Stories from Sunday, November 27, 2016

Dig through those shoe boxes and scan your computers and smartphones: it's almost time for the T-G's annual "Adorable Christmas Kids" photo contest, The contest invites readers to submit Christmas-themed photos of children, and which are then voted on by readers. Cuteness goes a long way, but successful competitors may also need to marshal support from friends, family and co-workers during the voting period...

Bedford County is well-represented in a new program that seeks to preserve and expand the state's rich folk art traditions. The Tennessee Arts Commission has selected three residents for the inaugural Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. The new program aims to preserve Tennessee's folk traditions by pairing a master artist with an apprentice for a six-month period, said the arts commission's Suzanne Lynch...

Tennessee's U.S. Senators have both praised a U.S. district court ruling blocking an Obama administration rule that would have expanded overtime effective Dec. 1. "This decision is a huge victory for small businesses and the many Tennesseans who would have experienced reduced hours or layoffs under this rule," said Sen. ...

"I don't know why anyone would do this," former Shelbyville resident Cindy Stephenson said as she looked over graffiti and an overturned, damaged table at Our Town Community Park on Friday. She returned to Shelbyville for the first time in over a year Friday to discover the damage. (T-G Photo by David Melson)

Today's column is a delicious topic. That's because I'm writing about a grilling cookbook. The cookbook is "Great American Grilling," a trip through grilling, smoking and tailgating by Kent Whitaker, aka "The Deck Chef." The publisher is Great American Cookbooks...

From her "Yesteryears" columns in the Times-Gazette to her work organizing years of historical Bedford County records, local residents know: If you want the answer to a question about local history, call Helen Marsh. If she doesn't know, she'll find out or lead you to documents that can provide the answers...

CHAPEL HILL -- The Cascade Champions picked up a pair of wins in the Forrest Thanksgiving Classic on Friday in Chapel Hill, defeating Summertown 69-57 and host Forrest 51-46. In the first game against Summertown, Cascade senior Hayden Edmondson delivered the bulk of the Champion offense, scoring 23 points...

CHAPEL HILL -- After a close first half in the Forrest Thanksgiving Classic, Mt. Pleasant began to pull away from the Cascade Lady Champions in the third quarter. Though Cascade rallied for 16 in the fourth, Mt. Pleasant held on for the 41-34 win. After the first half of play, Cascade trailed Mt. Pleasant by just four points...

Shelbyville Central's Golden Eagles fought a hard battle but fell 45-37 to Smyrna in overtime after playing to a 37-all score at the end of regulation. Darius Young led the Eagles with 12 points with Roger Pryor netting 11. Webb School recently claimed a 71-60 win over Red Boiling Springs...

Mike George is the new sexton for the city of Shelbyville, making him the man responsible for maintenance of city-owned cemeteries such as Willow Mount. George has served as acting sexton after long-time sexton Jakie Carter became sick and died. If you have someone to nominate for Sunday Conversation email sfowler@t-g.com...

University of Tennessee Extension Agent Whitney Danhof provided the program for the Shelbyville Woman's Club at their Nov. 9 meeting. Her presentation was how to create holiday table settings using simple elements. "I like to use the things that I have in different ways," she said...

Wednesday morning pre-Thanksgiving was, as always, one of the busiest days of our year at the Times-Gazette. It's mind-boggling, actually. The present time as I write this column is Wednesday mid-day. Several sections are printing in advance so we can be closed on Thanksgiving and Friday...

As is often said, "Truth is stranger than fiction." Every so often, a real life mystery piques my curiosity. I kept hearing all this stuff for years about the Lost Colony of Roanoke and was aware that there were plenty of creepy stories about the place and "incident." The first step in my research was to learn that there is a Roanoke, Virginia, and a Roanoke Island in North Carolina. ...

Charles Wesley published an 18 stanza poem in 1740 that spoke of his strong desire to give praise to God for changing his life. He wrote the poem to commemorate the first anniversary of his renewal of faith in Christ. Many Christian churches have this poem in their hymnbooks today, and it has become a favorite hymn for Christians around the world...