January 30th 2025

[00:00:39] All right, you got to stick your hand in, everybody. Isn't there going to be like, that's what this camera does. Welcome to Warren First 931. I'm your host of the show, Kelly Walker-Slaughter, alongside with us, these fine folks of Warren County. I'm Brian Carr. I'm Joe Harvey. I'm Melody Krem. Yes, we are packed in like sardines as I like to be. We're live at the Black History Museum, and because we wanted to come out here today for several things,

[00:01:07] not just what's going on in Warren County, but what is happening for the month of February, because it is Black History Month to begin with, but we'll get Mr. Wayne Wilford in here. He is going to talk with us all about this fine establishment. We actually walked around, and we got to see all the cool things and what this used to be and what it is now. It's just mind-boggling, and if you're ever in here, ask about the ramp. I'm just going to throw that out there now. Especially if you need exercise or to see if your recent foot surgery took.

[00:01:36] Yes, yes. I can say we are all good now. But with that, kicking it off with Joe Harvey. He is with the Park Theater here in downtown McMinnville, and y'all got a lot of things going on right now. Yeah. The spring season is kind of our heavy hitting time, because we try to kind of work on the school schedule. Because most people, if you want to go see music, you'll see music outside during the summer.

[00:02:05] So we try to keep things between September and June. We're not saying we don't go outside of that sometimes, but our bulk is there. And then in the spring is just when less things are happening. We don't have to compete with the fair. We don't have to compete with Christmas stuff or football. So it's a real good time for us to put the best of the best of our schedule out there. But yeah, we're starting it off this weekend. Well, we kind of already started off. We've had a couple of good shows.

[00:02:33] We had Sweet Baby James Taylor Tribute. That show was a lot of fun. You think about – I love James Taylor. I grew up on James Taylor. And you think of it kind of being very low-key and maybe kind of quiet. But that guy, he did great crowd work, but still kept it at that kind of like – not low energy, but just like very relaxed. You could go in there. It wasn't – there was nothing to get too worked up about.

[00:03:02] But he was taking requests for the second house, and my mom got one into him that made him laugh. Oh, I can't remember the name of the song. The one about the pig. But anyways, that was a great show. So we kind of started off with that. And then this week, though, we're continuing on with the Tennessee Songwriters. I was going to say that's a big thing here. Yeah.

[00:03:32] Well, it's – you know, this is a statewide competition. Yeah. So the TN Vacation puts it on. It's to celebrate Songwriters Week here in the state of Tennessee. And we're part of a qualifying round. So you come play at our place. We have a competition. We decide a winner. And then we send it off to the next round, which I believe it might be the Franklin Theater. I think it is. Yeah. And then the big – the final round is at the Bluebird.

[00:04:01] Or the final performance is at the Bluebird. In Nashville. I think if you win one of those rounds, you get to play at the Bluebird. So, yeah, that's a legendary thing. Oh, it is. Now, how many people will be performing this weekend? We have – last I checked, I believe it was 16. Wow. Yeah, 16. Yeah. We wanted to cap it at 20 because we were afraid it would be more than – like 20 would be a long night. 20 would be a long night. But we had 16 sign up.

[00:04:29] And one of them is Mr. Lee Carr, Brian's brother, also a member of the Joe Harvey Band. He's going to be there. Yeah, he sets his own schedule. Yes, he does. But he's phenomenal. He played for Hark in the Park. And we've talked about this, and I mentioned it in a TikTok video I did. He wrote a song for Hark in the Park and then sang it three days later. I mean, it was wild. It was such a great song. I mean, I would have bought that on digital platform and played it in my car. I think it was the first original I ever performed at Hark in the Park.

[00:04:59] Oh, wow. Yeah, I really do. It was – man, we were all just floored by – That's my brother. Now he wants to claim it. He came in. I'm not going to throw him under the bus too much. But we had asked him, like, hey, you want to play on this song or this song? And then he's like, sure, sure. This is all beforehand. And then he comes in the day of. And we're like, hey, did you learn that one? No, I didn't learn that one. He's like, did you learn that one? No, I didn't learn that one. And then he was like, but I got this original.

