Next Monday we honor our military personnel who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

One of our favorite radio shows years ago was Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion,” which aired from 1974 to 2016.

Dearest Nate,

I am dedicating this column to all my friends and family who share my love for snack foods.

This week’s column is dedicated to “leaplings” everywhere.

Since we have had record rainfall in the last few weeks, I have been paying closer attention to overall weather patterns in all seasons.

Today you should be celebrating with your favorite other with dinner, a show and, perhaps, some rich chocolates or great perfume. If you are so inclined, you might also sing to your sweetheart or take her/him to a concert.

Let me begin this week’s effort by profusely apologizing to many of my friends, family and others I have seen this week.

This week’s column concludes our two-part look at prescription drug issues in America.

Over the last fews weeks I have noticed one news item seems to get more airtime on TV than I would have ever thought — the British Royal Family Feud.

One of my resolutions for this year, especially since it is the start of a new decade, is to be kinder and gentler to everyone I meet.

I was channel surfing this week looking for a football game on ESPN when I happened on an unusual sporting event.

I hope each of you had a very blessed Christmas and got some well deserved rest.

In less than a week, the Christmas trees, sparkling with decorations, will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of the jolly fat man in the red suit.

Indeed, ’tis the season when we become immersed in all things Christmas.

We were clearing out some bookshelves recently when I discovered, what I call, a “column starter” little gem.

We were watching our favorite 7:30 p.m. TV show, Jeopardy, this week, when the category World Geography popped up.

My fascination with words probably started in my early teens when I began enjoying reading poetry.

As the holiday season begins with the stores already packed with Christmas items, the one word that comes to mind for so many people is “tradition.”

The scariest night of the year has come and gone and homes around the country are winding down from the gigantic sugar highs created by a gazillion tons of Halloween candy.

Except for a brief spell before age nine, I have lived in the south.

This summer and early fall have seen some record high temperatures in our fair county.

A group of friends were recently discussing music and we began reminiscing about the good old days of vinyl records.

It is football time in Tennessee and all across the nation.

I was visiting recently with a good friend, Porter Clark, and he was having some problems at work with the internet and the phone system.

June 6, 1944. D-Day. Operation Overlord.

I find historic timelines fascinating.

What a great week for enjoying some outdoor natural phenomena, as well as trying to avoid the record heat index days by staying inside and cranking up the air conditioning.

This past Monday, a “community conversation” was held at the Athens City Hall to learn more and share thoughts regarding the Aug. 20 tax referendum.

I have been a crossword puzzle fanatic since my teens.

It has been an extremely hot and humid summer so far and we are only into it for less than four weeks.

I love to learn new things.

Just when I knew I had seen everything, a medical app on my phone appeared this week that gave me a great deal of pause. Also, since I am past my deadline for Dewey, our editor, I got a pinch of extra time and can relay this column post haste.

As summer begins I remembered it was time for our quarterly SMART (Society for the Meaningless Activity of Recalling Trivia) meeting.

I was watching a television commercial recently that was fairly harmless, but relatively dumb, and it set me to contemplating on just how many ads we see in an average viewing period at night.

Okay trivia buffs, this one’s for you.

This has been an interesting week to say the least.

This past weekend in many communities large and small, an annual rite of spring occurred. I’m certain millions of folks — parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and anyone with a little girl or boy big enough to fit into a tutu or leotard, attended a dance recital.

If any of you were watching the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby last weekend you were treated to an historic moment as the winning horse, Maximum Security, was disqualified for interfering with other horses.

An old saying I learned as a kid resonates with me today — “Spring has sprung and the weeds have come.”

Some long time friends got together recently and began commiserating on our multiple ailments.