Mary Etta Hobbs
Mary Etta Hobbs, age 67, of Williamsburg, Kentucky departed this life on July 23, 2023 at Baptist Health in Corbin, Kentucky.
Mary was born on October 1, 1955 in Jellico, Tennessee to William Scarborough and Annie (Gibson) Scarborough. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Annie Scarborough; husband, Frankie Hobbs; brothers, Bill Scarborough, Jr. and Warren Scarborough; sisters, Louise Young, Debbie Scarborough, Shirley Scarborough, and Barbara Culver.
Mary was a member of the Apostolic Lighthouse Church since 1982.
Mary is survived by her children, David Lee Anderson, Jr. (Debra) of Williamsburg, Kentucky, Jennifer Fuston of Williamsburg, Kentucky, and Tina Jones of Lexington, Kentucky; grandchildren, Brittany Morrison, Tyler Jones, Sabrina Smallwood, and Bricelynn Moses; great-grandchildren, Heidi Morrison and Maggie Morrison; brothers, Jimmy John Scarborough and David Leonard Scarborough, both of Williamsburg; sisters, Martha Hoskins of Dearly, Idaho, Doris White of Lexington, Kentucky, Linda Tabor of Lexington, Kentucky, and Vickie Fuston of Williamsburg, Kentucky; and a host of other family and friends to mourn her passing.
Visitation will be from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM on Wednesday, July 26, at the Apostolic Lighthouse Church in Highland Park.
Funeral service will be at 1:00 PM on Thursday, July 27, at the Apostolic Lighthouse Church in Highland Park with Pastor Jacob Upton and Bishop James Roark officiating.
She will be laid to rest in the Woods Cemetery.
Croley Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Barbara Wasano
Barbara Wasano, age 87, of Williamsburg, KY, passed away Thursday, July 20, 2023 at the Williamsburg Health and Rehabilitation Center.
She was born April 7, 1936 in Williamsburg, KY, to the late Corbit Jess and Elania Anderson Ellison.
Along with her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Stanley Wasano; seven brothers and sisters, Charlotte Perkins, Crayton H. Ellison, Jessie Moskos, Stanton Ellison, Faye Renfro, Doris Crowe, and Jack Ellison.
Barbara graduated from Williamsburg High School, Cumberland College, and Charity Hospital School of Nursing in New Orleans.
She was a veteran of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corp and retired as a register nurse in 1993. Stanley and Barbara moved back to Williamsburg in 1993.
She is survived by her son, Jack K. Wasano of Williamsburg, KY; several nieces, nephews, and a host of relatives and friends to mourn her passing.
Funeral service will be 1:00 PM Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at the Ellison Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Dean Whitaker officiating.
Interment will be in the Stanfill Cemetery.
Visitation will be 12:00 PM until the funeral hour Tuesday, July 25, 2023 at the funeral home.
Pallbearers will be Jerry Rains, Jerry Lee Rains, Wes Perkins, Bruce Ellison, and Crayton G. Ellison.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the D.A.R. and the Philathea Sunday School Class of the Main Street Baptist Church in Williamsburg, KY.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.ellisonfh.com.
Ellison Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.
Lonnie Lewis Ball
Lonnie Lewis Ball, age 46, of Williamsburg, Kentucky departed this world on July 21, 2023 at his home.
Lonnie was born on November 28, 1976 in Corbin, Kentucky to Lonnie Earl Ball and Carrie Lou Rhoades.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Lonnie Earl Ball and Carrie Lou Rhoades; and sister, Kasey Ball.
Lonnie loved fishing, riding his motorcycle, and spending time with his grandchildren.
