin scanned the young man’s application, and their eyes widened. Although they, along with Les Price, oversee the one-year mentorship program for boys at Riverbend Ranch and...

Kevin Galindo Garcia: The Sky Is the Limit for Young Inventor
Henry Ford, who started the Ford Motor Company in 1903, was a firm believer that history should be absorbed — not through textbooks but by seeing and experiencing it firsthand. Ford believed that we...

Steven Flippo: Start Where You Are and Go From There
During his first mission trip with Appalachian Outreach in 2000, Steven Flippo surveyed the condition of the property assigned to his team, and his heart ached. “We were tasked with doing repairs...

Cooper Steel: A Thriving Enterprise With Humble Roots
WHEN THE late Kenneth “Kenny” Cooper opened his first shop with two employees, his dream was simply to make a better life for his wife, Faye, and two sons, Gary and Barry. He had no idea the impact...

2024 Mission Possible
This past June, as temperatures hovered above the 90s and rainfall was scarce, a group of teens from Bell Buckle United Methodist Church (BBUMC), Shelbyville First United Methodist Church (SFUMC),...

Hoop Dreams and Home-Town Heroes
The arena's din does little to break his concentration. Keon Johnson drives toward the basket, his eyes locked on its rim. With a swift pivot, he creates space as his body twists, the ball arcs...

Shattering Expectations Through Time & History
On the corner of Shelbyville’s iconic square, Glass Hollow Table & Tavern emerges as a beacon of fine dining, transforming the former Knox Pitts Hardware into an elegant and refreshing culinary...

A Tale of Christmas Past and the Present Rescued By Lowery Jewelers
Christmas day was rapidly approaching, and my husband and I were seniors in high school. Warm candlelight bathed the stucco walls as the waiter jotted down our orders. When he emerged sometime later...

Emmy’s Restaurant Provides Free Meals on Christmas Day
WHEN SOMEONE mentions Emmy’s Restaurant, my taste buds become excited. I immediately begin fantasizing about the hand-cut sweet potato fries served with a dipping bowl of melted butter and brown...

Going Beyond Academics
For Harris Middle School (HMS) librarian Megan Lawell, extending kindness to others is more than an incentive to focus on one week out of the year. For her, it’s a way of life worth teaching to...

Letter From The Editor
Autumn settles into our town like a puppy in a warm bed. There’s a magic in the air that only this season can bring. Golden leaves drift gently from the trees, painting the sidewalks in shades of...

How an Emergency Birthed a ‘Lion’
AFTER PREVIOUSLY giving birth to her two sons, Kohen and Hollis, paired with a background in obstetrics, Abby Reed had few concerns about the upcoming delivery of her third son, Whitt. But on June...

Homegrown Hero Jeri Clements Wears Scrubs
NO MATTER WHAT time of day it is, the emergency room at Vanderbilt Bedford Hospital is constantly abuzz with activity. Since the acquisition of the hospital by Vanderbilt in 2021, the daily census...
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