September 2025

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Bill Woodard, and we're here at Upper Cumberland Weather, and we'd like to welcome you to the September edition of the Smith County Chamber Corner. Okay. We are here to talk about Walton Days, and Pam is here. She's going to take over kind of the museum's aspect of it and what you're doing. Pam, introduce yourself. Tell them who you're with. [00:00:50] Speaker B: Well, I'm Pam Billington and I'm with the Smith County Heritage Museum, but I am also here representing the Daughters of the American Revolution. [00:00:59] Speaker A: Okay, well, now, a lot of people want to know. They see DAR up. That's what it stands for, right? [00:01:04] Speaker B: Yes, the Daughters of the American Revolution, which means we have run our lineage back to a Patriot of the American Revolution. [00:01:16] Speaker A: Okay. So if you're out there and you think maybe you've got an ancestor that was involved in that, you could become a member. [00:01:23] Speaker B: You can become a member. And on Walton Day, we will have a booth on the courthouse yard, and so you could get information there on that day for the qualifications and what can you do to become a member. [00:01:39] Speaker A: So if you got questions about Dar, Walton Days would be the time. And you guys are going to be right on the courthouse grounds there. So. [00:01:47] Speaker B: Yes, we are. [00:01:47] Speaker A: So it'd be very convenient near the stage where they can get that information. Okay. And I know I segued. We'll talk about the museum here in a minute. But this picture that we have behind us, there's a little bit of history with this. It was presented. [00:02:03] Speaker B: It was presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution. There is a copy of the book in the museum here in Carthage, but also in the public library. And you can look in that book and see if you can find someone who you think maybe is your patriot ancestor. It would help you to get started. But there are. These copies are available for the public to look at in the museum and in the public library here. [00:02:35] Speaker A: And they were nice enough. They presented this to the Chamber. And this painting, if you ever want to see it, it's in our lobby. That's right. And you can come by and look at that. Now, Daughters of American Revolution will be there. Then you're also involved with the museum, and they're going to be there on the courthouse square. [00:02:51] Speaker B: We will be set up on the courthouse square lawn that day, and the museum will open that day for visitors to come and tour the museum. And we will be open the hours of the festival that day. [00:03:06] Speaker A: Okay. And if you don't know about that, we do have a heritage museum. Here in Smith County. And a lot of the things that went on since the founding, since what, 17, I believe 1799 is the right, 1799 is the right date when we were basically incorporated, I guess, and there was a lot of things that went on then. Mr. William Walton, Captain William Walt, was the founder basically of the area. And there's some interesting stories that take place during that. And of course, you have a large Civil War display where this town was occupied by the Union troops. They came up the river and took over the town, basically. Right. And it was that way from the beginning to the end of the war. [00:03:51] Speaker B: That's right. [00:03:52] Speaker A: And so we have some history here that a lot of people may not realize went on. [00:03:58] Speaker B: Yes, we, the county alone had 80, at least 80 different patriots of the American Revolution that either lived here at some point in their life. Now, we know of 20 grave sites that are here in the county and William Walton's grave is one of those. And we will be at the cemetery at 10 o' clock on the morning of the William Walton Day. And the DAR will have a little memorial service honoring William Walton. [00:04:33] Speaker A: Right. And there's a tent and some chairs down there. And if it's odd enough, it's right across from Walmart, which is. I don't know that there's any relation. [00:04:44] Speaker B: I don't know either. [00:04:45] Speaker A: But anyway, right across from Walmart is the Walton Cemetery in. Sarah and William Walton are buried there. [00:04:53] Speaker B: Buried there. And we will be there as a group as the club meets. We will be there. And then we will also have people representing the chap on the courthouse lawn, the Caney Fork Chapter. [00:05:08] Speaker A: Caney Fork Chapter of the dar. Okay. Well, Pam, I really appreciate you coming by. [00:05:14] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:05:14] Speaker A: And talking about all of this and if you want more information, want to find out how you can get involved, you can come to the Walton Days there on the lawn and get with these guys. [00:05:24] Speaker B: That's right. Thank you, Bill. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Thanks, Pam. Still talking about Walton Days here. And we've got this lovely lady that's come by. She is a resident bookkeeper and accountant type individual here. Right. You want to tell them, introduce yourself, tell them what you do on your day job. [00:05:43] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Leslie Smith and I'm the owner and proprietor of Leslie Smith Bookkeeper llc. We do HR payroll services, as well as bookkeeping and mobile notary service. So I'm kind of a jack of all trades, master of none these days. [00:05:57] Speaker A: Well, thank you for being a chamber member and being involved in the community things that are going on. [00:06:02] Speaker C: I enjoy The Walton Days. I've been on the Walton Days board for a couple of years now, and it's near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, this year, I will not physically be here when it comes time. So I'm going to tag team with Ms. Denise, and we're going to share some responsibilities this year. But I wanted to talk to you a little bit about vendors and food trucks and all the things that end up on the street during Walton Days. We'll have vendor booths available for rent, and we still have spots available, so if you want to be a vendor that day, please contact the chamber. We'll have 10 by 10 spaces for rent. They will face towards our sidewalk so that we're driving all our traffic to our local businesses as well. So you can see, you can get your rockabilly coffee, and you can go see what Ms. Nikki's crocheted for us this year, because I'm sure she'll be around