Welcome to our new web site!
To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.
During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.
While digging around for inspiration this week, I began looking for interesting tales or stories about Thanksgiving in Tennessee. Well, let’s just say that all I could find were stories about the first Thanksgiving in 1621 or diatribes tearing down the holiday for whatever reason. Then I found something interesting and decided I would share it in its entirety this week. It comes from the Knoxville History Project, a group interested in promoting the history of Knoxville.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 11/28/23 |
Last week, as Weakley County and the City of Dresden celebrated the Iris Festival, my mind was drawn to the stories and successes of Ned Ray McWherter. Born the son of a sharecropper, McWherter was a prosperous businessman, Speaker of the House for the Tennessee Legislature and a two-term governor.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 5/10/22 |
One Thanksgiving Leon decided he was going to shoot a turkey for the big meal. I’m not sure till this day why he took me along. I’d never seen a live turkey in my whole life. I sure couldn’t help him find one.
more
By Jim Potts
jpotts@mckenziebanner.com | 11/22/22 |
Growing up, it was not uncommon for my parents to go on a Sunday afternoon drive. I honestly think it was handed down through the generations. I know my grandparents did the same thing back in the day, and the Lord knows driving all the back roads with my granddaddy back in the day taught me how to get just about anywhere without hitting a major highway.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 11/22/22 |
People ask me from time to time why I don’t add pictures to my stories. I think there is a twofold answer here. First of all, we didn’t have any money. Those Kodak Brownie cameras were expensive. And it you wanted a Polaroid Land model J66 with the Electric Eye it would cost you even more. We didn’t have anything to take a picture with!
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
6/7/22
|
The year 1966 was year of change in the United States. In Vietnam, U.S. planes began bombing Hanoi and Haiphong. Bob Dylan released his Blonde on Blonde LP. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is founded in New York City. John Lennon declared the Beatles “more popular than Jesus.” Walt Disney dies while producing The Jungle Book and How the Grinch Stole Christmas is shown for the first time on CBS.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 6/7/22 |
….are on the lists (yes, there are more than one) of outdated, obsolete and/or old-fashioned things that baby boomers “needlessly” hang on to long past (according to a wave of fresh new thinkers) their effectiveness.
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
7/18/23
|
I am so excited for the new school year and can’t wait to see all the smiling faces on August 1. While it’s been a whirlwind summer as I’ve gotten into the new role as Director of Schools, the community of McKenzie has been tremendous in welcoming me and my family back to West Tennessee.
more
7/18/23
|
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) stands as a testament to the transformative power of public infrastructure. Established in 1933 during the Great Depression, the TVA was born out of a need to revitalize the impoverished southeastern region of the United States. Over the decades, the TVA has played a pivotal role in fueling economic growth, providing reliable electricity, controlling floods, fostering industrial development, and promoting environmental stewardship. This editorial aims to delve into the rich history and enduring significance of the TVA, with a specific focus on its profound impact on West Tennessee.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 7/18/23 |
You people never cease to amaze me! I wrote a simple story about liking Coca-Colas. It really wasn’t all that great. Real newspaper people would call it “filler” material. I promise I have done better….
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
9/12/23
|
There are individuals whose stories transcend the limitations of time, resonating with unyielding determination and fortitude. One such remarkable figure is Mary Fields, famously known as “Stagecoach Mary.” Born into the shackles of slavery in Hickman County, Tennessee, Mary’s life journey traversed the spectrum of human experience, encompassing struggle, resilience, and triumph. Her tale, like a beacon of inspiration, illuminates the path of the human spirit’s capacity to overcome adversity and forge ahead into the unknown.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 9/12/23 |
I hadn’t bought a BB in years. Well, over 60 in fact. I wasn’t sure they even made the things anymore. The young man at Ace Hardware pointed to the next aisle over like hundreds came in everyday looking for them.
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
8/2/22
|
The year was 1982 and I had just been elected District Attorney. One of the counties in my district was my home county of Carroll. I was in the court house for some reason or another when I was a approached by a very nice and polite young lady. She said she was from one of the schools in the western part of the county and that they would be holding a womanless beauty review soon and she wanted me to be in it. Womanless beauty reviews were common in those days and politicians and other men who were considered of some prominence were recruited to participate.
more
9/12/23
|
Friends come over today, take one cursory look at my lawnmower and make the same comment, “Did that thing come over on the Mayflower?”
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
9/19/23
|
I met Larry Logan in 1981, when I came to Grace Baptist Church, where I would serve as pastor for 34 years. Larry was the Juvenile Judge with an office in McKenzie. I sought his help with a youth headed for trouble. He was eager to help then, and he had continued to be a tremendous help to youth and others, I have observed him during his tenure as judge. His love for people, his honesty and his knowledge of the law are apparent when he is on the bench.
more
8/2/22
|
Aggravated Burglary — Zheng Xiufeng of Stonewall Street, McKenzie reported his home had been vandalized and items stolen on September 8.
more
9/12/23
|
Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region, which straddled the border between North and South Carolina. His life unfolded during a tumultuous period in American history, marked by revolutionary fervor, westward expansion, and the shaping of a new nation.
more
By Jason Martin
jmartin@mckenziebanner.com | 9/19/23 |
I’m teaching a class at Gulf Coast State entitled, “Will You Know Where You Are When You Get Where You’re Going.” I did not think up that moniker. I “borrowed” it from a guy taller, smarter, and funnier than I am. He explained his version to a laughing “Grand Ole Opry” crowd.
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
2/20/24
|
I have been accused of living in the past. Boy howdy, what a bum rap! I write about growing up “back then” for sure. I share some memories of those thrilling days of yesteryear, hopefully to refresh the minds of older folks and to enlighten the younger crowd as to what they have missed.
more
By Kesley Colbert
|
8/15/23
|
My brothers and sisters in the Middle East are suffering. Therefore, I am advocating for the following six actions.
more
2/20/24
|