A restful Labor Day weekend

MIKE McCORMICK My wife Pat and I usually stay close to home on holiday weekends. Seldom do we travel even down to our small place at Lake Eufaula. But this Labor Day weekend we decided to venture down to our place that we hadn’t been able to since the last weekend in March of this year.

Grocery cart

Kindra and I were in the fruit section of the grocery store Saturday, picking out apples for lunches and snacks this week. My hands were full of Honeycrisps and Galas, so Kindra stepped toward the baggie dispenser to get a couple.

Town Talk

DIANA REED Correspondent Activities in the community this week include Stroud Middle School and High School football scrimmages Thursday, August 25th beginning at 4:30 p.m. Oklahoma Blood Institute’s blood drive will be held at the Assembly of God Church on Friday, August 26th from 1:00 p.m.

Importance of gratitude

MIKE McCORMICK As I was placing my frozen waffle in the toaster one morning this week, I was wondering what my work day might bring. I knew it would be a long Tuesday because it was the day of the runoff elections. I started early that morning as I normally do.

Letter to the editor

I moved to Tryon in 1970 - a small town where people took care of their yards and homes. Main Street was busy, a bank, post office, two cafes, Napa store, hardware store, grocery store, feed store, tire repair, car wash and a few more businesses.

Reflections on a father

MIKE McCORMICK It was 34 years a week ago today that I and our family lost my dad to a brief battle with lung cancer. He was 64 and in a month would have turned 65 had he made it to Sept. 12. Doctors in May of that year diagnosed a cancerous tumor the size of a softball in one of his lungs.

Town Talk

School is now in full swing. We had great weather Friday night for the Blue and White Pep Rally. There was a good turnout, and it was nice to see all the kiddos who are participating in school activities. Extra-curricular activities are an important part of a student’s education.

The gnome

Things were winding down Monday night when Reno started barking loudly at the corner of the bedroom. This was clearly a “Hey!Something’s over here” kind of bark, and he kept barking loudly and often. The only problem was that we couldn’t see anything worrisome. At all.

Eating

I was sweating like a road lizard Sunday afternoon after I harvested our purple Magic Molly finglering potatoes.

Celebrating Independence Day

Our family this year celebrated the recent July 4 holiday in a lot bigger way than we have in many years. We had the celebration on the holiday itself while some others in our neighborhood did it either on Saturday or Sunday of that weekend.