somewhere. We will have several food trucks as well. I know that we have a couple of people confirmed already. I know Brandy's lemonade is gonna be here. Little Mac shaved ice, and I think Tennessee subs. Those are the ones I can think of right now. But we room for plenty more, so if you have a food truck and you want to join us there, we'd be glad to have you, too. Also, reach out to Bridget here at the Chamber and she can get you confirmed. And then we'll have, of course, our demonstrators and things that'll be on the lawn. We're gonna have music all day that day. [00:07:27] Speaker A: We've got a pretty good schedule. In fact, I laid it on the floor here in front of me so I would remember to pick it up. But we've got. Well, the Cub Scout Troop 367 is going to do our flag raising at 10:45 in the morning. And then Mayor Mason is going to be there to have our opening. DAR is going to do a presentation. And then the ukuleles. That's Don Kanapple and those guys from the Senior center. Yeah, yeah. They're going to be there to play. And then this is a big draw. A lot of people really love this. Sigma going to do a cakewalk again this year. [00:08:06] Speaker C: That cakewalk is such a good time. And those desserts those ladies bring. Omg. Sinfully delicious. [00:08:12] Speaker A: Yes, they are. And all those ladies are great cooks and great people, and they do a lot for the community. A lot of people wonder, well, what are they doing to cakewalk for? Well, they contribute to a lot of the food Drives and different things around here that help folks that are in need. So Sigma Phi is a big help around here. And that's why they do their cakewalk during Walton days. And they'll be there right at noon on the square right in front having their cakewalk. [00:08:42] Speaker C: Now that's when they do the cakewalk, Bill. But they'll be there with goodies all day, won't they? [00:08:46] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, they have a booth. Now, this is one thing I'm not clear on. You may be. I don't think they sell them, but maybe they do. [00:08:56] Speaker C: They do have some things for sale now. They have some things that they keep reserved, usually for the cakewall, but they usually do have some goodies in smaller quantities. You know, small bag of cookies or something like that. They usually have some snacks available, too. [00:09:09] Speaker A: Okay, well, that's a good thing to know. So you can come by and see those guys. Then at one o', clock, River City Dreaming is going to be playing. And then we've got the guys from the high school up here. Mr. J.R. smith is bringing his troop down. They're going to do some entertainment for us. I'm looking forward to that. They're always good. And then Amanda Crawford, what an amazing voice Ms. Amanda has, and I love hearing her. And then Mr. Preston London and his band are going to be there and they're going to do a set. And then Ms. Callie Drennan right before the Harvest Queen pageant is going to be there for our entertainment. So we got a good lineup this year. And I want to do a shout out. Mr. Don Knapple and Mike Nesbitt and several other people that help put the sound on and do what they do to make everything sound good. So there's a lot of things going on with that. You mentioned vendors. They'll be right there in front of the courthouse. And then we kind of expand out from that. [00:10:13] Speaker C: Right, right. We'll run up all the way through. What is that street? [00:10:18] Speaker A: Ward? [00:10:19] Speaker C: Is it Ward? Okay. Cause I was gonna call it something different. And then all the way down to where Cumberland. Cannabis and that kind of stuff is. [00:10:26] Speaker A: Second. [00:10:26] Speaker C: Second, yeah. And then, you know, one of the things that we haven't mentioned that's always one of my favorites is when you put on that costume and do those Minutemen calls. I know DTC sponsors that and we're so thankful to with them. But, you know, when you put that costume on and you start doing them phone calls, sir, it's a good time. [00:10:45] Speaker A: Well, I can tell you this. This year they're sponsoring again we're going to do the minute man calls. So we're going to give away like 50 bucks every time we make a phone call. So if you come by the chamber booth and you put your name in that rotating drum, then we're going to do a draw. And then what we've noticed over the years is it kind of gets hard to give them away at the end because you have so many people cycling through. So what usually do is we take all the numbers out on that last draw and we put. Let's let people that are there put their number in and we draw that. And if we haven't given, like, we'll do two numbers. And some. I don't think we've ever done a third, but we'll do two numbers. And if we don't give the money away, the DTC folks have said, well, you can go ahead and give it. So we put that money back in. So at the end of the day, you might have a bigger pot than you had normally. One lady won. One year she won. We did like two calls. Two calls, two calls. And the folks had already left. Now they got a consolation prize, but they didn't get the $50. And at the end of the day, we had 250 or maybe $200 to give away and an individual won that. So it makes for a good day. And it's a lot of fun. You know, you get people around there looking at their cell phones, you know, hey, call me. But it's a good time. And the folks at dt and we really appreciate them doing that. [00:12:16] Speaker C: Absolutely, absolutely. It's a great day had by all. It does start rather early in the morning, getting everybody set up and it goes on into the evening hours, getting everything undone and the roads back open. But it is indeed a great day had by our community and everybody who visited that day. [00:12:32] Speaker A: Yeah, and it's a celebration of where we came from and where we're headed. And this area here, it's, you know, one of the earlier interviews that we had mentioned that there were something like 80 Revolutionary War people involved that lived here in the Smith county area. You don't think about things like that, about us being involved in the founding of the country like we were, but we were. And we have some rich history around here. And this is just a little celebration that we try to put together. And, you know, we're just having some fun, selling things, having food, having fun, talking with each other. And it's a community get together. So if you have a chance, you need to come out well, it's kind. [00:13:20] Speaker C: Of like the past meeting the future too. So we see some things that are from our past and then we might see something newfangled too. So you just never know what the day will hold. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Okay, so if you have time, September 27th, starting at about 10 o', clock, going until about 6 o' clock that evening, it's the William Walton Harvest Festival on the square in cartoon what we. [00:13:43] Speaker C: Did the admission price because it is the best price. It is absolutely free. So come on down and bring the kids. There'll be plenty of stuff to do that day. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Yep, we'll see you at Walton Days. One of the big events at Walton Days is the beauty pageant. Really? That word has went out. It's a scholarship program that they said in the movie, but we call it the Harvest Queen. What do we call it? [00:14:09] Speaker D: The Harvest Harvest Queen Pageant. [00:14:10] Speaker A: Harvest Queen Pageant. And this is Ms. Jerry Lynn Malone. She is here to talk to us about that. So, Jerry, why don't you just tell us a little bit about the Harvest Queen Pageant. [00:14:21] Speaker D: Well, Bill, I have been doing this for three years, I think now, and this is an exciting day for me. I wish that we could have more participants. We have opened it up into outside people in from anywhere they can come to be in the Harvest Queen Pageant. It is Saturday, September 27th. We will start at 4pm the check in time is 2:45. We ask you so to be there and be checked in by 3:30 that afternoon. The entry fee is $25. We have elective, also electives. We have best dress, best smile. We have a People's Choice award and we have a Most photogen. There are six categories all the way from age 1 to 18 years old. We ask that you come dressed for the most part. They can go to the second floor of the courthouse and get dressed and bring their dress and get dressed in touch ups if they need to. We have entry forms available. I have them at the office at the Smith County Register of Deeds or you can pick them up here at the Chamber. [00:15:40] Speaker A: Okay. And just to let you know if you haven't been here before, it takes place at the courthouse on the square here in Carthage. And it's done on the steps and the stage there in front. And of course inside we still, even though it's going to be remodeled and there's a lot of things going on, we'll still be able to use that for them to stage and get ready and things like that. [00:16:03] Speaker D: Absolutely. [00:16:04] Speaker A: Okay. As far as you mentioned the age group, there are six different groups Six different groups, and so it's pretty wide open. I've noticed that a lot of the young ladies that get involved in this, they also participate in other pageants. So it's a good practice for them and a good segue for them to be able to get into another one. [00:16:29] Speaker D: Yes, it is. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Okay. And I don't know if she won one year, but we've had one young lady that come just about every year. She started doing entertainment with us, Callie Drennan. [00:16:40] Speaker D: She's from Wilson county, and she actually was this year's fairest of the fair in Wilson County. So we would love her for her to participate and even do her music that she does. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. So Callie, as far as I know, is going to be here this year, and I think it's wonderful that she's participated in the pageant every year. Well, is there anything else we need to know? If they need information, what do they do? [00:17:02] Speaker D: They can contact Bridget Briggs here at the chamber. Smith county chamber of commerce. 615-735-2093. [00:17:11] Speaker A: Right. [00:17:11] Speaker D: Okay. Or you can contact me, Jerry Lynn Malone, 615-489-5570 or 615-735-1760. And that's at the Smith county registered deeds office. [00:17:24] Speaker A: Okay. Jerry, thank you for coming by. Appreciate you doing this. Thank you. Okay, we're here still at Upper Cumberland Weather, and we had some of our friends come by. This is Tennessee Roll Off. Now, a lot of people may not know what you guys do, so I ask one of you, if you don't care, just tell us. Well, first off, introduce yourself. And we already know you were Tennessee to Roll Off. Tell them who you are. [00:17:45] Speaker E: Yes, Myself, I'm John Joyce. I'm the general manager of Tennessee Roll Off. We're a middle Tennessee dumpster company. Dumpster rentals. We've got them all over the place. And we service homeowners, contractors, builders, you name it. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Okay. And introduce yourself. Sure. [00:18:04] Speaker E: My name is Merlin May. I'm the operations manager at Tennessee Roloff. [00:18:09] Speaker A: Okay, well, now you guys say you service commercial all the way through to residential, Is that right? Yes, sir. Okay, what size? Well, first off, let's get the first thing out of the way. How do they contact you to get your service? [00:18:22] Speaker E: We do have a website. It is tnrolloff.com and our phone number is 615-784-4076. Give a call. There's a good chance you're gonna talk to myself or John here. Anyone that answ phone could help out. And we service Basically anywhere from Columbia to Clarksville and from Dixon to Cookville. [00:18:44] Speaker A: Okay, so. And you guys have large. Too small. So talk about the size of equipment that you have and what you can Service. [00:18:55] Speaker E: We've got 15 yard containers for C&D and clean outs. 30 yard containers also. And we also have 20 yard containers for dirt, for clean fill dirt, rock, concrete, brick and asphalt run Peterbilt Freightliners. We've got a tractor trailer. [00:19:16] Speaker A: We are. I miss something here. [00:19:20] Speaker E: I'm sorry. We are the best. [00:19:23] Speaker A: We are the best. [00:19:24] Speaker E: If you need a dumpster, we guarantee next day service. We have about 400 dumpsters in stock right now. We don't run out of dumpsters, so. [00:19:35] Speaker A: Okay. And you're located on Highway 70, just not far from the Union High School, isn't that right? [00:19:41] Speaker E: Yes. Yeah, we are on 70, right by the green bridge. We also have another location in Lebanon, and we're always looking to branch out to other locations. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Okay. And so if. If you need something, you'll just. Somebody say, for instance, I'm demoing a house or something like that. I just call you guys up, you drop it off, we fill it up, and then you take it away, right? [00:20:02] Speaker E: Yes, sir. If you were demoing a house, you can give us a call, let us know if you need one dumpster, ten dumpsters. We'll find a way to get it there for you, no problem. Myself, the owner, we will gladly jump in trucks if we need to. One way or another. We always make sure it happens. [00:20:17] Speaker A: Okay, now, say the small customer, how. How small will you guys deal with? Because I know you have large trucks and you have a lot of things going on. So there's got to be a cutoff there or will you handle any. [00:20:32] Speaker E: There is a cutoff as far as where the trucks can fit, but we pretty much get them anywhere we need. It's very, very seldom that we go somewhere that we can't fit them in. We have very good drivers, and they do this for a living. There's a lot of spots that we take these big trucks to that most people wouldn't want to take a pickup truck to. [00:20:50] Speaker A: Okay, and how long have you guys been in business here? I know I've seen you around for a while now. How long you been in Smith County? [00:20:56] Speaker E: Almost four and a half years. [00:20:57] Speaker A: Okay. I was thinking it'd been a while since I had seen you first pop up there. Well, we're sure glad you came, Smith County. And we appreciate you being chamber members. And again, I think you need to just let people know how they can get in touch with you. Sure. [00:21:12] Speaker E: Call us 615-784-4076. You can go to website tnrolloff.com, order a dumpster. [00:21:22] Speaker A: We'll have it there for you next day. Okay, so if you're doing a demo or you just got something you need to get rid of, these are gentlemen to call. Gentlemen, thank you for coming. Very good. Thank you. Okay. We're still here at Upper Cumberland. Weather boy, this is a beautiful place. I don't know about you, but I'm amazed that something like this could be in Smith County. [00:21:41] Speaker F: I know, it's beautiful. It is really impressive here. [00:21:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, hey, you guys came here to tell us some stuff that's going on. Introduce yourself, tell them who you're with and then we'll get into that. Okay? [00:21:52] Speaker G: Sure. [00:21:52] Speaker F: I'm Tammy London. I'm the director of the Community Wellness alliance in Smith county, which is the drug coalition in Smith County. And this is Kayla Franklin and she is our prevention coordinator with the coalition, newly promoted. And she has a new position that she's doing as well, which is regional overdose prevention specialist for Region 3 North. And I was just going to let her kind of tell. Introduce herself and tell a little about a bit about what she does. [00:22:20] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah. Kayla, tell us what's going on. Yeah. [00:22:22] Speaker H: So I'm Kayla Franklin. I am a ropes now, regional overdose prevention specialist. We can do all kinds of trainings, fentanyl trainings, overdose reversal trainings. We can do brief trainings, formal training so we can come to your business, set up, teach you all about fentanyl and overdose prevention. I share a little bit of my story with that sometimes. And yeah, so that's what we do. We just want to educate, break the stigma. We can work at events. So table events. I'm up for coming and training the community. [00:22:54] Speaker A: Okay. And this doesn't any business. Anybody that feels like that, they have a group of people that this would be good for them to hear, you can come and work with them, right? [00:23:02] Speaker H: Yes. So I know a lot of times with Narcan or overdose reversal, we think about people in active addiction and that is truly where we want to. Want to be as well. But this also can happen because your child got into grandma's medicine. It can happen to anybody. It doesn't necessarily mean that someone's in active addiction. So just having this drug, Narcan and being. Being able to reverse an overdose and save a life, I say if they're breathing, then they have a chance to enter into recovery, into freedom. [00:23:33] Speaker A: Yeah. And A lot of times, I know we think of law enforcement more than anything else, but you could just be at the wrong place at the wrong time and touch something and something like that could happen to you. It's rare, but it can happen. [00:23:45] Speaker H: Yes, it could happen. If you had an open wound on your hand or something like that. Our skin is a great barrier, but it could happen. And it's a great medication to carry. Someone once said carry it like it's going to save your child's life. And so it fits right in your purse if you're a woman. [00:24:02] Speaker A: And so, yeah, and it's easy. Once you get the training, it's actually easy to use. Okay, well, you guys go to schools and, and things like that? [00:24:14] Speaker H: Yes. I'll let Tammy talk about the prevention part. [00:24:16] Speaker A: All right. [00:24:17] Speaker F: Okay. So yes, they do go to schools and Kayla, along with Justin, they are available to go into the schools and to do fentanyl training and stimulant training as well as our coordinators at the coalition, they're available to do that as well. Also something that Kayla is able to go do. I know a lot of the businesses in Smith county, they have to have a drug free work, workplace training usually once a year, every couple years. We're available to do that for them as well. [00:24:47] Speaker A: Okay, so you can take a lot of the, well, heavy lifting off of them. Yes. By being able to have the material and know what you're talking about. [00:24:54] Speaker F: So they can get all their qualifications that they need through their, their system that they have. We are provide that for them. [00:25:01] Speaker A: Okay. Well the next question of course begs how do they get in touch with you? [00:25:05] Speaker F: Well, they can call our office at 615-588-1622 or they can just come by our office at 611 Main Street north in Carthage. We are in the. It's an apartment, old apartment buildings. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Old Shoulders TV for the old guys out there. [00:25:25] Speaker F: Old Shoulders tv. But you can't miss us because we have our beautiful logo on the front windows. [00:25:29] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Well, as a matter of fact, it's on your shirt there. But you guys have been around here for a long time and been involved in prevention for many years now. So I know your logo changed, but your mission has not changed. [00:25:44] Speaker F: Mission's not changed. [00:25:45] Speaker A: Okay. Well that's wonderful. You got an event coming up. [00:25:48] Speaker F: We do. So we have our. This is our third annual Walk for Recovery and that's coming up on September 25th. It's a Thursday night and we're going to kick it off at 6:30. Everybody's going to start walking down the trail at Rails to Trails in South Carthage. And it's a glow walk. So it's at night and it's lit, the trails lit up. We're going to have hopefully have some food trucks out there. We're going to have free T shirts for every participant. So if you come out early, make sure to get one of those. And then we'll have free glow sticks and resources and just a time for community to come out. And they say that the opposite of addiction is community. And so that's our message for this walk. And so community is what it's all about. And that is how we all come together and walk in recovery. [00:26:37] Speaker A: Well, that's true. If you have a community around you, it's hard to not recover and not face problems. [00:26:45] Speaker F: When you have people there and they love you, it makes all the difference. [00:26:48] Speaker A: It makes all the difference in the world. Well, I'm glad you guys are here, and I really appreciate what you guys do in the community and everything. Folks, if you're looking for some help or if you know somebody that needs help, these guys would be good to call. And let's give them that contact information one last time. [00:27:06] Speaker F: Our phone number is 615-588-1622. [00:27:11] Speaker A: Okay, ladies, thank you for coming by. [00:27:13] Speaker F: Thank you. [00:27:14] Speaker A: Okay, we're still here in Upper Cumberland weather. And this. I've say this every time. This is an amazing place, isn't it? [00:27:20] Speaker I: It really is. I'm blown away about this setup right here. [00:27:22] Speaker A: Yeah, the setup is great. Anyway, introduce yourself. Tell them who you are, who you want. [00:27:27] Speaker J: So. [00:27:27] Speaker I: My name is Will Herbert. I am the AG Extension agent here in Smith county. And I've been here for three months now, Bill. [00:27:33] Speaker A: Okay. You are no longer a child in the woods. You. You. You know what you're doing. [00:27:40] Speaker I: You come out the other side. [00:27:40] Speaker A: You come out the other side now, you know. That's good. [00:27:43] Speaker I: Well, yeah, well, I'm learning. [00:27:45] Speaker A: I'm glad to hear that. I'm sure you come to talk to some about something today. What's on your mind? [00:27:52] Speaker I: Well, what's been on my mind recently, Bill. So going on in the extension work world this past month, in August, late August, we held a lunch and learn about lawn renovation. So we finished that up. I'm sure you stopped in for a few minutes there and you got to speak to Jason Garrett. We got Jason Garrett, the extension agent from Overton county to come out and speak about that. So it was a great time. It was very informative. We got to learn A lot about that and how to get your lawns good and renovated before next summer. So now's the time to do that. And then as far as events to come, we have our Master Beef program that's going to be coming up in Trousdal County. So Smith county and Trousdale county will be doing that together. And that'll be throughout the month of October on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 o'. Clock. So look for more information about that coming up. We'll send out a flyer and we'll get everything set up on that part. But that's what's coming up here in the month of October. [00:28:48] Speaker A: Okay, well, question about Master Beef. Do you have to have a large herd to be involved in this? Who, who can come and attend this? [00:28:55] Speaker I: Any. Anybody is welcome to come. Anybody who is interested in learning more about beef. And it's not just cows that it's necessarily centered on. It's grasses, it's financial things. It's kind of an all encompassing program. So it tries to bring in more people. But the Master Beef program, it can be meant for everybody who's interested in it. [00:29:23] Speaker A: Okay, so it's very comprehensive. Then if you've got a small farm, say I would think you'd need to have 10 acres. Well, here I'll do it this way. For the Century Farm program, you have to have 16 acres or more. So if you had a 16 acre farm, you could still do a Master Beef program and maybe do some cows or something on your farm. [00:29:49] Speaker I: Oh, absolutely, yes. If you've been doing it and have a Century Farm, if you've been doing it for that long, I'm sure that there's some information that we try to stay up to date on and try to refresh every year. So there's more information coming in every year. So there's information for everybody. [00:30:07] Speaker A: All right. Well, now you're going to have some more lunch and learns later on too, right? [00:30:10] Speaker I: Yes, sir. And there'll be more. More information on that to come as well. Don't have anything set in stone yet as far as that goes, but yes, more to come. [00:30:20] Speaker A: So. So. Well, that's a good time in the winter when it's cold and nothing's really growing, that's a good time to go to the chamber. And besides that, we get to eat, so that's always good. [00:30:31] Speaker I: Yeah, I follow the food. That's what I tell everybody. [00:30:33] Speaker A: There you go. How do they get in touch with you if they want to learn more about this? [00:30:37] Speaker I: Well, you can always call the extension Office, and I can get you set up there. And then also you can always call me or email. I'll go ahead and throw out my cell number just so y' all have it. It's 931-310-1104. If you have any other questions, just. Just call me right up, and then I'll be happy to answer those for you just directly. So I really do appreciate that. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Okay. And just to comment on what you started out with, we kind of got a pass this year. We had so much rain. The lawns all looked really nice, didn't they? And so in the spring, I guess you'll have maybe another program telling us about how we can carry them on through the summer when the heat hits. [00:31:21] Speaker I: Yeah, yeah. What I try to do from month to month is whatever is going on and what we can apply immediately. I try to do that with Lunch and Learns or whatever other programs try to keep that kind of relative to what I guess what's needed now, what's. [00:31:39] Speaker A: Happening right at that moment. Like in the spring, it'll be herbicide and things like that so you can keep the weeds out of your. Out of your lawn. [00:31:47] Speaker I: I might have to do that some coming into the winter, too. November and December, too. We got a lot of people calling the office one to set up trainings and get up to date on that kind of stuff, too. [00:31:56] Speaker A: Okay. And you guys will still do soil testing? [00:31:59] Speaker I: Yes, sir. [00:32:00] Speaker A: Okay. So this is a pretty comprehensive outfit here. They'll help you out. Okay. Will, thank you for coming by. Give Will a call if you need anything to do with farming. And there's a storm on the east coast coming this way. You want to give them the details? [00:32:19] Speaker G: We're live here in the Upper Cumberland Weather Studio today, folks. [00:32:23] Speaker A: We're here at the Upper Cumberland Weather Studio, and they have been so gracious to allow us to come in and tape our show here. Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself? Tell them who you are and who you with. [00:32:34] Speaker G: I'm Rachel Petty. I'm one of the four H agents here at the UT TSU extension office in Smith County. [00:32:39] Speaker A: County. Okay. And I am sure you've got something to talk about about 4H, right? [00:32:44] Speaker G: We do. Always a ton of things going on, especially this time of year in the 4H world. One thing that I'm really excited to share with all of you out there watching is the success of our 4H forestry judging team. So they competed a couple weeks ago at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. They usually always host our central region Forestry judging contest. It's a great facility. They're really good to host us there. And lots of trees and outdoor education experience that the kids get to look at and be out in the woods that day. For the contest, Smith county had the first place team in all three divisions. So our junior team was first place, our junior high team was first place, and our senior high team also first place. And then that senior high team gets to go on to compete at the UT Arboretum in Oak Ridge in October. So they are still practicing for that. But we had about a month of practices where those kids were learning different leaf and tree ID insects and diseases that can commonly affect trees. They were learning how to measure distances just by their pace. So pacing off distances, so things that they're going to use again, that's a useful skill to be able to have in your pocket, to be able to just walk something off and know at least approximately how many feet you have walked or how long that distance is. They're learning some tree measurement skills. And then our senior high team actually does a team challenge. That's a forest evaluation. So maybe some of our kiddos will grow up to be foresters or pursue careers in the natural resources, or maybe they're just having fun. They've hung out with us, practiced a little bit. And so now when they go hiking in the woods, they can tell their friends and families how many trees they know. So we're really proud of that team. They've had a lot of success in the past few years. We have some 4H alumni, especially Mr. Carson Meeks. He really has helped us step in and coach the team. And then in 2024, we had a group of high schoolers compete nationally. And those students have come back and helped coach our teams this year. So you can see that that's working out. Those kids and young alumni sharing their knowledge with their four hers is really rewarding for me as an agent to see. And then it's obviously really helpful and impactful for those kids that they're helping coach as well. [00:34:59] Speaker A: Well, that is a wonderful program. Now explain to everybody the age group that you deal with. [00:35:05] Speaker G: So 4H is open to any 4th through 12th grade student. Homeschooled public school. We meet inside the public schools all of our fourth through sixth graders in the county and then most of our seventh and eighth graders as well. So if your child is enrolled in a public school in Smith county, they are going to see us in the classroom through 4H. And then we also work with one of the private homeschool Co ops to offer a 4H there at GMU. And then we have an open homeschool group that meets once a month month at the Smith County Ag Center. So if you have a child 4th through 12th grade or 9 to 19 is kind of another way that we think about it. That is the age that 4h serves and we have different activities kind of tailored to all of the different age groups and lots of projects. If they're into public speaking, if they're into forestry, livestock, wildlife, sewing, crafting, anything like that. We appeal to a really wide variety of interests and hope to offer something for everybody. [00:36:02] Speaker A: And it's been going on for many years. I remember when I was in school I had four hs and I'm going to put you on the spot here. Heart, hands. [00:36:09] Speaker G: There's some saying, yes, Head, heart, hands and health. That's the four H's. [00:36:14] Speaker A: See, in 70 years I've forgotten two of them. But anyway, it's a wonderful program and really little cost at all to be involved. Sometimes you have to pay for materials or things like that. But it's pretty much sponsored by the schools and by UT extension. [00:36:32] Speaker G: That's right. So a lot of our after school projects are free to participate in. Like with forestry judging, there are kind of some optional supplies. If our kids are really serious about it, they can invest in maybe a compass of their own or a Biltmore stick. But we have a lot of shared resources as well that those kids can borrow from us. Sometimes there is a cost for a T shirt or our archery program. There's a small program fee to help us maintain our equipment. But most of the things we do offer, kids can participate. [00:37:00] Speaker A: Okay. Well, of course. Contact. How do they. If they have questions. [00:37:05] Speaker G: Yes. So you can come by our office. We're at 67 Cookeville Highway, Suite 102 in South Carthage, right across from Citizens bank and Moonstone Spa down from Spargas. Or you can give us a call at our office. 