Kyle Troutman

Kyle Troutman

Terry Held: Front porch fiction meets the college classroom

The start of school is here. It shifts our lives and gives us a longing for cooler mornings. Porch railings will soon wear a thin mist until the sun rises, and you can almost hear the first leaves tumbling down the street. ‘Tis the season for leg blankets, hot mulled cider, and a good read to savor in stolen, silent moments.

Bluegrass fills air at Kings Prairie Benefit Concert

The Kings Prairie Festival closed with an 80-minute set by the Flyin’ Buzzards. Their selections ranged from the Everly Brothers’ “Dream, Dream, Dream,” to Randy Travis’s “Three Wooden Crosses,” Flatt and Scruggs’ “Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms,” to gospels hymns “In the Sweet Bye and Bye” and “Beulah Land.” New to their set this year was Jay Ungar and Molly Mason’s “Ashokan Farewell,” with the melody played on mandolin by Bill Harris, of Cassville, at left. Other players, continuing from left, were Wayne Clevenger, of McDowell, on mandolin, Duwane Blevins, of Reeds Spring, on bass, and Steve Ennis, of Victory, on guitar. They closed the show with a spirited rendition of Albert Brumley’s “I’ll Fly Away,” the traditional final number and sing-along at Kings Prairie.

Kyle Troutman: Formative years on the field

I attend sporting events of all types through work, but on Saturday, I attended a volleyball game for a wholly personal reason — my daughter was playing. Youth sports played an incredibly large role in my life from the time I was 3. My dad pushed me into soccer, and I fell in love with it right from the get-go.