Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Bill Woodard. Welcome to the February edition of the Chamber Corner. We got a good show for you. And we here at Stephanie McCaleb's interior. So stay tuned.
Well, we're so glad to see you here on the Chamber Corner today. And we are at a very special place. And Stephanie, introduce yourself. Tell them your shop's name.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Yes. So my name is Stephanie McCaleb, and I am the owner of Stephanie McCaleb Interiors, located at 327 Main Street north here in Carthage.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Okay. Now, Stephanie, we're going to go at this at two angles because you actually have two aspects to your business. But before we even do that, you're here on Main street in Carthage. And of course, you just moved from across the street.
Kind of relate to us a little bit about that experience because there's a lot of good shops here along the street. And you guys kind of went back and forth. How was that moving?
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Yeah. So fun fact, we moved shops, Bill, in a week. And we reopened on Thanksgiving night of all nights because Main street does that fun early Black Friday event and all the shops stay open. But we packed up the shop, moved everything and did a few improvements in this new location all in a week. So we were a little crazy.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: That is pretty amazing.
Now, you guys did some swapping. I think the shop called Hollies.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: Was in here.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: She had be the gift. Her gift store portion of the boutique here in this location. That was previously Video Quest back in the day, too, right?
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Video Quest, yes.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: And Holly, she moved everything under one roof back across the street. So we just kind of played musical shops and all moved around a little bit.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: Okay. And another aspect of it, I think this. There's still tanning beds here, right?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: There are, yes. The VideoQuest tanning beds are still open and we manage those during the day for Randy, the owner, and then he comes in the evenings and stays open a little bit later.
[00:02:29] Speaker A: Okay. So the shop here looks really nice.
Tell us a little bit about the shop and about the decorations. I notice to me it's a lot more open than I know you had a full glass in the front at the other store, everything. But it seems a little more open here. What's your aspect about the way it's decorated and set up?
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Yeah, so we really love our new location for a couple of reasons and the layout is one of them. So with this new location, we have tons of windows all around the shop, really great natural lighting, and we love that. And we also have a parking lot that's kind of Bragging rights on Main Street. Whenever you can say we have a parking lot, but everything in the shop, it is nice and open. We try to keep things laid out to where they're. They look livable, but also shoppable. So you could come in and kind of get inspiration of, oh, this is how I could style my shelves. But also you can shop while you're in there. So kind of get, again, inspiration and shop two in one.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Well, I noticed there's drapes on the windows. Do you do those type of designs as well?
[00:03:29] Speaker B: So we don't technically sell draperies, but we do spec them a lot of times for our clients. We've got a couple of sources that we love to order from and things, but technically don't sell them here.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Okay, well, when a person walks in the door, what can they purchase? And what is your items that you really have here for them?
[00:03:48] Speaker B: Yeah, great question. So, to back up a little bit, our business is made up of two parts. Essentially. We have the curated retail, which is where we're at today, the shop. And we also offer interior design services.
The way the shop works, we're open to the public, and 99% of the time, everything in the shop is for sale. You can walk in and buy just about everything.
We have a great mix of anything from bedding and pillows to lamps and furniture, even some gift items and candles. We love having solutions for just about every customer that could walk in the door, whatever you might need. It also works really hand in hand with the design side of the business because we're able to show our clients, hey, this is the lamp that would look great in your living. Or here's the rug we want to order for you. And it gives them an opportunity to come in and see everything in person.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Okay, well, you kind of segued into it, and I was going to ask you. It's two aspects to this business enterprise. And number one, of course, is the store. Number two is your design capabilities. And I know that's what you actually studied in university, is that right?
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yes, that's correct. I went to Tennessee Tech University and I was a housing and design major, graduated back in 2017.
And design is something that I love, but I also love small business and being a part of my community. So that's where the shop and design work. Both kind of work hand in hand.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: Well, now, this may be a loaded question. You see the advertisements on tv, we'll make your closet. And then you see this just. It's going to be so organized that you can't Understand? Is that the kind of stuff you do? Are you more or are you into all of it?
[00:05:27] Speaker B: So it really depends. We have a couple of standard services, if you will. All the information is available on our website. Stephanie.stephaniemccalebinteriors.com and we help clients with anything from. We have what I call a phone, a friend service. If you just need a second set of eyes on something, you've just got a couple of quick questions that you need answers to. We offer something called a studio session. And we can meet here in the shop, typically for an hour, and basically just brainstorm. You just tell me all the problems you've got for the most part, and we can sit here and kind of pick each other's brains and work through whatever problems you've got going on all the way to. We also help clients with renovation projects, full furnishing projects. If you've got a room or multiple rooms that you need, all new furniture and rugs and draperies and all the things in. And we also help some with new construction projects. So if you're building a new home and you need someone to walk through all the details with you, help you figure out what lighting, what tile, what paint colors, all those finishes, we help with that as well.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's a pretty complete service there. So you actually can take them from the point of getting the plan constructed and laying out the home all the way to putting the knick knack on the table, so to speak.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Yeah. That's pretty impressive.
I know you've been in business several years now, actually.