[00:05:27] And then he teaches it to everybody in 15 minutes, goes into it. And we're like, we're all blown away by it. It was incredible. It was one of the best songs of the night for sure. It was great. They didn't tell us that ahead of time. I'm in the audience going, I don't know this one. And then I'm looking it up on my phone. I can't find this one. What is this? And then they said, and I was like, that's why I can't find it. I was very, very proud of Lee for that one. That one really was great. But I'm sorry. I've gone astray. Songwriters. Yes. 16.

[00:05:57] Happen at 20. Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to have three judges with local connections. The third one, we're waiting to confirm. But the two that I do have confirmed are local music legends, Chip Green. All right. Oh. And Lucy Hayes. All right. Oh, that's great. Yeah. So they wanted connections when they ask you for qualifications for your judges.

[00:06:24] They want people who are locally connected, but also have connection or experience in the music industry. Both Lucy and Chip have those. And they're great people. We love them at the theaters. Did Izzy Gray sign up? Um, I don't believe so. Okay. Um, Josh from August Lowe's though, defending, uh, defending title champion. He will be. Oh, yep. So. Y'all make things complicated. I was supposed to be at the basketball game tomorrow night, taking pictures. And now y'all doing all this. Well, we, uh, I'll be honest.

[00:06:53] We based the date around, uh, since there's so many of the other qualifying rounds, uh, common Johns in Manchester, they're going to do one too. They're doing theirs Saturday night. So we didn't want to do it on the same night. Okay. That was how we chose. Very interesting. We had a window. We had to do it in. We knew a weekend would be better for most. Um, but yeah. Uh, so we're, uh, um, we're really excited about that one. I think it's going to be a great event. People ask for the songwriter stuff in the, the, uh, songwriters night and they're good to do, but it's something you can only do so often.

[00:07:23] And the fact that this is a statewide competition, I feel like it really fits. It does. And you know, now if anybody wants to come and watch, um, this is like, how much is it at the door? It's a $5 ticket. You can buy it ahead of time right now. If you want to, um, mcmedvilleparktheater.com, um, or you can buy it at the door, but it's a cheap $5 ticket. You know, we'll have concessions and we're going to have, uh, begonius is going to be down there, uh, serving beer and pizza. So your whole night is, uh, is right there in the theater. Yeah.

[00:07:52] We, uh, um, we love having the local vendors come in and, and, uh, and sell stuff for us. So, but yeah, that's going to be a great night. Um, and while you're in there getting the tickets for that, Twitty and Lynn comes on next weekend. Yes. Well, next weekend is, um, uh, it is a interesting weekend of two contrasting shows. I'll say that. Uh, um, Saturday night, like you said, we do have Twitty and Lynn, which is it's the

[00:08:19] granddaughters or the granddaughter of Twitty, of, uh, Loretta Lynn and the grandson of Conway Twitty. Yeah. They get together. They do all their songs. It's so cool. I've not seen it, but everyone I've heard. I've heard. It's phenomenal. Everyone raves about the show. So we're really going to miss that show too, cause I'm going to be at prom. So adult prom, not regular prom. I was going to say which prom? Adult prom. We'll talk about that again in a minute. Adult prom. I hate that I'm going to miss that. Because we need to talk about that one. Yes, we do.

[00:08:45] So, uh, but yeah, that, that show that it's, it's one that's been heavily requested at the park theater. Uh, it's happened to places close to here, but we've never had it here. Yeah. We're really excited to have that one. Everybody just says it's just the best show. So, uh, we're really excited about that on Saturday night, but the night before something that is, you know, uh, along the same lines and kind of a tribute act, uh, we're going to have, are you ready for it? A Taylor experience. So, um, yeah, are you, are you ready for it?

