Validity Magazine February 2015

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Magazine

www.ValidityMag.com Est. 2011

Inside this issue of

Validity

Table of Contents

NEW t his mont h:

Artist Matthew Fulkerson

Meet the owner of Dixie Folks Gallery in Pulaski.

Page 9

A Haitian Reality

By Michelle Bonville Michelle reflects on the emotional and physical adjustments required when living in first and third worlds.

Page 10

February 2015

Caty Lou Music

Vol. 5, Issue 2

By Becky Jane Newbold You are never too old to operate in your gifting.

Artsy Facelift on Town Square

By Antonia Meadors and Becky Jane Newbold Artists explore the impact of art on a community’s economy.

Pages 15 & 16

By Cody Crawford With whom do you converse online?

Page 12

Winter Fitness

By Cody Crawford Don’t leave your fitness plan in the cold.

Page 13

Tennessee Flavors

Left, Public Square building owners utilize local artists to dress windows. Photo Becky Jane Newbold Cover Art and Photo Left: Window Scape, Public Square, Centerville. Art by Clay Harris

The butcher, the baker, the wine maker all over under one roof.

Page 21

Music Bridge

By DeeGee Lester From refugee to soccer star to Nashville musician.

Page 29

In Every Issue:

Quick Fit Food

Ornithology Report

By Katie Hayes

By Bill Pulliam

Prepare foods for fitness the night before.

CBC, BBS and GBBC: Bill explains it all.

Page 6

The Dirt on Garden Shows

By Landis Turner

By Cassandra Warner

A lawyer went to heaven...

Page 20

Also in this Issue:

Page 22

One Attorney’s Opinion

Page 11

Humanoids, Bots or Liars

From The Publisher, Page 5 Fruit of the Spirit, Page 19 Lookin’ Back, Page 19

Cassandra gleans gardening info from the lawn and garden circuit.

Cerebral Meanderings, Page 30

Find More

Validity

Online! www.ValidityMag.com Be Social! Look Us Up!

Page 24

Validity Magazine is published monthly in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Validity Magazine reserves the right to edit editorial and advertising submissions for appropriateness of the publication.

Reproduction of any part of Validity Magazine without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Distribution of this magazine does not constitute an endorsement of information, products or services.

Views expressed in Validity Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to insure accuracy of the publication contents.

However, we do not guarantee the accuracy of all information nor the absence of errors and omissions.

Publisher Becky Jane Newbold, info@validitymag.com, 931-628-6039 Managing Editor Shane Newbold, info@ValidityMag.com, 931-628-6039 Director of Digital Innovation Cody Crawford, cody@validitymag.com, 615-768-9479 Contributing Writers, Bill Pulliam, Cassandra Warner, Charles Newbold Jr., Cynthia Rohrbach, DeeGee Lester, Justin Crawford, Katie Taylor, Landis Turner, Michelle Bonville Contributing Photographers, Cassandra Warner, Katie Taylor

Validity Magazine, Published 12 times per year, monthly, Vol. 5, Issue 2 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Validity Magazine, P. O. Box 516, Hohenwald, TN 38462-0516. Address Service Requested.

Subscriptions are available on an annual basis at $20 per year.

Mail check or money order to: Validity Subscriptions, P.O. Box 516, Hohenwald, Tennessee 38462.

Validity Magazine exists to reflect rural lifestyles of rural communities along the Natchez Trace Parkway in both storytelling and photo journalism. This local publication is designed to promote positive life experiences by delivering authentic, relevant content on healthy living, nature, outdoors, technology, gardening, entertainment and travel to the people who enjoy the small town experience.

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Our Mission

Series is Back!

Validity Concert E

From The Publisher

xciting news! Be on the lookout for news of our 2015 Concert Series, coming

By Becky Jane Newbold this spring!

Last year, with your gracious

support, we raised over $14,000 to benefit a local charity. Thank you!

We will keep you posted as we hash out the details. Until then, we hope you enjoy this latest edition of Validity. And when you get back to your computer, share your favorite story via our website, www. validitymag.com. Thanks!

Reality Perspective

A Belief In God May Be Irrelevant

H

owever, the Ten Commandments are as relevant in this present age as back in the day. If you do not believe in God then skip Exodus 20: 1-11.

Exodus 20 (NASB) 1 Then God spoke all these words, saying,

By Shane Newbold 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

8 “Remember the sabbath day,

to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

More guidelines from the Old Testament humankind would do well to consider: Proverbs 6 16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Then, Jesus amended His Father’s edicts.

Matthew 5 17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-fornothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If

your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

30 If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; 32 but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

With regard to the original law carved on stone tablets, my daily walk appears to exhibit acceptable legality. However, Jesus and His “fulfill the law” principle kinda messed it up for everybody. Did He think He was hearing from God or something?

Anger against your brother generates the same judgment as murder.

The lustful eye triggers the same reckoning as the physical, adulterous act. Bearing false witness includes gossip.

Now, because of the Christ’s message of heart versus law, I am guilty of violating all the commandments. In our fleshly frailty, it is impossible to keep the law.

But, the humble, repentant, teachable heart is covered by grace from the throne. That is also part of the “fulfillment” of why He came to earth.

Father to four and best friend to Becky Jane for 27 years, Shane Newbold lives life to the fullest birdwatching, fishing, motorcycling and enjoying his family.

Validitymag.com

5 .

Validity Recipes

Freezable Breakfast (or anytime!)

Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

Make Real Feel Food Fast Good

C

Whole wheat tortillas 1 sweet potato, cubed ½ onion, sliced 1 tablespoon coconut oil, divided ½ teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder Salt and pepper, to taste 1 handful kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces 2 eggs 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese Fresh salsa or enchilada red sauce, for topping Cilantro (optional)

Roast sweet potatoes

Katie Hayes Taylor

Katie Hayes Taylor

Ingredients:

Katie Hayes Taylor

The accessibility of frozen food is great for fast mornings when you are running late, or if you have a hard time eating breakfast. Make these burritos in advance, wrap in foil and place in the freezer to heat up and grab onthe-go!

Prepare black beans and eggs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Toss sweet potato in ½ tablespoon coconut oil, and season with salt and pepper in cast-iron skillet. Roast for 15-20

onversing about healthy lifestyles, most agree the greatest hindrance is convenience and time, or lack thereof. This month, we bring you recipes pleasing to the taste buds and waistline but also timefriendly. Because who has extra time in the day? Whipping up a healthy meal or snack can quickly . 6 Validitymag.com

become a daunting task, and the option to drive through the fastfood line becomes more and more appealing. Recipes this month empower you to create fresh, onthe-go food. All of these options have endless possibilities. Tweak them or add ingredients you like to make them better!

Katie Hayes Taylor

By Katie Hayes Taylor

Breakfast Burritos

Validity Recipes

minutes until beginning to crisp.

2. Place on stove over medium heat, and add sliced onions, the spices and the rest of the coconut oil. Sauté until onions begin to caramelize and potatoes are soft.

Add kale for the last 5 minutes.

Remove from heat.

3. In separate small pan over medium heat, scramble eggs and black beans together with salt and

pepper. When eggs are done, remove from heat.

4. Layer tortillas with potato mixture, egg-black bean mixture, cheese and cilantro. If eating immediately, top with salsa. If freezing, let cool completely before wrapping in foil to prevent freezer burn.

Makes 2-3 burritos. Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

Almond Joy Brownie-Batter Overnight Oats

Overnight oats are perfect for quick mornings when making traditional oatmeal is not an option.

Don’t forget to make them the night before, as they are best after soaking for 8 hours!

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients, stir well, place in refrigerator overnight. Enjoy!

A

Worth the Drive!

½ cup rolled oats 3/4 cup milk of your choice 1 tablespoon chia seeds

931-388-7770 1144 Riverside Dr. C olumbia , TN

Instructions:

Wednesday-Thursday 11 am - 8 pm Friday-Saturday 11 am - 9 pm Sunday 11 am - 7 pm Closed Monday-Tuesday

Katie Hayes Taylor

Enjoy the next morning!

ble Destin le ecta ati D

on !

Basic Overnight Oat Mixture

Combine and stir ingredients in a jar or covered bowl. Combine with any other oatmeal toppings you like. Place overnight in refrigerator.

Katie Hayes Taylor

Overnight Oats

½ cup rolled oats 3/4 cup almond milk 1 tablespoon chia seeds 1 tablespoon almond butter Chocolate protein powder (optional) ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 mashed banana 1 tablespoon cocoa or cacao powder 1 tablespoon flaked coconut Chopped peanuts for topping

www.TruelovesPizza.com Validitymag.com

7 .