615-735-2900. [00:37:20] Speaker A: Okay. And well, thank you for being here. [00:37:23] Speaker G: Of course. [00:37:24] Speaker A: And if you were that storm I mentioned earlier, that's. That's probably not happening. We need to leave the weather to the professionals, don't we? [00:37:32] Speaker G: I agree. [00:37:32] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, we are obviously here at Upper Cumberland Weather. And Anthony, you've been so gracious to host us today. Introduce yourself. And obviously you're with Upper Cumberland. [00:37:43] Speaker J: I'm Anthony Taylor. I'm the owner of Upper Cumberland Weather. We've been at this for, gosh, over eight years now. Really 13 if you go back to the Smith county weather days, but it's an honor to have you here in the chamber show. Kind of come full circle. At one point, I was the one behind the camera filming these there for about a year. So it's kind of weird to be on the other side of it. [00:38:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, it's really interesting. And when I walked in, I was wowed by the equipment. And the way you have this setup here, it's quite amazing. Why don't you just walk us? Well, first off, let's start out with how do they find you to find out the weather and what you do. [00:38:21] Speaker J: Yeah. So we're on Facebook. We're on X YouTube. Just search Upper Cumberland Weather. We have a 24.7live weather channel that streams to YouTube. It's also on Roku. Search for the Hub plus app. You can find it there as well. But the streams current weather conditions forecast our growing tower cam Network. More than 30 cameras across the Upper Cumberland region, including four just here in Smith County. Eleven, but all that's there. Facebook X. We're posting just about daily during severe weather. I go live with breaking coverage, just like you see on tv, which we are. We are the new tv. But, yeah, that's where you can find us, though. [00:39:01] Speaker A: Okay, well. And you've always been obviously right here in Smith County. So this is the first time, really, in my remembrance, that we've had somebody that is concentrating on weather focused around here in our county and in this area. But now, how wide an area do you cover? [00:39:18] Speaker J: So we cover there's 14 counties and what I consider the immediate viewing area. So Smith county over to Cumberland county, up as far as Picket County, Macon county, down to Warren and Van Buren counties. And then our extended viewing area covers over into Wilson County, Sumner County, Cannon, and then in East Tennessee, Scott County, Bledsoe, so Roane County. [00:39:41] Speaker A: So you're basically extending like, the Upper Cumberland Development district covers the 14 counties. So you're basically covering relatively the same area. Pretty much the same area. Okay. When something's happening like a weather event. I don't know any other time that we've ever had this available. And so how are you getting your information? Is it through the camera? How do you go about getting current information on what's going on? [00:40:11] Speaker J: So it's a mix. I have a great working relationship with the National Weather Service office in Nashville, so I'm involved in their NWS chat system. That's a system they have in place where they communicate updates with local media and emergency management. So I'm in that chat, I can see they'll post whenever they're about to issue a warning. I'll know beforehand before that warning is even issued. So I can communicate that to my followers who are watching. I use radar. I have a program called Radar Omega that I use. That's what folks see on screen whenever I'm driving. The radar, the velocity, the reflectivity. So. And that comes from the National Weather Service radar site in Nashville, when most of the time, sometimes I'll look at Morristown and High Top, Alabama, depending on what area we're focused on. But here would be Nashville. And then we have streaming software we use to get the that out to the world. So all the cameras are tied into all this as well. Again, we have nearly a few dozen cameras that we look at. So if there's a storm of interest in a given area, you know, most areas are now covered with the camera. So. And I've learned that that's a much better way to communicate weather information is just going straight to that camera instead of showing a radar image because we can actually show you what's happening in real time. [00:41:24] Speaker A: Well, and that's really interesting because you mentioned there's about 34 cameras around, so you can get pretty close to whatever's going on in that area then. Well, that's very interesting. Now, is there anything, is there a question that I should have asked you that I haven't asked? [00:41:42] Speaker J: There is so much we could cover here with this. [00:41:44] Speaker A: Well, I would like to because I find this very fascinating. I notice you have a green screen over there, so you're able to maybe do weather forecasts and things like that. [00:41:54] Speaker J: Like I'm used to some during severe weather. I have future plans for it. A little bit more in depth, what I've done so far with it. But the green screen is there for whenever I need it. If I want to point out something. Most of the time though, I just sit behind the desk and communicate. That way it's just easier have all the monitors in front of me. But we can, we can do it either way. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Okay. On your website or on the media that you have that's digital, do you have like extended 10 day forecasts and things like that? [00:42:26] Speaker J: Yeah. So on the Upper Cumberland weather channel, YouTube and on the Hub plus app, again, all the forecast is there. So we have the seven day forecast. We're actually working on some updates to that to be more regional based. So not just specifically on the Cookeville area, we'll be able to see the forecast for Smithville. You'll See the forecast for Lafayette in different areas, we have again, radar is there, TowerCam network. So all that's on the channel. And then when we have more serious weather, that's when I'll post to social media. We'll get live coverage out there. [00:43:00] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I remember when I was a kid, you had three channels and you watched those weather channels and they only came on for like 15 or 10 minutes in the evening and in the morning, and that was it. So now it's 24 7. [00:43:16] Speaker J: It's 24 7. [00:43:17] Speaker A: Something's going on. Okay, how do I. You don't have to be real tech savvy to be able to get to your weather forecast. [00:43:25] Speaker J: No, not at all. As long as you have a smart TV with Roku or whatever. You can find us any. Any device that has YouTube, you can find our channel. If you're on Facebook, you're on X. Again, just search for Upper Cumberland weather. We're