by Ralphine Major | Apr 6, 2020 | Columnist, Major
By Ralphine Major ralphine3@yahoo.com Those were the words our mother overheard one morning. We had stopped at a restaurant in Grainger County on our way to the annual Grainger County Tomato Festival. Some locals on the other side of the divider that separated our...
by Ralphine Major | Mar 30, 2020 | Columnist, Major
By Ralphine Major 2020 is bringing us a different kind of spring. As if cancellation of basketball’s March Madness was not enough disruption, more events are canceled or postponed due to the Coronavirus. For now, no Smokies games or college baseball games are...
by Ralphine Major | Mar 23, 2020 | Columnist, Major
By Ralphine Major The magnitude of our nation’s most recent health crisis has been mind boggling. Only one week ago I was writing about what I thought was big news—no fans would be allowed at the NCAA Basketball Tournaments. That seems like a year ago. ...
by Ralphine Major | Mar 16, 2020 | Columnist, Major
By Ralphine Major No fans? What is March Madness without fans! It has never happened before. The long-awaited basketball tournament games will be played this year with no fans in the stands. The unprecedented move is a testament to the seriousness of the...
by Ralphine Major | Mar 9, 2020 | Columnist, Major
By Ralphine Major As I recall, it was one of the largest snows of the season in 1986, and it came on a Friday. The date was February 14. Focus readers may remember that many people were caught off guard by the beautiful white flakes that began falling around...