He is survived by five children, Haley Cummins (Blake) of Jellico, Tennessee, Lonnie Earl Ball, IV of Muncie, Indiana, Michelle Ball of Muncie, Indiana, Della Jones of Williamsburg, Kentucky, and Jamie Jones of Williamsburg, Kentucky; five grandchildren, Colton Jones, Sam Jones, Javon Wallace, Olivia Cummins, and Layla Cummins; five sisters, Diana Brooks (James) of Lakeland, Florida, Christy Davis (Chris) of Williamsburg, Kentucky, Angela Helton of Williamsburg, Kentucky, Tara Day (James) of Simpsonville, Kentucky, and Megan Hughes (Jake) of Corbin, Kentucky; two brothers, Marvin Helton (Sabrina) of Rockholds, Kentucky and Frank Helton (Erma) of Rockholds, Kentucky; stepfather, Franklin Helton, Sr. of Williamsburg, Kentucky; several nieces and nephews and a host of other family and friends to mourn his passing.
Visitation will be 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Monday, July 24, at the Croley Funeral Home Chapel.
Funeral service will be at 1:00 PM Tuesday, July 25, at the Croley Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. John Rhoades and Rev. Bill Meadors officiating.
He will be laid to rest in the Wofford Cemetery – Rhoades Addition.
Calvin Lewallen
Calvin Lewallen, age 75, a resident of Jellico, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at LaFollette Medical Center.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Doc Lewallen and Van Morgan; one sister, Bertie Rose Curry; and two brothers, Lee and Silas Lewallen; and son Chris Hearn.
He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Kathy Norman Lewallen; daughters, Lisa Lewallen Cooper and husband, Dewayne, Tonya Beaty and husband David; sons, Kevin and Cody Lewallen; five grandchildren, Jessica Cooper, Daniel and Shauna Hawkins, and Cameron and Wade Beaty; three brothers, J.M., Henry, and Arvil Lewallen; and two sisters, Arbutus Dilbeck and Ella Mae Bridges; brother-in-law, Earl Norman and wife Edna; sisters-in-law, Ruth Beasley and Alice Norman; and a host of nieces, nephews, other family and friends.
Funeral service was Saturday, July 22, at the Harp Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Jason Ivey and Rev. Junior Dople officiating.
Graveside service was Sunday, July 23, at Lick Fork Baptist Church Cemetery in Pioneer, Tennessee.
Harp Funeral Home of Jellico in charge of arrangements.
Experience with summer intern got me thinking of days at EKU
When you are an editor at a college newspaper, you have staff writers that turn in all kinds of stories with varying levels of quality. Some prove to be memorable and not for good reason…LOL.
Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.
You usually had one or two staff writers, who were pretty darn good and you didn’t have to do much, if anything, to their stories. Then you had some that reading their stories made your head hurt.
One story in particular that stood out was a feature story a staff writer wrote about a dancer at a new “Gentlemen’s Club” shall we say that had opened in Richmond. The subject of the story wasn’t as memorable as all of the grammatical errors that were in it though.
Staff writers would periodically also turn in some of these same stories that they wrote for the paper as part of classroom assignments. It wasn’t uncommon for professors to come to some of us editors to make sure these staff writers were turning in their original version of the story rather than our edited version.
I remember one of my favorite professors, Liz Hansen, coming up to me one day in The Eastern Progress office asking me to take a look at the dancer story to see if it was the same thing that originally got turned into me.
After glancing through Liz’s marked up copy of the story, I looked at her and said, “based upon the sheer volume of red ink, I have no doubt.” We both had a pretty good laugh.
Almost all of our college staff writers were journalism majors, but, some of them wrote better than others.
I found myself thinking about my old staff writers from college earlier this summer as Leeann Fragosa joined us here at the News Journal for a summer internship.
Although she is an early education major, who had never taken a journalism class a day in her life, she was writing better stories on day one than some of the journalism majors that I had as staff writers back in college.
Leeann recently completed her internship. She has been a joy to work with and get to know over the last 10 weeks.
As I told her on her last day, she could do this for a living if the whole teaching thing doesn’t work out.
I wish her well on all of her future endeavors.
Now to touch on another topic before I conclude this column.
