As promised by the Farmer's Almanac, the harvest moon made its full appearance shortly before midnight on Saturday, as our hometown enters October on a warmer climb and enthusiasm for festivals each weekend despite some warning of rainy weather.

Watch the Plain Talk soon for some of the other things I will be writing and talking about including Hollywood star and Newport's own Marshall Teague's new movie, "Last Ounce of Courage." Dr. Ken Johnson spoke about a serious cancer concern for men during a Tennova Healthcare sponsored program at the community center. Newport Kiwanis installed new officers and honored Kiwanian of the Year Sam Moscato. I also will have more to say about our newly-discovered WW II prisoner of war George Cureton.

You recall that last week we began talking about some of the vendors at the Newport farmers market, including grower David Shannon of Carson Springs. For the past three years the Shannon family has been selling at the local market. David also operates Shannon's Tree Trimming. His father and sister live in Greeneville and run Shannon's Farm Market so you see they are committed to green and all the vegetable colors. Dad, Fred Shannon, used to grow Christmas trees and you may have bought one from him years past when they lived in the Wolf Creek area. If gardening isn't enough work, David and Marcia also have five children. One of them was at the market with two baby squirrels. David explained he had cut down a tree and the squirrels were in a hollow woodpecker's den during early August bedding in a handful of straw. Without a home now, the Shannons provided one and nursed the babies who also like Gatorade and peanut butter.

A better year for gardens

Gardens grew well this year with lots of heat and rain. They had a flavorful tomato, secret variety, selling for $1. Can't recall if that was for a small box or a pound. Marcia is a Benson, daughter of the late Warren Benson and Mom, the former Brenda McMahan. Marcia was raised in Carson Springs and has been married to David for four years in September. She is a project estimator for Lisega in Sevier. When walking past the vendor tables, my eyes appreciated the sight of piles of baked goods at the Bear Country Baked Goods table. These folks live in the tidy loop-road subdivision called Northridge near Parrottsville. Stephanie Parrish recalls baking her first cake at age 11 and is still at it, getting better all the time. She and Roger Parrish are from southeast Ohio and moved here less than three years ago. He was transferred to the Newport Sonoco Products plant after the one in Lancaster closed. They had visited Newport during a vacation and liked it, the people and mountains, and were happy to move so he can continue working in the paper mill. "I love to bake and meet people," said Stephanie, who spent her first summer at the farmers market. She offered banana bread, no-bake peanut butter cookies, peach bread, which is a best-seller at $4 per loaf, and giant cupcakes. I liked the chocolate. If you don't see them there, I am sure you can track them down by following the aroma of baked desserts.

The Eagles, Brave and Arlene

These folks are truly interested and concerned about the future of the farmers market. They were trying to put George Rowe in touch with me to see how the Plain Talk could help the venture, the local growers, bakers, and craftspeople. He is the fresh-egg man and was not there that morning but usually is and sells out quickly. The Eagles had lived at Cosby but moved closer to Douglas Lake. You know Arlene, if you read the Plain Talk, but may not have realized she is the writer and voice for Forrest, the handicapped dog. I featured the crippled dog years ago to help the Animal Shelter, and Forrest is now living well near Clearwater, Florida. He still uses a wheelchair inside the house and can walk some outside.