[00:09:15] Taylor again? Oh my God. I mean, what am I missing? You know, we, we just had, um, you know, she, Taylor Swift just finished the, the highest grossing tour of all time. Oh, that Taylor. Of all time. That Taylor. That Taylor. That Taylor. Yeah, that Taylor. It's a different Taylor. Swift piece calling all your stuff. I thought she was a Chiefs fan. I thought she just watched the line. Oh, no. That's well. I am so excited she gets to go to the Super Bowl again. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, last year it was her versus Eminem. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:42] But this year I think we've got, it's not, it's, it's her team and somebody, I don't know y'all. Eagles. Eagles. But, speaking of this, it's a good like experience if you didn't get to go to it, whether it was in the States or not. I had one dad come in and buy the tickets. He's like, yeah, and he's buying it for like a four year old. So it's, it's, it's a white lie for sure. But he was like, we're not going to tell her it's not the real Taylor Swift. Oh my God. She's going to figure that out eventually.

[00:10:08] But, but yeah, no, the reason we, we booked this show is, you know, we hear all the time about these, um, stories from, you know, mostly older people in the community of all the great times they had at the park theater. You know, with the talk about, um, uh, Saturday show time and just all the movies. Everybody's like, I saw ET. I saw star Wars there, you know, all these great things that happened there. And we really want to be able to have events that give this next generation that, that ability

[00:10:35] to have that great time and programming for those younger, you know, especially, especially the kind of the age group that she has that tween to young adult. It's tough to program for them. So we figured, you know, we do a lot of tribute acts for all these other things. You know, we, Elvis sells out every year he comes. So we were like, let's try a, um, there's, there's more out there than you would think. Um, but, uh, we, we had a, uh, uh, company that we like working with who had this one and

[00:11:04] they really raved about it and it looked good. I think it's going to be a good time. We're going to, um, we've got, um, the middle school dance team is going to come in. They're going to do a friendship bracelet, uh, making station. Cause that's a big thing. Yeah. Those of you who are like, why? That's a huge thing. Um, but yeah, so it's going to be, it's going to be a, a family friendly or a Galentine's kind of event. Um, yeah, it's, it's going to be a good time. But like I said, it was something a little off the beaten path.

[00:11:32] We wanted to try and we do, we wanted to do, try to do some programming for that. And tickets are on sale for that. That one. Yeah. And we, uh, um, I work with a Swifty who helped me, uh, price tickets, price tickets, according to the, uh, some of the, um, uh, the, the, the, the codes and the, uh, I, I, I will admit that I think all the, uh, uh, little like secret messages and things she, she puts in her stuff. I think that's really funny. All the little, the numbers, all the Easter eggs.

[00:12:02] That's the best. And her costume changes are incredible. And her security guy is intense. I fell down that black hole the other day. Oh, really? There is nobody. I mean, he is, he is so good to her. I mean, he is on top of it. He's like family. There was, there was a clip where she was leaving one of her concerts and she was wearing typical Taylor Swift stuff. But the, the, um, uh, reporters, the photographers were knelt down to get pictures and he made them all stand up.

[00:12:29] So they ended up not getting pictures, uh, you know, going up her skirt out of respect. He goes, everybody up right now. Well, do you remember? She did that process. Oh, she, um, oh, against that guy that touched her butt. Yeah. And, uh, that's the best way to say it. And she said, you touched me. And he's like, no, you don't. And she's like, yes, she did. And she sued him for just a dollar. Yeah. That's all she has for a dollar because to make it like, I don't want your money. Yeah. I don't want you to touch me, but I want you to know this is an acceptable behavior and you're going to be accountable for it.

[00:12:56] Like there was a picture they took at some award show and I can't remember the guy's name, but it was a producer and she quit working with him and everything. She's like, no, that's not. Yeah. I mean, she is. Now if y'all ever have met Taylor, she is. I'm going to be short compared to her. Like I cannot, she is a tall human being. She is tall, but she's so graceful and so generous. And then she gets a lot of hatred, but every town she goes in, she finds a charity and donates to. She does. A charity in need.

[00:13:24] It doesn't matter what country she's in, what state she's in. She always gives back. She's boosting the economy too. It's the Taylor effect. Exactly. Yeah. It is. She is a Tennessean. I mean, Pope John II. Not originally. Her parents live in Nashville. Hendersonville, but she was not originally. They moved down here to start her career and she was going to Hendersonville and her mother would drive her to the record studios, but would tell her, if you want this, you got to go get it.