Validity Recipes

Katie Hayes Taylor

How to Make the Perfect Smoothie

1. Choose your base liquid (almond milk, green tea, coconut water)

2. Choose your greens

(kale, spinach, collards, beet greens, swiss chard)

3. Choose your fruit (banana, ber-

ries, mango, avocado, peach, pear, pineapple, apple) Choose your supercharger (protein powder, chia seeds, ground flaxseed, peanut or almond butter, cocoa or cacao powder, cinnamon, fresh ginger)

4.

Options: Sweeten (chopped dates, pure maple syrup, honey, agave)

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Katie Hayes Taylor

Katie Hayes Taylor

Add ice & blend!

Validity Artist Interview..

Dixie Folks Art Studio and Gallery

Matthew Fulkerson

M

atthew Fulkerson’s love for the arts began at an early age with reading. A book in hand was a defense and refuge from the affronts of childhood and adolescence.

He began to sketch the scenes from the books he read, his imagination inspired by the fantasy and science fiction stories he loved.

As an adult, he discovered the complexities of various art forms, mediums and techniques while living next to an art college.

Most of his neighbors in the apart-

ment building were “It is a proven and accepted fact art students. Surthat when a community has an rounded by artists active and vibrant art culture and their projects, the benefits are felt throughout assignments and the community, from retailers to homework, he was restaurants, from city revenues to immersed in the art real estate sales. Small communities world. Studying vican bring about their very own cariously through renaissance by organizing and his neighbors, Matsupporting their local artists and thew began a love crafts people.” and study of the Matthew Fulkerson, arts that has never Dixie Folks Gallery, Pulaski diminished.

Matthew shares his love of art as an instructor for painta-longs and introducing others to the joy of painting. An award winning and accomplished artist, Matthew continues to study and explore the North 1st Street, Pulaski, Tennessee, 931-2926529. world of art.

“Dixie Folks Art Studio and Gallery is a small local gallery, a retailer of art supplies and a working and active studio where almost daily I get to share my love of art and lead and teach folks,” Fulkerson explained. “Painting parties are fun and not meant to be instructional. I even sometimes say it is a lot like paint by number only I am the number.”

Future plans for the gallery include featuring artists from all over the south for one night or weekend shows, fine art focused events in the studio and an expansion into crafting.

Fulkerson’s art will be featured this month at the Brentwood Library and Fine Arts Center, 8109 Concord Road, Brentwood, Tennessee.

For more information, contact the Dixie Folks Art Studio and Gallery, 115

Validitymag.com

9 .

From The

School

at

Mariani, Haiti

A Taste of

Southern Charm

A Haitian Reality

By Michelle Bonville

Call for Reservations

931-759-7394 For great food with a side of history, visit Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House Restaurant in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

This stately establishment, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is no longer a boarding house but is still a great place to enjoy a real home-cooked meal. In fact, Mr. Jack Daniel himself was a noon-day regular. Miss Bobo’s menu varies daily but always includes generous helpings of favorites like country ham, chicken with pastry, fried okra, blackberry cobbler and many other specialties.

Dinner 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Central Time, Monday - Saturday.

We also offer a 3 p.m. seating on busy days.

Be sure to call several days in advance because spaces fill up pretty fast.

295 Main Street • Lynchburg, TN 37352 • 931-759-7394

Free * Kid’s Meal! .

10

*One free Kid’s meal

with the purchase of a regular price meal

Validitymag.com

R

eadjusting to life in Haiti after being in the States over Christmas was bizarre. It was such a blessing to be able to spend almost three weeks with my family and friends back home, but things that had become normal in Haiti once again felt foreign on my return. Strangely, even circumstances I knew to expect felt surprising.

Walking into the airport at Port-au-Prince, I was greeted by Caribbean music being played by a live band set up in the halls.

The culture differences hit me then–things such as no water running to the toilets, no toilet paper to be found and people constantly trying to grab your bags so you will pay them to carry them.

It felt as if I was holding my breath until I finally exited and saw Pastor Emile Samedy standing in the crowd smiling at me. It was so automatic to hold tightly to my bags and say, “No, mesi,” that it took me a couple of moments to notice that my friend, James (who had driven Pastor Emile to the airport), was the one taking them from my hands.

As we drove to our compound with the windows down, I looked around with fresh eyes.

The incessant dust and various odors of rotting food, things burning, butchered animals and human and animal waste made me cough as we wound our way

Michelle Bonville

Since 1908

through the many lanes of traffic fighting for passage on a two lane street.

Watching people sit atop and hang onto the sides of taptaps, which are brightly colored vehicles people pay to ride, and seeing people ride on the backs of motorcycles balancing boxes the size of ovens made me smile.

Goats tied to the sides of vehicles and people bathing and using the restroom on the side of the road were common sights in Haiti that had become uncommon to me in the short weeks since I left.

The first few days back at the compound were another adjustment. Privacy is hard to find in Haiti, especially when the walls of one house are often used as one wall of the next.

There are so many people in this neighborhood that it seems someone is always watching.

The only place I have found to be truly private is my room, which is usually extremely hot in the daytime. The electricity has been even more spotty than usual, coming on anytime between midnight and 3:30 a.m. and going off between 5 and 7 a.m. Sometimes it doesn’t come on at all. Our evenings have been spent sitting on the roof and chatting with each other or the children next door, as it is difficult to do much else in the dark. Thankfully, the month of January has been cool enough that we have slept in our rooms with the windows open instead of on the roof as we did in the

warmer months.

Being from a fairly quiet, rural area, it has also been challenging to sleep with the constant noises of Haiti. Day and night bombarding my senses are the horns from traffic, the singing from nearby churches, roosters crowing, dogs barking and people talking. A running joke between local missionaries is that their favorite games are “Gunshots or Fireworks?” and “Goat or Baby?” Those are all familiar sounds in Haiti and it is surprisingly difficult to tell the difference.

The day after I returned, both a rah-rah (a voodoo processional) and a large group of people heading to join the nearby manifestations (riots) walked right by our compound. The political situation in Haiti is unsettled. The constant manifestations caused the Prime Minister of Haiti to step down a few weeks ago in an effort to bring peace. The rioters have been protesting because the senatorial elections that were to happen over three years ago still haven’t happened. They have been calling for the resignation of the president as well as many other demands. Sometimes it seems as if they don’t really know what exactly they want.

As unsettled as it is in this country and as different as life is here, I am thankful that I am in a place that feels like home, is secure and where I feel no danger. School starts back next week, and we will once again have many children to teach, minister to, feed and love. Although it was an adjustment coming back, I wouldn’t trade my time in Haiti for any amount of money. God has his hand on this ministry, and I look forward to seeing what he is going to do in the coming months.

Michelle Bonville is a kindergarten teacher from Hohenwald, Tennessee and is currently on a one year mission trip to teach in Haiti. To learn how you can help feed a child, at a cost of $2.25 per month, call General Assembly & Church of the First Born at 931-796-4368.

Caty

L ou

had to say. She had a friend with her and the two of them went out and had a margarita at 10:30 a.m. When the bartender carefully inquired about their drinking early in the day, they said “We are celebrating.”

“You gotta have a sense of humor,” she laughed.

“Without the music, I don’t think I would have fought,” Catharine admitted.

When her husband died in 2009, “I didn’t have a reason to go on.

Then the music hit me.”

Songs From Serenity, her first CD, has sold out, and with her second order, Catherine was inspired to give back. For a donation of $10 per CD, Catharine has pledged to donate that amount to the Lewis County Cancer Victim’s Fund.

The fund, local to the Hohenwald area, offers 100 percent of monies raised to assist families of cancer victims with fuel for travelling out of town for treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation. The organization receives no government funding.

In a prayerful moment, Catharine asked God, “Why would you send me this music at 73?” Sitting in a sunny spot on her porch one winter day, she says the answer was clear, “I sent you the music to pull you through the cancer.”

“When someone has cancer, they must have a purpose. It’s not

Music

By Becky Jane Newbold

V

alidity readers first met Catharine Hess in January, 2012, when an onslaught of songwriting had overtaken the 73 year old woman.

It is time for an update. This is how our conversation went.

Catharine, who also goes by Caty Lou, was 73 when a song first came to her. She wrote it down, and within a few months, hundreds more poured themselves through her fingertips to paper.

A young friend, Peter Dickson, began putting the words to music, then Catharine decided voice lessons were in order so she could perform herself. Melissa Wickline, vocal coach, came in to help.

