Tag: Featured Stories

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus First, Rita Hutcheson-Cobbs watched her father suffer from diabetes, heart conditions, fibromyalgia, arthritis and cancer. Then she watched her older sister battle all the same health problems, except for cancer. “I was 450 pounds and I realized if I didn’t make any changes, I would be in the same situation in 10 years,”

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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Standing in “Fabric Central,” formerly known as Harold and Ivy Veinot’s dining room, Ivy Veinot pointed to the bolts of fabric covering the tables and the folded quilt tops piled next to the windows. “All of this is donated fabric. The good Lord has blessed and provided us with so much,” the 66-year-old

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By Deborah Storey | Living 50 Plus Kevin Hamrick vividly remembers the day decades ago when he saw the strange sight of sandhill cranes at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. He was gathered with co-workers in the Visitors Center break room discussing tasks for the day. One said she had seen a couple of sandhill cranes near an area called Penny

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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus Down the rural gravel road in Hartselle stands a sanctuary — a two-story white house surrounded by 25 acres where, on any given day, more than a dozen dogs reside. Welcome to Paws 52. “There’s just something about dogs. They are so trusting and just want to be loved,” Mellisa Barnett said. Six

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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus A slight mischievous smile crossed Jay Clark’s face as he recalled chasing people through Haunted House of Horrors. “When I’m the teacher, I run after them down the hallway of lockers. They typically scream. I guess I kind of live for that,” the Decatur man said. “When they leave, sometimes they come back

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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus See bears up close. Check. See a male moose in the wild. Check. For her 60th birthday, DeAnn Meely checked the two items off her bucket list as she traveled to Alaska with her husband and daughter this past summer. The trip represented an opportunity for the Decatur artist to study wildlife —

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By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus A chance encounter with a stranger at a church supper led Melissa Penley to start a program that, in the past 14 years, has touched thousands of Decatur children. “I hate that children are dealing with so many issues these days. I thought if we could just feed them on the weekends, that’s

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