[00:13:52] And at 14 years old was sending her in there to pitch herself to these record companies. And you know, my name is Taylor Swift and I want to record for you and made her earn that. If you want it, you got to get it. And I think that that's why she is where she is because she's fought for this from the beginning. It's not something her parents got her. It's something she wanted and she went after. She did. As you can tell, we have some pretty knowledgeable Swifties here.

[00:14:19] And this is why we're doing the show, you know, because it's a passionate fan base. It's relative. It's relative. Yes. And like I said, we're trying to entertain everybody. We figured it was worth a go. I'm really excited. And again, what night is this? This is going to be Friday, February 7th. A week from tomorrow. A week from tomorrow. I have a feeling I know we're two little twins. Yeah, I've got four at home that I know we're there. I was going to say, they don't mind walking down the park theater for that, Joe, do they? Oh, no, they do not. You guys have got some great shows coming up.

[00:14:48] I am so excited. Edwin McCain, you've got Sister Hazel. Sister Hazel. No, we're not allowed to say Sister Hazel. It's Sister Hazel, but it's not Sister Hazel. It's Ken and Drew. It's two people from a podcast. Ken and Drew from a podcast. We aren't allowed to say the SH word. Well, no, no, no, no. You can see it. It's a copyright thing. You just have to say Ken and Drew from Sister Hazel. There we go. That's why we, you know, that's... They're not going to shut me down for saying something wrong. I mean, they were specific.

[00:15:17] And like, you can't just say Sister Hazel. Yeah. Yeah. Ken and Drew from, formerly of, from Sister Hazel. Ken and Drew. Yeah. I'm very excited. They're the songwriters. Yeah. They are. Yeah. We're really excited about that show. Valentine's Day. So if you need something to do for Valentine's Day, no reason not to. We're really excited about that one. It's going to be an acoustic show. So once again, kind of low key, but got to storytelling. That's, that's the thing I always love.

[00:15:45] Like some people get disappointed by an acoustic show, but for me, the acoustic show, the storytelling that comes with it. You can hear the song on the record at home, but the stories, man. Lauren Morgan was that way. Pam Tellis was that way. I'd love to see Lori and Pam come back together. I've recently, here we go with the TikTok, but I've recently gone onto TikTok and their best friends and their videos together are hysterical. They would be so much fun on the stage together telling stories because they were already

[00:16:14] telling stories on each other with the other person not being there. I can't imagine the banter if they were both on stage. Now, wait a minute. That's not what really happened. But I love those acoustic shows because I like the background stories and I like the history. It's not so loud. It's not just music. Yeah. And the space really fits that, you know, because, you know, some people want the big rocking show in there and I'm like, I would love to have that in there, but with all these, you know, thick seats, it's tough to have that in there.

[00:16:44] But saying that, we're going to kind of try to get a little louder. I was going to say, you're still going to play with the odds. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to try that sometime. I would say if I could have one magic button in the theater, it would be one magic button where I can just press and all the seats on the floor go away. Yeah. And then I can press it again. They call come back. Yeah. That would be my one magic button because it would be so great. The floor would open up and the seats go down. And then I get I'll be honest.

[00:17:10] I get offered some of the some of the well-known like 90s grunge bands. And I tell them, like, guys, I'm sorry. I don't have a place for the old millennials to mosh. I don't mind, Joe. There's that small space, but it's not really a good mosh. Just go behind the stage. Although, I will say Santa and Grinch almost started a mosh pit. They did. Oh, man. That was wild. There's nothing closer to a riot that we've had at the Park Theater than when Santa shows up. I know. It was insane.

[00:17:40] But what else is going on? So that following weekend, we're going to stick with it. You know, you don't have any reason to be bored on Valentine's Day. No. The next night, a favorite of Main Street Live is Forever Abbey Road. They're phenomenal. They're coming. John Salloway and his team, they always do a great job. Yes. Those songs. So, yeah, they're going to be here on the 15th.

[00:18:04] So you can come see Sister Hazel on Friday night and or the Beatles experience on Saturday night. And get a date weekend. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And then. You've got it all booked up pretty good. Yeah. Well, the week after that, we've got Warren Arntz is doing Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins. Yeah. So that's going to be a whole week. It's a whole week for me. It's a whole weekend for everybody else. Yeah. I always end up talking about them in week spans because they come in there and they rehearse in the space and they make sure all the sets are right.

