Family

History

A Warrior’s Final Call: To Those Who Served

January 25, 2018 Guest Writer 0

A Tribute to Those Who Served To Those Who Served: “My poem, “A Warrior’s Final Call”, is my tribute, to those who have served this nation from its spark of inception known as the Revolutionary War to those today, at this moment, who are serving, whether in their own backyards, or far from home in some foreign land. This is my way of honoring my deep family military heritage, but also the line of all families whose blood runs not only red, but also white and blue. A Heritage of Those Who Served From my many-greats grandfather, who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, to my ancestor, General John A Logan of the Union […]

Safety

The Gun Safety Series, Part 1

August 28, 2017 John Barrett 0

Gun Safety: An Introduction Part 1: Meet Your Gun Safety Instructor I started shooting a .22 rifle when I was 4 years old.  My 11th birthday present was my own .22 rifle. I started shooting high-powered rifles and shotguns that same year. My father gave me a shotgun and a .30-30 when I was 13 or 14 years old. My father, a former FBI Agent, waited until I was 13 or 14 to teach me to shoot a handgun – a wise decision given how my father taught me to shoot them, as I will explain later. I began writing editorials and letters to the editor defending the right to keep and bear arms while […]

Education

From the Trenches…She was Mad

August 4, 2017 Guest Writer 0

From the Trenches…Cynthia…She was Mad. Cynthia is a sharp and somewhat feisty junior in high school or that’s what grade level her age says she should be. She came to our school as a junior, but had the education of a fifth grader. But, she was a quick learner and wanted to learn, which gave her an advantage over her peers, who largely lack that kind of desire. Her greatest challenge though was not that she was farther behind in education than a junior should be, but that her mom was adamantly against her daughter getting an education. Her mother’s attempts to sabotage Cynthia increased each week. Some days, Cynthia missed school due to her […]

Family

I Hate Snakes

July 30, 2017 Joy Dixon Payne 2

I hate snakes. What started out as fear of snakes, because of an early childhood experience, turned into outright hate. And thus the story is told… We grew up on a working farm and we loved to play outside from right after first daylight until the crickets signaled nightfall was on the way as the sun slipped behind the tree line. It was a hot July day and my brother had just turned six years old.  I was the big sister at seven. Outside there was always some cool place to explore and play.  Forty acres of the home place was filled with all kinds of wonderous adventure.  Ponds, woods, a dairy barn, tool sheds, […]

Family

The Tea Set and A Lesson

June 16, 2017 Joy Dixon Payne 2

The Tea Set I thought that china tea set was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.  Four little cups with saucers, four little plates and four plastic silver colored spoons and  a sugar bowl and creamer, painted with delicate pink and green flowers and edged in gold. Every time we went to Jitney Jungle on Saturday to buy groceries, I would head straight for the toy rack, holding my breath all the way out of fear the tea set would be gone.  It was always there.  I would pick up the box and stare into the cellophane window at the delicate little miniature dishes. I wanted that tea set badly but Mama always […]

Family

Who Would Believe? (A Holiday Story)

June 4, 2017 Joy Dixon Payne 2

A nine-year-old and holiday boredom and a remedy… Who would believe a nine year old girl would be moping around because she had nothing to do on a holiday? Mama and my oldest sister were in the kitchen preparing Christmas Eve dinner and just chatting away about the new baby due in mid January. My sister was barricaded in her room with her friend, Sue Nutt, listening to records play on the record player. My brother had ridden off on his scooter to who knows where with his buddy Clark Carter. And there I sat. I knocked on my sister’s bedroom door. She cracked the door open and I asked to come in and visit. […]

Be the One

Tell YOUR Story ~ TFP’s Be The One Contest

May 11, 2017 TFP Staff 0

Everyone knows that ONE person… The solitary figure refusing to salute a tyrant… The exhausted priest carrying yet another person to safety from the terrorist’s rubble, before he too loses his life to the attack… The nurse rescuing soldiers from enemy fire… The mom working three jobs, but still finding the energy to take her young sons and their friends to the library every Saturday and teaching them to read… The grandfather organizing the effort to create a park with a ball diamond for his grandchildren and neighborhood kids… The power of ONE. One person who touches lives and makes a difference. Mark tired of hearing our Military publicly demeaned, so he wrote and recorded […]

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