THE SHELBY INDEPENDENT

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent (Originally published 09/07/2025) When I was a kid, maybe early teens, I had a soccer coach tell me that when I’m 40 I’ll feel all the aches and pains from playing sports one day. 40? I didn’t care. That was a thousand years from now. Whatever, maybe — I believed him, but when I pictured a 40 something year old they looked the same as a 75 year old. “I’ll worry about it then,” I shrugged. Tonight was one of those rare nights I wante

The Sunday Column, by Chuck Thompson OPINION / HUMOR – Recently, I learned that in North Carolina it is illegal to play bingo for more than 5 hours in a row… My question is, why would anyone play bingo more than 5 hours in a row and what happened at the 5 hour mark to come up with that rule?  So at 4 hours and 55 minutes, everything is fine, but at five hours Gertrude had a fit of rage and flipped the tables over?  What’s with the 5 hours… Personally, I think it should be ill

By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – Ultimately, self-serve gas and check-outs, buffet restaurants and do-it-yourself-assembled furniture cost more in the long term after adding mental anguish and then the cost of therapy. Whether it’s emotional therapy, or marriage counseling, there’s nothing cheap about self-service. One day I was at a gas station standing in line and I looked out the front windows to see a car drive away with the g

Why does the oven light never burn out?

English ain't easy, but I prefer it, mostly because I speak it OPINION / HUMOR – At one point in my life (maybe almost 20 years ago) I...

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If it’s not summer, and definitely not the cool feel of Fall, then, what is this abysmal period of discombobulating season called?

The Pavilion was a magical place — at one time, from what we were all told.

Even if you haven’t listened to the podcast, you’ve probably heard about it.

OPINION / HUMOR — Opening a cylinder can/ tube of ready-to-bake biscuits is the baking version of Russian Roulette.

It was a time of serious competition as the Baptist, Methodist & Presbyterians tried to beat one another to the old steak house.

OPINION — Wash those apples carefully…