Family and friends gathered together on May 3 for an exciting day for Edith Ray in celebration of her 99th birthday. The honoree enjoyed dinner, opening presents, delicious birthday cake and blowing out LOTS of candles, all making the day very memorable for a special lady. Joining the celebration was her daughter Carol Richman. Friends…

SUNDAY, MAY 25 Providence Cemetery will hold its decoration. Donations for upkeep may be sent to Lynn Blair, 7934 Lucky Road, McMinnville, TN. 37110. The annual decoration at Higginbotham Cemetery, located on Shellsford Road, will be held today. MONDAY, MAY 28 City Hall will be closed for Memorial Day. Monday’s trash routes will be picked…

Southern Standard readers are invited to extend happy birthday and anniversary best wishes to friends and loved ones through this weekly column. Please submit your messages by our noon deadline each Thursday. No more than three wishes to any individual, please. Happy Birthday Wishes: May 12 ‘ Alvin Parker, happy birthday, we love you. From…

CUMBERLAND GAP, Tenn. (AP) ‘ With so many bicycles on display, it’s easy to overlook the framed, black and white photograph hanging on the back wall. Taken in 1954, the photo shows a young boy on a bicycle pedaling down the sidewalk. The bicycle has training wheels and plastic streamers on the handlebars, and the…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON Boyd Christian School will begin its 2008-09 school year with a new Spanish teacher, Amy Corley, who will be coming to the school from Cannon County. Corley will be starting her second stint at the school, having worked there from 1997 to 2000. Corley grew up in Smithville and graduated from…

By Gary Clothier Q: When was Alcatraz used as a federal prison? How big is the island? What was there before it became a prison? ‘ B.E.S., St. Louis, Mo. A: Alcatraz Island consists of 22 acres, located about 1-1/2 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay. The U.S. government took over the ‘Isle of the…

Homa, La., resident Regina Youngblood Riche, 46, died May 18 after a short illness. The daughter of the late Leonard and Juanita Youngblood, and preceded in death by stepmother, Sue Dodd Youngblood, she is survived by her husband, Hoyt Riche; son, Terrence Raper of Oregon, Ill.; stepson, James Ray Riche of Homa; brothers, Gary Youngblood…

Murfreesboro resident and Warren County native Lynn Rene Henny Bailey, 41, was born Aug. 15, 1966 and died May 19 at St. Thomas Hospice in Nashville following an extended illness. A homemaker, a graduate of Warren County Senior High School, and member of Highway 231 Church of Christ, she was the daughter of Howard and…

Maynard, Ark., resident and Warren County native James Pat Rains, 74, died April 29 at St. Bernard Hospital after a short illness. The former owner/operator of Rains Construction and a member of Temple Baptist Church in Michigan, he was a licensed general contractor who did underground construction in the San Diego area where he spent…

Silver Point resident and Warren County native Don Kelly Eaton, 75, was born Dec. 18, 1932 and died May 17 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Cookeville following an extended illness. He was the son of the late James Lloyd and Emma Sue Willis Eaton. He is survived by one brother, Glen Eaton of Tuscaloosa,…