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Columns

  • Community battles drug addiction

     

    It happened nearly a month ago, but the message has stayed with me ever since.

    I attended a Town Hall Forum earlier this month, featuring a speaker I thought was sure to not leave a dry eye in the house.

    The forum addressed something that many people don't like to talk about - drug abuse and what it does to a family.

    I have found the topic makes some uneasy, as if they don't want to realize it's a problem everywhere, even in small towns like Campbellsville.

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  • The well on the old farm

    Recently my son bought a small farm that has an old well pump in the front yard.

    In looking at it the other day, it brought back memories of my childhood when most farm families had a water pump in their yard, along with a tin drinking cup that hung from the side. It suited us just fine, though, especially on summer days when hard work in the blazing sun seemed to bake every drop of liquid out of you. In fact, I've never tasted anything sweeter than the cool, clear water we pumped by hand from deep under ground.

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  • God in the storm

    I grew up in Tornado Alley. Tornadoes were more of an event I enjoyed than a threat I feared, so invincible did I think I was as a child and teenager.

    As we gathered in the Shively's storm shelter with other neighbors, I rather enjoyed the social gathering and naively hoped the twister would somehow be bad enough to cancel school but not destructive enough to hurt anyone.

    Questions of why, an inevitable response to suffering, weren't in my purview, at least not then.

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  • How I became a tree hugger

    "What are you doing, Dad?" my son asked when he called me on his cell phone.

    I was sitting on our back patio, admiring the work I'd done, having just planted the first third of my garden with the non-genetically modified seeds I had oh-so carefully selected. I wanted to come as close as I could to having an organic garden.

    Then just as I as I leaned back to relax, I stood up straight, squinting at the tractor spraying the field behind my house. It was coming closer and closer to my garden.

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  • Stay safe Memorial Day weekend

    Tomorrow is the beginning of a much-anticipated three-day weekend, thanks to Monday being Memorial Day.

    A day set aside for honoring those loved ones who are no longer with us, Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer.

    While many of us will experience some sadness this weekend as we place lovely flower arrangements on the tombstones of our loved ones and listen quietly as the names of people who died in the last year are read in church, we also look forward to spending time with our families and having some fun in the sun.

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  • What Mama said ... and what she didn't

    Growing up, my mother was like a lighthouse to me. Her light was always on, a beacon guiding me through the daily adventures and bumps and bruises of childhood and adolescence. At the end of the day, she was always there, welcoming me to the safe harbor that was my home.

    Years later, when I left home for other places, and the home lights were but a distant flicker, I would remind myself of Mom’s words. And often, they would light my path.

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  • Treasure hunt saves city money

    It has often been said, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Now that spring has arrived, the presence of yard and garage sales abound. Every day, faithful shoppers and bargain hunters scour the highways and byways searching for “deals.”

    During the past 10 months, the Campbellsville Police have engaged in their own bargain hunting.

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  • Getting older...and wiser?

     

    It’s about that time of year again, where students don black, red or purple gowns and cardboard hats and walk across a stage. Graduation is upon us, followed by the dog days of summer.

    This time of year is always full of excitement and a bit of apprehension. Students might not know what is ahead of them and could be a bit scared of the real world. This time of year always makes me nostalgic.

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  • Differences don't have to hold us back

     

    Inspired. That is the best word to describe my feelings after recently meeting and writing about two young members of our community.

    The first, sixth-grader Terry Cook, was seriously burned in a fire and is still coping with the life-changing effects six years later. The second, Autumn Anderson, is a senior at Taylor County High School and will soon be heading to the NASCAR Technical Institute in North Carolina to train to become a mechanic.

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  • Following the faith example

    The evils of racism are expressed in the words we speak and the mores we establish. And both emerge from the illusion of superiority.

    Jackie Robinson, as a black American in the 1940s and 1950s, was thrown into the fire of both when he entered Major League Baseball in 1947, breaking the sport’s color barrier. The movie, “42,” named after Robinson’s jersey number, depicts the dramatic events of that year.

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