Stories from Wednesday, January 22, 2014

By Karen Hall Editor In contrast to previous years, when marchers and speakers endured cold and rain to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Lewisburg, Monday was a warm and sunny winter day. "When I see such a beautiful day I know God is good," said keynote speaker Dr. ...

By Karen Hall Editor "It almost brings a tear to your eye," said the man who is the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department's new chief. "I just don't want to think about him leaving." That was new Chief Ray Luna, talking Friday night about the man who has led Berlin's VFD for 19 years: Joe Greer...

By Jessica Moore Staff Writer Maria and Bill Carter are both fantastic students on their way to a very bright future. Their story just goes to show that hard work really does pay off. Maria and Bill are the children of Roe and Jenny Carter of Lewisburg. Their answers to some interview questions help us understand how they have accomplished so much. Maria chose to enter the pharmaceutical field while Bill chose engineering. Maria and Bill are both graduates of Marshall County High School...

By Jessica Moore Staff Writer At their meeting on Jan. 16 board members of the Duck River Development Agency heard about the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Program Jane Polansky of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation gave the presentation. ...

Robert Bigham Jr., 91, of the Delina Community, died Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, at his home. Mr. Bigham was a native of Marshall County, and he was the son of the late Robert and Allie D. Bigham. He was the founder of Bigham's Ham Company and was a member of the Delina Church of God...

Jean Foster Grissim, 83, of Nashville, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Mrs. Grissim was born in Lewisburg on Oct. 6, 1930, to Paul W. and Saydie Powell Foster. Mrs. Grissim attended Gulf Park College of Gulfport, Miss. and received her degree from Peabody Demonstrative School. ...

Dorothy Mae Brown Young, 87, of Lewisburg, passed away on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014, in Maury Regional Medical Center. A native of Detroit, Mich., Mrs. Young was the daughter of the late Virgil Harris Brown and Kathleen Darnell Williams, and the stepdaughter of the late Joe L. Williams. She was married to Vinson Young Jr., who passed away in 2003. She was a graduate of Columbia Business College, a senior citizen volunteer, and a member of Farmington United Methodist Church...

Thelma Kay Smith, 68, of Lewisburg, passed away on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, at her residence. Mrs. Smith was a native of Quinter, Kan. She was the daughter of the late Harvey Wire and Ethel May Carney Wire. She was a devoted housewife and attended the New Life Community Church in Lewisburg...

William Rufus Beard, 70, of Petersburg, died Saturday, Jan. 19, 2014, at his residence. Mr. Beard was a native of Marshall County, and son of the late Claude William and Mable Lorene Fullerton Beard. He was a graduate of Petersburg High School, and served his country during the Vietnam era in the U.S. Army. He was retired as superintendent of Al-Tenn Steel of Franklin. He was a member of the Church of Christ...

Mary Frances Johnson, 89, of Ardmore, Okla., formerly of Lewisburg, passed from this life on Jan. 2, 2014. She was born on Jan. 18, 1924, in Foster, Okla. to the late James Garfield Stufflebeam and Eula Ollie Chestnut Stufflebeam. She was a retired supervisory contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration in Alaska. ...

Donald Eugene Lloyd Sr., 58, of Lewisburg, died Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, at Marshall Medical Center. Mr. Lloyd was a native of South Bend, Ind., and he was the son of the late Robert Lloyd and Betty Jean Bristol. He was a former employee of Genesco and a member of the Baptist faith...

Stephen Owen Noble, 63, of Petersburg passed away Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia. A native of Anna, Ill., Mr. Noble was the son of the late Loyde Norman and Frances Owen Noble. He was a retired employee of Heil Quaker and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Petersburg...

After a convincing 65-50 win by the MTCS Lady Cougars over host Forrest in the opener of a Saturday night makeup twin bill, drama was at its highest when Cougar standout Derrick Spears nailed a fade-away beauty at the buzzer, lifting Middle Tennessee Christian School over the Rockets 42-40. Spears' game winner came just 14 seconds after Rocket junior Blake Leonard tied the game on a bruising three-point play in the paint.

Although the Lewisburg Middle School Tigers were unable to defend their TMSAA Class AA Sectional championship after being bumped up in classification this past year, LMS began their pursuit of a different title on Saturday night when they hammered the Winfree Bryant Aviators 47-24 in the quarterfinals of the James C. Haile Invitational Tournament at Middle Tennessee Christian School.

The Cornersville Bulldogs (4-13, 2-6 District) had a tough time of it on Friday night, as they lost 54-21 to the Richland Raiders on Homecoming. Having defeated CHS 55-33 in their previous encounter on Dec. 10, the Raiders (11-9, 5-3 District) built a 25-14 lead in first half of Friday's contest before outscoring the Bulldogs 29-7 over the final two quarters to complete the season sweep of Cornersville.

After struggling in the second half the last three games, the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs' late game struggles finally bit them on Friday night when they dropped a 42-36 decision to District 11-A leader Richland on Homecoming. The Lady Bulldogs (10-7, 6-2 District) looked good early and built a 22-16 lead in the first half. Cornersville, however, was unable to carry that momentum into the second half, as the Lady Raiders (12-6, 8-0 District) outscored CHS 26-14 over the final two quarters to snap the Lady Bulldogs three-game winning streak.

The Forrest Rockets snapped a two-game losing streak on Monday night by defeating Huntland 54-50 at home to record their third straight victory over the Hornets Forrest (8-14, 5-3 District) appeared to have the game well in hand after building a 44-30 lead midway through the third quarter, but Huntland (6-14, 1-8 District) came storming back and used a 20-6 run to knot the score at 50-50 with 2:06 left in the fourth period.

Coming off a disappointing 65-50 loss to Middle Tennessee Christian two days earlier, the Forrest Lady Rockets (15-8, 5-3 District) unleashed their wrath on an overmatched Huntland squad, as they pounded the Lady Hornets 76-36 on Monday at home. Forrest came out firing on all cylinders and built a 46-22 lead in the first half before opening up a 74-30 advantage at the end of the third quarter en route to claiming their third straight victory over Huntland (8-13, 2-7 District).

Non-Conference foe Mt. Pleasant came to Chapel Hill for Thursday night's homecoming activities and it turned out bitter sweet for the hosts as the Lady Rockets mashed the Lady Tigers 60-20 before the Rockets finished off the festivities with a 51-35 loss to the Tigers. In the girls' game, Hailey Collins jump-started the Lady Rockets with four points to start the contest before Mt. Pleasant managed to come back to within one point at 7-6 on a three-pointer by Katelyn Haywood.

There is nothing better than a homecoming night sweep and it came to fruition Friday night in Lewisburg, as the Tigerettes and Tigers both held off Cascade in the first ever District 12-AA matchup between the two schools. The Tigerettes beat the Lady Champions 40-38 in a seesaw affair that went down to the wire with Homecoming Queen Allison Hargrove delivering the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:52 remaining in the contest.

Ralph Odell Osteen, 83, passed away on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014, at his home in Brentwood. He was born in Caney Spring to parents Willie Homer Osteen and Pauline Walker Osteen. After graduating from Forrest High School in Chapel Hill, Mr. Osteen attended Middle Tennessee State College in Murfreesboro. ...

On Saturday, the Lewisburg Middle School Tigerettes (7-9) saw their season come to an end when they lost 37-25 to the DeKalb Lady Saints in the first round of the James C. Haile Invitational Tournament at Middle Tennessee Christian School. LMS held a 20-13 lead early in the third quarter and appeared poised to advance to the next round, but the Lady Saints played divinely down the stretch and outscored the Tigerettes 24-5 the rest of the way to claim the 12-point victory.