[00:18:35] And this is Mary Poppins Jr. So it is a kid's show. This is all kids performing this. And they are doing a phenomenal job. You're a part of it. Yeah. I'm the photographer. I've been photographing everything. And support team. Support team. But no, they're doing a great job. The costumes are incredible. It's going to be a great show. Another great show. We love everything Warren Arntz brings in there. It's. We got a doozy of a schedule this year. I'm so excited. You know, they, they, you guys do it at such a high level.

[00:19:04] But at the same time, you also keep it community oriented. Yeah. And you make it accessible to people who are, who, who want to try their, their hand. Yeah. Yeah. And we've got a lot of new faces in this production. You know, you tend to get the same kids over and over again. But, um, part theater group is doing high school musical. And I noticed a lot of the same theater kids are in that one that were in West Side Story and that are in several Warren arts programs. But with Mary Poppins Jr. Um, we've got several new people. Mary Poppins herself.

[00:19:31] I don't think it's done stage or has done very few. Um, I don't even know. Oh, she's in the band and I just forgot her name, but I think she's new. You're so you'll see some familiar faces, but you'll see some new ones. Um, Dr. Rob, who's one of our chiropractors in town, his daughter that's is making her stage debut. She's one of our team sweeps and she's, I mean, natural talent. She's it's wild. And so I'm, I'm very much looking forward to this show. It's going to be good.

[00:19:57] And so Joe, all these events you're talking about, you can find easily with a click of a button. Yeah. McMinnvilleParkTheatre.com. And that's actually the, uh, thank you for saying that because that is something we need to stress in this day and age of, uh, third party ticket sellers. Go to McMinnvilleParkTheatre.com. And don't be a scalper. Yeah. Well, what you're going to use. These, most of the people who are scalping tickets for park theater shows are robots. They're, they're websites. Yeah. They, uh, you know,

[00:20:27] they're, they'll, they'll go in there. They can click on links and teach a, um, a robot to do the, do all the things that they need to do. And they'll sell you the ticket. The ticket will probably be good, but they'll charge you an extra $30 for it. So, but McMinnvilleParkTheatre.com. Always McMinnvilleParkTheatre.com. Don't necessarily just Google it and take the first link. Go to McMinnvilleParkTheatre.com. And say, there's a big button. When you first get on, it says get tickets. Yep. And that's got our schedule. It's got everything we're doing.

[00:20:56] You get to pick your seats. It's great. And the prices are always very reasonable. I mean, compared to what you would be paying at Bridgestone or one of the big things, you get a more intimate setting and you get more reasonable prices. And you don't have to pay for parking. And you got better company. Free parking behind the park theater. There's no charge for it. You get food across the street. I'm telling you, it's a great experience. We've had some people run into that.

[00:21:22] Our CPA did make us push taxes and our credit card fees forward. But those are very small things. You don't get the Ticketmaster $50. We're going to hold your hand through this whole thing fee. So, yeah. McMinnvilleParkTheater.com. I can't stress that enough. And also, you can always call the box office. 931-506-2787. Or come in. Or you can come in. We're there Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. We love seeing faces. You can come see Miss Donna.

[00:21:52] I love all this. Miss Donna's amazing. Donna's great. The whole team at the park theater is so incredible. And nothing against the people who used to work there. This is a powerhouse team. We've never gotten shows like this. It's a bigger, better park theater. And I'm loving this new look. I'm loving this new look. I would like some grunge. I'm not going to actually just throw that out there. I'm just saying, I'm a millennial here. I've been pushing that for Main Street Live for a couple of years. Let's see what we can do. We'll never take a check. Whoever into the mosh pit.

[00:22:23] Hey, I know we've got to go. But while we've got Joe here, I'm going to bring up something on your wife. So, his wife is one of our wonderful teachers. And her pre-K class is collecting hearts across the world again. They're trying to get a Valentine from all 50 states and different countries. They already have Florida, Idaho, Nevada. But if any of our listeners are from any other states and want to send in a Valentine to this pre-K class, the address is on our Facebook page. Warren First Facebook page.

