October 2025

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Bill Woodard, and welcome to the October edition of the Smith County Chamber Corner. We hope you enjoy it. It's at Catesa Farms, and we are looking forward to the interviews. We've got a good show planned for you today, so sit back, relax, and enj. Well, Leslie, it is a beautiful day here at Katysa Farms, and you can look out behind us here and see what's going on. They're working and doing a lot of good things. Thank you for being here. And why don't you introduce yourself and tell everybody why you're so festively dressed? [00:01:01] Speaker B: I am representing the Smith County Events Committee today, and I am the Good Witch of Carthage. And I wanted to tell you guys about our hometown Halloween celebration. So on Halloween night from 6 to 9pm we'll be on the square. Now, we'll be divided up a little bit different than we have been in years past, Bill, because we're going to get to use two indoor facilities this year. So our haunt that's usually on the lawn will be in the library, downstairs in the basement. So. [00:01:31] Speaker A: So that's good. [00:01:32] Speaker B: It's gonna be inside. So you remember last year when that straight line wind tried to take us all out and thought I was Dorothy? Well, we don't have to worry about that now because we're gonna be inside. So also over at the Veterans hall, the Smith County Veterans hall on Main street, they're gonna let us use their space to put our maze indoors, too. So two big lawn attractions, if you will, are gonna be inside this year. So we're super duper excited about that. And of course, you can find me and all my BFFs at the trunk or Treat on Main Street. And we're going to have representatives through the Trunk or Treat all the way up the street with some of the local businesses. I know that kiddos will be on the sidewalk. I've heard that ruckabilly's gonna be staying open late so we can all get our coffee stash on so that we can chase all these children around. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Right? Right. [00:02:24] Speaker B: And we're gonna have Trunk or Treat cars. And then I'm sure, you know, it's just gonna be so great. We're just so excited. So there's a People can still help if they want to. One, we're still looking for some actors if anybody wants to be part of the haunt. If you want to be part of the maze, we still could use a couple of actors. We could also use help with setup and tear down always, because there's Never enough help for either of those categories. [00:02:52] Speaker A: Right. [00:02:52] Speaker B: We could also use some more cars in our trunk or treat. And you don't have to be an organization to join that. Of course, any organizations locally are always welcome to join us, but you could just be a person like Ms. Olga and her family. They do one, and they're just people in our community who want to come out and help and pass out candy. So that's super exciting. And you can reach out to Smith county events on Facebook, or you can reach out to me directly, Leslie Smith on Facebook, and we can get you signed up for whatever part you'd like to play in that. And there's one final way that you can help if none of those are your thing and you're kind of one of those kind of stay in the background sort of folks. If you look here, I brought my candy bucket, and you can see that it's kind of weak. [00:03:39] Speaker A: Oh, it is. [00:03:40] Speaker B: Yeah. It's wonderful. [00:03:40] Speaker A: It needs some help. [00:03:41] Speaker B: We're gonna need some help. So if you'd like to make a donation of candy to the maize, the cause, any of the cars that are passing candy out, you can drop those donations off at the Smith County Chamber of Commerce, and we'll come by and collect them and pass them out on your behalf. So please know that you can come by and help in that way, too. And people will be very appreciative of that as. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Okay. And. Well, in a couple of questions or maybe statements, I presume I will be able to have my beginning spot there kind of in front of the courthouse to take account. [00:04:16] Speaker B: Absolutely, Absolutely. The lollipop count is an official document of Smith county events. [00:04:22] Speaker C: Halloween. Halloween. [00:04:24] Speaker A: Last year we had 1200. And I will tell you this. [00:04:30] Speaker B: And it rained on us. [00:04:31] Speaker A: Well, and it rained on us. And there's two things that's unique about Smith County. Well, maybe not unique. Something that we do as a rule is we always have our events for Halloween on the 31st. [00:04:42] Speaker B: That's correct. We do. We like to keep it. Keep it true to the. True to the holiday. [00:04:47] Speaker A: Yeah. And this time it's on Friday night, which is really great. [00:04:51] Speaker B: Oh, yes. Because it's going to give us so much opportunity to share with our friends, you know, our friends over in Gordonsville, because they do a big trick or treat event over there, too. Do you have the details on that? [00:05:03] Speaker A: I do, as a matter of fact. Mr. Colby McKinney, he's the president of the Gordonsville Events Committee. Him