Feature Stories

Rebecca Heid of Lynchburg grew up on a Delaware farm, where she learned to preserve fruits and vegetables, care for animals and even bees. She's now sharing those learned skills and valuable lessons around area tables. In honor of National Sandwich Month, the certified Healthy Hands instructor will present her first healthy cooking class, "Savory Sandwiches," 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Shelbyville Recreation Center in H.V. Griffin Park...

Kate Knight, who has Shelbyville connections, is working toward a career in diplomacy after graduating from Rollins College earlier this year, Knight is the daughter of Kelly Powell Knight, formerly of Shelbyville, and the granddaughter of Herby Powell of Shelbyville...

Shelbyville-based Big G Express has donated over $30,000 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the past four years. The idea of a charity motorcycle ride was pitched to the leadership team by one of Big G's professional truck drivers, Tim Chelette. ...

The dog days of summer are here and in the kitchen that calls for cool, easy dishes that refresh and take advantage of the warm season vegetables. A perfect dish that fits that bill is Balsamic Marinated Tomatoes. Even my Dad, who is not a fan of tomatoes, was eating these with a spoon out of the bowl...

Motlow State Community College is celebrating 50 years of being one of the south's foremost community colleges, one of Tennessee's top higher education institutions, and a leader of educational, economic, and community development in middle Tennessee...

A centennial celebration for Vannoy "Wireman" Streeter, 1919-1998, will be held Sunday, Aug. 25, at The Fly Arts Center on South Main Street. The event will include a fish fry, special tributes, guests and demonstrations. Attendees are invited to bring their favorite Vannoy Streeter pieces to display. Streeter's grandson Rod Cleveland, who now produces pieces in Streeter's style, will give a demonstration during the event. Door prizes will be available...

Duck River Beekeepers Association had a grand presence at last month's Bedford County Fair. The group, made up of many serious beekeepers, took home reds and blues for their pure honey, with or without the comb, informative display and beeswax products...

Three generations of the Allen family on a recent trip to North Carolina. On the left is Ralph Allen, on the right is his son, Jonathan Allen. Ralph is holding baby Rhett, who was five weeks old at the time of the photo.

Community High School's Smokestack Theatre will present Arthur Miller's classic drama, "All My Sons," 7 p.m. Aug. 9-10 and 2 p.m. Aug. 11, in an intimate theatre-in-the-round setting. A theatre-in-the round stage is always in the center of the performance venue with the audience arranged on all sides. The design typically allows actors to enter and exit through the audience from different directions or sometimes from below the stage...

Members of Venture Crew 371 went whitewater rafting July 20 on the Ocoee River. ...

The 2019-2020 Cascade FFA officer team held a retreat July 8-9. On Monday, July 8, the officer team along with advisor Mike Swafford and alumni members Christy Swafford and Barbie Parker travelled to Murfreesboro for some team building activities. The team visited an escape room where they were divided into two groups to compete against each other. ...

Cascade FFA attended Tennessee FFA Leadership Camp at Camp Clements the week of June 24-28. The chapter had 17 current and future members attend, along with advisor Mike Swafford, chaperones Samantha Newman, Tami Lee and Sheila Jo McBryant. In total there were 196 FFA members, advisors and guests during the fifth week of camp. ...

Today is the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin stepping from their lunar module onto the surface of the moon. The U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Complex, then known as Arnold Engineering Development Center, played a key role in what Armstrong called "one giant leap for mankind." In years leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing, personnel at Arnold Air Force Base, in Franklin and Coffee counties, were involved in thousands of hours of testing to ensure the success of the Apollo program and accomplish a goal set by President John F. ...

Among the bands to perform at the Aug. 24 Maupin Fest in Rover will be locals Uncle Shuffelo & His Haint Hollow Hootenanny. Don't let the name fool you; this is a talented and award-winning group of musicians. With all types of backgrounds, ranging from education to musical performance, the band is well-known throughout the country for their music. ...

Bob Sanders, now 79, has made several different cross-country bicycle rides, including one in 2014 to raise money for a veterans group in his hometown of Bend, Oregon. After one of them, REI, a major manufacturer of activewear, including cycling wear, asked him to teach a class. After the class, he was approached by a representative of the American Cancer Society...

Nearly every day, Alan Lamb can be found, dressed in his bib overalls, working at the century-old Craftsman style home he's renovating on Liberty Pike in Bell Buckle. When he sat for an interview the first week of June, the electrical and plumbing updates had just been completed and the home was nearly ready for new wallboard...

Most long-time Bedford Countians know where the Davis homestead-once a large dairy farm-is located off Hurricane Grove Road. Some may not have had the chance to meet Terry Davis, who has carved out her own niche, or two, within the large span of green farmland and silos...

Raus Community Improvement Club recently joined Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce, a decision reached over creamy dishes of homemade ice cream during the center's annual summer social. "We look forward to using the SBC Chamber calendar to inform the community of special events in Raus at the schoolhouse," said Rebecca Parker, the club's restoration fundraising coordinator...