When did you start?
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Great question. So Stephanie McCaleb Interiors officially started in January of 2020, and that was the design side of the business. Always knew I wanted to have a shop to go along with that. And we were able to find a location in June of 2020, do the renovations, and open our first shop. That was across the street in September of 2020. So this will be year six for Stephanie McCaleb Interiors.
[00:07:19] Speaker A: Okay. And it's the only second time you've moved and you basically.
Well, I just feel like you've kind of upgraded your game here, because the way this is decorated and the way it looks, it. It really is nice.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: Well, thank you. We appreciate that.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Okay. Is there any aspect of decorating that we haven't touched? Like when I look back through here, I. Couch and pillows, and I know we mentioned beds before, and so there's not any part of it that you really don't touch then? Because you can see that from what's on display here. Lamps.
I notice you have valentine balloon hearts up. So we kind of decorate with the season, too.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: We do.
[00:08:03] Speaker A: And.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Well, we actually just over the weekend, Bill, we had a fun little Galentine's party that we co hosted with a few of our small business friends on Main Street. And so that's why we have all of these fun little Galentine's and Valentine's related decorations. Still up.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Oh, okay. All right. Yeah. And I notice you guys on Main street here, y' all seem to work together real well. And that's a very pleasant thing, too. It's pretty. A wide variety of shops. We actually do a show where we kind of go around Main street and go to each one of them. And so that's interesting that we have this. If you're a local resident, it's pretty obvious that you can help, and it's something that you want to do. Now, the other thing I would ask you is if you're a tourist and you're just visiting, do you have some tourism items, too?
[00:08:56] Speaker B: Well, a lot of our smaller items like vases, things that are easy to pack, we get a lot of people maybe that are from either out of state or just kind of visiting that will get smaller items, Typically something they can remember by, but they can still fit in their suitcase. Picture frames are really special, too. Something that a lot of tourists kind of come in and shop. We don't have any at the moment specific like Smith county or anything like that, related items. But again, those smaller knickknack items, people tend to go towards those if they're traveling.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I. I've noticed that when Susie and I are traveling and we go to a place, you. You try to get something to help you either remember the place or something that's unique to it. So I think. I think that's good that you have this year. And if you can find that item that would be unique to you, boy, that would be great too, because I think we're getting a lot of visitors.
[00:09:50] Speaker B: We are. And tourism is definitely on the rise in Smith county, and we're thankful for it. We love our local shoppers, but we also love our visitors as well.
[00:09:58] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, there's no doubt about it. Well, is there one last thing you'd like to say to folks out there?
[00:10:03] Speaker B: Yes, actually. So we just launched our spring collection. We have tons of great new items for springtime. Some great florals. I know it's still a little chilly out there. There might even be a little snow still on the ground. But we're in the mindset of spring around here. Definitely come in and check out all of our new arrivals and you guys get a little sneak peek. Heads up on something.
We are getting ready to at the end of this month, slash beginning of March, launch a workshop with our friend Southern Sugars Baking Company.
We previously did some cookie decorating workshops with. Jen is the owner's name at our old location. And we are scheming up an Easter cookie decorating that we're hoping to host towards the end of March. But details on that will be on social media coming soon. But you guys get the first look at that first notice.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: That is wonderful. You got an event going on. That is a wonderful thing. Well, Stephanie, thank you for letting us come into your shop. And folks, if you're out there and you're needing something for your home or you need some advice on decorating your home, this is the lady to call and tell them once again how they get in touch with you.
[00:11:08] Speaker B: Yes. So you can reach out to us anytime on social media. We are on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Stephanie McCalebInteriors, you can view our interior design services. We have some information about that on our website. Again, stephaniemccalebinteriors.com or if you'd like to do a phone call or shoot me a text, My number is 615-478-4564.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Oh, Kay. Thank you for letting us come into your shop.
[00:11:34] Speaker B: Absolutely. Anytime.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: It's always a pleasure to have somebody from the community. Alliance Wellness Alliance. I said it wrong there to come be with us. Kayla, Tell them who you are and what you're doing. Function is there.
[00:11:47] Speaker C: Okay. I'm Kayla Franklin. I'm a prevention coordinator and also a ropes. So that's a regional overdose prevention specialist. That grant is held for the whole Upper Cumberland.
And what we do is we just do education and just try to get whatever we can do, get people their skills and kids their skills to hopefully not use substances. And we offer Narcan. We have recovery resources.
So, yeah, we're having a ball down there.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: Okay. And you've got a lot of things that are really good for the community. And I know you're in all the schools now, is that right?
[00:12:27] Speaker C: Yes, we have been. Yeah.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: Okay. And you've moved down the street. Of course. That's an old news.
You're down on Main street there. What's the address there?
[00:12:38] Speaker C: 611 Main Street North. We love it.
[00:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's a good building. You got a nice building there.
Now, when you go around the room, and you look at the people that are in your building, you know, what does each of them do? I know you do Narcan training, right?
[00:12:52] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Who handles that for you?