and Mayor John Potts and several of the other folks over there that I am failing to name and shouldn't have named names, I guess. But anyway, several of the people over there, they get together and they put this on. Now, their event is sort of an organic event that started decades ago and the city of Gordonsville has always been amenable to it. And here, just a few years back, they decided to not just be amenable, but to actually embrace it. And so they get the road closed so it's safe for people to walk. And they have some vendors there that are going to have food. It's Friday, October 31, from 5 until 8pm now, ours is 6 to 9. [00:05:57] Speaker B: You know why we do that? So that people might have the opportunity to do both. [00:06:02] Speaker A: Get your candy stash. There you go. And I said our. They're both our events. These two organizations are both members of Smith County Living, which is housed at the chamber, and theirs is. Or the Gordville Halloween Bash is going to be Friday, October 31st, from 5 to 8 on Main street in Gordesville, Tennessee. It is their eighth annual event. So they've been doing this for eight years. [00:06:29] Speaker B: That's exciting. [00:06:30] Speaker A: Yeah, they got food trucks. Domino's Pizza is going to be over there this time, too, which was not something that they had last year. And of course, we've got the actual Domino's. We do have the actual Domino's house over in Carthage. So hardwood smoke and barbecue is going to be there. And Helen's restaurant. [00:06:48] Speaker B: Helen's always a hit. [00:06:49] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, everybody loves that. Over 50 businesses are supporting this and going to be supporting candies. You got churches and organizations, families and individuals. They're encouraged to participate in this. The road will be closed from 4:30 to 8pm From Hickman highway, which is right there near City hall, all the way down to Gordon Drive, going to Maple street, which is just past or really right at the Gordonsville High School. [00:07:26] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:07:27] Speaker A: So that'll. And law enforcement will be there to help those who live in the area get through the road closures. So if you're in Gordonsville and you're needing to go through, you can still get through. They're going to be able to help you do that. But that's going to be a very large. They have a tendency to have maybe 20, 30% more than we see coming at Carthage. [00:07:53] Speaker B: But it is Friday night. [00:07:55] Speaker A: It is Friday night. [00:07:56] Speaker B: So they're liable to have everybody everywhere. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Yeah, there's going to be quite a group there. And then the other thing is there's other Halloween events going on that Friday night in other Towns around close to us. So this is kind of. It's one of those true events that is really for our kids. Both towns have embraced that. And so I. I think it's a wonderful fit, and I'm. I'm really looking forward to it. [00:08:21] Speaker B: Me, too. It's one of my most favorite things. I love the trunk or treat. Getting to see all the little kids come by in their costumes. Speaking of costumes, I forgot Bill. [00:08:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:08:32] Speaker B: We're going to have a costume contest again this year, and we're going to have prizes. So be sure that you get your costumes out and come look and spry. We're going to give away some prizes. It's gonna be good. [00:08:46] Speaker A: Okay. And of course, it'll be that. We'll do that right in front of the courthouse. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:50] Speaker A: And we'll have some music playing. [00:08:51] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:08:52] Speaker A: And things like that going on. So, folks, it's gonna be a really fun day. And then we'll just. Well, we'll be there and you be there, and we'll just have a great time. [00:09:04] Speaker B: Absolutely. We'll see you there. Come get your treat. [00:09:08] Speaker A: Thank you. We are proud to be here at Catisa Farms. And I'm sure you've been here many times before, haven't you, Mary? [00:09:15] Speaker C: I have been, yeah. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah. It's a great place, and George is a great host. Anyway, UT extension has a lot of things going on. Maybe I just go ahead as usual. Introduce yourself. Tell them who you with. [00:09:28] Speaker C: Okay. I'm Mary Draper. I'm the family and Consumer Science Extension agent and county Director for ut. TSU Smith County Extension. [00:09:34] Speaker A: Okay. And how long have you been county director? That's a. [00:09:37] Speaker C: Since July 1st. [00:09:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So this is your inaugural year. [00:09:42] Speaker C: Yes. [00:09:43] Speaker A: That's wonderful. Well, I hear you're doing a great job, so thank you. [00:09:46] Speaker C: I appreciate that. [00:09:47] Speaker A: Anyway, what's going on with the UT extension? [00:09:50] Speaker C: Yeah. So our ag agent, Will Herbert, he has started June 1st of this year, and we're really proud of him. He's doing a lot of lunch and learns at the Chamber. He has one coming up on October 27th for weed control. So if you're interested in that, definitely give our office a call. He also has one coming up in November for composting and one in December for beginning farmers. So that kind of wraps up our year for lunch and learns. But we're excited to host all those. Our 4H agent, Rachel Petty, she's, of course, busy meeting clubs and getting them prepared for speeches this fall. And she also has a fall break sewing day camp coming up. So next week is fall break, and on Tuesday, October 14, she will have a sewing day camp. If anybody has. I think she has a few spots open if anybody would like to join us on that. That day. Fourth grade and I believe is the. The level for that. [00:10:46] Speaker A: Okay. And just backing up a little bit. The lunch and learn. I was at the last one, it was about bees, and it was really informative and really enjoyed that. And I know he'll probably do another one again next year. But the lunch and learns are really good. If you've got interest in that area, that's really good for you to go now. Fce they meet all over the place. There's several different groups, and it is a wonderful thing. Speak to the. The lady that's sitting out there that's not a member, tell them what they can do to get involved. [00:11:20] Speaker C: So we have seven different clubs in the county, and several of them actually meet at the chamber because that's a good central location for them. They meet at different times and different days, so kind of just whatever meets the person's schedule. But they all kind of have their own projects. They come together for different events like our rally. The courthouse planners, they change seasonally, so different clubs take charge of that. They're getting involved for the community Thanksgiving meal coming up in November. They'll be just sponsoring desserts for that, for the Veterans Day parade, that meal afterwards. They're getting involved in that. So they're just really good to be community oriented. They also offer leadership opportunities and marketable skills sessions, things like that. We have our state conference coming up, and our central region president, Myra Fisher, is from Smith county, so she's taking a lot of responsibility in that. We're. [00:12:16] Speaker B: So. [00:12:17] Speaker C: We're excited for that. It's coming up in November in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, so all the clubs across the state get to come and enjoy each other's company where they get to go on tours to learn about Murfreesboro. They also get to do marketable skill sessions and learning sessions as well. [00:12:34] Speaker A: Okay. And I'm glad you mentioned the veterans. November 9th is the Veterans Day parade. And then also on November 9th, we're doing that appreciation for our first responders and our veterans. And I want to say a special thank you to Mr. Sam Petty. He is a member of the Carthage City Council, and he was the one. He just came to me and he said, could you help me with it? And he basically put this together, and I think it is a wonderful thing that he has done to help these guys know how Much we do appreciate what they did, the veterans and what our first responders do. And so that's why we're doing that day at, at the American Legion Hall. Okay. Now we talked about FCE and how they can get involved in that. And then of course 4h give the kind of the short speech or the version of that of how people get involved because I think it's kind of automatic in schools. [00:13:34] Speaker D: Right. [00:13:34] Speaker C: So yes, they have schools, fourth grade and up is for four H's involved and they even have a home school group as well. So if you're involved in homeschool, you can get involved and you can call the extension office. Rachel's our UT extension agent and we actually have an opening for a TSU extension agent if anybody's interested. That position will be becoming available soon, the opening application process. So they can give us, the office a call if they're interested in that as well. [00:14:03] Speaker A: So if you've got the experience or the background, you can get involved in 4H here. Then we come down to back. I'm circling back around. We come down to your job. Now if you're a farmer or just a beginning farmer, you are the, our agent and you can help them with soil testing and different things like that. [00:14:23] Speaker C: Will. Yep. Will is our ag agent and so he does with the soil testing, the beginning farmers, anything like that. So my job is FCS and so that deals with home food, family money and health. So all those different areas and we get involved in different things. So we have our Walk Across Tennessee program. We do with Walk with the Ease. We do a lot of programs, programs with the senior center. And then coming up, probably the next big event we have will be our Maintain Don't Gain Healthy Holiday challenge. We get ready for that the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It's virtual, so it's online, email based, it's free. And we usually get free access to local senior or a local fitness center for the duration of the program, which