We now have the Whitley County Fair behind us, and coming up in a few short weeks will be NIBROC in Corbin.
I typically enjoy some of the big named musical acts that NIBROC has booked in the past, such as Rick Springfield, Styx and .38 Special. While none of those big names are lined up for this year’s festival, Bruce Carpenter has some acts with local ties that are worth checking out.
County Wide is a popular local group, which always puts on a good show. These guys don’t disappoint.
A slightly lesser known local group, Paint Creek, is another local band that is performing this year at NIBROC. It includes brothers Eric and Alec Poore of Williamsburg, along with their close friends Blake Phelps, Connor Wilson and Justin Conn. Paint Creek is a band that I enjoy listening to about as much as County Wide. If you haven’t heard either of these two bands, then you need to check them out.
Another act with local ties that is slated to perform this year at NIBROC is
Tim & Taylor. This husband and wife duo features Corbin native Tim Gore. I haven’t heard them, but will probably try to check them out.
Look elsewhere in this week’s paper for more information about Tim & Taylor.
Aug. 10 NIBROC performance will serve as homecoming for Tim Gore of Tim & Taylor
Tim and Taylor Gore, who go by the stage name of Tim & Taylor, are excited to be a part of this year’s musical lineup at the Annual NIBROC Festival in downtown Corbin. There is an added level of excitement for Tim personally, though, as he is a proud native of Corbin, graduating from Corbin High School in 2002. (more…)
Corbin native Zac Hart added to NIBROC lineup
Corbin native Zac Hart is an artist whose inevitable rise is already attracting the eyes and ears of country fans, and beyond.
Residing in Nashville, Hart has opened for touring artists such as Lee Brice, Travis Tritt, John Michael Montgomery, and more. He has also graced prestigious stages such as at CMA Fest and Katie Couric’s TV show in NYC for a special CMA Awards episode.
Since its release, Hart’s debut Nashville project has been featured in some of Spotify’s top country editorials, and his single, “No One,” has surpassed nearly a half-million streams on Spotify alone, reaching nearly a million [downloads] across platforms.
Hart will perform at NIBROC on Sat., Aug. 12.
Senior Living: Staying Active Through Hobbies
Appalachian Photographic Society
Longtime readers of Senior Living know all about the importance of continuing to stay active as we age. Hobbies can be a great way to accomplish this, so in this month’s issue, we will look at two local groups who are offering fun and exciting ways to remain physically and mentally engaged. (more…)
W’burg woman earns blue ribbon in statewide arts competition
Alice Fae Weiland of Williamsburg emerged victorious, earning a blue ribbon in the statewide competition of the Kentucky Extensions Homemakers Cultural Arts Competition.
Weiland is an esteemed instructor and regularly teaches basketry to eager learners at the Extension Arts Center in Williamsburg.
Mawnie Belcher, the Community Arts Program Assistant, spoke highly of Weiland.
“It is worth noting that Alice Fae’s commitment and passion shine through her teaching,” Belcher said.
The class is free, although there is a small materials fee.
For those interested in the art of basketry, Community Arts invites you to contact them at (606) 549-7373.
Kayaker survives going over Cumberland Falls
The Whitley County Sheriff’s Department is reporting that a kayaker went over Cumberland Falls Friday and lived to tell about it.
The sheriff’s department left the scene about 11 p.m. Friday after deploying at the Falls in a support capacity for the Kentucky State Park Rangers.
The individual involved was located by citizens below the Falls.
Park rangers, deputies, Whitley County EMS, local fire and rescue, and park patrons were able to organize a rescue.
The person involved was alert and talking, but sustained suspected injuries. They were transported by EMS, the release stated.
“Please be aware that attempting to go over the Falls is criminal. It puts a lot of first responders in danger when attempting a rescue in such a dangerous area. We applaud State Park Rangers for their organization and promptness to incidents at the Cumberland Falls State Resort Park,” the sheriff’s department wrote in a release.