The Weekender: 1/3/2025
Gooooood Friday morning! Welcome to the weekend! 😎 It’s the first weekend of 2025, and for students and teachers (and some of the rest of us), a couple more days to squeeze the last ounce we can out of winter break before it’s back to reality on Monday. Here’s a look at what’s happening in Scott County this weekend. As always, if you were forwarded this by a friend or if you stumbled across it online, please feel free to subscribe. It won’t cost you anything, and we’ll do our best to keep you in the know.
Weekend Weather
🌤️ We will see clearing skies today, but it's going to be a little on the cold side, especially when the wind is factored in!
Almanac: Sunrise/Sunset: 7:48/5:36 • Records: 68° (2000), -2° (1979) • YTD Rainfall: 0.2” (Normal: 0.5”).
Details: After a cloudy start, we'll see clearing skies today. But we'll also see wind gusts to 20 mph, which is going to make the 38° high this afternoon seem a little colder. We'll drop into the teens tonight, then struggle to get above freezing with sunny skies tomorrow. That will set the stage for a winter storm that will impact our area Sunday and Sunday night, although it currently looks inconsequential for our area. Here's the breakdown:
Sunday: It currently looks like precipitation will begin to move into the northern Cumberland Plateau region late Sunday morning, perhaps starting as light and scattered showers. Precipitation could begin as snow, but will change over to rain as the day progresses and warmer air builds in. No accumulation will be expected.
Sunday night: Heavier rain will move into the region Sunday evening, as the core of the low pressure system moves north over Kentucky. This will likely occur between sunset and midnight Sunday night. This is a fairly dynamic storm system that will pull fairly significant warm air into the upper levels of the atmosphere, so a changeover to snow does not appear to be in the cards Sunday night. If temperatures at the surface drop below freezing, there could be ice to contend with, and it must be pointed out that the current forecast from the National Weather Service is currently for a low of 28°. However, there's a huge fly in the ointment, and that is warm air advection due to the milder air that the storm system will pull in as it travels north of the Cumberland Plateau region. It is notoriously under-estimated in our area, due to elevation and terrain. Frankly, given the positioning of the low pressure system (almost as far north as Lexington) and how dynamic it will be, there's little reason to think we'll drop below freezing Sunday night. Once the storm system gets almost directly north of Middle Tennessee (around Louisville), it's going to be pulling in very strong warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, and it wouldn't be surprising to see temperatures in our area briefly make a push at 50° during the overnight hours before a cold front passage that currently looks to take place around dawn Monday morning. There's time for things to change, especially if the storm system takes a different track than is currently projected, but at this point there may be a better chance of hearing thunder Sunday night than there is of seeing wintry precipitation.
Monday: Temperatures will crash on Monday once the frontal passage has occurred. We'll probably be below freezing by lunch time on Monday. However, precipitation will also be moving out as temperatures begin to drop. It does look like we could see snow showers develop from wrap-around moisture during the afternoon hours. However, this isn't a given (the NWS currently has just a 30% chance of snow in the forecast for our area Monday afternoon). If these snow showers develop, and if the precipitation rates are high enough, we could see anywhere from a dusting to an inch of snow Monday afternoon and evening.
Further Out: Cold temperatures will be the main storyline next week, as we go below freezing quickly on Monday and likely won't get back above freezing for several days. It does look like we could push into the mid 30s on Friday and maybe even warmer on Saturday, before a replenishing shot of cold air. A more sustained warming trend is likely by the middle of the following week, around Jan. 15. But at this point it doesn't appear the milder temperatures will last very long.
Snow Watch: We could see a little snow Monday afternoon and evening, though significant accumulation is not currently anticipated. There are also winter storm signals around Jan. 10 and Jan. 17, though it's too soon to know how those will pan out.
You can always find the latest forecasts and weather analysis on our Eye To The Sky page.
The Latest
» In case you missed it, our Winter Hiking Challenge is underway, and the first hike was a 4.9-mile trek to O&W Bridge in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. Lots of folks have been completing that hike over the last few days, as well as “The Extra Mile,” which is a hike to Leatherwood Overlook that you can either tack onto the O&W hike or do separately. After this weekend is over, we’ll be giving away our first prize, a $25 Visa gift card. And our second hike will drop next week.
» A winter storm is coming together for the Midwest and could have some impacts here in the Midsouth, although it appears like it’ll be mostly inconsequential for the northern Cumberland Plateau region. Our daily Eye to the Sky report is a little more detailed than usual as we talk about the possibilities, but basically we could start off with a little snow or mixed precipitation Sunday, then we’ll turn to rain as the day progresses and stay rain overnight. Although the National Weather Service is forecasting a low of 28° with a 100% chance of rain Sunday night, we think temperatures will push well above freezing during the overnight hours — perhaps close to 50° — before a cold front moves through on Monday. Once the cold front moves through, the rain will have moved out. But some back-side snow showers are possible Monday afternoon, which could potentially lead to some very minor accumulations. Stay tuned to our Facebook page and our website for daily updates.
» Sports season will resume tonight, and we have a double-header scheduled on the IH Sports Network. Oneida will travel to Wartburg for a 6:30 p.m. start, and Scott High will host Midway for a 6:30 p.m. start. We’ll have both games on the IHSN, beginning with the Baby J’s Pizza Pregame Report at 6:15 p.m.
» The Independent Herald/Scott County Chamber of Commerce 2024 Person of the Year is Linda Byrge. The Huntsville woman is the outgoing president of For the Love of Paws, the non-profit that helps shuttle dogs and cats for low-cost spay and neuter options. Byrge also volunteers in many other areas. Read about her in this week’s E-Edition, which was published Thursday evening.
