Sacred Ground
Frederich L. Johnson for more than a decade has made it his mission to reclaim abandoned cemeteries in Newton County, preserving history with annual cleanups in conjunction with Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday.
Witness to Infamy
Wayne Shelnutt was aboard the USS California in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, the day Japan dragged the United States into World War II. Now 104 years old, the Newton County resident remembers those events with chilling clarity.
An Old Life Made New
Jeremy Houston credits the Celebrate Recovery program at Eastridge Community Church with rescuing him from substance abuse and the dead end that often accompanies it.
Catching the American Dream
Dr. Darrell Daniel left Trinidad as a teenager in 1989 with a suitcase and $300 to his name. Today, he holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and serves as assistant principal at the Newton College and Career Academy.
The Price of Freedom
Fifty years after he returned home from the Vietnam War,
three-time Purple Heart recipient Gary Price bears physical
and emotional wounds that will never fully heal. However,
he continues his sacrifice through the tales he lived to tell.
Restoring Power & Hope
In the aftermath of natural disasters like Hurricane Michael, local linemen oftentimes represent the light at the end of uncertainty’s tunnel for those who have had their lives turned inside out.
From Omaha Beach to Oxford, a Man for All Seasons
As a 19-year-old in World War II, John Burson saw the worst of humanity on the beaches of Normandy, France. In the decades that have followed, the longtime Newton County resident has maintained an unwavering commitment to community service.
‘For I was hungry and you fed me’
Pastor Clara Lett lives out Matthew 25:35-36 through Rainbow Covenant Ministries and the work she performs with The Garden of Gethsemane Homeless Shelter in Covington.
On the Wings of the Wind
With steps now being taken to add monarch butterflies to the Endangered Species List due to habitat loss and other factors, Connie and David Waller have made conservation efforts involving the beautiful but complex pollinators a life’s mission.