[00:12:54] Speaker C: So myself and Justin Cantrell, we do the overdose reversal trainings. We can provide Narcan especially to those at risk or family members at risk, but we can go through to factories, businesses all around and just train how to use Narcan. And one thing that I really though is it's not just about that. The presentation we do kind of talks about addiction and the way it affects your brain.
So it's breaking that stigma, that it's a choice. And they got up and decided to be addicted one day.
Really, their brain gets hijacked. But I could be on that all day.
[00:13:36] Speaker A: Yeah, well, and that's true. And a lot of people early on didn't understand that. You know, it's like a choice that you make. But you're right. Your brain and your life gets hijacked if you're not careful. Well, it's good that when go around the room. You got Justin down there. Who else you got?
[00:13:51] Speaker C: So Tammy London is our executive director. She is absolutely incredible.
We have got Chris Hodges. He does Lifeline, so that it's like he can get people into treatment, different things like that. We have Emily Longview.
She is the other prevention coordinator. And then we have three youth coordinators, which is absolutely amazing. They have been in Gordonsville and are trying to go to Smith County High School soon.
But they have a whole coalition of students that are combating addiction and just being a support to their peers.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: Well, when you're on the ground doing this, that is the best place to win, I think, because you're down there where the kids are, and that's where they need to help. Okay.
This time of year, not a lot of events coming on. Do you have an event coming up anytime soon?
[00:14:46] Speaker C: Yes. So March 10th, we are having. That is the whole state of Tennessee, Day of Hope.
So what we are going to do as the coalition is kind of bring together the community.
The exact place is to be determined. Hopefully, we're going to find that out on Monday.
But it's from 10 to 1 or 11 to 1. 11 to 1. I got that wrong. It's Day of Hope. We're going to have food, prizes, games, all the fun stuff. I know that we are inviting churches. So if anybody, or really anybody in the community that would want to come and support us and maybe set up a booth or offer your resource or whatever.
[00:15:30] Speaker A: Okay, well, That's a good thing because there are a lot of other resources in the county and when we put them all together, you've actually got a pretty good safety net that's built here in Smith County, I think.
[00:15:41] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: I know with the court system, there's a lot of things that are going on and you guys are involved in that as well, aren't you?
[00:15:47] Speaker C: You some. Okay, we can be.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: Well, I know Judge Bellard. He has the Choosing to change. Choosing to change. That's right. And then there's also the drug court and some other things are in. Of course, he's involved in the juvenile court.
[00:16:04] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: And they do a lot of stuff to try to help kids kind of get their act together and get straight. So. So we've got a lot of good resources around here. Well, have we missed anything? Do you think Emily's going to come on and tell us? Tell us anything really interesting?
[00:16:19] Speaker C: I don't think so.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Okay. We had one that was camera shy for you guys out there, but we're going to get her on next time.
All right. Well, Kayla, thank you for coming.
[00:16:29] Speaker C: Yes, thank you for having us.
[00:16:31] Speaker A: Well, it's a pleasure to have a new comer to our show here. And this is Mr. George Clay. George, I better let you introduce yourself. Tell them who you are and who you with.
[00:16:41] Speaker D: Well, I'm George Clay from the faded Craft Farm Bureau Federation president here in Smith county for the last.
This will be four years. So been on the board 10, 12, 14, I don't know how many years, but that's what I do.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: And he's pretty influential. He brought a hat and said, put this on. So we got our Farm Bureau hats on.
Farm Bureau. You know, I would say probably most of the people that are listening out there know kind of what it is and everything, but maybe there are some misconceptions about how things are set up. Now.
There's Farm Bureau Federation, which is. Well, I need to let you explain that. And then there's Farm Bureau insurance. Why don't you go through and explain to folks kind of the difference between the two.
[00:17:31] Speaker D: Okay.
Farm Bureau Reinsurance, we'll get. We'll start out with them. We have a new office, three new people, two new. And all three new people.
Roger met us from. He's an sro, has just been with us since, I don't know, mid summer. And then we got.
Jack Wright is a new agent along with Josh and Ed, the lender.
And then Jennifer Summers is an SRO in the health insurance now. So we've got A full staff there.
They're up front, they're insurance.
We don't want to forget their tax services. Ms. Mildred and Shane and Josella.
But in the back, once a month we meet. It's the Federation, the Voice of Agriculture. That's the lower.
The first floor at Columbia, the big building down there. That's the Federation side, Voice of Agriculture. And then you have the insurance. And then one layer and then another layer is the life insurance. So but anyway, the Federation, we have 12, 12 elected board members here in Smith County. And then we have the wife and R sits on the table, and then the women's sits on the table.
We have a place for our U2 extension officer, will Herbert, for him to apply. So one has to feed off the other. How we're funded is we get, I think like $5 of every membership that you apply there. We have like 4,916 members in Smith County. The last account I had, so that's how we're funded. We do have some money that's been laid back in time. So we operate on about $120,000 a year that, that we give to people, you know, promote agriculture.
So the Federation, you know, one has to do the other. And the tax service, they pay us so much money. We own the building. The Federation owns the building. The insurance leases the building from us. Is how that works in all counties, not just our county.