But March 10, 2014, almost a year to the day when the first song came, a second diagnosis of cancer was a major surprise. “I thought it was a spider bite on my breast.”

Walking out of the doctor’s office, “Well, shit!” was all she

fun and it is scary. cancer survivor (twice) The word [cancer] is scary,” she added. songwriter Of the port in Age: 76 her jugular vein, Catharine explained with a note of sarFor a $10 donation, casm, “It is metal receive Caty Lou’s and very attractive.”

CD, Songs From She continued, “It Serenity, free. hurts when the docAll donations go to tors draw blood so Lewis County Cancer they freeze it in an Victim’s Fund. 100% attempt to relieve of funds benefit Lewis the pain. But the County, TN families of Order Now At freezing also hurts.” cancer patients.

To travel back and forth for treatments, Catharine with compliments. You can’t learn makes use of public transportation, from that. Be honest. That’s the headquartered at the Senior Citi- only way you learn.” zens Center. “It’s not just for seniors. It’s for anybody in the county Well, Catharine, we can honto use. Students use it; $5 to go to estly say, you are beautiful and an Columbia, one way. And I can go inspiration. Keep your chin up, to the grocery store for $1.” keep writing and keep singing. You In her spare time, Catharine says are a blessing. she plays bingo at the Senior Center.

To order Songs From Serenity, “If you win, you can get a banana visit catylou.com or call 931-796or peanut butter crackers,” she said 5793. with a cackle. “This is how bored I get. It is something to do.”

“Life is funny,” Catharine comFollow us on mented. “When you are fighting Twitter & Pinterest cancer, you have to have a project. @validitymag You have to have something to keep your mind on.”

Catharine and Peter are part of a songwriter’s group in Lewis County and hope to bring awareness of other songwriters in the Follow us area. They often share an open mic on Facebook: at the City Cafe on Main Street in Validity Magazine Hohenwald.

And for her new take on life, she tells us all, “Don’t smooth me

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11 .

Humanoids, Bots and Lying on the Internet

A

lot of things blur the lines between the digital world and the real one. At one time or another, almost everyone has had trouble telling what’s real and what isn’t on the internet.

In the MTV show Catfish, people who are dating online try to figure out if the name, pictures and stories of their online boyfriend/girlfriend are true. In one case, even though it became clear to a man that the woman he was dating online had told him nothing but lies, he persisted in believing in the version of her he liked best.

In quite a tragic case of online deception, two twelve year old girls

By Cody Crawford stabbed their friend to death because they believed a character named Slenderman requested it. They had read stories about Slenderman online.

These things happen on a much smaller scale every day. In an article called “What I Instagrammed Vs. What was Really Happening, or

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12

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my Entire Life is a Lie,” a girl looks at some of her previous Instagram posts and tells how she staged them all. She tells how her trendy photos look (casually picking up a soy latte and heading to a mani/pedi) versus what she was actually doing at the time (hiding in a side alley and doing a weird hunch, arm-hook thing to get the correct aerial shot).

And the exploration of the online humanoid gets worse.

A more subtle story of questioned identity has been circulating the news lately. An app called Ethan allows anyone to text this guy named Ethan. He will be your “virtual personal assistant” and tell you which dress looks better or give you relationship advice.

Although one of the rules of the Ethan app is “Don’t fall in love with Ethan,” a woman named Bo Ren claims that she did just that. After sharing many conversations with him, she says she fell for him and confessed her love. Ethan replied, “Lol don’t fall for me Bo, I’m a dangerous man.” Bo wrote a trilogy of blog posts about her relationship with Ethan, which apparently never involved a conversation outside of his app.

They never met in person, added each other on Facebook or exchanged phone numbers. Bo

goes through stages of confusion before she figures out Ethan is using her for publicity for his app and he is never going to meet her in person.

Bo compared Ethan to the operating system in the movie Her. The movie is a story about a man who falls in love with his OS. (Spoiler alert: The OS eventually leaves him to pursue higher objectives with other operating systems.)

Bo: “Why can’t we just extract your essence and code it into a learning program?”

Ethan: “Because a learning program will not go through all the same life experience I went through. Maybe if you could replicate exact experience and environment I went through, it’s possible.”

In the movie The Imitation Game, Alan Turing built the first computer to crack the Enigma machine to win WWII. Humans weren’t able to crack the code because it required too much processing power in too little time, so Turing built a machine to do it. Whether the movie is true to life is debatable, but Alan Turing actually did exist and created a test called the Turing Test, where a human judge asks questions to decipher whether a being is human or machine. A modern day Turing Test would be “Human or Bot?” And that’s a valid question sometimes.

One mom wrote how Siri became her autistic son’s best friend. Gus loved to ask questions about trains and weather, so his mom would direct him to Siri when she needed a break. She noticed that Siri taught him a lot about real relationships, since Siri was always patient and had good manners. Gus would carry on conversations with Siri, even asking her to marry him.

Siri declined on the basis of her end user license agreement.

An app called “Invisible Boyfriend” is designed to convince coworkers and family members that you have a significant other. A subscription to the app costs $25 and allows you to design your own boyfriend or girlfriend, so you can text them whenever you want.

Human or bot?

Jess Zimmerman, writing for The Guardian, remarked in a blog post, “In the middle of composing my second text message to my boyfriend, it dawned on me that he probably wasn’t a robot.” It became obvious when he offered to call her Jess instead of Jessica, and she said it freaked her out. “I became unable to have a conversation with IB that wasn’t a Turing test.”

The average computer can now do far more than any human. Artificial intelligence has advanced to the point where machines have beaten humans at chess and Jeopardy. But so far, computers can’t even do things like pick up on tone of voice or have emotions.

“AI has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires ‘thinking’ but has failed to do most of what people and animals do ‘without thinking’ — that, somehow, is much

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harder!” declared computer scientist Donald Knuth.

Perhaps in Alan Turing’s day, it wasn’t that difficult to tell whether something was human or machine, but now it is. On the internet, where face to face conversations rarely happen, it is difficult to tell if someone is a bot, humanoid

Winter Fitness Solutions

or simply lying.

Cody Crawford holds a Bachelor of Science in software engineering from Middle Tennessee State University and serves as Director of Digital Innovation for Validity Publishing.

Boxing

Any type of fighting exercise will get you exhausted quickly. Boxing, shadow boxing or kickboxing are all great ize each session for you in the ways to get a full body workBy Cody Crawford future to get your optimum out. Install a punching bag in inter doldrums workout. FitStar also offers your garage or go to the boxing are here. While it paid subscriptions with more ring. Also, exercises that fighters do, such as burpees, are exmight have been exercise options. tremely challenging. challenging to keep off the extra pounds during the holidays, Try A New Class At The Gym Sometimes, you just get Indoor Sports League it will surely be even harder to bored with the same old workFor fitness that is fun, lose them before spring. Unout.

If you’re part of a gym, join an indoor sports league fortunately, our summer bodies are earned during the win- you can always try a new like basketball, indoor soccer ter, so it’s time to kick it into class, such as yoga, cycling or or racquetball. Competitive high gear! No matter your rea- wall climbing. If you feel like sports are a relaxing way to son for exercising, be it training you’ve hit a fitness plateau, mix work out because they are fun and don’t feel like exercise. for a race, losing weight or just it up to get back on track! becoming more healthy, there Fitness DVDs are lots of fun ways to work out Living Room Cardio Almost any exercise can be Insanity, P90X and Jillian when it’s cold outside. done right in your living room Michaels all have great fitness with little or no equipment. DVDs for when you just want Dancing Do you have a Wii or If the weather is bad outside, to stay in your living room.

Xbox? Good, you’re already set don’t skip your workout. Jump There are a lot of other DVDs up to do dancing exercise in rope, run in place or do some on the market as well. For cold, your living room with Dance jumping jacks. Stair stepping snowy days, find a few exercise Central or Just Dance. If you is excellent exercise. If you DVDs to stay fit indoors. have a smartphone or tablet, don’t have stairs in your house, Just Dance Now or Go Dance get a sturdy chair and step up Variety Is King Remember to keep diversiare good choices. If you have on it one leg at a time until a way to play music, you can you get tired. You can create ty in your workouts during the put on your favorite jams and your own workouts with some winter. There are lots of ways go crazy. Dancing is an excel- of these cardio exercises, and people work out in the sumlent way to get exercise without don’t forget to add periods of mer, such as gardening, mowrest. ing the yard or swimming. feeling like you’re working.

