Clint Long was born and lived his early years in the Salem community of Morganton. After living in East Tennessee for around five years where he attended college, he came back and bought a house in …

I had not quite turned 10 when Freedom High School opened in the fall of 1973. So as Freedom turns 50 this fall, I, too, will mark a milestone — the golden age of 60.  I was old enough to know …

With apologies to Captain James T. Kirk and the writers of Star Trek. College, the final frontier These are the voyages of the Starship Junior Its four-year mission To explore strange new student …

For the last few weeks of my recent internship at the Paper, I found myself in the world of custody battles and parents’ rights.  It started when I received a Facebook message in June from an …

Home Furnishings has been a mainstay in North Carolina, and particularly Burke County and its surrounding neighbors, Catawba and Caldwell and Alexander counties, for almost the entire time the United …

In this summer of chaos in the skies – delayed, canceled or late-arriving flights, unruly passengers, exasperated crews – permit me to share the story of my trip to Maine. The Uber driver arrived …

I’m kind of like Bob Seger… just give me that ole time rock and roll; the kind of music that just soothes the soul. Radio and music have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My …

At one time, a popular and long-standing activity of any church youth ministry programming was the Lock-In. For a night-owl like me it would seem to have been the perfect activity. Nope. I hate …

If ever there was a hard-earned nickname bestowed upon a man, John “Crooked Neck” Kincaid had one. He had to be hanged twice to get it. Born in Ireland in 1710, Mr. Kincaid emigrated to what …

The Reverend Mike Chandler has been Lead Pastor at Summit Community Church in Morganton for nine years. Before that he was Pastor with Journey before the merger with Calvary Baptist Church to create …

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly …

There are few things worse than being sick and absolutely nothing more uncomfortable than stomach ailments. And for the last while, I have fallen victim to the full gamut of “tummy trials.” The …

As a youngish youth minister learning my calling, I was constantly on the lookout for new, innovative ways to engage my youth group in the important tasks of understanding the Bible’s teachings, …

The Morganton Public Library was rapidly filling up with families; children fairly vibrating with excitement and parents wearing faces of good-natured exasperation as they struggled to maintain a …

This past week I was doing some summer cleaning and I stumbled upon my yearbook from elementary school. What feels like an eternity ago, really was only 10 years ago. Do I remember any of it? Not …