[00:22:52] Please, please, please do that. Look at you. Help me get some brownie points at home. I'm doing awesome. See that segue? I'm good at segues. One last show I wanted to hit while we're still talking about favorite. We're doing our local connection series. We're staging local bands. Yes. T.C. Bryant bands. T.C. Bryant. We love T.C. Bryant bands. Shelly and Timmy. Those guys know how to entertain. They're so good. Incredible.

[00:23:22] Yeah. And we're really excited to have them. That's going to be the last day of the month. That's the 28th. I want to make sure I got that right. But 7.30 start time on that one. And that one, actually, you need to know about that one. Because if you buy your ticket ahead of time, $10. Buy them at the door. It's $15. Makes sense. We want to make sure everybody knows about it. Everybody commits to it. Pre-sale. You're going to save some money by buying your ticket ahead of time. They've opened Main Street Live for us the last two years. They're incredible. I'm very excited to get to see them in the live theater.

[00:23:50] They opened up for several over acts at the Warren County A&M Fair. They play at Mud Bums. Yes. On the regular, they're a great local band. Yeah. If you've never gotten to experience it, it's definitely a show you don't want to miss. Great dudes. Great players. Great entertainers, man. It's a show you don't want to miss. I'm sorry. I really wanted to sneak that one. No, no, no. Shout out to Timmy's wife, Jane, who has the patience of job with him. Yes. Yes. That's the truth. Again, thank you so much for coming out today. Thank you guys for having me. You definitely need to start coming more. Yeah.

[00:24:20] Hey, when I see you guys across the street. I want to say this every time when we're here because I know we're just as busy and we don't think about it. You know? Yeah. But I know I see you guys across the street. If I see you alone, I always debate. I'm over there right now. Yeah. But I'm going to do better about just hopping in there. Oh, you're fine. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you so much for stopping in and seeing you. Appreciate you guys. We're not worthy. Let me just scoot out this way. Exit. Stage left. While we got the time.

[00:24:46] While we're waiting, right now, currently in downtown McMinnville, we are at 52 degrees. It is going to be at the high of, I'm just going to snag it for a minute, a high of 58 today and low of 36, 80% chance of rain. And then Friday, again, another 80% chance of rain, high of 59 and low 44. And then cloudy, 56 degrees high on Saturday, low 41. And then sunny skies on that from Sunday to Monday.

[00:25:16] And then also on Tuesday, highs in the 60s. I mean, look at this weather being all springy and cute. Like it didn't just try to kill us a couple of weeks ago. I know. I call this the warm, I call this warm winter. Because we are in winter season, right? Well, ladies, let me tell you something that's nice today. And thank you, Tops Metro Deli. We're normally in there. But today we're here at our great Black History Museum. But today is National Croissant Day. I have a croissant from- Shout out to Depot Bottom. Yes.

[00:25:46] Okay, look, I'm going to tell y'all, I'm a bit of a croissant snob. She is. And I will tell you that croissant at Depot Bottom was absolutely the best croissant. It was exactly what a croissant should be. It was warm and it was flaky and crispy. And she smeared that thing with butter. Oh, it was a whole experience. Shout out to Suzanne and them and the phenomenal job keeping, I think, a historic part of Warren County. They do a great job there. That Rocky Top Salad is my go-to for one. Yes. Awesome.

[00:26:14] Listen, I'd love to do a pop-in there just for the food. Yes, that would be so much fun. But they have a great group of clientele that meet there. They do. All of the older gentlemen who know things. Me and Melanie were sitting in the table for two and I could hear politics on one end. The guys behind us were talking about the press secretary. Let me say this better. Federal government was in the back and in the front was local. And I was like, Melody, do you hear what's going on?

[00:26:43] The guys behind me were talking about our new press secretary who is just doing a phenomenal job. No notebook, off the cuff. Yes. No nonsense. She's doing a great job. And I'm just very impressed with her. And I want to tell everybody, you know, knowing like now that this is like the first, would this be the first full week of the, like in the, with the president of the transferring and stuff? Well, yeah, this is, this is the first full week. And a lot has gone on this week. He has done a lot.

