3 minute read
Carter County Living
As we started to plan the summer issue of Carter County Living, I started thinking about my first day at the Star on June 13, 1986. I had been looking for a job and my neighbor Bob Bowling who had worked at the Star most of his life, told me about an opening in the pressroom. So five days after graduating high school, I started my journey here at the Star. It finally hit me that I am now in my 37th year at the Star. As I thought about my career at the Star, I couldn’t help but think about having been blessed to meet so many people through the Star, whether it be employees, past employees or people in the community.
I look at my journey and know it has been guided by God’s hand. How else could someone be blessed to have been surrounded by some of the best people in the world to help me along the way? With their guidance, patience, and of course God’s plan, I have learned the ins and outs of the newspaper business. I see the miracles that God does in my life every day and am very thankful that he chose the path for me that he did. That leads us to our cover story, Kattie Barnett’s KB Horse Training.
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One’s path in life is never guided by handy arrows etched into the earth. How wonderful it would be if we did have such an easy line to follow.
Instead, life’s path involves many different reactions and interactions, including decisions (both good and unfortunate), luck, preparation and networking.
Perhaps it would be easiest to describe Kattie Barnett’s road to where she is now as a bit of this and that, and a whole lot of patience awaiting God’s plan. It’s commonly known that one can make plans all day long, every day of the year, and God is just going to give a chuckle at our weak abilities.
Yes, it’s best to let him do all the hard work. After all, he’s the grand master of planning, and Kattie is first to admit that. It brought her to her dream job, on a plot of land that was her dream location, doing a job with animals she could only dream of having before, with friends then and now who helped her navigate to the place she now calls home.
As we continue our theme for this issue, our second feature story is about a grandmother, a store and cake pops. The funds from the sale of these cake pops go to the Weston Cosey Memorial Toy Drive to help buy toys for needy children during Christmas.
Every week like clockwork, Weston Cosey’s grandmother, Tammy Allen, brings cake pops to Captain Jack’s Store in Butler. The popular snacks sell fast.
Proceeds from the cake pop sales go toward the Weston Cosey Toy Drive. Cosey was only 6 when he died in 2019 from a dirt bike accident.
Thanks to Weston’s inspiration, his family was moved by the kind thoughtfulness of people during their time of grief. Instead of closing ranks and keeping their memories close to their hearts, they opened their arms wide to reach children out there who might need a helping hand.
The family wanted to channel Weston’s love of life by creating the Weston Cosey Memorial Toy Drive in a desire to take their sadness and channel it into something that Weston would have loved.
These are just a few amazing stories of how God has a plan for each of us. Even though it isn’t always easy, just buckle up and enjoy the journey. There will be ups and downs! The key is to stay the course and see where he takes you and take the time to see God’s hand in your life.
We hope you enjoy this issue, and if you know of anyone that would make a great story, please let me know at delaney.scalf@ elizabethton.com.
Staff
General Manager
DELANEY SCALF delaney.scalf@elizabethton.com
Editorial Director
ROZELLA HARDIN rozella.hardin@elizabethton.com
Human Resources
BRANDY TRIVETT brandy.trivett@elizabethton.com
Customer Service
KATHY SCALF kathy.scalf@elizabethton.com
Operations Manager
SCOTT SCALF scott.scalf@elizabethton.com
Marketing Consultant
LINDA JENKINS linda jenkins@elizabethton.com
Copy Editor
JANIE MCKINNEY janie.mckinney@elizabethton.com
Composing
ROBIN JOHNSON robin.johnson@elizabethton.com
Star Correspondents
ANGELA CUTRER
Contributing Photographers
LARRY N. SOUDERS
6 Kattie Barnett
18 Why I Love Carter County
28 Chicken Fingers
Make picnics fun
10 Have You Been Spotted
Check out these photos from area events
12 Upcoming Events
Plan ahead for these favorite events.
Features
20 Cake Pops
Provide funds for annual Weston Cosey Toy Drive
23 Why Carter County
29 Beer-Battered Catfish
Reel in a delicious dinner tonight
30 Southern Peach Cobbler
A summer dessert that is just peachy
14 Chance Point
Hampton three-sport star enters senior season with high hopes
24 Daddy Mac Depot
Changes name but not its popular menu
On the Cover
One’s path in life is never guided by handy arrows etched into the earth. How wonderful it would be if we did have such an easy line to follow.
Instead, life’s path involves many different reactions and interactions, including decisions (both good and unfortunate), luck, preparation and networking.
Perhaps it would be easiest to describe Kattie Barnett’s road to where she is now as a bit of this and that, and a whole lot of patience awaiting God’s plan. It’s commonly known that one can make plans all day long, every day of the year, and God is just going to give a chuckle at our weak abilities.
