Features

In Iraq today, one of Shelby County’s native sons said he would spend his first Veterans Day doing what people who serve often do – missing his family.

 “I have a wonderful wife and a handsome little boy,” said Scott Gaines, 24, a firefighter with the Shelbyville Fire Department, husband of Angel Gaines, a firefighter with the Shelby County Fire Department and the father of a toddler, Braylon Scott Gaines.

Representatives from seven Shelby County organizations voiced their gratitude Monday night at receiving funding from the Shelby County Community Foundation.

“We are appreciative of this; it is the second year we have gotten funding, and it will help us a great deal,” said Lee Bean, founder and operator of the Open Door of Hope, a men’s shelter on 8th Street. “We have served one hundred and fifty men since opening two years ago, and we have helped more than half of those men to find jobs.”

As computers continue to make their way into more American homes, and as youngsters become more adept in their use, it’s important that parents impress on kids the importance of their posture in front of the computer.

Chiropractors are already seeing young patients with repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic pain in their necks, backs, shoulders, wrists and hands.

If a child is using a computer at a work station – the keypad, chair, table, monitor, etc. – set up for an adult, it’s an invitation to trouble.

Lee Meriwether had risen to fame in 1886, when, at the age of 23, he published his first book, A Tramp Trip: How to See Europe on Fifty Cents a Day, which became an instant bestseller.

When visiting his young cousin at the American Soldiers and Sailors Club in Paris in 1918, he had quoted Kentucky-born Marquise Susanne Henning de Charette, my late wife’s mother, as follows: “Maybe the law says I am French, but I say I am an American and always shall be.”

She’s been described as a “good witch,” and those who see her around town this week will surely agree.

Every year, the entire week leading up to Halloween, Linda Ethington gets all decked out in her witch garb whenever she goes anywhere, even to the grocery store, she said.

“Everybody knows I’m crazy, and they just love it,” she said with a giggle.

My last column was about how I like small towns because they develop some people’s character.On a related subject, I have often heard that small Southern towns seem to develop some people into characters.I believe this is true, and to make these characters more enjoyable to you and to them,have for you three theories, two questions and a wager.

What happens when you come home and see a window busted out, maybe a door slightly ajar or something out of place?

Of course, you call the police, but unless you live on Main Street in Shelbyville, between 5th and 3rd streets, it's going to take a few minutes for help to arrive.

If you are a registered gun owner, especially one certified to carry a weapon, you may be inclined to investigate on our own.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny, just perfect for a fundraiser designed to bring light into a young woman’s world.

More than 1,200 people attended “Save Savannah’s Sight,” held at the amphitheater at Clear Creek Park, which raised more than $22,000 to pay for a surgery that it is hoped will restore at least partial sight to Savannah Sanders.

The 21-year old, who was blinded in a childhood accident at age 10, was present at the event, and even performed a comedy act on stage.

Halloween is creeping closer, and annual events designed to provide a scare or two are popping up on the calendar.

In addition to the Trunk Or Treat events that have become popular at churches around Shelby County, the annual scare-you-to-death fundraisers are now open.

Back for its fourth season, the Blood Orchard Curse is offering scary tours Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.-midnight at Red Orchard Park on Kentucky Street.

The costs is  $10 per person, and proceeds go to the Shelby County Parks and Recreation Department.