Greg and Derry: Saved by a stray, inspired by love
SEVERAL YEARS ago, Greg was at his breaking point. “I was on my way to suicide, to be quite honest,” he said. As he drove down a rural road in Missouri that day, he noticed a commotion on the...
Celebrating the arts: Lebanon Art Crawl unveils 34 local artists
THE MILL was vibrant and alive with color and creativity a few months ago. Historic Lebanon Main Street sponsored the Lebanon Art Crawl. Thirty-four artists transformed the venue into an art...
Snow White Drive-In: Where small-town flavor meets big-name visitors
GOOD NEWS IS COMING TO DINNER! We will feature a local food critic’s thoughts as they dine in Lebanon. This month, Krys Midgett visited Snow White Drive-In. ON THE “old” side of Lebanon, right down...
John Ray Clemmons: Rooted deeply in Lebanon soil, serving all Tennesseans
GRAVEL DIRT swirled in a thin, murky cloud behind their pickup truck. John Ray Clemmons rotated the handle until the truck window released a sigh, and the oppressive heat of summer dropped a...
Fite-Fessenden House & Museum: From schoolhouse to showplace
AS THE door to the Fite-Fessenden House swings open, the wood floors draw you into the center hallway flanked by dual parlors. Clusters of candles flicker from polished brass candelabras perched...
Joel Jernigan: Second-generation broom maker keeps traditions alive
FUN FACT: The term “flying off the handle” originated from handmade brooms, which have a tendency to lose their “heads” when used forcefully. CHECK IN at the general store at Fiddlers Grove, then...
Letter From the Editor
THE CREAK of an old wooden floor, the worn edges of a brick building, the way a nameplate on a storefront shines a little softer with age. These are not just small details from the past. They are...
Helen McPeak: Bicentennial celebration of 1986 ignited decades of service
ALTHOUGH TENNESSEE didn’t officially join the United States until 1796, Lamar Alexander, the state’s 45th governor, proposed a bicentennial celebration in 1986 to mark 200 years since the first...
W.P. Bone: Three generations in the automotive industry
WINSTEAD PAINE “W.P.” Bone III began his career in the automobile business by washing cars at Wilson County Motors, his father’s dealership. “I was paid in nickels and dimes out of the Coke...
Letter From the Editor
“FRANKENSTEIN,” PUBLISHED in 1818, is considered the first science fiction novel. The Gothic story cracked open an entire genre of literature that has endless new entries today. It inspired...
Cindy Woody: Just give of yourself
MOST PEOPLE slow down at 70. Cindy Woody is just getting started. By the time the Volunteer Network named her Volunteer of the Year, she had already logged nearly 100 volunteer hours, much of it...
Brooke Stewart and Steven Burritt: Impaired driving ends here
ON A quiet morning in Tennessee, Brooke Stewart’s world shattered. Her husband, Shawn Stewart, a steel mill worker and devoted father of four, kissed his family goodbye, told them he loved them the...
Durći Chocolate: Every bite is a sweet surprise
GOOD NEWS IS COMING TO DINNER! We will feature a local food critic’s thoughts as they dine in Lebanon. This month, Krys Midgett visited Durći Chocolate. AS FORREST Gump’s mom said, “Life is like a...
Kason Lester: Hometown roots, Hollywood lights, and vintage dreams
KASON LESTER doesn’t have to go far to remember who he is. He’s a hometown guy, born and raised in Lebanon, whose heart beats for Middle Tennessee, where red dirt roads lead to family farms and...
Stosh Morency: Where imagination lives and community gathers
LOCATED JUST off Highway 109 North at 41 Business Park Dr. in Lebanon, Tennessee — far from the towering skyscrapers of Lego headquarters — sits a colorful universe of imagination known as Music...
Brystol Kilpatrick: Building business, character, and community
A CLUSTER OF quail pecked eagerly at the feed while Ellie carefully checked their water. Inside their home, Kensley lined up freshly baked sourdough loaves on the counter to cool. The vibration of a...
Andy White: Spreading hope, one act at a time
“DO THINGS that can make a difference, and create hope in someone else’s life.” Those words are the driving force behind Andy White’s life, and his work in and for the community reflects that goal....
Letter From the Editor
THE SCENT of warm butter-covered popcorn and the huge roar of the crowd… does anything bring you back faster than a Friday night under the stadium lights? For me, it’s a flood of memories: the...
Corey and Misty Shadd: Faith fuels family dreams
WHEN LIFE threw everything it had at Corey and Misty Shadd – job loss, medical emergencies, financial hurdles, and a devastating car accident — they refused to let it derail their dreams. Instead,...
Rural 1st continues their long-standing support of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration
For nearly 86 years, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration has been deeply woven into the fabric of the Shelbyville, Tennessee community. To Bedford County and surrounding areas, this...
John McNeal: Leading with heart
COACH JOHN McNeal scanned the hallway at Friendship Christian School — not for hall passes or horseplay, but for instincts. One boy’s shove and a quick twist out of a headlock might’ve looked like a...
Jonathan Barfield: From no to inspired yes
IN A Lebanon gym, the squeak of sneakers and the thud of basketballs bounce off the empty bleachers. A group of young athletes navigates through cone drills, focusing intently on their footwork and...
Frankie, Morgan, and Kristin Price: Bound by balance
BEFORE THEY were All-Americans, before the college commitments and championship routines, the Price sisters were three girls growing up in Lebanon. They were raised by a mom who never missed a...
Letter From the Editor
IF YOU’VE ever seen a fighter jet cut across the sky, you know what powerful looks like. You know what freedom sounds like. That roar overhead reminds us that we live in a country where people put...
Bob Jantz: Healing hearts across continents
SOMETIMES, KEEPING one promise plants the seed for another to bloom. In a small Romanian village around 1999, a young boy didn’t expect much from the visiting missionaries. He had cut his arm on a...
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