[00:27:10] Now, one thing that we do just need to touch up on, and we have been, I don't like not having a table to cover up all of my sins. It's okay. Um, anyway, we're trying to keep up to date on the page. We now have the audio and we now have the visual, but, um, there was a horrible accident that happened last night. Um, there was an airliner, uh, that was Wichita leaving Wichita, um, had figure skaters, their coaches on board. And we're not sure who else was 64 people in.

[00:27:38] They somehow collided with a black Hawk helicopter that had three on board. There's definitely more questions than answers at this point. Um, which is understandable, which is understandable. But they have moved from recovery or from rescue to recovery. It is not expected that anybody survived that crash. And the last we heard when we got out of the car, there was 27, uh, bodies pulled out. 20, 22, 22, no, 27, 27.

[00:28:05] So, um, and they did find the fuselage inverted. And in three pieces, I was talking to a good friend of mine who is a former military. Yes. Was former military and also worked in a black Hawk helicopter unit when he first started his deployment. And he said, the only thing he can figure that that would happen is that the blades of the helicopter chopped it in half. But he said, it's like a one in a million chance. So I'm not sure. Like I said, there's more questions than answers.

[00:28:31] Um, he did say also though, that it is very strange that, that it was only one block black Hawk helicopter because they normally do fly in pairs. And, um, there's normally four on board and there was only three on board. So, like I said, there's a lot more questions than there are answers at this point. We are going to, um, give you guys as much detail as we can when we hear about it. I guess it's, it's horrible to say this. Not really grateful.

[00:28:57] I guess the one good thing that came out of this is that they did crash into the Potomac instead of onto land because this was in Washington DC. And that's a highly populated area and it could have been so much worse if they had hit the land. There's always been other cons. Yes. They were right there by the airport, but no matter what, there are 64 families that no longer have a loved one with them.

[00:29:26] And well, and then the four, four or the three pilot. Yeah. Uh, the three people in the helicopter and, um, our thoughts and our prayers do go out to them. And, um, as we find out more, we will let you know, but that is all we know at this time. At this time. Um, but I will share the audio and the, um, I guess I'll share the visual too. Yeah. Just put it on. It's going to be on all our socials. Yes. Check it out.

[00:29:51] So, um, Facebook, Instagram, uh, YouTube and, uh, Twitter now. But that is the latest breaking thing. Oh, that and the other bad thing that is happening that we just found out during breakfast is as you all know, in North Carolina, they are still suffering from the effects of hurricane Helene. And now in one of those towns that was ravaged, they now have a, uh, wild and out of control wildfire burning through the region. Um, so please continue to keep those people in your prayers. They've already lost so much. And it looks like, here we go again.

[00:30:22] And you know, it does, like I always say, it does, it gets worse before it can get better and they're trying their best and shout out to Randy England and everybody that has come together and has got food for them, supplies that I think they're still taking, um, and I apologize cause I'm nasally today. Um, uh, um, empty gas tank or propane tanks, propane tanks.

[00:30:46] Um, and if you have not delivered them yet, you can drop your, uh, propane tank off at Redmond's, uh, flooring over there. That's where we dropped ours off. You know, any bit can help in this situation. And, you know, and one thing that Randy was telling us at TCAT was that how Warren County, the McMinnville area has really stepped up and stepped out and has helped these people out a lot.

[00:31:13] And so I say to Warren County, you know, this is why people come to live here. This is cause you know, when somebody is in need, we come together. Well, and I will also say shout out to our president and vice president who within four days of him taking office, we're there. They've got to start getting these people into furnished apartments. They started getting them off the streets, um, and getting them someplace safe and where they need to be. As well as helping out the folks in California with the fires as well.

[00:31:42] Yes, they have. Yes, they have. I want to make that clear because a lot of people when he went there, they're like, what about us? And I mean, he, then he went out there and helped out with us. Which, yeah, he's doing everything he can't. He did the same thing when Cookville happened. When the tornado went through Cookville, he was right. I mean, he didn't go to Nashville. He didn't go to the biggest city. He, he went to the place with the most damage and, um, one thing, and I'm going to mispronounce the name, but it's Swananoa, um, North Carolina. He not only went there, but he brought these people up and had them tell their stories on,

[00:32:11] um, air and to tell, and to tell which insurance companies they were with that had let them down. And most of them weren't worth Farm Bureau. And I found that very interesting. Um, not saying Farm Bureau is all the way bad, but it seems to be the one that most people in that area had gone with. But, uh, but I'm just glad progress is finally being made because I've talked about this numerous times. I feel personally connected.

