January February 2021

The House Whisperer Every home speaks to me,” says Victoria Koontz. And if anyone knows the language of homes, it’s Vicki. “I grew up in the home building business, a ‘tomboy of sorts,’” she says. As a girl, she loved spending time with…
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John Burrell's High Adventure Company turns dreams of adventure into reality As a young man, I loved four things: hunting, fishing, camping, and canoeing. My time indoors was generally spent planning or preparing for my time outdoors,…
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Norris Hill’s battle for peace beganwith an encounter in Iraq It is early 1991, the height of the 42-day Persian Gulf War, in the Iraqi desert on the road to Baghdad. Some of the first U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen to enter through…
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Acupuncture treatment refocuses energy on positivity and love Recently, I married and began the transition process from being one to being a couple trying to operate as one unit. As my new husband and I navigated the holidays, where to…
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Rev. George Doebler discusses creating relationships that last When Rev. George Doebler landed at The University of Tennessee Medical Center in 1985, he’d already done time at San Quentin — as prison chaplain. A California native, he’d…
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Kids Say the Darnedest Thing Remember Art Linkletter? Now, that’s aname many have not heard in a long time. For the younger crowd, Linkletter was a host in the early days of television. He hada great talent for interviewing children and…
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Mountain recollections include a special dinner with the neighbors In 1950, my father traded a new Ford and $400 to Newt Ogle for a lot on the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River in the Emerts Cove community of Sevier County. …
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Looking for lighter fare at local restaurants? Look no further It’s January, and if 2020 had the impact on your waistline that it did on lots of others’, you may be ready to climb on the resolutions bandwagon with the rest of us. But…
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Sunspot delights both veggie and carnie crowds Why does a place known for its salads and vegetarian offerings have so many customers who come in specifically for what they insist is one of the best burgers in town? “Well,” answers…
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I started hunting and fishing with my father around age 6. I have so many fond memories of those trips. Sometimes we would drive up towards Meadowview, Virginia, and on the way, would stop at this old country store. Places like…
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