Mark White

When you are the managing editor of a small community newspaper, you “get” to do some stuff editors are bigger newspaper don’t have to do, such as filling up the jug for the water cooler, taking out the glue trap with the dead lizard and checking upstairs in the attic after some of the ladies heard a noise and are convinced there is a racoon up there. (It turned out just to be a fallen ceiling tile…LOL.) The latest case in point was last Wednesday. Our long-time newspaper delivery driver, Andy Welsh, left us for the greener pastures of California. (Cannot imagine why he would want to do that…LOL.) I...

The recent British Open certainly had an exciting finish. American Cameron Young, who birdied four out of his first five holes in the final round, got into the clubhouse early posting a score of 9-under-par for the tournament. Then he waited and waited for more than two hours to see whether anyone caught him. They did. New Zealander Ryan Fox kept plugging along birdieing Hole No. 13 and Hole No. 14. He bogeyed hole No. 15 followed by a birdie at Hole No. 16. After parring Hole No. 17, Fox went into the final 72nd hole of the tournament in a tie for the lead. By this time, Young was back on...

The Whitley County Fair and the recent deaths of two local residents will be three of the topics for this week’s column. Williamsburg Dry Cleaners owner Pat Michael Marple died on July 15 at the age of 79. Most people in Williamsburg knew Pat from his time owning and operating Williamsburg Dry Cleaners for over have a century. Pat’s father, Pat Marple Sr. founded Williamsburg Dry Cleaners in the late 1930s. I did a story about the younger Pat and Williamsburg Dry Cleaners in 2001. The business never charged to clean an American Flag or a Christian Flag. It was a practice’s Pat Marple Sr. started and one his son continued. One interesting thing...

To this day, I can still remember the words of my friend, Rev. Keith Decker, when I was in the ring taking pictures of the mule pull at the Whitley County Fair several years ago. “I want you to know I was praying for you real hard,” Keith told me after I had gotten out the way more than once that morning from a team of mules, which had tried to break loose. If you were going to have somebody praying for your safety, Keith, who founded Cedaridge Ministries, was a good one to have in your corner. For those unfamiliar with mule pulls, these events involve teams of mules working to...

A few weeks back, I went to take pictures at a WWE NXT event at The Corbin Arena. I have not watched wrestling in a few years, and I had never heard of any of the wrestlers, but I still had a good time. I grew up watching wrestling. While my mom’s mother despised it, my dad’s mother was the exact opposite. She loved wrestling. You did NOT try to tell her it wasn’t real. (She was one of THOSE wrestling fans…LOL.) Back then wrestling tried to maintain what has affectionately been dubbed “kayfabe.” In other words, wrestling did its best to maintain the illusion its story line was real. Every Saturday afternoon, Grannie would...

As anyone, who has played much golf in their life can attest to, golf is a sport, which can help you forget about your real-world problems for a while. This may come in the form of having a really great day where you are hitting nearly every fairway and green in regulation and you have your putter going. For most of us hackers though, it is usually because trying to hit the dang little white ball is so frustrating sometimes, you just forget about everything else. Either way, you are usually not thinking about the mortgage, your high cholesterol or the stress of your job for a while when you are...

The Jan. 20 Main Street blaze in Williamsburg, which destroyed four buildings, will have a legacy downtown beyond just the fire. Initially, it appeared much of the buildings could probably be rebuilt. However, Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison recently announced all four structures will have to be demolished due to the extent of the damage. While it is theoretically possible to save the buildings, it would triple the building costs. As someone, who worked in downtown Williamsburg on Second Street across from Croley Funeral Home for 25 years, I got emotional when I heard these buildings were burning in January and again after I saw the aftermath. I walked by them nearly every day...

The greater Corbin area used to have not one but two golf courses. Both are now closed. I miss one of these courses. The second one not so much…LOL. I suspect many of you, who played both courses, probably agree with me. I am talking about the old Tri-County Country Club and Sweet Hollow Golf Course. Both were nine-hole courses, but not every nine-hole course is created equally. Tri-County was in western Knox County between Old Barbourville Highway and the Cumberland Gap Parkway. When I say located between the two roads, I mean literally. The entrance for Tri-County Country Club was off Old Barbourville Highway. Cumberland Gap Parkway was visible from the...

When I was 12 years old, I was shot by a couple of guys target shooting at an old outhouse a couple of blocks away. (No. I wasn’t in the outhouse…LOL). I heard some bangs beforehand, but it was July 1. I figured some kids were probably setting off firecrackers and I did not think much about it. The men were using a .22 rifle and did not think the bullet would go through the outhouse. However, it ricocheted, travelled a couple of blocks and struck me in the leg. I was in the hospital for five days, and on crutches for two months. The doctors did not remove the bullet. They...

The Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission recently sponsored its annual Burger Week, which has proven to be a success each year. I’m all for honoring beef. I love a good steak and a good burger probably a little more so than the next guy. However, I would love to see someone organize a Wing Week too. Local restaurants could have a week-long special on wings. You could have a contest with two categories of winners like they do with the Williamsburg Chili Cookoff. You could have a judge’s choice award and a people’s choice award. A secret panel of judges could anonymously go around to all the participating restaurants, sample the wings and...