Features

As we gather around tables to feast on turkey with all the trimmings and give thanks for what’s important in our lives, it just may be that out in the woods behind the house those turkeys that found a way to stay in the wild and avoid the ovens are giving thanks for being dropped back in Shelby County.

A rural community filled with outdoorsmen, there is no doubt that in this county many of the centerpiece turkeys have been hunted and harvested by someone sitting at that table, but not too long ago that wouldn’t have been possible.

On a Friday afternoon, 50 years ago today, an American tragedy unfolded in the downtown streets of Dallas. The moment when an assassin’s bullet took the life of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and in so many ways changed the course of American history is not something anyone alive that day can forget.

In fact, it has become the most significant “I remember that day” anecdote that men and women have passed down through the generations, through oral histories, written memories or simply reliving the moment through media presentations.

Christmas – that magical time of year that children dream of all year long – is just around the corner, and some charitable organizations are struggling to come up with enough money to make sure that children around the county will have a gift on Christmas morning.

Officials of one event that has been instrumental in providing gifts for children in need during the past decade said that funds are down by 50 percent this year, a situation that means that some children who received gifts last year may not receive anything this year unless more donations come in.

A young man with small children, an elderly woman in a wheelchair and all ages in between – all U.S. military veterans who turned out Sunday for a Veterans Day service at the Shelby County Extension Office.

They came with their families, and in some instances their families came without them, celebrating veterans who had passed away, such as Bruce Wells, an Army veteran of World War II who, along with his brother, Truman, of Lawrenceburg had received his high school diploma in 2009, when both men were in their 80s.

Trims and Whims is as regular as colored leaves in the fall.

This 33rd annual Christmas crafts fair opens the holiday gift-buying season Saturday and Sunday at Wright Elementary School on Rocket Lane.

When the Bagdad Ruritan Club was founded in 1953 by 26 men, Martha Layne Collins (then Hall) was a just a schoolgirl.

But as she grew into the first female Governor of Kentucky, she never forgot where she started.

“My mom always told me never forget your roots,” she told the group assembled at the Bagdad Ruritan Club’s 60th anniversary dinner on Saturday. “I constantly tell people I’m from Bagdad…although sometimes I have to add that it’s the one without the H.”

Donna Meador said she has known Erin Reid for about 21 years, so when she found out that Reid was going to try a new procedure to help her battle with Multiple Sclerosis, she wanted to help.

Meador has organized a chili supper fundraiser at Centenary United Methodist on Sunday. The event will begin at about 11 a.m., after Sunday school and will continue until after the late-morning worship service, which concludes around noon.

A weekend celebration that marked 142 years for the Shelby Baptist Association was a big success, officials say.

“I had three churches call today [Tuesday] with just glowing responses about how the weekend went,” said Tony Hough, director of missions for the Shelby Baptist Association.

Activities held Friday through Sunday included a countywide worship service Friday night at Highland Baptist Church on Mount Eden Road, and Carol Herndon, ministry associate for the SBA, said she estimates that about 150 people showed up for that service.

Shelbyville’s First Presbyterian Church is on a mission.

Throughout the month of October, the church is making a special effort to address the needs of almost 300 children in the county who need “A Place To Sleep.” Their program – which has that very name – has helped about 260 children during the five years it has been in existence, but there are still about 30 on the waiting list, in need of help.