offers another incentive to be healthy and mindful throughout the holiday season. [00:15:13] Speaker A: And the one thing that you do that I think is really cool and you do Tai Chi classes at some point during the year. [00:15:20] Speaker B: Yes. [00:15:21] Speaker A: And that, that is a something for someone that's in my age group. It's really good for us to keep our balance and things like that, right? [00:15:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:15:30] Speaker C: So we do that. Tai chi is good for balance. We offer matter of balance. So that has exercise component to it. And just thinking about tips around the house that we can be mindful of in order to be as mindful of Our balance and our health and preventing falls as possible. We do that. We do drums alive. So that's cardio drumming. And we offer chair volleyball. That's been a big hit through our FCE groups and we've got a lot of new FCE members involved that way too. So if you're interested in any of that, definitely give our office a call. [00:16:07] Speaker A: And FCE is not necessarily for just ladies, is it? [00:16:10] Speaker C: That's right. We encourage men to join too. Anybody is welcome to join. [00:16:13] Speaker A: Okay, well, thank you Mary for coming by. And I think we pretty well covered it all, don't you think so? [00:16:19] Speaker C: I think so. If they have any questions, give our office a call. And that number is 615-735-2900. Thank you. [00:16:27] Speaker A: Thank you for coming by. [00:16:28] Speaker C: Thank you for having me. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Okay. We are so happy to be here at Catesa Farms. George is a very good host and this is a beautiful place, isn't it? [00:16:37] Speaker E: It is absolutely gorgeous. And he really is a good host for sure. [00:16:40] Speaker A: There's no doubt about that. Tell you what, for their benefit, tell them who you are and who you with. [00:16:46] Speaker E: I am with Smith County Humane. My name is Tracy Nelson and we are a 501c3 not for profit volunteer run organization and we are always looking for more volunteers and fosters. So if you're interested in that. [00:17:09] Speaker A: Tracy, how do people get in touch with you? [00:17:12] Speaker E: You can go to Smith Countytnhumane.com and all of our services are listed there. And we are gearing up for our biggest fundraiser of the year. Right now we have the Positively Magical Winter Ball coming up. [00:17:34] Speaker A: Oh yeah, I've heard about that. That's the fifth year. [00:17:37] Speaker E: Can you believe it? Yeah, the fifth, Ann. That will be this year, December 13th. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Okay, well where are you putting this on at? [00:17:48] Speaker E: Oh, it is going to be at the armory in Gordonsville which is 101 Transport Drive. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Oh yeah, that's a very big place. So you'll be able to handle the crowd? [00:17:57] Speaker E: Oh yeah, it's absolutely gorgeous. When we're done decorating, the times are going to be from 5pm to 12am it is 21, an older event. [00:18:12] Speaker A: So I won't be able to come. Well, oh wait a minute. I may not know, I may be a bit over 21, but. But it sounds like a lot of fun. [00:18:21] Speaker E: It absolutely is. The tickets are a hundred dollars per person and you do get two drink tickets with that. However, you do have the option to purchase a wristband for $35 which gives you unlimited drinks. We have a cocktail Hour with appetizers. And this year we will be getting appetizers and desserts from what's Cooking615. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:51] Speaker E: And then our dinner is going to be served by Helens this year. [00:18:56] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, they're, they're very popular. [00:18:57] Speaker E: They are. So we get a choice of, of prime rib, chicken or salmon. And that comes with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. And we also have a live and silent auction and dancing. It is a blast. [00:19:16] Speaker A: Okay, well, so obviously you're going to have some live entertainment there too in a band, is that right? [00:19:20] Speaker E: We do have live entertainment during dinner and then we do have a DJ who joins us for the dancing after dinner. Now to get your tickets, you're gonna wanna go to SmithCountyTNhumane.com. [00:19:40] Speaker D: Ball. [00:19:41] Speaker A: Okay, well now it sounds like a lot of fun. And I know you guys have been working on this for a while. Your cause is something that tugs at people's hearts because what you do is you're helping animals out here. That really helps. We don't have any other help. Right? [00:19:58] Speaker E: Yeah, we are dedicated to the welfare of the animals in Smith county and also prevention of animal cruelty and overpopulation. [00:20:11] Speaker A: Well, you have the organization here and you're live all the time now. You don't have a physical presence. But if they go to the website, they'll be able to get information about how they can volunteer and help. Help. Is that correct? [00:20:26] Speaker E: Absolutely. You can volunteer. We have adoptions, we have cats and dogs