I’m back!  After a few untold yet eventful years, I again have returned to the world of journalism at my home base, The Smithville Review.  I began working here when I was only 17 years old – a millennium ago.  I was a freshman at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the late Dorothy Walker was my mentor.  For inclusion, please email me at the following address leannfjudkins@gmail.com.  The print deadline for any and all submitted information is every Thursday at noon.

My forever friend:  One of my favorite Christmas songs is “Mary, Did You Know.”  Local pianist and friend, Susan Frazier Hinton, always would play the song for me.  Her musical talents are beyond comprehension and she truly can “Make a piano talk.”  Her long-ago piano instructor was the late Mrs. Mary (Bethel) Thomas.  I took eight years under “Miss” Mary, and the only piano recital song that I can remember is “Last Dance” by Floyd Cramer.   Unlike Lucy, who never went to her weekly musical lessons, I did walk to Miss Mary’s house on West Main Street weekly for guidance and recital preparation.  Lucy always stopped at Webb’s Soda Fountain for whatever she was in the mood for.  Truly, I believe Susan can play the piano better than anyone I have ever heard.  She also went to her lessons and it certainly shows.  I extend my sympathies to Susan and her family on the recent death of her husband, Jerry Hinton.

To celebrate Christmas, I recently hosted a Christmas Open House at the Webb House for guests and residents.  It truly was a special celebratory time.  More than 30 attended and were seated in my small decorated room.  I especially was glad to see my long-time friends, Yolanda Moore Barry of Brentwood, Tennessee and local resident, Denise Johnson Brown.  We’ve been friends for 70 years – I repeat 70 years!!!  

Bubble Bursting:  An “Eskimo Kiss” is not rubbing noses.  It is described as “When one person’s nose is pressed or rubbed against another’s CHEEK.  The more love you have for someone, the stronger you do it.”  Aren’t you glad you know this morsel of knowledge?  Lucy is.

Bring on the bling!  Let us not forget the beautiful and unique assorted jewelry always offered by this newspaper’s managing editor, Angie Pittman Meadows.  She has many gorgeous previews daily on Facebook.

Feel Better Soon Wishes:  Dr. Hugh Don Cripps, Renee’ Ferguson, Joana Hall Conger, Danny Conger, Joe Stone, Mary Duggin, Sally Jones, Betty Martin, Debra Smith Black, Betty Kirksey, Royce Odom and Loyce Holcomb.  For many, they have succumbed to a nasty stomach virus, while others have been sidelined with an upper respiratory infection.  Yes – Covid-19, the flu and pneumonia are still inhabiting Smithville, but not as frequent as in the past.  

Condolences:  My elderly friend, DeWitt Harber of Cove Hollow in Lancaster, recently died at the Webb House.  He was 99 years and sang/hummed almost daily.  We never knew the words to the songs, nor did he.  Many persons always will remember him asking them daily, “What day is it?” a hundred times in one sitting.  DeWitt served in World War II and was in Hawaii during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  He reminisced that he served a monumental amount of days and months in a submarine, which was his job description. Of note, his grandfather Harber was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War around 1861.

A holiday stoppage:  This is the second year I have chosen not to send Christmas cards.  There’s a simple reason – the cost.  One first class stamp today is 73 cents!!!  If you send 100 cards, you’re out $73.00.  Add in the card and it totals around $1.00 each.  This is a sad realization for the many persons who regularly mail family-oriented cards with notes.   Why are postage stamps so expensive today?  When I was an adolescent, they were 1 cent each.

You chose it:  The most hated food in America is Liver!  It’s hard for me to look at it.  Frog Legs weren’t listed.  I can see why.  It’s hard to find someone to cook them.  They keep trying to jump out of the frying pan.  Ask Michelle Mosley.

Dementia:  Doctors at the Mayo Clinic have revealed that “depression” now is the first symptom of dementia relating to Alzheimer’s Disease (not Old Timer’s Disease!).  Depression overrules “memory loss.”

They’re gone but not forgotten: The top 10 celebrities who have died this year are Kris Kristofferson (entertainer); James Earl Jones (record producer); Dame Maggie Smith (actor); Donald Sutherland (actor); Bob Newhart (one of my favorite actors); Shelly Duvall (actor); Quincy Jones (musical genius); Richard Simmons (fitness guru); Eric Carmen (musician); and Toby Keith (country music star


Favorite Movies in Tennessee:  The top five favorite Christmas movies for 2024 are:  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024); Red One (2024); Christmas Island (2023); How the Gringo Stole Christmas (2023); and Candy Lane (2023).

Where’s Snots?  Not mentioned in the above lists is my all-time favorite Christmas movie, which has become somewhat of a family tradition every Christmas, especially for my sons Jim and Mac and me.  It’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”   If I had another dog, I’d name him Snots (Judkins), like Cousin Eddie named his.  In watching this movie, anyone can get an overdose of well-deserved, pent-up laughter.  Jim and I watched “Four Christmases” last Tuesday but we were much quieter and more seriously reserved. There’s just something hilarious about a snotty Mississippi Leg Hound dog that makes you laugh uncontrollably and with no sense of reasoning.

Blessed: “Sometimes we forget how blessed we are.  My hot water works; I have groceries to eat; I can still afford eggs; I have clean sheets on my bed; I have my health; I have family and friends who love me; and I woke up today in my right mind.  If that’s not blessed, I don’t know what is.”

Weekly Lucy Update:  She has been enthralled reading my family-oriented book, Gardenias and Red Roses III.  Many years and descriptions and family knowledge are found on its 162 pages.  It was published by local instructor Mary Ann Puckett.  While it is not for sale, there is a copy in the Genealogy Department at Justin Potter Library, downtown Smithville, Tennessee.

I hope you enjoyed this brief journalistic re-introduction.  Please join me each week for more interesting people, places, dates, things and locations.  

Until then – be nice!