Bedford County Post

Opinion Bedford County Post June 19, 2024 6A T he great writer and humorist Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Great things can happen when you don’t care who gets the credit. ” All those involved in the WNBA should take heed of that quote. The Caitlin Clark situation has really been bothering me. Great things are happening in the WNBA since she turned pro. And she is not taking any of the credit, nor do I think she is seeking any. At Iowa she captured the imagination of the basketball world with the ability to shoot a three-point shot from the upper deck of an arena. She left college as the all-time scoring leader in NCAA history, surpassing “Pistol” Pete Maravich, a star at LSU and in the NBA. She was drafted by the Indiana Fever of theWNBA. She received a really nice contract. She has been awarded some impressive endorsement deals. There has been more interest in the WNBA in the weeks since she signed than I can ever remember. Fans are coming to see her play. Tickets for the games when her team is the opponent are not cheap on the secondary market. Like most rookies she is struggling to make the adjustments from college to pro basketball. Opposing players are especially enjoying fouling her…hard. Her teammates haven’t always been stepping up to defend her. Some “star” WNBA players are openly jealous of Clark. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said everyone should leave Clark alone and let her evolve as a pro player. WNBA players, coaches and administrators should be thrilled with what Clark has done to increase the visibility of the league. But sometimes we can’t see the overall success of what a person brings to an enterprise because we didn’t get the notoriety and credit we expected to get. It happens on all levels. Someone decides that one person or one group received too much credit for the success of a project. So, all of a sudden, what was once a great project is demeaned as a mistake or is designated for eventual failure. I did all the work and so-and-so gets all the credit. Where is the justice in that one might ask? If something is good for all don’t worry about who is getting the credit or why they were chosen. I learned back in high school there are those that do the work and those that want the credit. They are usually not mutually inclusive groups. If we are a part of something important and good things happen as a result be happy to have simply been a part of the e ff ort. And remember what Harry S. Truman, our 33rd president said, “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” Letter to the editor To the editor: I am appreciative to Wil- lowMount Cemetery and the City of Shelbyville for their support these past 11 year allowing me to continue with the vi- sion of Field Of Heroes on Memorial day. Re- membering the ultimate sacri fi ce made for our freedom. I started only with around 116 white crosses. It continued to grow each year about the 4 year I had over 300 white simple crosses with names inscribed on each of deceased soldiers with an American fl ag. It was a beautiful site of re- membrance. We had six years of great Memorial day event programs, lo- cal veterans, honorable guest speakers, honor guard, rolling thunder, 21 gun salute ending with taps. Around the 7th year I started losing most of my support with other events drawing my sup- porters and losing cross- es to deterioration. It was an honor to present a memorial remembrance presentation re fl ecting on the price of freedom. These past 4 years I have been trying to continue with what small amounts of support and display I have left to put up. I give it my best to not give up that dream vision even if it has deteriorated to only 44 crosses this year. Remembering the 5 lo- cal Bedford County men killed in Korea, 12 lo- cal Bedford County men killed in Vietnam, With 1 killed in Afghanistan, and 1 killed April 2017 in a helicopter crash. I will continue to do the best that I can to continue the remembrance of Memo- rial day with a display of the Field of Heroes. Keeping the dream vi- sion of Willow Mount Cemetery hill covered with white crosse and fl ags alive in remem- brance on memorial day week the sacri fi ces of men and women and the sacri fi ce of families with lost of their loved ones that have to remember not just on memorial day but every day. Ultimate sacri fi ces made for our freedom we enjoy each day. Pray for God’s con- tinued protection and blessings on our nation. In faith Gene Williams 302 Jarrell Street Shelbyville Tennessee 37160 931-684-9499 I remember when United Lutheran Church put in the massive pipe or- gan in the balcony overlooking the sanctuary. At the time it was said to be the larg- est pipe organ in a Lutheran church in the Midwest. Our parents raised my siblings and me in that church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and I loved to hear that organ playing as the congregation sang the hymns on Sunday morning. One of my favorite hymns to hear played on those amazing pipes was a song composed by the 16 th century Ger- man scholar and Protestant Reformer, Rev. Martin Luther. The hymn is en- titled, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” That song of worship has been called “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation,” and “The greatest hymn of the greatest man of the greatest period of German history.” That hymn is such a majestic vehicle of praise and worship to our Creator. Translated from German to English, the lyrics are as follows: A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the fl ood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own strength con fi de, our striving would be los- ing; Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, And He must win the battle. And though this world, with devils fi lled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him. That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth: Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever. I can still