[00:19:46] Speaker A: Okay, well, and that's a good setup. And a lot of people may not realize the delineation between the different compartments there. But now, one thing I'd like to point out, and if I'm wrong in this, you correct me, but you do not have to have Farm Bureau insurance to be a member of the Farm Bureau Federation. Is that right?
[00:20:05] Speaker D: That is correct. A membership is $30.
And Brian Wright always tells everybody that $30 is the most valuable little envelope. It's got coupons for hotels.
It's got something to do with fraud. And I can't. I wish they could quoted on Internet fraud. And there's a policy in there that they will back you if you get hacked.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Okay, so if somebody steals your id.
[00:20:34] Speaker D: Yes, yes. Identity. Yes. Yes. And most people don't know that, but now we have several members that don't even do taxes, don't even do insurance. They want to be a part of the voice of ag Culture. They will be a member.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Well, now, since you said that like you do, I know you guys, you support us with our leadership groups and you come. As a matter of fact, I think youth leadership last Month or two months ago, you guys actually provided lunch and we were down at Catisa Farms. And that was really good of you to do that. But you guys are supportive of a lot of things around here that have to do with agriculture. I don't know if you want to mention a few of those, but I know leadership is the first thing that comes to mind that we do. And I know you're involved in the fairs and the Smith County Fair that comes around and UT extension, of course, you mentioned Will Herbert. You guys are involved in that. In fact, several of the things I've seen for the kids, I've run into you there, you know.
[00:21:35] Speaker D: Yeah. One of the things, we have a summit leadership in Tennessee Tech that comes around every year and we are able to send some FFA kids. Adds to that. And Marshall Apple and Tegan Bissette, they went just last year. And so they are FFAs. We. If they want anything for a kid, we're big on kids, big on ffa, just things like that. So they want anything. If they don't ask, they won't get it.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
And I know Farm Bureau, I'm not sure if you guys are tied in with this, but I know when, when you and I were in school and it's still going on today, Future Farmers of America was a chapter there at the Gordonsville High School where I went, and I'm sure there was at Smith county, and I presume they're still doing that. I don't know if you guys are involved in that at all.
[00:22:26] Speaker D: Oh, yes, yes. Ms. Carla Keene is the Carthage Smith County FFA teacher. And she's outstanding. She's outstanding. And she's just been in this role about three years and I'm helping with electrical three way switch with her classroom personally myself. And like I said, she, she comes to our meetings, she comes to our women's meetings. She's very active with us. And just the other night she was going to ask us to send a kid to Washington. We sent Marshall Apple, and then the Cattleman sent Tegan Bessette to Washington last year and she was going to come and ask to send it again, you know, $1350, I think it was. Well, she said, I've got another kid that wants to come. So how many kids you think we sent? We sent two, right?
[00:23:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's, that's what the Federation can do, the things that they can do for that. Well, I know FFA, Mr. Tillman Payne ran it back when I was in school. I've been dating myself that's been a long time ago, and he did a wonderful job. He really was an outstanding teacher involved in that. And back then, I think Carl Lancaster was the Farm Bureau representative, and they worked hand in hand. And so there's a long lineage and a long relationship with Farm Bureau and everything else, agriculture around here.
[00:23:49] Speaker D: Right. I want to mention Ryan Rogers from Gordonsville, too. I mean, if we need some kids for event, you know, if they wanted to, just give them a call and they're there, they put them there and they usually come with them.
Biggest thing coming up is Farm Day. We have it every other year, and it'll be May 1st this year. We're going to change a little bit. Going to be third and fourth graders. So what we do on Farm Day is every other year we do Farm Day. And last year we started taking the ag simulator out of Columbia that they've just built and stuff. So we're going to go to the classroom, go to the schools themselves on an odd year. But May 1st of this year, we'll have 500 kids. All the kids of the county come to the Ag center, and we'll have pigs, goats, camels.
We have just about anything. We have a special lady that does our camels, by the way, at the last minute, she gets to do that. And that's Ms. Rachel Petty.
[00:24:47] Speaker A: Oh, Rachel Petty.
She sometimes comes on here and speaks. She's been to show up. Yeah, she's been known to show up here. So. So we will ask her about that, if she knows anything about camels.
But, yeah, I don't know if they're still going on, but many years ago, there were people doing llamas and they were doing.
Not ostriches, it was emus.
[00:25:10] Speaker D: Emus.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: There was a lot of that around here. And there was a farm across from me. He actually had a couple of mountain goats and he had a lot of exotic animals in there. Of course, they've all moved out now, and I think a few of them escaped, and Lord only knows where they're at now. But there's been some different farm animals around here, to say the least. Well, George, you may not remember the number, but if they want to get in touch with you, they just call the Farm Bureau over there and ask for you if they want to be a part of the federation, or can they just walk in and sign up and become a member?
[00:25:48] Speaker D: Absolutely. Right now, in the next five minutes. Next minute, we would love to have people involved in agriculture because our numbers really matter, especially somebody that is an agricultural member. Our agricultural Members. There's a difference.
There's members. People that live here in town that can buy Farm Bureau insurance. The myth of you have to have a Farm Bureau, Farm Bureau insurance is incorrect. We insure all. I sell insurance every day.
Promote Farm Bureau largely. I think it's the best insurance there is. But you show up over there, it's $30 annually and you can set it up. And we would love to have everybody that we could get because numbers really matter. American Farm Bureau. American Farm Bureau Federation. Tennessee has got the most memberships of any state.
[00:26:39] Speaker A: State.
[00:26:40] Speaker D: 364.
No it ain't. It's six hundred and something thousand. So we're the largest state member wise. We have 36 delegates. We just went to the Anaheim just a couple weeks ago. And so we have 36 delegates in North Carolina or South Carolina. One other is the next closest to membership wise in the United States, you know. So Farm Bureau is large. It's really large. I want to bring up one thing that we're real proud of. We have the Shoot for Hunger. You've heard of that?
[00:27:12] Speaker A: I know.
[00:27:13] Speaker D: Okay, well, it comes out of Columbia. They do three events a year. They go east, middle and west.
So it's up there at Sevierville is the first place. So it's like thousand dollar sponsorship. And I can't remember all different ones for counties do it. But I've been trying to go to all three for the last few years.
But what that amounts to is we get $2,700 per county to give to a fund of our choosing. So ours go to Smith county backpack program.
So if we're a small county, you think about little Carter county and places like that in East Tennessee, you know, they'll struggle to have the money and get to support it. Every county, whether Williamson county or Carter can get $2,700. So they. So you can do the math on 2,795 counties. So it is large. It's growing every year.
Mid America Farm Credit is one of the large sponsors. John Deere and just people farming. And so that's a big thing for me.
We have a team or two comes from here in the county each year. So we try to go to all three of them and support show up for Smith County.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Well, that is a wonderful thing that you're doing because that kind of money in a backpack program can make a real difference. And there's a lot of children that need that help. So that is a wonderful thing you're doing. Well, George, I really appreciate you coming by and what we'll do, just anybody comes by, we're going to tell them about Farm Bureau now, because you've educated us a little bit on. On this. I didn't know some of the stuff that was going on. So that's. That's wonderful. And just. Is there something else we want to cover?
[00:28:58] Speaker D: Yes, absolutely.
We have a wife and our young farmers and ranchers that's ages 18 to 35. We've got a group in there now. There's about 23 of them. Olivia Phillips is president.
Holly just has.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: Harper.
[00:29:16] Speaker D: She just has come off of it. You know, she aged out at 35. And we got about 20 to 23 kids, and they're outstanding. And last December, when was in convention at Franklin, they cleaned house. The wife and I. They cleaned house. And so it's just. I'm ultimately proud of the wife and r. Gotta bring the young kids on to take my spot.
[00:29:41] Speaker A: Well, and that's. That's exactly what the is problem process is to try to bring them forward where they can step up and step right into the role. Well, like I say, Farm Bureau is a big part of it. We're proud to have you guys as a Chamber member. Appreciate your support of that and what goes on. Because all of us working together can make things better around here.
[00:30:02] Speaker D: Sure.
[00:30:03] Speaker A: No doubt about that. And I guess one thing I should bring up. George and I, we used to. You work in the dark, didn't we.
[00:30:10] Speaker D: Worked in the dark.
[00:30:11] Speaker A: We worked many years at the mine there.
[00:30:13] Speaker D: In the zinc mine?
[00:30:14] Speaker A: In the zinc mine, yeah. So I'm kind of proud of that, too. That was a good time of life. We were a lot younger then, though, weren't we? I know. I think my hair was darker anyway. All right. Well, George, thanks for coming by. If you want any information about all of this, just contact us at the Chamber of Commerce. Or you can go buy Farm Bureau and just ask for George Clay and they'll fill you in.
Thank you. We are at Miss Stephanie Caleb's interiors in her new store here. Boy, it looks really sharp, doesn't it, Will?
[00:30:44] Speaker E: It really does. I like. I like the interior.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. As a matter of fact, I like that segue on words anyway. Well, tell them who you are, who you with.
[00:30:54] Speaker E: So, my name is Will Herbert and I am the AG agent as a part of ut tsu, Smith County Extension.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: Okay. Okay, Will.
Surely in January with snow on the ground, it's 20 degrees, there can't be a whole lot going on in agriculture. Is that right?
[00:31:09] Speaker E: Well, you think right now with as cold as it is and the ground being as frozen as it is, you wouldn't think that people would be bringing in soil tests. And let me tell you, they are bringing them in. I've had a couple. Had a couple bring in some soil tests. And you think as hard as the ground is, you wouldn't think they'd be digging up the dirt. But they sure are, Bill.
[00:31:28] Speaker A: They must have put a torch on the.
To loosen the auger or something. Yeah, they had to do something there. But that's interesting that you would be having soil tests. Well, what.
Well, I guess I need to ask this. What did you come in to talk about today?
[00:31:43] Speaker E: Well, really, anything that you brought towards me, Bill. But also there we have one program that's coming up. We're in the middle of our master farm manager course right now that I had mentioned beforehand in other episodes.
But we have a farmland legacy class coming up. It'll be on March 3rd and 5th. And the details about that, Bill, are really. If you're thinking about farm estate planning, farm transition planning, if you're wanting to segue your farm from one generation to the next and know the documents and the taxes and everything that's included in that, all the details, this is something that you would intend to get more information on.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: Okay. And I may be totally off subject here, but I've heard of land trusts and is something like that. Is that a word that's used in this plan, legacy planning?
[00:32:32] Speaker E: Yes, it can be. And that's one, I guess, avenue that you could take. And there's a lot of things, and you need to really dig into what a land trust is to see if it best fits what you're trying to accomplish. I think a land trust is more looking on the environmental side of things and, and not necessarily the production side of things.
So just make sure that what a land trust is, is exactly what you need before taking that avenue.
But a farmland legacy is more of just a broad aspect. Whether you're looking at a land trust or if you're just needing the documents to set up with a lawyer to make sure that your farm stays a farm.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: Okay. And that's basically the end result of. Of the legacy is try to make sure that the farm does stay a farm.
[00:33:20] Speaker E: Yes, sir.
[00:33:20] Speaker A: It stays in the same, not necessarily the same family, just as long as it stays a farm, right?
[00:33:28] Speaker E: Yes.
Usually the people who are trying to do that are wanting it to stay in the family. But in that case, if you have an older farmer who doesn't have any children, and who knows, somebody who's maybe been working with them or them and they want them to inherit the farm.
That could be an option.
[00:33:46] Speaker A: Well, and I don't know a particular name. I just heard the story of there's a young man somewhere around here. He's not young now, but there was a couple of people in a situation that was in and they hired him to do some work and came to like him. And it got to the point where, as far as I know, from the way the story goes, he inherited the farm. I don't know who that is, but I know that can happen.
[00:34:12] Speaker E: Yes, sir, it sure can.
[00:34:13] Speaker A: Well, okay, what about this time of year? Is there anything a farmer needs to be doing or a person with their yard needs to be doing to kind of prep it for spring? Because, hey, it's January, February now.
[00:34:26] Speaker E: It sure is.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: So it's going to be March, April, and then next thing you know, grass is going to start growing.
[00:34:32] Speaker E: I know. And when with all this cold weather, this is really the first. Of course it's rainy outside now, but it's warming up, it's warm out there and that ground is starting to unthaw like we were just talking about. So there's a lot of things that you can do to get ready.
As far as right now, like I mentioned, soil tests. I expect a lot of soil tests right now to make sure that your soil is going to put out the nutrients that your plants need for production, whether that be in crops, whether that be in pasture or whether that be in a garden. If you're trying to grow squash or cucumber, tomatoes or whatever it is, that's what I really expect right now, Bill, as far as that goes.
But other than that, you really. There's some farmers that are doing some forage samples too to see if their hay is keeping up the quality from when they first baled it.
And those are really the top two top and two hot topics right now.
[00:35:28] Speaker A: Well, I guess this time of year is a good time to be doing planning for what you want to do when the weather does get warmer and when it does get up.
I know my grandfather put a lot of stock in the almanac and he used to plant by the almanac and what he called the sign.
And there were certain times a year and it made scientific sense when you think about it, because as a general rule you would have the seasons fall about the same each year. And so when you had that almanac, you kind of knew what to do and when to do it. Is that still true? Today is everything following kind of a progression.
[00:36:11] Speaker E: I would agree with that. Of course, there's going to be some.
Some changes. Some things that you said it lands on sometimes in this range as far as the seasons go, but that it always varies a little bit. And that variation can mean a lot when you're in the big production side of agriculture. So I would more look on. You were talking about the scientific part, but also look at the resources part, the research that's been behind on things that you want to grow. Look at ut's research and whatever you're trying to grow, whatever you're trying to accomplish, and make sure that that research backs up what you're trying to do and see what maybe they've done some trials and some experiments on.
On some things and you could take that up and adopt that and make your operation a little more productive.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: Yeah. And one thing I noticed we're. Are we zone 7? I didn't know my zones.
[00:37:14] Speaker E: So we are zone 7B, I believe.
[00:37:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:37:19] Speaker E: So zone 7.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: So if you look at plants that are rated for that, you should be safe on that. And then another thing I've noticed, and I did not know this until the last few years, I like to try to plant native shrubbery and native plants.
You know, I've got. Still got bread for prayers in my yard, and I have been systematically cutting them down and doing away with them because they're an invasive species, from what I understand.
And so I'm trying to get rid of that because I've noticed in the spring I'll see a white tree over there and I'll think it's a dogwood and it's a Bradford pear. And so I know on my farm, and it's small, the section that I live on where my house is, about 40 acres. And I've noticed that those trees are starting to get more prolific. Sort of like when I was a kid, my grandfather, he used to complain about the bodachs, whoever brought them in, they became a problem.
So invasive species are a problem. So I'm trying to do native plants for my yard and things like that so that I'm not part of the problem in the future.