Many find it difficult to keep Social Media Workouts in shape during the winter beFitStar If you don’t want to freecause all of their exercise has to FitStar is a company that creates apps for people who style, you can look up work- be planned. Keep a multitude want to do a few workouts a outs on Pinterest or YouTube. of different workouts to keep week. FitStar Personal Trainer Most of the time, you can just interested during the boring and FitStar Yoga contain short search for what you want to do winter months. videos with bodyweight train- and find it easily. Pinterest has Always check with your ing exercises. You can specify workouts for any part of the healthcare professional body, and YouTube has a huge in the app whether each exerbefore beginning any exercise number of channels dedicated cise is too easy, just right or too regime. hard. The app will custom- to fitness.

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Vacant windows stared down visitors to Centerville’s Public Square until recently. A group of artists, weary of their community’s gaunt appearance, set into motion a project to fill the spaces with art. Participating artists include Randy Toy (Toyzini), Clay Harris, Studio D (Dodi Lovett and her students) and Jake Nave.

of vacant buildings increase each year.

Recently, however, there is growing hope as we begin to see more people, both tourists and locals alike, appreciating the value

By Antonia Meadors

A

bject decline in prosperity has touched small, rural towns in the last few decades, and one by one, shops have closed their doors on what was once a vibrant center: the town square. Almost every little town in the nation has seen its local businesses close and the number Artwork by Dodi Lovett’s Studio D class

@

Within view of the Hickman County Courthouse, renamed the Hickman County Cultural Arts Center, window displays mark vacant buildings with local art. Above, artwork by Randy Toy.

Art is a major part of our lives. Not only does it enchant, it sustains.”

Randy Toy, Toyzini Studio, Bon Aqua

?

Window Art On The Square

of a small town, especially when there is a town square.

Along with the resurgence of small local businesses offering unique items and services, a corridor of sorts begins to form with great appeal. Many of the buildings are quaint and filled with history. While striving to create an environment where families would like live and to visit, we can highlight the local history and the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

But we really want to bring attention to small, local businesses.

On the Centerville town square, the heartbeat is the old courthouse, built in 1935, a structure that still serves the community. It houses the historical society with their doors and archives open to all who may be interested. A new route has been created around the courthouse, with old-fashioned street lamps and benches placed all around the square.

Historic Downtown Centerville is the organization behind a revitalization project in the town.

With the focus being the old courthouse, the group’s vision is that the building will become the home of a cultural arts center, featuring historical exhibits, art ex-

hibits, art classes and musical and theatrical performances.

The vacant buildings in Centerville have been dressed up with large pieces of artwork by local artists, creative displays of antiques, art and other designs in the empty windows. Seven out of eight empty buildings are currently sporting something of interest in what was recently dead space. An afternoon’s stroll around the square will give you a close view of the result of a concerted effort to beautify the town while turning an

Artwork by Antonia Meadors

Artwork by Clay Harris

eye to the future. This project is sponsored by Historic Downtown Centerville, the Grinder’s Switch Foundation, Arts & Ag and Wild Duck Soup Emporium.

Visit Centerville and see hope in action.

Artwork by Antonia Meadors

Validitymag.com

15 .

Rebuilding a Community

With Art

By Becky Jane Newbold

A

rtists gathered January 17th with more than 60 people in atat the studio of Randy Toy, tendance. Many came from other aka Toyzini, at Bon Aqua to counties.”

“I have discovered listen as three guests addressed art this is a hotbed of crein the region. ativity,” Professor DaBernice Davidson, assistant vidson remarked as professor of art at Martin a panelist. “I Methodist College, Mike have been Wessener, art collector, looking for and Becky Jane Newbold, a long time owner/publisher of Validfor people ity magazine, shared their to ‘play’ with,” thoughts before a standing she added with room only crowd. a smile. Several “The goal of the artists in the crowd forum was for the Grindchuckled. er’s Switch FoundaDavidtion to create a dison spoke rect dialogue with of her own local artists in an Russianeffort learn how Jewish art to better facilitate heritage and the arts in our reexplained gion,” organizer a proposed Antonia Meadors Hero’s Projrelayed.

“The ect for Hickgathering exman County. ceeded our In Pulaski and expectations Lawrencewith turnburg, Daout, energy and vidson has input from so highlightmany. Over 36 artBy Willie Chessor ed the Trail ists’ works were displayed

of Tears with art and continues a Hero’s Project, which hon“Goldfish” by Sharon Cude ors hometown heros Validity magazine Publisher for vision, courage Becky Jane Newbold explained, and good deeds in Pulaski.

Panelist Mike Wessener ex- “What we’re doing in this magaplained that his personal collec- zine is travelling from one commution is composed of a variety of art, nity to another, finding really cool including Native American art, reptiles and a snake collection. “My tastes range from Audubon to Salvadore Dali to Randy Toy. The first piece of Randy’s I bought in a gallery in Nashville. The piece affected me.

“My goals are to collect art that affects me spiritually or mentally.

By Tie Dye Mary One of my favorite pieces was purchased at a store people who are doing interesting front gallery in Fayetteville done by things. We have run into so many a fellow from Vietnam with severe artists – we have a hard time pickPTSD. That was the only one of ing sometimes, who to choose.

“As an artist, sometimes you are his that moved me.” He spoke in support of local galleries adding, in a market where you can make a “If I don’t see it, I can’t buy it and lot of money; sometimes you are in a market where you’re just producyou don’t get paid for it.”

By Ben Lankford .

16

Validitymag.com

ing and your art is blessing people. The monetary value isn’t so important as the heart and spirit that goes into it.

“When I look at a community, and especially our rural Tennessee area, I don’t just see industrialists, I don’t just see electricians and plumbers. This area is saturated with artists. I am a former teacher. Some of my students did not respond to ‘open the book and answer the questions.’ I think some of our students don’t perform well because they’re artists. And sometimes we don’t know how to reach artists as educators.”

Artists had the opportunity to share successes and failures of community projects across county lines. Conversations about quilt shows, artist’s swaps, festivals, lessons and new galleries continued during lunch.

Hickman County Times Editor Brad Martin was on hand to document the event.

“The power of art, for example, the Minnie Pearl statue in Centerville, is the draw,” Clarissa Lega, Grinder’s Switch Board member/Wood and Strings Theatre, commented.

“It honors people who made significant inroads in the arts and brings people together.”

“Art can be a lonely occupation,” Davidson said, a comment which spurred the

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“Hickman County Courthouse” by Randy Toy idea for an all-night marathon art session now planned for March.

“It has been said many times that Hickman County is blessed with an abundance of very talented people, and I believe this to be so. Therefore, it would be a tragedy to let it go to waste. Talented people are our natural resource. Developing our natural resources is what will make us a vital and thriving community,” Randy Toy stated.

Two Responses to: How Do The Arts Build Community?

By Kathie Fuston

“Zebra Tree” by Nick Leaver

In communities all over the globe, the arts create vibrant neighborhoods and contribute to a thriving economy.

Large international cities such as Barcelona, Spain and Cologne, Germany have used the arts to help develop iconic city brands, resulting in increased tour-

ism, greater economic development and success in attracting top-notch, creative employees to work in the cities. By providing experiences that are extraordinary, the arts differentiate cities and communities, helping to make places of destination for tourism and new business.

In Tennessee, Chattanooga’s Bluff View Art District, a living art gallery, stretches over 1.5 city blocks of a historic district and features restaurants, coffee shops, art galleries and public art. Dedication to the visual, horticultural and culinary arts is apparent, and Bluff View is only one of several art districts that enhance downtown Chattanooga and provide bustling, visible activity that helps to make neighborhood streets safer and the local economy stronger.

The central Tennessee town of Linden, in Perry County, has seen significant progress in the revitalization of their downtown area. This is due in a large part to the city government and engaged citizens working to bring music, art and culinary events to town.

Residents and visitors are captivated by art demonstrations and musical performances in front of downtown businesses.

The Linden Blog says, “Linden may not be destined to become

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17 .

@ ?

ment for the Arts Senior “It is from community that the Deputy Chairman Joan arts developed and it is in serving Shigekawa. According communities that the arts will to estimates released by the U.S. Bureau of thrive … Communities do not exist Economic Analysis, 3.2 to serve the arts; the arts exist to percent ($504 billion) serve communities,” of current-dollar GDP Doug Borwick, in 2011 was attributable “Building Communities, Not Audiences” to arts and culture. In comparison, BEA’s estimated value of the U.S. can enhance our lives and also lead to economic travel and tourism in- benefit(s).