and we do have an office building on JMZ Drive. [00:20:38] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't know. [00:20:39] Speaker E: Yeah, but it does not hold any animals. Unfortunately or fortunately we rely on fosters for the animals we do have. [00:20:52] Speaker A: Well, they probably get better care doing that because you got people that they are taking them into their home, right? [00:20:59] Speaker E: Absolutely. Absolutely. I also want to say one more thing. We do have a donation box outside at our office building that if you wanted to leave any donations, you're more than welcome to. [00:21:12] Speaker A: Okay, well I know your organization works year round to try and help animals and get this cause you know, out in front of people. So I think this is probably your biggest fundraiser for the year over a 12 month period. Is that right? [00:21:28] Speaker E: Absolutely, it really is. [00:21:31] Speaker A: Okay, and what's the date again? [00:21:33] Speaker E: The date is December. Saturday, December 13th. [00:21:37] Speaker A: Okay, Saturday, December 13th. And that's during the Christmas season. So hopefully there'll be a little more giving and maybe they want to be there and help out. [00:21:48] Speaker E: Well, we do have the silent and live auction which would be a great place for you to get Gifts for somebody in your family or a friend. [00:21:56] Speaker A: Okay, well, now, is that something that you have to be there to participate in or can you do it online? Is that. Do you have it both ways or. [00:22:03] Speaker E: We haven't done it online before. It is something that we're considering, but I'm not sure it's going to be done this year. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Okay. So we need to be there to be able to bid on these things. [00:22:13] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. [00:22:13] Speaker A: All right. And ticket is a hundred dollar donation, and it's at the Armory over in Gordonsville, Tennessee. [00:22:21] Speaker E: Absolutely. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Okay. Have we missed anything that you can think of? [00:22:25] Speaker E: I don't think so. [00:22:27] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I just want to say thank you very much for coming here. I believe it is a good cause. When I was a child growing up in Lancaster, Tennessee, it was not unusual to see especially dogs, not so much cats wander up and they would look emaciated and, you know, you would feed them. And I will have to say, three of my best friends and dogs were dogs that wandered up to our farm and we started feeding them and got them to finally come because, you know, usually they're scared. And we got them to come up and we would feed them. And they became very good friends to me and pets that we kept there on the farm. And I remember that very fondly. So when somebody comes and takes care of one of these animals, I believe they can find a friend there if they want to do that. So if you are interested in Smith County Humane, it's just over on JMZ Drive. Right. [00:23:26] Speaker E: That is where our office building is. [00:23:28] Speaker A: Okay. All right, Tracy, thank you for coming by. [00:23:31] Speaker E: Thank you so much. [00:23:34] Speaker A: All right. We are here at Catesa Farms, and Mr. George McDonnell is our host. And we are so thankful, George, that you let us come and be here at your beautiful farm here. I picked this space because I like looking out here. This is an example of what your farm looks like. It is really clean, really nice. [00:23:55] Speaker D: Well, thank you and glad to have you all here today and enjoy our facilities that we have here. We're very proud of what we do here at our family farming operation, Billy, and very proud that my great grandfather started this farm in 1927. That original 257 acres is grown today. We farm in six different counties. We grow corn, soybeans, wheat, milo hay, strawberries, watermelons, and pumpkins. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Okay. And a lot of those are direct sale crops, and some of those are crops that you basically ship out of here to other distributors. So you've got a pretty diverse operation going on here. [00:24:35] Speaker D: We do. We Are different than most farms in the way we do that and also the way we buy products. We try to cut out that supply chain. As many of those links out as we can. We haul all of our own material in from the supplier straight to our, our farming operation. And just like selling, we have some unique things that we sell. We're exclusive supplier to Chattanooga Whiskey for their corn and for their wheat. We also grow seed for Beck's hybrids out of Atlanta, Indiana. And we'll ship that up to their location when we start talking about our produce. Our strawberries are pretty well known in this area. [00:25:11] Speaker A: Very well known. [00:25:12] Speaker D: What we had this year was a disastrous year, but it's farming and, and our watermelons, a large majority of our melons go to Kroger and we also work through another farmer down out of Florida that sells out to different places. Kind of unique for that people realize our watermelons. This