[00:38:27] Speaker E: I see that as far as the natives go and landscape, definitely try to do some more native.
You might see some better growth and better development in your landscape. Might even make it look better.
As far as. If we look from.
We were looking on the landscape side, but now if we're looking on the production agriculture side, there's a lot of native grasses out there that People tend to look at a little bit more with little bluestem, big bluestem, buffalo grass, and those take a long time to get established.
So with the production side of things, and we know with production, we try to produce as much as we can, as quick as we can.
Something that might be non native would be better for us. And especially we were talking about the, the what zone. We were in zone seven. Zone seven is actually the transition zone. Are you familiar with that, Bill?
[00:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah. Right. You're in between the plant life cycle or the species, I should say.
[00:39:34] Speaker E: Yes. So with our warmer seasons and with our cooler seasons, we can both support cool season plants and warm season plants. So we're right there in the middle.
So it just depends on your planting season, everything like that. When you're looking on the production side with cool season, you're looking at tall fescue. We know that tall fescue is very prominent around here and it seems to do well. It's a, it's very hardy grass and that's something that I tend to recommend, but that is also non native, like we just talked about. But on the production side, a lot of people rely on those grass so they can perform and their cattle get the nutrients they need.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: Well, when I was a kid on the farm, you know, you heard fescue, of course, bluegrass, lespedeza, alfalfa, and occasionally wheat.
Occasionally, occasionally wheat, not so much. But I guess that's somewhat changed now. A lot of people grow wheat around here.
Aren't there some of the larger productions, they grow wheat now?
[00:40:35] Speaker E: Yes, sir. Yeah, it tends to be larger production just because. Because the larger production, the more money you get. Just because the fluctuating rates of wheat, they don't necessarily stay exactly at one point. So we know how the markets work.
[00:40:51] Speaker A: So well.
Will, is there anything we've missed?
[00:40:56] Speaker E: I don't believe so, Bill. I think we got everything.
[00:40:58] Speaker A: Okay, well, folks, if you're needing any information about what's going on agriculture wise, Will is the governor you need to call. He knows about production farming. He also knows about your yard and stuff like that.
Tell him, tell them how to get in touch with you. And then I'm going to ask you a loaded question. Okay, so how do you get in touch with.
[00:41:17] Speaker E: Okay, so you can call our office, the UTSU Smith County Extension Office. And that's 615-735-2900. Or you can come visit us at 67 Cookeville highway in Carthage.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Okay, now here's the loaded question. If you guys out there know what this is you know what Dartanelle is?
What is Dartnell?
[00:41:35] Speaker E: Dartanelle.
[00:41:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:36] Speaker E: No, sir.
[00:41:37] Speaker A: You're gonna have to look that up.
[00:41:38] Speaker E: All right, I'm going to.
[00:41:39] Speaker A: All right, folks, Mr. Will Herbert. He's a great guy and he's with UT Extension.
[00:41:45] Speaker E: Thank you, Bill.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: Well, Miss Mary, introduce yourself. Tell them who you are. Who you with?
[00:41:50] Speaker F: I'm Mary Draper. I'm the family and consumer science extension agent and county director here in Smith County.
[00:41:55] Speaker A: Okay. And we got a lot of things going on. Even though it's called cold and rainy outside. Yes, a lot of things. Why don't you tell us what's happening?
[00:42:01] Speaker F: We're really excited about our upcoming chocolate extravaganza. This is hosted by Smith County FCE clubs. And this year we're really proud to support our 4Hers. So the proceeds will help fund Smith County 4H Green Jacket Fund. So this is something that 4Hers will have a uniform look at. We're going to donate a jacket kits so they can have this uniform look at competitions.
So the chocolate extravaganza is a fundraiser that will be on February 13th this year. So Friday at the Smith County Chamber of Commerce, we'll still have homemade chocolate goodies like we usually do.
They're going to be a dozen. We're going to pre box them. A dozen per box. And it'll be $5, which is a great deal and goes to a great cause. So we would love to see you at the Smith County Chamber of Commerce on February 13th. We're going to start at 10 and we usually sell out early, so.
[00:43:00] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, you got it. You got to be there early. I've been doing this every year and I can tell you it is great stuff. You will not be disappointed with anything that you get. These ladies are wonderful.
What else is going on?
[00:43:13] Speaker F: So we. You just had Will on. So we are excited about our upcoming farmland legacy workshop that will be coming up in March.
So I believe it's the first week in March on Tuesday and Thursday.
So for those two dates, we are going to have a specialist come out and talk about estate planning. And on the second night, I believe we'll have accountant and lawyer come out. And we're partnering with Charlesdale county, but this will be at Smith County Ag center if you're interested. If that sounds like something that you would be interested in, you can give us our office a call at 6152900 and we can give you the exact details.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: Okay. And you can never get too started too early on that estate planning. That's for sure. And you may go. Well, I don't have enough to worry about. Yes, you do. You need to really make those plans. Mary, thank you very much. We really appreciate you guys at UT Extension.
[00:44:08] Speaker F: We appreciate all you do, Bill.