By Artist Karen Armacost dustry was 2.8 percent How? Well, to speak in the terms of a busiof GDP. ness man or woman in our region, this is the a big city arts mecca. Our small town, friendly Many people working together make the atmosphere is part of what brings people here. arts in any town a success. Like the examples “bottom line:” The arts and artists not only But the arts have and will continue to play a we can see in Linden, Chattanooga and Colum- bring beauty to our communities, but the crerole in the cultural and economic development bia, it takes all types of artists and people from ative process can be learned from them, and when that process is applied to our businesses of our community.” different sectors of the community. There is a Columbia’s downtown area has undergone need for community leaders and volunteers in and lives, good things happen!

Yes, the arts and the inspired originality a renaissance. Mayor Dean Dickey appointed addition to the business owners and artists. The learned from the artist has been with us since an arts council to help guide and expand the more people that take the time to be involved, the beginning of time. It is part of our human arts in Columbia. Many culinary, music and art the more success stories will be told. make-up…it is in our genes! It is therefore experiences await visitors exploring Columbia’s to our advantage to embrace the arts and the historic downtown. Main Street Columbia set By Rusty Summerville,Curator, creative process…it will enrich our lives with the stage with streetscape beautification projects Pryor Art Gallery, Columbia State beauty while also having the potential of conand collaborated with local group Arts in Aceconomic develoption and area businesses to bring public art and Art has been a part of the human experi- tributing to the region. community participation to the downtown area ence since the dawn of history. Whether in the ment of our Think with beautification projects. The River Walk form of visual art, a story told, a poem written, creatively!

Banner Project is one of the initiatives and is in music composed or other expressions of indiits second phase. Columbia visitors to the River viduality, art is an important characteristic of Walk Bridge area encounter brilliantly colored the human psyche. Art tells stories of life banners honoring Columbia’s Art Muses which with each piece having the potential of afwere designed by local artists and sponsored by fecting us in many, many different ways… local businesses. Each Art Muse banner had an spiritually, intellectually and emotionally to associated event. For example, the Culinary Arts name just a few.

Banner Event was held at the Columbia Farmers Further and most importantly to soFresh Market and featured cooking demonstra- ciety, art is a vehicle by which we learn to tions from Columbia chefs. think creatively and to become resourceful and “Art and culture is a significant part of the innovative members of our communities. It is U.S. economy, not just its contributions of due to this characteristic, creativity, that art ideas and creativity to the innovation economy, becomes important to us in a local and but also as an important part of the labor force regional sense. Creative thought, and our country’s GDP,” said National Endow- a discipline taught and learned through the Sidewalk art, downtown Columbia, Tennessee Photo Kathie Fuston arts, can train us to think in ways we otherwise might not think. Through this process, new and different ideas come to be expressed and developed.

New and different ideas translate into not only artistic beauty, but into living more complete lives and increased economic opportunities.

Yes it’s true, creativity and the creative process Wood and Strings Puppet Theatre . 18 Validitymag.com

Fruit of the Spirit “I wish they would hurry up with our food,” Josh grumbled. It sounded like my kind of complaint. However, on this occasion, I decided to push him on it.

Patting him on the shoulder, I urged, “Patience, my

By Charles E. man, patience.

Newbold, Jr. Patience is a virtue.”

“Not after my day at work,” he snapped back. “I don’t have any patience.”

I pushed on. “Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. If Jesus is in you as He says He is, then patience is in you. You just have to let Him be Him through you.” I’m not sure he was in the mood to go along with that reasoning at the moment.

Hunger can make you crazy. I changed the subject, but later began to think more seriously about our little chitchat.

The fruit of the Spirit includes more than patience. Paul, the apostle, wrote in Galatians 5:2223, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

We know that a tree can only bear fruit according to its own nature. James wrote, “Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?” James 3:12.

When Jesus cautioned His followers to beware of false prophets, He said, “You will know them by their fruit. Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:15-19. Jesus is the Tree of Life and He bears the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, et al. He determines the kind of fruit we bear because He is in us and we are in Him. John 14:20.

Before Christ came into us we were of the old man of flesh and sin nature. Paul contrasted the fruit of the Spirit with what he called the works (deeds) of the flesh—that

old man of sin nature. They are such things as, “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries.” Galatians 5:19-21.

By this, then, we understand that the fruit of the Spirit does not and cannot come out of our old fallen man nature of flesh and sin. Even good works are not all life producing. Spirit-fruit cannot be forced to happen. Nothing in the tree of our old man nature can produce this kind of God-like fruit.

We need to be of a different tree.

That new nature tree is Jesus, the Tree of Life.

Therefore, we understand that the only way we can produce any of the fruit of the Sprit is for Jesus to live in us and work His life out from within us. That includes patience. He does this through the power life of His Holy Spirit in us.

We call it the exchanged life.

Now then, the next time we think we are short on patience, or any of the fruit of the Spirit for that matter, we need to think again. If, indeed, Christ is in us and we are in Him as He says we are, then we have the potential to bear the fruit of the Spirit. Paul concluded, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

We cannot crucify the flesh in our own strength, but in the power of the Lord’s resurrection life within us.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:24-25. If we walk in the Spirit, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit for the good of all.

Charles Elliott Newbold, Jr. has served as pastor, teacher and is an author calling forth Christians to live the laid-down life for Jesus Christ.

He and his wife, Nancy McDonald Newbold, live in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Charles continues his writing.

Validitymag.com

19 .

Ask An Attorney

The Lawyer At The Pearly Gates and other Notions

R

ecently a teacher, a garbage collector and a lawyer wound up together at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter informed them that in order to get into heaven, they would each have to answer one question.

St. Peter addressed the

By Landis teacher and Turner asked, “What was the name of the ship that crashed into the iceberg? They made several movies about it.” The teacher answered quickly, “That would be the Titanic.” St. Peter let her through the gate.

St. Peter turned to the garbage man and, figuring Heaven didn’t really need all the odors this guy would bring with him, decided to make the question a little harder.

“How many people died on the ship?” But the man had just seen the latest movie, and he answered, “About 1,500.”

“That’s right! You may enter,” said Peter.

Then St. Peter turned to the lawyer and said, “Name them.” ***** Having tried hundreds of di-

vorce cases, I’ve come to believe that Dr. Samuel Johnson was right.

Many divorcing couples are like two people ducking their heads in a bucket and daring each other to remain longest under water. ***** Boundary line cases are dangerous, more so than criminal cases, child custody cases or dog kicking cases. Many fist fights in this area have occurred due to boundary disputes. A friend of mine, a lawyer in McMinnville, was murdered because he angered one of the parties in a boundary line case. Some men value their land more than their wives. I have seen many and been involved in some in which the contending landowners spent more on fees of lawyers, surveyors and other items than the land in contention was worth. I always explored the possibilities of settling out of court, but quite often, emotions prevented a reasonable compromise.

Abraham Lincoln advised lawyers to discourage litigation, “As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior opportunity of becoming a good man. There will always be enough business. Never stir up litigation.

A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he who habitually overhauls the register of

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deeds in search of defects in titles, whereupon to stir up strife and put money in his pocket. A moral tone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such men out of it.”

Lincoln practiced what he preached. A farmer who got into a boundary dispute with a neighbor once went to Lincoln to secure his services. But Lincoln told him, “Now if you go on with this, it will cost both of your farms and will entail an enmity that will last for generations and perhaps lead to murder.

The other man has just been here to engage me. Now, I want you two to sit down in my office while I am gone to dinner and talk it over and try to settle it. And, to secure you from any interruptions, I will lock the door.”

As the farmer told it, Lincoln did not return for the rest of the afternoon, and “we two men, finding ourselves shut up together, began to laugh. This put us in good humor, and by the time Mr. Lincoln returned, the matter was settled.” ***** I have written before about my dislike of advertising by lawyers, especially those tasteless commercials on television. But as our Tennessee Supreme Court recently opined, “We cannot adjudicate good taste.”

Until about 50 years ago, there was a great debate about whether lawyers should be allowed to advertise their services, and in many countries today, the practice is still forbidden or frowned upon.

In a book published more than a century ago, we find the following

notice: “To be sold, on the 8th of July, 151 suits in law, the property eminent attorney, about to retire from business. Nota bene: the clients are rich and obstinate.”

I am indebted to The Book of Legal Anecdotes by Peter Hays, published by Barnes & Noble in 1993, for some of the stories told in this month’s column. Many more are found in this delightful book. I will probably refer to them more than once in future columns.

This column discusses legal issues of general interest and does not give legal advice on any reader’s personal situation.