The musical “Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe” will be presented July 19, 20, 26, 27 and 28 at The Fly Arts Center on South Main Street. The musical depicts a fictionalized version of Poe’s last days, as he looks back on his life and career. Jonathan Rodriguez (right) stars as Poe. Show times are 7 p.m. for Friday and Saturday performances, 2 p.m. for the Sunday, July 28 matinee. Tickets can be purchased at http://flyartscenter.tix.com.

It's almost time for the annual chili cookoffs on the Shelbyville square, and after several years of dramatic growth in the sanctioned events, this year organizers are hoping to step up participation by local cooks, by adding a new non-sanctioned event that's a little easier to enter...

Restoration of the Jakes/Frizzell Cemetery in the Hoover's Gap area near Beech Grove has been completed, reports Martha Kroll of Knoxville. The Times-Gazette reported in 2015 that Kroll, working with a United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter in Maryville, planned to restore the cemetery, which first came to her attention when the familly was looking for the grave of Lonnie Butner, Martha Kroll's uncle. ...

Though Keven Dubay's job as a CalsonicKansei engineer includes traveling to exotic places like Japan, he admits his real happiness comes from landscaping his Shelbyville home. His wife, Lisa, agrees, pointing out the beautifully landscaped pool as her favorite spot...

Musician and songwriter Mark Murphy believes Bedford County is an inspirational place in the middle of everything, which makes it the ideal spot to write such songs as "Polly Thicket Road." This song, inspired by Bedford County road located about 10 miles from Shelbyville off U.S. 231 North, is the eighth track on Murphy's first CD "Everyday Americans," by his band Rebel North...

This year's theme for the Read to be Ready program, which continues through June 20 at East Side Elementary, is "Building a Community of Thinkers." Books recently purchased for this three-week program allow rising third graders to ponder such thinking topics as, "What if you woke up one morning and your eyes weren't yours? That was a question recently explored when students were read the book by Sandra Markle called, "What If You Had Animal Eyes?"...

Beta Iota Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha sorority held a "Taste and Tell" event recently, and are sharing their recipes with Times-Gazette readers. Makes 2 large loaves or 4 small loabes 3 cups flour 2 ˝ cups sugar 1 ˝ teaspoon baking powder...

Principal's List Fifth Grade Ella R. Allen, Laura J. Bennett, Christina M. Bilbro, Kaydence B. Bynum, Caroline L. Cook, Robert A. Cook, Matthew K. Crosslin, Alayna H. Cruse, Allison G. Farris, Georgia R. Frazier, Trenton A. Giel, Jayden R. Hathcock, Daniela L. Jara, James D. Jennings, Tanner W. Johnson, Tucker G. Johnson, Adelyn E. Jones, Anthony H. Mercer, Wyatt J. Petelle, Chere' N. Potts, Caleb M. Smith, Henry G. Stone, Taylor C. Swain, Tristan L. Whitley, Dixie A. Wright, Kaegan L. Young...

The Webb School in Bell Buckle recently announced its A and B honor rolls for the fourth quarter of the 2018-2019 school year. An independent college preparatory day/boarding school for grades 6-12, The Webb School is the oldest continuously operating school of its kind in the South. The school has a dual emphasis on academic excellence and character development...

Cherries in the south are just, well, unpredictable. I think it's been three years since my last southern, local cherries. The frost gets the blooms or the birds eat the ripening fruit before we can harvest. Just as daisies are the friendliest flower, I think cherries are the friendliest fruit. ...

A new generation -- some who exhibited at the Halls Mill Triangle Club horse shows as youth -- have taken over the reins there on a new memorial horse show slated for 6 p.m. Saturday, June 22. "I initially became involved with spotted saddle horses as a young child with my father, John W. Cabe," said Erin Cabe Webb. "He was a farrier, so horses were a part of our daily life."...

Bedford Builds Habitat For Humanity needs land. "We are out of land and have not been able to acquire land lately," said executive director Pam Birtcil. "The builders here are buying the lots usually left for Habitat, the ones in the lower income areas. They are putting nice homes in the mix now."...

Shelby Chapter DAR heard a program on historic preservation during its recent meeting at River Bend Country Club. Bedford County archivist Anna Frazier was the speaker, assisted by DAR member Melissa Edwards, who is a T-G columnist and the granddaughter of former county historians the late Tim and Helen Marsh...

Normandy's aesthetic beauty will be highlighted during the June 1 "Treasured Gardens and Creative Landscapes" tour, sponsored by Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce Beautification Committee, according to organizer Sara Wood. Tickets for this event are $15 each and can be obtained by calling 580-2090 or emailing lwhulan@gmail.com...

Jessica Osterhaus has been named the 2019 June Dairy Month Chairman for Bedford County. Osterhaus will be honored Thursday at the Tennessee June Dairy Month Kickoff Event at Battle Mountain Farm in College Grove. The event includes recognition from Celeste Blackburn, president of the American Dairy Association of Tennessee...