year we went of course to Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New York. And we're international sellers now. We went to Canada with watermelons. [00:25:53] Speaker A: Wow, that is a big deal. [00:25:55] Speaker D: It's kind of hard for me to believe myself too that we're actually shipping international products out and going to Canada with products. [00:26:03] Speaker A: Yeah. From Riddleton, Tennessee. [00:26:04] Speaker D: From Riddleton, Tennessee here in good old Smith County. But a lot of folks don't realize that what goes on behind our fence here and what takes place and the things that we do. We have great staff here. Our team is very involved, very engaged in what we do. We have 10 full time employees, then our H2A workers. We have about 20 of those who work here in our operation for our produce. Because produce is all manual labor. There's no machines doing that like it is with our corn, soybeans and wheat, those other crops. So we're not only farm here in Smith county, we farm in Smith, Macon, Trousdal, Sumner, Wilson and Davison counties as well. So we are spread out, but the produce stays around closer to that because it is a high value crop, a high dollar crop that requires a lot more inputs, a lot more labor and a lot more management than our other crops do. [00:26:55] Speaker A: Well, and one thing that I think is really cool, and you've mentioned this before, you, you are the one that handles the Hermitage as far as the. You have a lease down there or did have with crops there. [00:27:08] Speaker D: We farm the Hermitage President Andrew Jackson's farm. We also farm the Donaldson family. Which Donaldson family? Rachel, his wife was a Donaldson. So those farms are actually Connected. We farm some more properties there in Davison county also. But it is very unique for the historical perspective of farming the President, United States Farm and being a part of that history down there. And it's very unique for us to be there. [00:27:36] Speaker A: Well, and I know you're involved in a lot of different community efforts and things like that, but the one that I'm tied with, and I want to publicly thank you, our leadership programs, adult and youth, you allow them to come here at the farm and see the operations. And of course, the thrill is if we happen to be here when you're doing combine. And everybody loves to ride that. [00:27:59] Speaker D: Yeah. And we love sharing what we do in agriculture. It's not just about Catesa Farms, but it's about Tennessee agricultural, American agriculture and whatever's going on here in our operation. The day that that tour comes in is what you get to see. And people often have the misconception of, oh, it's during the winter, so what are you doing? Is anything going on? It's always something going on here. And the flavor of the day is what you're going to get when you go on a tour. And we're very happy to do it for here, for Smith County. We do it for Trousdell County. We go speak at Wilson county, and from time to time we go to Davison county and speak down there also and promote agriculture. Because less than 2% of our population is involved in production, agriculture, culture, and it's feeding the other 98%. So we have to be engaged to tell about that. I also am a firm believer that we need to give back to our communities. We need to share what those communities have helped us do. And when, I mean, give back, that doesn't always have to be dollars. That can be in our efforts. It can be in our resources we have, it can be in our facilities. Just like we host the River City Ball here, which gives back to our community, another thing that we, we believe in and giving back to our community. And agriculture has a lot of challenges ahead of it. And some of those right now, those, if you haven't noticed this, you've been living under the rock. As far as the influx of people coming in, we welcome these people to come in. We welcome folks to Tennessee. We want you to come as a visitor. As our county mayor said, we don't want you to come as a missionary. [00:29:36] Speaker A: Come as an immigrant, not a missionary. That's what he says all the time. [00:29:39] Speaker D: We, you know, we're proud of what we got here. And most of the time People come here because they didn't like what they had, where they were right, and tend to want to change it like it was where they were from. You know, it's worked good for us. We don't have sewer system out in the county, but we're not paying taxes like that. But by the same token, Tennessee is losing an astounding amount of farmland. We're losing about 10 acres per hour since 2017. In other words, we're losing about 250 acres every day to development. And once that land goes into the house, it'll never be farmland again. I know never is a long time, but it's highly probable it'll never be farmland again, most likely. [00:30:20] Speaker A: Well, I know you are an advocate for agriculture and always will be, but I think what you do here in the county, with the connections that you have with the different charitable organizations and the thing you do for the county, I think that speaks really well of what farmers can do and have always done in the