right there. So all those different avenues. And we have an app coming too. It's not out as of the day of filming this. It may be out one by the time this airs. I'm not 100% sure, but it is just about to launch. Launch. It's in the final stages of development, but it'll be the Upper Cumberland weather smartphone app and it'll be on iPhone and Android. [00:43:56] Speaker A: So that. That's going to be really cool because then I can download that on my phone and I'll be able to get the. Immediately the. The weather that's happening in the area I'm living in. [00:44:06] Speaker J: That's right. And our Upper Cumberland weather channel will live there too. So you'll be able to pull that up anytime. All of our tower cams will be there for on demand live viewing, so you don't just have to. To wait for them to pop up on the. On the weather Channel. If you want to go to any camera site, you can look at it in the app. Radar will be there and it's not just the not. So there's a word I want to use. I'm not going to use it on the air here. Not so good radar you get on your free apps. This will be much more detailed base reflectivity that you can get from individual radar sites. And you can look at different radar products too, and get really in depth there. You can look at velocity reflectivity, rainfall rates, that sort of thing. So not many free weather apps offer that. And our app is going to have that. [00:44:49] Speaker A: Okay, well, Anthony, since you brought it up, I usually wind up if there's like a tornado warnings out or severe storm weather warnings out or something like that. I'll go try to find something that will tell me, you know, if it's close to where I am. Will this app be able to let me know, like it's close to you? [00:45:11] Speaker J: Oh, yeah. I mean, the radar will be real time on it, so you'll be able to get right down to street level and see exactly where that storm is. So that'd be a game changer as far as a radar goes. Of course, our live channel's there, so if I'm live covering a severe storm warning or a tornado warning, you'll be able to watch me directly in the app, wherever you are. [00:45:30] Speaker A: Well, that is good to know and I am definitely going to make sure I get that app when it comes to out because I think that'll be very handy. [00:45:38] Speaker J: Yeah, I'm looking forward to being out finally. [00:45:42] Speaker A: Well, what else have I not asked? Because there's, I'm sure I don't know a lot about what's going on with this. What else should I have asked you? [00:45:51] Speaker J: I don't know. I mean, I don't even know where to start. Of course we're here in the studio. We built this out last year. This was a community supported effort. We raised about $20,000 to build this out. This was an old classroom at the old Pleasant Shade School and we have converted it into a fully functional digital broadcast weather studio. One of only a few in the state and the only in this region that operates like this. So it's been a game changer as far as our coverage is concerned. Of course, we had a very active spring for severe weather. I was in here just about every other day covering severe weather. It's been quiet lately, knock on wood. Hopefully that continues. But with the studio, it is totally change the level of coverage I'm able to bring. We can, we can do different things here and very, very thankful to have this facility. Of course, you see all the screens back here behind me? That's all. It's more wind addressing than anything, but it's interesting to look at. But we have all of our computers here that power our Upper Cumberland weather channel. I have monitors in front of me that I'm using to drive radar to look at our tower cams in real time whenever I'm looking live. Of course, we got the green screen over there, but there's a lot going on here. [00:47:03] Speaker A: Well, it's, it's a very impressive facility. There's no doubt about that. Now I'M sure that there's opportunity. I would think if I was in business out here, especially locally, I would want to maybe support this and advertise on it. Do you accept advertising? [00:47:19] Speaker J: Absolutely, we do. So the Upper Cumberland Weather Channel, that's our main vehicle for advertisement. We have a couple other opportunities to include, including the new app that's coming out. But on the Weather Channel we have banner graphics, we have full blown commercials like you'd see on any commercial TV station. So 15 second, 30 second commercials. So lots of opportunities available there. We are the most followed local media entity in the Upper Cumberland region. That's the Cookeville market and the surrounding area. On social media, we're getting pretty close to 70,000 followers, which blows my mind to think about, and growing. We may very well hit 100,000 here before too long. And that's on Facebook. And then our YouTube channel is growing as well. We have right at 8,000 subscribers on YouTube and we'll probably hit 10,000 there here pretty soon. So it's all growing. Our channel is expanding too, as far as where you can watch it. Helen's Restaurant, I'll name drop them in Gainesboro. They keep our channel on 24. 7 for their hundreds of customers daily. So that's something we're also working to expand, getting the channel available in more public facing areas, restaurants, wherever. So a lot of, a lot of eyes will be on your advertisement for sure if you advertise with Upper Cumberland weather. [00:48:28] Speaker A: Okay, well, I was wondering about that. That's a wonderful thing. Well, Anthony, thank you so much for allowing us to come into your studio. I'm very impressed with it and we're going to download that app and we'll be one of your customers. [00:48:41] Speaker J: Well, I appreciate you coming up here. It's been an honor to have you here, here and thank you. [00:48:47] Speaker A: All right, thanks a lot. Well, we hope you enjoyed the show we have for you this month. And we just want to go over a few things. Walton Days is September 27th, so you don't want to miss that. And it's going to be on the square there in Carthage. Please come and just visit your neighbors and see what's there on the Square. Also on September 24, there's another food drive. If you know somebody that wants to get in involved in helping other folks, it's a good time to do that. Just contact us at the Chamber of commerce and we'll give you information on that. There's another one September 8th. We hope you enjoyed the show and we're just glad that you came to be with us today. May God bless Sam.