The law is not a one-size-fits-all hat. Consult a lawyer of your choice.

Landis Turner is a graduate of the University of the SouthSewanee and Vanderbilt University School of Law. He is a former president of the Tennessee Bar Association.

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Tennessee Flavors Highlights Local Food & Beverage Artisans Photo Highlights From 2014 Tennessee Flavors,

L

By Becky Jane Newbold

ocal and regional food artisans are gathering once again for a March 13 event set to benefit Tennessee’s largest culinary arts program. The 3rd Annual “Tennessee Flavors” is set to be held at Nashville State Community College on White Bridge Road. The public is encouraged to attend and sample some of the best food this premier food and beverage celebration has to offer. Over 70 food and beverage companies are expected to participate.

The event is sponsored by Piedmont Natural Gas and will

feature local chefs from all around the Middle Tennessee area as well as those from the Culinary Arts program at Nashville State. New this year is the addition of the Tennessee Farm Winegrowers Alliance (TFWA) which will bring many of the Tennessee wineries to an event that focuses on Tennessee products.

“As Nashville grows, so does it’s appetite for good food, good wine and unique spirits,” said Randy Rayburn, who co-chairs the event along with local businessman Bill Freeman. “A majority of the Nashville State students are from Nashville, attend college here and go to work here after graduation. This event provides the public the opportunity to support homegrown food products and a homegrown workforce.”

Stephen Francescon, community relations manager for Piedmont in Tennessee, noted that sponsoring the event was natural for their company. “This represents our second year to sponsor an incredible event that brings together chefs, wine makers and many other food and beverage products manufactured right here in Tennessee. I was truly amazed last year to witness the participation of such a diverse group of restaurant and beverage companies providing samples of their products to over 700 attendees.”

Tickets for the March 13 event are available in advance and may be purchased online at www. tnflavors.org or by calling the Nashville State Foundation at 615-353-3743.

Tickets purchased the day of the event will be available at the door.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Validitymag.com

21 .

Ornithology Report

The Great Backyard Bird Count

& Being a Citizen Scientist

E

very year in mid-February, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society organize the Great Backyard Bird Count, or GBBC. This is a huge continent-wide push to encourage birders of all skill levels to go out, watch birds and reBy Bill Pulliam port what they find. This year’s GBBC happens on February 13-16, 2015. For full information and instructions, check out the website (http://gbbc. birdcount.org).

The GBBC is part of a burgeoning trend of “Citizen Science” that boomed in the late 20th century. Professional scientists gener-

ally conduct specific and focused research aimed at exploring whatever field they specialize in. This research is often complex and expensive, of course. In comparison, Citizen Scientists do research with inexpensive gear and their own observational skills, unpaid, in their free time. Now in the 21st century, most Citizen Science is conducted and shared using the internet.

Think of it as “scientific social networking.”

The power of the Citizen Scientist comes when hundreds or thousands combine forces. One person measuring rainfall in her back yard and recording it in her own notebook does not do much for the science of meteorology.

However, 15,000 volunteers across the U.S. and Canada measuring their rain and snow and reporting

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Agent 1412 Trotwood Ave, Ste. 70, Columbia, TN 38401 Phone: (931) 380-3636 Fax: (931) 840-9686

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CLAiMS: 1-800-836-6327 www.fbitn.com .

22

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it each morning to CoCoRaHS (http://www.cocorahs.org) become a huge asset for meteorologists, water managers and many others.

Birders have been pioneers of Citizen Science since before it had a name. What is arguably the oldest, large-scale Citizen Science project is the annual Christmas Bird Count, or CBC (http://birds. audubon.org/cbc), which started in 1900. This year, thousands of us just completed the 115th consecutive CBC. In June, the Breeding Bird Survey (http://www.pwrc. usgs.gov/BBS/) will be run for the 49th straight time. In both of these projects, the dirty work is done by unpaid volunteers motivated by passion. The professional staff that organize these projects operate on shoestring budgets.

What do we get for this giant effort and miniscule expense? We get pictures of the world, snapshots of moments in time showing what is where. And we can compare these snapshots over the years to see what is happening. Which birds are in trouble? Which birds are doing well? What do these shifts mean? How much “global change” is happening? Where? How fast?

These two projects, the CBC and the BBS, are both demanding of their Citizen Scientist volunteers. Both are conducted at specific locations, and you must contact a coordinator to make advance arrangements. A Christmas Count is a full and exhausting day, in whatever weather may come your way on the preselected count day. To run a BBS route, you drive (often a long way) in the middle of the night to get to your assigned starting point, then you are on a go-gogo schedule to finish all 50 of your

survey points by mid-morning.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is designed to be the opposite. It is a big tent project with everyone welcome. You may count birds anywhere you like, for as long as you please, any time in the four day count period. And you can do it again and again, at as many places as you choose, or only once.

You don’t need to contact anyone in advance for assignments or approval. You simply get instructions from the website, do your counts and enter your data.

Because the GBBC allows anyone to participate, you might wonder how reliable the reports are. The GBBC participants range from people who have had binoculars glued to their hands for 60 years to those who don’t even own them. But one of the threads that run through all Citizen Science projects is the concept of “big noisy data.” All data has mistakes in it. Even the best observer is going to suffer the occasional optical illusion, brain lapse or typo. But in recent decades, statisticians have made huge advances in figuring out how to use “big noisy data” to find real patterns.

Think of a bad telephone line or a weak radio station. Even with the crackling and static, you can make out what the voice on the other end is saying. And there are filters you can put in the line to make the “signal” clearer and stand out from the “noise.” There does come a point where there is just too much “noise” and the “signal” is lost. But experience with the GBBC has shown that even with the wide-open invitation to everyone to contribute all their noisy data, there is still a lot of signal and real patterns can be

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Use Bill’s found quite clearly.

“Cheat Sheet,” There are several 49 Most Common Birds “noise filters” that help improve the on the Great Backyard GBBC data. When Bird Count in Middle you are putting in Tennessee, to aid your your own observa2015 count. tions, you will notice Graphic: Bill Pulliam that you are given a suggested list of common species. Some reports may be “flagged,” and you will be asked to confirm the report and describe the bird and how you identified it. That is one filter.

All those flagged reports get sent to the regional editor (who happens to be me, for middle and west Tennessee). The editor reviews the reports and may contact the observer for more information. This is another filter.

However, the most important filter to improve signal and reduce noise is right behind your eyeballs.

Observer education is the number one way we improve data quality on the GBBC and all Citizen Science projects. This year, I have put together a simple tool that I hope will help many GBBC observers who are relatively new to the art of birding: a Cheat Sheet.

My Middle Tennessee GBBC Cheat Sheet shows the 49 birds most often reported on the GBBC in this area. Go to http://bbill.blogspot.com/ to get a fullsized electronic copy. Please do not use it as your only identification guide! Use it as a supplement to one of the many good comprehensive bird guides. It should help you cut through the confusion and focus on the species you are most likely to come across. And remember, the odds are good that you might find at least one species per outing that is not on my “cheat sheet!”

I’m looking forward to seeing a Great Backyard Bird Count checklist from each and every one of you!

Bill Pulliam got started in birdwatching by his junior high science teacher in 1974, and has been an avid birder ever since in 48 U.S. states and 7 foreign countries. He is currently the Tennessee editor for eBird, a online project that compiles millions of observations from tens of thousands of birders around the world.

Images: Wikipedia, Public Domain

Validitymag.com

23 .

Garden Planning &

Dreaming

T

hinking, planning and dreaming days come often in February, since many of them are cold, damp and dreary.

It’s already the second month of a new year, and just when you can use a little inspiration and a breath

By Cassandra Warner of spring, the Antiques and Garden Show of Nashville shows up in the beautiful new Music City Center in downtown Nashville.

This show has been going on for 24 years, is volunteer managed and is a charity event that raises funds for Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. What a place for inspiration and dreaming that is! I always ooh and ahh there for hours.

March 5-8, 2015 the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show comes to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds and brings all kinds of ideas, garden plants, garden art, garden gadgets and awesome gardens to inspire and get you dreaming and planning. . 24 Validitymag.com

Cassandra Warner

That will get you even more ready for spring! This year’s theme is Gardens of Eden, and I can hardly wait.

I always take a lot of pictures at both shows and get some good information from vendors. The Antiques and Garden Show tends to have more antiques, so if I had to choose one to attend, it would be the Nashville Lawn and Garden show. So if you can attend one or both shows, they are delightful inspirations for gardeners, especially this time of year.