community. They've always been supporters of things in the community. I know when I was growing up, all the farmers get together and they supported the little Lancaster school, and they were the reason that we were able to have a lot of things we have. So you're basically carrying on a tradition that's been alive in Smith county for generations. Generations, yeah, it's carrying on for. [00:31:03] Speaker D: For generations. And most farmers are proud to be doing that because, you know, people say, well, we are, you know, sustainable. Well, my family is fairly sustainable. I believe. We've been here on this farm for nearly 100 years now, and not many businesses ever get that far. So I think, you know, farming and is sustainable. And I always tell people farming is a family tradition. It's a family heritage. But first and foremost, our family farming operation is a family business. And involved in our business are my daughter Sarah. She's part of our farming operation. My mother, she's still very active in our farming operation. And we have some key people here who are very active in our farming operation. Kyle Kato, I tell people he doesn't have my blood rushing through his veins, but he's got my heart in his chest. And you've heard me say that before. [00:31:58] Speaker A: Kyle's essential around here. [00:31:59] Speaker D: Exactly. And it takes everyone, you know, it takes a village to raise a family. It takes a village to keep a farming operation of this size going to. [00:32:09] Speaker A: Well, you know, George, you were mentioning the family ties that are here. Even in the name of your farm, you've got family ties in that. You want to tell people they May know it, but tell them how that comes so often. [00:32:21] Speaker D: People ask where the catisa comes from from. I had nothing to do with that long before I came along. My grandfather's name was Carmen C.A. my grandmother's name was Temple T E and my daddy's name was Sam Sa. So that's where Katiza comes from. It's not Mexican. It's not foreign country or something special. It's just a family. Family tradition. And of course, my name being George, not including in that. And my great grandfather was George also and he's not included in it, but makes no difference because we're proud to use Catesa Farms, because I know Catesa Farms will carry on long after I'm gone and that name will continue. It doesn't need to be a George MacDonald. This operation is much larger than just George McDonnell. It's very encompassing of the many people who make it all happen. [00:33:10] Speaker A: Right. Well, you've got a legacy that you're passing on and that's wonderful. I'm going to hit a subject here that I. I don't know if you can talk about it or not. I know we've been working on it for a long time. We've got a port that is probably going to come into being hopefully here, not too far from here. And I didn't know if. I know you've been involved in looking at that and that's going to be some way for you to ship, I believe, wheat and soybeans and other large quantities of grain out. Is that something that's still in the works and in the. [00:33:49] Speaker D: Very much so. And the port you're referring to is located on the TVA project where the cooling tower came down a few weeks ago at. We have a lease secured on that port. That port has been dredged out. There's been a lot of naysayers saying that the river couldn't handle enough drought to get the barges up. [00:34:08] Speaker B: Up. [00:34:08] Speaker D: As of right now, we've pushed 15 barges up with pipe for Enbridge because Enbridge is putting another gas line beside of the one that's been in place since the 40s on up toward Kingston is where they're going to. And they're unloading the pipe down there. The draft and the draft is how far the barge sits down in the water is what that's referred to has not been the problem on the Cumberland, but they did have some on the Mississippi that's sitting on a sandbar. So the big water has been the trouble. It has been challenging the Cumberland as it comes on up. This is about as far east down here at the TVA side as barges can push up. Because it hasn't been dredged since the early 70s, I think is when the last time the river was dredged on up further. But the part about that makes us excited is we've had so many people start asking us about that, whether it being shipping timber out, whether it be shipping, shipping wood chips out, us shipping grain, wheat and soybeans in particular. We're also in talks with people about shipping fertilizer in. And it's not about Catesa Farms. Please understand that. And it's not just about Smith and Trousle County. When you look, take a 75 mile radius around this area, especially east of here, it can have a huge economic impact because each one of those barges that comes up, it'll take 50 to 60 semis to haul what one barge will come up that river with. And when they push it up to the barge, it's more than one barge. It's at least two or four barges they're coming up with. So, you know, we're talking about taking, you know, above, you know, 200 trucks off the road every time a tow of barges come up. And the cheapest way to ship anything is on water. So the economic