[00:44:09] Speaker A: All right, boy. UT Extension is here in full force today. Rachel, tell them who you are and who you with.
[00:44:16] Speaker G: We're glad to be here. I'm Rachel Petty. I'm one of the four H agents at the at the UTSU extension office in Smith County.
[00:44:22] Speaker A: Okay. And I know you got stuff. Even though it's cold and rainy outside, you got 4H stuff going on, right?
[00:44:28] Speaker G: That's right. So it is cold and rainy. We've had a couple weeks of snow. Has interfered with our in school clubs just a little, but we're always flexible and happy to reschedule. I met with a 4H homeschool group this morning, so we had our monthly meeting and it was good to be back with them. I feel like I've been out of the classroom, kind of out of the swing of things, like everybody has for a couple weeks. So really good to see everybody get out. We had our poster contest with that group and talked to them about all of the upcoming activities. There is a lot going on this time of the year, so we're starting horse judging. So any kiddos that are interested in horses, we've got some awesome volunteers that lead that group. It's getting started up later this week. At the time of this recording, we're going to start livestock and meats judging the spring as well in a couple weeks. We do archery in the spring as well as wildlife judging. So a ton of things coming up on the slate for 4H this spring. And I'm really excited to announce that we have a new 4H agent to help with all of those busy things that are happening. She had a prior obligation today, so I hate that you guys can't meet her this month, but hopefully next month she'll be around to introduce herself. Her name is Lexi Tipton and she is from Watertown, so went to Watertown High School, grew up in Wilson county, and she's been on board with us for about two weeks. So really excited. She has a livestock background and showed Swine as a 4-Her and FFA member. So she brings a lot of good experience to our team and I think a good balance. To me, who is more on the sewing, baking, crafting side of things, though, I love all of it and I've learned a lot since I've started this job and kind of embraced Some of the natural resources programming, especially like forestry judging and wildlife judging. So that just proves again that there's something for everybody in 4H. And we're excited to have Lexi on board to kind of strengthen our program.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: Well, that is wonderful news. I did not know that. So that's wonderful to know that you got somebody else working with you. Okay. Anything else going on that you've got?
[00:46:25] Speaker G: So we were hoping with Lexi for a February 1 start date, but she got to come on with us a couple. Couple weeks before that, so she settled right in. And she is our TSU agent, so officially works for Tennessee State University.
So that's a good partnership. Susanna was our first TSU agent. And then she went back home next door to Putam County. And so we're glad to. Glad to bring Lexi on board. That's kind of, um, the biggest work news. Um, I do have some personal news that I guess I'll share with, um, the folks out there.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: Before you say anything, I know noticed on your third finger, left hand, there's something new.
[00:46:59] Speaker G: Yes, that's right. So I got engaged over the weekend. So really excited for that personal chapter in my life to start. So lots of exciting things happening at the 4H office, and then also for me personally.
[00:47:13] Speaker A: Well, congratulations.
[00:47:14] Speaker G: Thank you, Bill.
[00:47:15] Speaker A: That is exciting news. Yeah. When you were moving your hand, I saw that, I thought, okay, there's something going on here. Yes, that is happy news. I'm glad to hear that. Well, Rachel, thank you for coming in and giving us the news about 4H. And of course, we'll have you back next month. And you can bring Lexi with you and introduce her and let her talk.
[00:47:35] Speaker G: And then if you guys have any questions related to 4H or anything that we do at the extension office, you can always give us a call at 615-735-2900.
[00:47:45] Speaker A: Okay. Thank you.
[00:47:46] Speaker G: Of course.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: Hope you enjoyed the show. We're here at Stephanie's McCaleb Interiors, and, well, we want you to come back next week. But anyway, we are going to go over a few things that are happening here in the upcoming weeks. February 17th, which is real soon, US Army Corps of Engineers is having an event called MCA Safety, and you can call them about that.
Let's see. March 7, Roaring River Storybook ribbon cutting. That's a Friends of Cordell Hall Lake event. He's going to be taking Patriots on March 7th. March 28th, they have an archery competition.
Army Corps of Engineers, and it's a partner event.
And then in April, we're at the noon Trail Day event at the Periwinkle Trail, Bear Wheels Trail, Bike Trail and Bear Walley Gap Trail. And that's Friends of Cordell hall Lake and U.S. army Corps of Engineers.
One unique thing about that is that on the trails that go from the Code Hall Dam, they'll have a shuttle for you so you won't have to park your car and then find another way back or walk all the way back. You can actually just go down to the trailhead and they'll put you on a bus and then you just walk back to your car. So that's a nice thing that they do every year.
Again, the storybook trail is March 7th at 10am and it says, celebrate the newest Storybook Trail on Cordell Hole Lake. And this is a combination of the Friends of Cordell Hull Lake, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and of course, the Corps of Engineers.
So we hope you'll avail yourself of that ribbon cutting that's going on there. And folks, we hope you're enjoying this winter. Spring is coming and we'll be talking about other events that are going on and starting here just real soon. May God bless you and we hope you enjoyed the show.