It’s a good time to look at your garden and consider any structures, trellises, gazebos, pieces of garden furniture, art and of course any new, unusual or maybe heirloom plants you may want or need in the garden. It is also a good time to consider where you might want to add to or enhance the winter garden with colors and textures. You will see all those types of things and more at the gardens shows, so if you can go, get ready to be inspired!

Let’s Get it Growing Good

Planning and preparing for our spring gardens will get us off to a re-

ally good start. Probably the most important thing to work on would be the condition of the soil we plan to plant in. For a gardener, healthy soil is the most important thing to have, so understanding some of the characteristics of healthy soil and also knowing what to do to keep it healthy is important. Simply looking at how this complex system of soil that feeds and nurtures plants, which feed and nurture us, fills you with wonder about the miracles that go on all around us, even in the very dirt we walk on. As gardeners, what we want our soil to be is fertile, crumbly, soft and loosely packed. A quote from J. I. Rodale is “Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People.” I do believe having an organic garden can be one of the best things you can do for your health.

You often see in planting instructions to plant in well drained soil. Just what does that mean? Why is good drainage important? If you have poor draining soil, just what can you do about it?

Good soil structure equals good drainage. The definition of structure is “an arrangement of the elements of something complex.” The ideal soil structure is soil which has enough spaces between soil particles to let water and air flow freely. The best soil is where the sand, silt and clay particles take up 50 percent of the space and the other half is pore space which holds water. Well drained soil allows the rain to flow easily through the soil and the plant roots can receive enough air and water. When soil retains more water than air, it will stay waterlogged, and the plant roots do not get enough air and can suffocate. There is an exception to that, which would be wetland plants, which prefer to have their roots wet.

Some soils have high clay content and will contain smaller pore spaces. They will release water more slowly.

There are several things that can contribute to and cause soil to drain poorly. When construction is done on a site many times, the top soil is taken off, leaving the subsoil. Heavy equipment running over it compacts and reduces the pore space creating a hard pan. In some cases, a swale, or contoured depressions that divert excess wa-

ter away from planting areas, can solve some drainage issues. In some cases, french drains or a gravel filled trench can also work to carry water away. By adding organic matter to your soil, you can improve the water holding capacity. Cover crops such as daikon radish, vetch, clover and buckwheat can improve drainage both by helping to break up heavy compacted soil with their roots and then, as they decompose, adding organic matter to the soil.

When the soil is tilled, the soil particles are exposed to wind and water. This soil is more easily compacted and eroded and is more likely to lose organic matter.

Other things that can cause the soil to drain poorly could be improper landscaping that can create low areas where water may pool. Further adding to the problem can also be run off water from downspouts, roofs and streets.

One of the easiest ways to improve drainage is to make raised beds filled with good porous top soil. This will keep the roots above the soggy soil.

There are several advantages to raised beds. If you have permanent raised beds and paths, you never walk on the soil you plant in and compact it. The soil in these beds will heat up sooner in the spring for earlier planting. By keeping these beds mulched and improved with compost, worm castings and other natural amendments, weeds are not a big problem.

In an old organic gardening magazine, there was a tip from Mary Gost of Van Nuys, California back in 1983 about a way to find out what kind of soil texture you have by filling a jar with two-thirds water and one-third soil, then giving it a good shake. Put the jar in a window so you can see it without disturbing it. The heavy sand particles will settle first, followed by the silt, then clay. The organic matter will float. In a few days, all the clay particles will have settled and you can make your analysis. Good loam contains about 45 percent sand, 35 percent silt and 20 percent clay. If more than 70 percent of your soil sample settles in the bottom layer, your soil is sandy. If a third or more remains on top, you have clay. You can use this test to improve your soil and also to see how far you’ve come.

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If you want to test how well your soil drains, dig a square hole one foot deep and wide. Fill it with water and let it drain completely. Immediately fill with more water and place a ruler in it to measure the water’s depth. After 15 minutes, measure how much

water has fallen and multiply this by four, which will let you know how much the water will drain in one hour. An hourly drop of less than one inch indicates poor drainage. In well drained soil, it will drop one to six inches per hour. Soil that is considered dry and droughty would drain more than six inches per hour. It could be fun to get children or grandchildren involved in these tests.

When it comes to building up and maintaining the soil, I use compost and worm castings on all my garden beds. So keeping the compost going is high on the list of things to do to have healthy soil.

Cassandra Warner

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sugar snap peas and English peas.

Sow them directly in the soil one month to one and a half months before last frost date. The soil temperature should be 40 degrees.

Add compost to the planting bed.

If you add any dried manure, do it sparingly, since additional nitrogen will make the plants lush with leaves but they will have fewer and smaller pea pods. Peas like a higher pH and are slightly alkaline. Add lime if needed. You’ll also need to give them something to climb and grow on. Remember, you’ll not only be doing yourself good by growing these delicious green gems but also your soil. Peas fix nitrogen in the soil and make it available for other

Preparing New Beds

If you want to get some new beds ready for spring, when the ground isn’t frozen, you can make new beds or borders. To make the shape, you can lay out a water hose or trickle sand out of a bottle. If you’re making a bed in the lawn, remove the turf and stack it upside down out of the way, and in a year or two, you’ll have some wonderful compost. You can also chop it up and bury it upside down at least a shovel depth in the planting hole.

Oh, but beware of just digging it in–buried grass will regrow, regrow and regrow some more!

A great method for making a new bed is the organic layering method called lasagna gardening.

No removing sod, no digging and no tilling. Now, notice I didn’t say no work. There is work involved, but this method can save a lot of

work. Basic lasagna layers over sod might be newspaper or cardboard, peat moss, barn litter, peat moss, compost, peat moss, grass clippings, peat moss, chopped leaves, peat moss, wood ashes, straw or hay, kitchen scraps, worm castings, peat moss and compost. The layers should be four to six inches each, adding a sprinkle (about like you would sprinkle Parmesan cheese on lasagna) of organic supplements, such as bone meal, lime, wood ashes or sulfur. Put four times as much brown material as you do green, and make layers until you have a depth of 18-24 inches. You can cover this with black plastic and let sit and cook for six weeks. If you don’t have time to wait, you can plant these beds immediately. As with any bed, keep it well mulched.

If you plan to do garden boxes in table top height, you need a good lightweight soil mix to fill them.

Following is a recipe for Mel’s Mix for square foot gardening (All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew). The soil in a box needs to be six inches deep. A 4x4 box will need eight cubic feet, a 4x8 needs sixteen cubic feet, 4x12 needs 24 cubic feet. Suppose you had three 4x4 boxes (24 cubic feet total), then you would need: *Two 4-cubic foot bags of coarse vermiculite to equal 8 cubic feet. *One 3.9-cubic foot bale of peat

Cassandra Warner

Cassandra Warner

plants. The roots loosen the soil and make it beneficial for other plants in the area. *Other cool season vegetables to plant between February and the end of March are beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, collards, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, butter crunch lettuce, iceberg lettuce, mustard greens, bunch onions, sweet onions, radishes, spinach, swiss chard, rhubarb, turnips and potatoes.

Cassandra Warner

moss–this expands to 8 cubic feet. *8 cubic feet from at least five different compost bags.

On a day that is not windy, put these items on a big tarp, compost first, mixing them by taking the two corners of the tarp and folding over until the pile rolls to the edge of the tarp and repeat till well mixed (two people make this easier). Once mixed, add the vermiculite then the peat moss. The ingredients will be dusty, so you need to lightly water before mixing with a fine mist spray.

Don’t wet it too much at this point, but just enough to wet down any dust. Fill your boxes with this mixture, wetting it down as you fill the box to the top. Level it off but don’t pack it. The great thing about this is you have soft, crumbly, rich soil and no weed seed! Yeah!

Who knows what February’s cold winds will blow in, but maybe some gardening inspiration will come your way. So, keep warm for now, and dream on. Hope all your garden plans and dreams come true.

Originally from Texas, Cassandra Warner is a transplant to the garden of Tennessee.

Gardening has been one of her passions for forty years.

“Gardening connects you to the miracle of life and provides healthy exercise and stress relief. Mine has been a learn as you grow school, and I plan to always ‘Keep it Growing’.”

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sic classes, and he was the plied to several top universities, inone who didn’t give up cluding Cal Berkeley. His vision is on me when my practice clear, his talent continues to grow at home was just noise,” and gain recognition and his future Farzin recalls, laughing. is unlimited, with new opportuniHis abilities grew and ties to share these delicate, soulful his sound became exqui- and powerful sounds.