Weekend Happenings
⦿ Friday: Oneida basketball will travel to Wartburg and Scott High basketball will host Midway at 6:30 p.m. The games will be broadcast live on the IH Sports Network beginning at 6:15 p.m.
⦿ Saturday: First Saturday night services will be held at Capital Hill Missionary Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.), East Robbins Missionary Baptist Church (6 p.m.), Norma Missionary Baptist Church (6 p.m.), and Black Creek Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church (7 p.m.). See our Church Directory for more.
⦿ Sunday: Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program designed to help with addiction, co-dependency and domestic abuse, will be hosted by Fire & Purpose Ministries from 5 pm to 8 pm at 27192 Scott Highway in Winfield. There will be food, fellowship, praise and worship. Childcare is provided.
The Time Capsule
DULCIMER MAKING: NEW CRAFT, NEW TALENT UNFOLDS FOR MILFORD BLEVINS
From the Jan. 3, 1985 edition of the Independent Herald — 40 years ago this week.
By PAUL ROY
A retired U.S. Army veteran with no background in either music or woodworking has recently begun making and playing a beautiful, historical instrument.
Milford Blevins, a former Army warrant officer, saw his first dulcimer on display at Silver Dollar City near Gatlinburg about a year ago.
Since then, as a result of a woodworking course he’s taking at the Oneida Area Vocational School, Blevins has turned a fascination with the instrument into a time-consuming and enjoyable hobby, in addition to teaching himself how to play the dulcimer.
“I really didn’t know much about woodworking until about 20 months ago,” Blevins said, being very complimentary of the teaching skills of his Vocational School instructor, Norton Tate.
Blevins admits that when he began making his first dulcimer he really didn’t know what he was doing.
“I made a few mistakes — I didn’t know where to put the frets, how to place them,” he says.
But experience is apparently a good teacher, as Blevins continues to perfect his dulcimer making skills by turning out one instrument after another, each just a little different, a little better than the one which came before. He’s looked at different dulcimers on display at arts and crafts shows and read up on the history of the instrument in Foxfire magazines.
“They’re not for sale — they’re not good enough yet,” says Blevins, althoug hhe adds that he has made some to give away to family and friends.
Most people who buy dulcimers do so because they are really something to look at — a decorative piece of “furniture” which they hang on the wall or place on the coffee table.
But the dulcimers which Blevins builds — the traditional, Appalachian dulcimer — are meant to be played.
He could play the guitar and banjo by ear, but he had never studied music or even learned to read notes. Not so anymore. Blevins, while perfecting his handcraft skills by manufacturing the instruments, is also developing a musical talent he didn’t know he had.
“That’s really what I liked about the dulcimer when I first saw it — it has a beautiful sound. I don’t think there’s another instrument which has such a beautiful sound.”
Blevins says the dulcimer is one of the world’s oldest instruments, one variety going back to Ireland, while another, of a different shape and style, has a Norwegian origin.
Using a regular plastic guitar pick in one hand and a smooth wooden dowel as a “noter,” Blevins picks out a tune. It sounds like a combination of a mandolin and a banjo … it sounds like background music for a documentary on “Our Mountain Heritage” or some other such feature on life in the Appalachian Mountains.
As he plays, Blevins points out that goose and turkey quills were originally used as picks and noters for the dulcimer. He also says that even though they may look alike, each of his dulcimers have a slightly different sound, a unique tone all their own.
The beautiful, lusterous wood of the instrument may be walnut, bass wood, cherry or even beech, but Blevins says that traditionally, dulcimers are made out of old, rich-looking walnut because of the tone that is produced.
“I’ve been experimenting with different ype woods,” he says, adding that he found out early that the wood, whatever kind is used, has to be aged — three, four or more years.
As Blevins describes it, the making of a dulcimer is like working a puzzle, once all the pieces have been cut out on a band saw.
“Every dulcimer has about 30 pieces of wood you’ve got to fit together,” says Blevins, noting that inside the hollow instrument are wooden ribs and braces to hold it together.
Most dulcimer-makers use plastic and metal tuning keys, but Blevins opts for hand carved wooden keys which enhance the appearance of the dulcimer and do the same job.
Using what he calls “scraps” of wood, Blevins doesn’t really have a lot of money investited in his new hobby, since the fret bars and strings are about all he needs to purchase.
But he’s got hours and hours of time in each of the shiny wooden dulcimers, most of which have a hand-rubbed finish rather than having been “painted” with modern wood finishers.
Blevins finishes his Vocational School Building Trades course on June 28. Sometime after that, he and his wife will probably hit the arts and crafts show trail to see how his dulcimers are received by the buying public.
Then, if his handiwork is as popular as it should be, he may begin work on constructing a shop to make, show and sell dulcimers, gearing up for the expected influx of tourists to the Big south Fork National River and Recreation Area in the years to come.
His career in the military, where he was a gunsmith, didn’t prepare him for his new-found hobby, but Milford Blevins thinks he might have had his wood-working talent all along and just didn’t know it.
“My grandfather was a carpenter,” he says, “so I guess I must have picked something up from him.”
Mostly, however, Blevins feels he owes a debt of gratitude to Norton Tate and the Oneida Area Vocational School, where he learned to use the tools which can turn “scraps” of wood into a beautiful-sounding instrument like the dulcimer.
That’s it! Have a great weekend, and look for The Daybreaker in your email inbox Monday morning as you get ready to head off to school or work.
And if you have an event coming up or news to share, reach out to us by email at newsroom@ihoneida.com or visit indherald.com/community-calendar-2.
— Ben Garrett, Publisher