hear the sound of that grand pipe organ playing as the choir and congregation of United Lutheran sang along. That to me is a true form of worship. Doug Dezotell is the pastor of Cannon UMC, and is a colum- nist for the Bedford County Post. He can be contacted by email at dougmdezotell@gmail.com or by calling 931-607-5191. By Mark McGee MY TAKE By Doug Dezotell Musings and Memories Success for all A Mighty Fortress By John Teague UT/TSU Extension FARMERS MARKET T he opening week was a success! There were ten vendors, and their products were very good. We had green beans, onions, cucumbers, cab- bage, greens, squash, peppers, broccoli, pota- toes, carrots, eggs, baked goods, jams and jellies, and a nice set of cut fl ow- ers. And back this year also was our kettle pop- corn vendor, popping fresh at the market. There was even some sweet corn in a limited supply, with more on the way! Some of the vendors were predicting that they would have tomatoes this week. I’ve always said that the fi rst corn and the fi rst tomatoes wins the race to a good summer supply of vegetables. The crowd was good, too. We saw a lot of regu- lar customers, and some new ones as well. And even though it was warm, the pavilion seems to al- ways have a good breeze coming through. One note about the parking. The signs up for parking fees are the horse show signs. We do not charge to park at the market. Never have, never will! Come to the market next to the big blue water tower at the Celebration Grounds. The market is on Thursdays at 2:30 pm, with no early sales. This is the date and time that the vendors chose. The market stays open until the vendors have sold out or the customer fl ow stops. BLOSSOM DROP I had a question last week about tomatoes that grow too tall while never setting on tomatoes. He applied a common fertil- izer every week. I suspect that there was too much nitrogen involved, which is the nutrient that en- courages growth and will cause the plant to con- tinue to stay vegetative and not mature and start blooming and setting on fruit or pods. There are some other causes that can a ff ect plants this way. Here is some information from our vegetable special- ist Dr. Annette Wzelaki and I’ll share. This comes from University of Flori- da specialists Monica Ozores- Hampton and Gene McAvoy. Blossom drop is the loss of fl owers. This is usually preceded by the yellowing of the pedicel. A tomato fl ower has both male (stamens) and fe- male (pistil) parts within the same fl ower. The yel- low stamens wrap around the greenish pistil in the center of the fl ower. Un- der proper conditions, pollen from the stamens transfers to the sticky stigma or tip of the pistil. This transfer requires a jarring wind or a fl ick of the fi nger or insects such as bumble bees and other native bees. Tomato blossoms are self-fertile, and a certain amount of self-pollina- tion of tomato fl owers does occur. But pol- len does not move well by itself from anther to stigma, as evidenced by the really poor pollina- tion seen in greenhouses when no pollination aid is given. But shaking by wind or mechanical means can cause the re- lease of the pollen, which drops down (the blos- soms normally hanging downward) through the stamen tube to the stig- ma. The best possible mo- tion to release this pol- len is from a bee that “sonicates” Sonication is the vibration of the wing muscles without fl ight, causing the whole fl ower to vibrate, and a cloud of pollen to be released onto the bee’s body and at the same time, onto the stigma. Without pol- lination, which stimu- lates fruit set, the fl ower withers and dies. Blossom drop is a condition su ff ered by to- matoes, peppers, snap beans, and some other fruiting vegetables where the plant blooms but fails to set fruit, the blooms die and fall o ff . Tomato plants lose their blos- soms for several di ff erent reasons usually related to some kind of stress. The stress may be either nu- tritional, environmental or some combination of the two. Anything which interferes with the polli- nation fertilization pro- cess may result in abor- tion of fl owers. Blossom drop can be attributed to several causes, most often re- lated to either tempera- ture and/or stress. In extreme temperatures, such as high daytime temperatures (above 85 °F/29 °C), high nighttime temperatures (above 70 °F/21 °C), or low nighttime tempera- tures (Below 55 °F/13 °C) tomato plants will drop their fl owers. Tomatoes grow best if daytime tem- peratures range between 70 °F /21 °C and 85 °F /29°C. While tomato plants can tolerate more extreme temperatures for short periods, sev- eral days or nights with temps outside the ideal range will cause the plant to abort fruit set and fo- cus on survival (Mills, 1988). Temperatures over 104° °F /40 °C for only four hours can cause the fl owers to abort. If the night temps fall below 55 °F or rise above 75 °F or if the day temps are above 85 °F, the pollen becomes tacky and non- viable. Pollination can- not occur. If the bloom isn’t pollinated, the bloom dies and falls o ff . Chemical growth regu- lators can sometimes help overcome low tem- perature e ff ects, but the resulting fruit is usu- ally seedless and of poor quality. The ideal humid- ity range is between 40- 70%. If humidity is either too high or too low, it interferes with the re- lease of pollen and with pollen’s ability to stick to the stigma, so pollination will not occur. If humid- ity is too low, hose the fo- liage during the day. This will both cool the plant and raise the humidity. This is not recommended in areas with high hu- midity or when fungus diseases are present. So, for us and our weather, we have our share of temperatures that are too high and hu- midity too high as well. Ag Notes A public service provided by this newspaper and the Tennessee Press Association. Tennessee Newspapers KeepingYou Informed TnPublicNotice.com To know more about local, county and state government business, read the public notices that appear in this newspaper each week or go to: