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It was fitting that Rotarian Roger Nutt should deliver a captivating explanation of hymnody at the Rotary Club of Marlin’s regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, February 4, 2026. Hymnody is defined as “the singing or composition of hymns,” and everyone knows that Roger Nutt is a talented singer and hymnody enthusiast.
“It started as a stress response. Some people run. Some people journal. I bake. After a long school dayemails piling up, meetings running late, and my brain feeling like it had been through a blender—I discovered that nothing calmed my nerves quite like baking. On a whim, I brought it to school the next day. I set it in the staff lounge with a sticky note that said, “Please eat—doctor’s orders (mine).” By lunch, the pan was empty. By the end of the day, coworkers were stopping me in the hallway like, “So... when are you making that cake again?”
The use of DNA testing in genealogy has exploded in the last decade or so. We use DNA testing on a regular basis and it’s been a game changer. What could take years to find with traditional genealogy methods is uncovered, seemingly overnight. We were able to make connections between several Shaw Families in Falls County with the DNA results of the late Bishop King Moore Jr., grandson of Priscilla Shaw Moore. In 2017 while in Kingstree, South Carolina we DNA tested Geneva Shaw who matched all of our Shaw elders in Marlin. Last May, we also tested Pauline Shaw while in Kingstree. She too matched the Shaws in Marlin. This was concrete proof of our South Carolina connection.
A Board Workshop Meeting of the Marlin ISD Board of Trustees was held February 2, 2026 at 6:31p.m. in the MISD Boardroom, Board President Byrleen Terry, presiding. Attendees were Rosalyn Dimerson, Misty Ehlers, Billy Johnson, Winnette Outland, Sharon Tomlinson, Debra Trotter and Superintendent of Schools Alphonso Bates.