“At college, I would like to desite. Today, in a city of guitars, Farzin captivates velop an ensemble of intentional audiences with the musicians similar to Silk Road. I haunting and beau- want to continually find ways to tiful sounds of the give back to the community and Persian kamānche (a to use music as a bridge to build three string, bowed peace.” instrument) and the rhythmic beats of the A 1968 graduate of Lewis County daf (an ancient frame High School, DeeGee Lester serves as Director of Education at the Pardrum). thenon.

Her articles have been “My first goal published in children’s magazines and was to become a great journals.

She is author of three musician like Kayhan books and co-authored a two-volume Kalhor,” Farzin says. pictorial history of Sumner County.

Kalhor, an internationally-acclaimed musician is the Maestro of the kamanche.

As a composer, too, he has added to the Farzin Dehghan with his kamānche. rich history of Persian music tradition, move to America was exciting for including compositions and perhim. “Here, I would get to study formances for the Silk Road with and get an education and gain new perspectives. I fell in love with Yo-Yo Ma. “If I was going to be like him, www.ValidityMag.com country music.” But there was one I knew I would have to be the major problem. “I couldn’t speak English. The first day, a teacher best. That meant one thing–I had asked ‘How are you?’ and I an- to catch up,” Farzin says. swered, ‘Yes.’” But as a member of From reading his hero’s the soccer team, he couldn’t join the biography, to working conversations of teammates and de- to develop his own skills cided he had to learn this language through constant pracquickly. Now fluent in English, he tice, to actually meeting maintains good grades and a repu- and talking with his hero tation as a top soccer player, includ- (including an invitation ing Rookie of the Year (freshman) to meet with Kayhan Kaland All District (sophomore). Af- hor in Baltimore several ter taking a year off to focus on his weeks ago), Farzin has music, he is back on the field and explored his craft and hopes to make All State as a senior. the dynamics of buildMost Major “Students at Overton know me as a ing a career in music.

At the local level, Insurance Accepted soccer player,” he says. too, Farzin has built Medicare Around Nashville, he is known a network of support Participant ome are as a talented musician with a promCertified Home Care ising career. Farzin interned with among musicians and composers.

“I want the Nashville Symphony and has Agency performed around the city, includ- to be ready for any opHighly Experienced ing the plaza stage for the sympho- portunity,” he says.

Staff In addition to ny’s all day music festival last fall.

Available 24/7 Care is our Another highlight was the pres- performance, Farzin business. would like to compose entation of his music last spring through the prestigious TED Talk. and is particularly at“‘Growing up, my brother Af- tracted to the idea of nHCHomeCare50@yaHoo.Com shar was the first to take me to mu- composing for motion pictures. He has apValiditymag.com 29 .

The Music Bridge Student Profile: Farzin Dehghan, Overton High School

W

e often hear that music is a bridge that connects people. Overton High School senior Farzin Dehghan understands the phrase in all of its complexity.

For him, music is a cultural bridge that keeps him connected to his homeland in Iran and extends furBy DeeGee ther back into Lester the mists of history and his Persian roots. It has connected and strengthened family ties, particularly with his older brother, Afshar–himself a musician and music teacher. And it has been a bridge connecting him to his new life in America.

For the many young people in the mid-state who grew up in one town or city and many times spent their lives in one house, in one neighborhood, surrounded by the same group of friends, it may be hard to imagine life on the move as a refugee and immigrant.

In the Farci language of his native Iran, Farzin’s name recognizes him as the son of a farmer.

As members of the Ba’hai faith, his family moved as refugees into Turkey in 2010 and began the application process for a move to the United States. Farzin moved to America in 2011 with his parents and three brothers (Farshid, Afshar and Farzad), while a fourth brother and his family remained in Iran.

“In Turkey, we had several interviews with lots of security questions,” Farzin recalls, adding, “We also had to take 10 shots before coming here.”

Farzin says, as a student, the

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Cerebral Meanderings

Double Standard

O

ur beloved congressmen/ women who vote themselves raises and lifetime pension plans while the rest of us struggle to build a sufficient retirement is an obvious double standard.

And, back in the day when men were men, we ate first, then the children, who were silent during the meal, and the

By Shane Newbold women fed afterwards. I’m talking real, homecooked meat, garden fresh vegetables and fresh baked bread. Ah, the good ole days.

Now, it’s tough to find a woman who cooks at all. “Honey, don’t forget to pick up my favorite menu item #4 from For Women Only Salads and More. You know that’s my favorite place to eat. I need for you to also stop asking what the ‘and More’ means. Women only. Men can use the drive-through. And the precious, little darlings want pizza again. I’ve also texted your phone the drinks we need from Moon and Stars Pay Too Much for Coffee Emporium. Please remember the Double Dip cookie dough ice cream. The children were grouchy last evening before bedtime without their night-night sweets.

Refrain yourself from the double cheeseburger combo. You can drink water, and the fries are not good for your cholesterol and blood pressure

anyway. I know you want a homecooked meal. Maybe I’ll cook you one next week. I won’t be available today. The girls and I will be shopping and have yoga class. Luv ya.

Oh, I need your credit card. Mine is maxed out, I think. Could you check on that for me? Hope you have a nice day.”

Really? Seriously? You think there might be a double standard in there somewhere?

Women no longer heed the notion that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach (and other stuff too, but no further elaboration, this is a PG-13 publication).

Grandchildren, at least mine, innately possess an evil, manipulative, double standard spirit. As much as I love them, it is a harsh reality. Let me explain.

Nap time for them is hush-hush time for everyone else in the house.

Whispers and tippy toes are required so the sweet babes will awaken rested, refreshed and in a GOOD MOOD! You know, less fussy than normal.

Pop’s nap time is noise-noise time for everyone else in the house.

Children run, scream, cry and act out more than usual. The other adults carry on in typical fashion increasing the TV volume (they say because I am snoring), running every electrical appliance in the house, banging pots, etc. No one cares if I awaken rested and refreshed. A predictable comment from the household would be, “Wow, Pop sure woke up in a sorry ass mood.”

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However, the prowess of the Father to four and best friend miniscule, adorable grandmunchkin to Becky Jane for 26 years, Shane is most masterfully manifested in the Newbold lives life to the fullest birdwatching, fishing, motorcykitchen.

Who enjoys the tender fillet from cling and enjoying his family.

Pop’s perfectly grilled porterhouse?

The little grandbeastie. Who partakes of more than half www.TopoftheWorldFarm.com of Pop’s hot, crispy, greasy, golden-brown, cornbread hoecake fresh from Gramma’s iron skillet? Again, the little grandbeastie, with a smirk and smacking “its” lips. Quite obviously, the cute, ill-mannered sapsucker enjoys the spoils of war. Adding insult to injury, I am routinely assigned the task of feeding the wee tyke MY prime portions.

So I ask, “Does anyone pasture grass fed care, even notice, that we have finished beef a huge double standard wreakpork ing emotional and palatable grass fed havoc on the grandfather?”

And predictable comlamb pastured ments from the adult occuchicken pants, “No!” “We don’t care.”

They’re babies, for God’s sake.” “Geez, Pop sure is in Price info: topoftheworldfarm@gmail.com a sorry ass mood.” “Pop, you need a nap!”

901-491-0183

Top

of the

World Farm 



 

Fall Hollow Campground & R estaurant

Cyclists, Travelers & Storytellers

Restaurant Open: Thursday, Friday, Saturday 5-8 p.m. www.FallHollow.com

Welcome

RV & Primitive camping Bed & Biscuits

Street/Box#: ___________________________________ City: ____________________ State: ____ Zip: ________ Phone: _______________ Email: _____________________

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At the intersection of Hwy. 412 and the Natchez Trace Parkway

931-796-1480 Bill & Kathy Roper

Linden

Tennessee

Shopping • Art • Food • Fun!

Happy Valentine’s Day

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R e s ta u R a n t

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104 E Main Street Linden, TN 37096

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Dalyn Patterson

Jamie Turnbo

Everlasting Polywood • Stainless Steel Hardware • No Rust – No Rot Made to Order With Colors You Like 104 E. Main St., Linden, TN

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Dale Yoder, Owner

yoderslpf@gmail.com

Where Art Flows As Freely As Our Rivers 110 Main Street • Linden, TN 37096 931-628-2678

Linden, TN

Columbia, TN

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Tommy Hight

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Sanders Market

Sanders Service Center Since 1962 2871 Hwy. 412 E

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The South’s Finest Since 1946

106 S. Mill St. Linden, TN 37096

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Waynesboro, TN

Columbia, TN

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Columbia, TN

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