impact for the people who can be utilizing that can be large for our area for sure. [00:36:03] Speaker A: Well, there's no doubt it is a wonderful thing. And I know you've been involved in that for, for quite some time. Well, George, once again, thank you for. [00:36:11] Speaker D: Letting us come here and thank you for being here. That video will show a little overview of our operation, some of our philosophy that we have here. But I, I always tell people we have lots of problems to worry about. You know, just look at all the things around us, at the things we have to worry about. I always like to close in saying when we have plenty of food, there are lots of problems. [00:36:34] Speaker A: Right? [00:36:35] Speaker D: When there is no food, there's only one problem. There is only one problem. [00:36:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, George, thank you. Well, we hope you enjoyed our show today. And Ms. Leslie's gonna help me with the wrapping up of it. And I, I guess we didn't mention the foster care benefit. Fish fry at the Ag Center. [00:36:55] Speaker B: Is that that one Digger Poindexter does? [00:36:57] Speaker A: It is so good when they have an auction and they just do a lot of good stuff. And that's the money he uses for. [00:37:06] Speaker B: Their Christmas gifts, isn't it? That's what he is. Oh, yeah, they just so cute. [00:37:11] Speaker A: He does that. And you Know, the sheriff's department's involved, and there's a lot of people involved in it, but it is a wonderful thing. Okay, that's on October 25th at the Ag Center. I don't have a time down here, but I'm presuming it starts about five. [00:37:26] Speaker B: It's usually four or five, something like that. Because they'll. You eat, and then he'll do his auction. [00:37:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:37:31] Speaker B: So if you've never got the opportunity to go to a Digger Poindexter auction, you do not know what you are missing. [00:37:36] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. He is. What is the word? Colorful. [00:37:40] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:37:41] Speaker A: There we go. Yeah. Mr. Colorful himself. And we mentioned the Halloween bashes that are taking place at Carthage and Gordonsville. [00:37:49] Speaker B: That's right. [00:37:50] Speaker A: On the 31st. Five to eight at Main Street, Carthage. And six. [00:37:56] Speaker B: No, five to eight is. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Five to eight is Main Street, Gordonsville, and six to nine is Main Street, Carthage. [00:38:03] Speaker B: That's right. [00:38:03] Speaker A: And so we mentioned that. And let's see. They're gonna have the road closed over there. I don't know if we mentioned that or not. [00:38:11] Speaker B: Yeah, we're gonna have the road closed in Carthage too. I just don't have the times with me, so I didn't mention it. But it will be closed for everybody's safety. So I'll confirm with chief Davis about the times and get that out to everybody. We'll post on a Smith county events Facebook page, too, so that if anybody needs to know about it. [00:38:27] Speaker A: All right. And then November 9, of course, is the Veterans day parade, and they're doing the veterans. Veterans and first responders appreciation. Mr. Sam Petty was the one helped us get that together. So that's gonna be good. Yeah, actually, it was. [00:38:42] Speaker B: So they're doing a little reception, right, for them. [00:38:45] Speaker A: Yeah, doing a reception there at the American Legion hall. [00:38:49] Speaker B: Yep. That's where our maze is gonna be this year. I'm so excited about it. It's gonna be great. [00:38:53] Speaker A: So, anyway, we hope you enjoyed the. [00:38:55] Speaker B: Show, and thank you so much for having me. And I'm so excited anytime to be here at Katista Farms with Mr. George McDonald and his. His crew is always a great day. [00:39:04] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, these guys are great. He let us use this conference room. And if you haven't had a chance to come by Catisa and buy some watermelons or buy, ooh, strawberries in the. [00:39:13] Speaker B: Spring, but come by and visit, take a tour, because this is one of the fanciest places I've ever seen. I got to tour with leadership, and if you've not done that. You should do that, too. [00:39:23] Speaker A: Yeah. That's a good way to get to tour a lot of these places because a lot of times you can't get to see them other than having a tour like that. [00:39:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Getting that behind the scenes with adult leadership. [00:39:32] Speaker A: Smith county adult leadership is going to start in January. It won't start in January. I'm sorry. The applications are open in January and it'll start in February. So if you think you'd like to be involved in that, come by the chamber and pick an application up. [00:39:46] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:39:47] Speaker A: So anyway, until next time, May God bless you, and we hope you have a wonderful, wonderful October and part of November. [00:39:58] Speaker B: Happy Fall, y'. [00:39:58] Speaker A: All. Bye. [00:39:59] Speaker B: Bye.