Recent Articles

Alert readers will recall that last year, the Soapbox Annual Predictions included a stock tip to buy N95 masks, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper.
While that was technically related to an expansion of the Tinder app, it was still a good call.
Expect the same solid results in my picks for 2021:

There's no doubt 2020 has been a challenging year and most of us will be happy to bid it farewell.
It's definitely been a year of sadness and loss for so many people.
Unfortunately, midnight on December 31 may not flip a switch and change too much. I foresee some hard times in 2021 as well, as least in the first few weeks.

Dear Editor, "E.T." was the first children's movie to normalize divorce as something adults do. That's unfortunate, but the little movie about a space alien visiting a little boy wound up making Steven Spielberg a bazzilionaire.
Oh, and the movie was about a broken American family too. Mom and dad are living apart from each other.

Gulley's Hardware was named Nashville's oldest merchant in 1975. The business opened in 1925. Pictured above were the staff at the store.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." (John 6:44)
Consumer analysts who track the whims of shoppers report that gift cards were purchased this Christmas season in record numbers. It is one more indication of the quality of life that we enjoy. We are hard to shop for because we have just about everything we need.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is not good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. - Matthew 5:13
Salt gets bad press. it is tied to hypertension, obesity, heart disease, and other ailments. The need for salt is questioned. The use of salt is discouraged.

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year Fellow Followers! This is a reprint of an article that appeared in The Graphic back in November of 2019, I pray it's encouraging.
Life has seasons, some good, some bad. We look back at certain points of our existence and think, "wow, those were the best days!"

North Carolina Wesleyan College (NCWC) recently signed an agreement that will help qualified graduates of Craven Community College (Craven CC) transfer to Wesleyan. The agreement aims to provide a seamless transfer for students who enroll at Wesleyan following completion of their two-year degree at Craven CC.
Leaders of both colleges signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on November 5 in a virtual signing via Zoom.

Without a doubt 2020 has been an extraordinarily strange and stressful year. Raging wildfires, destructive weather events, Covid-19 virus, hotly contested elections, people losing their jobs, and food lines are all but a few items contributing to the strangeness and stressfulness
We have experienced the loss of family and friends this year.

Zone Governor Fran Bunn, at left, presents Community Service Awards for 2020 to West Mount Ruritan President Wayne Outlaw, at right. Although the pandemic prohibited some activities in 2020, the club continued its service to the community and the community at-large. Touting the addition of 12 new members in 2020, the club received Gold Awards, the highest award possible, in each of the five service categories.

North Carolina Wesleyan College announces the addition of Dr. Kelvin Spragley as their new Director of Teacher Education. Dr. Spragley will also serve as Wesleyan's Coordinator of Diversity and Inclusion Programming. He begins on January 4, 2021.
Dr. Spragley is a U.S. Army veteran, who has worked in the Wake County Public School System for seven years as a Social Science teacher.

UNC Orthopedics at Nash has moved to a new location.
The office of UNC Orthopedics at Nash, which was previously located in the Medical Arts Mall on the campus of Nash UNC Health Care, opened its new office, just across the parking lot, on Monday, December 14th.

RESOLUTIONS for YOUR Pet!....
Love your pet? Then let's review some things we all should do this new year, including me!
~ DIET. Too many of us don't measure the food, just eyeball it. This can add up to an unhealthy weight gain for your pet.