[00:32:38] That's, you know, my original home state and, um, and I love the actual area. So I'm just, I'm so grateful that we're making progress. So, so one more thing, and then I'll let Brian go. I want to say thanks again to some folks that reached out to Warren and First 931 and tagged us in some posts that's been happening over the past few days. I do want everybody to know, um, cause Melody actually sent it too. Um, the, did you put that in the group one? I think I don't, I want to make sure I say it right. This one. Yeah.

[00:33:09] So I want to say thanks to this listener that tagged us, but, um, I just want everybody to know we're, we're looking into this as everybody. I know, um, that's looking into this, but it says fellow Warren County. And are you informed that a new community is being established near an existing highway eight community bringing in 25,000, uh, new community members, which compr, uh, comprises over half of our current county populations.

[00:33:37] Now I say, I'm just going to say that one part, but it has been brought to our concerns. It's also been brought to a lot of our county officials, uh, and all the commissioners and the aldermans. If you are out there and you've read this and you're like, what can we do? How can we fix this? My thing to you guys is you've got to call your county commissioners. You've got to call your aldermans. That's what they're in the seat for. Let them know your concerns.

[00:34:02] The only thing that I know about this situation is, and I can't remember what the, um, and Brian may or Melanie may know. There is a law, like a, a religious or a religion or a religious law that protects them under this umbrella. And, um, and as far as I know, and if I am wrong with what I'm about to say, when I was researching this yesterday, they have not, to my knowledge, have contributed anything to

[00:34:31] our community or our county. That is my knowledge, to my knowledge. Yes. Cause they are tax exempt organization because it's a religious organization and religious entities do not have to pay taxes. So we've got 25,000 new people coming in because they are considered a part of this religious organization. They will not have to pay taxes into the community. Um, however, we cannot confirm that they are part of this religious organization. We are still trying to figure all of this out. Yeah.

[00:35:01] I do know that the construction company that's building these houses is with the, um, with their religious group. Okay. That's their, that's their company that's building. So it sounds like they keep everything internal. Yeah. Everything's always been internal out there. People in Warren County don't profit from any of this. So yeah, we'll look more into it. And I want everybody to know that, you know? Well, and the unique thing is this is not the first time this has ever happened.

[00:35:27] This has happened in other cities across the United States where groups like this start, uh, developing and have a following and then keep everything internally. It's happened in Iowa. It's happened in, uh, Portland, Oregon. Yep. It's happened across the United States. So we're going to keep our eyes. Well, and you know, in my opinion, a church should not require you to pay to become a part of the church at that point to me, that, that defeats the purpose. Yes.

[00:35:57] You tithe when you are part of a church, you tithe, you know, if you are able to, but for it to be a requirement, you can't join such and such church until you pay such and such money that to me should, um, take them away from being, being able to claim themselves as a religious. And that might be their way of tithing. Let me say that. Cause I don't know all the logistics on it. I just know that it started as a religious thing. Maybe we need to have somebody from that organization. I would love for that to happen.

[00:36:26] Cause I know that there's, I just to clarify, because my thing is, I don't know if they're doing anything good and or bad. I don't know. Might be the best thing for Warren County ever. Yeah. I do know that you can, you used to be able to go and tour. I've toured the facilities. You still can. But I mean, I, I know that, well, I've got a lot of people. I do a world peace day out there, um, as well. I've not gone since they put up the gate since then. Cause you used to be able to just drive in there.

[00:36:55] Now they've got a gate, but I mean, I know that there are a lot of Warren. This is, this is how things get started. There's the fear of the unknown. When you don't understand something, when you don't know how things go, you become very nervous, you become fearful. And then that just starts spinning out of control. So I think it would be good if we could possibly get somebody from the organization to come

[00:37:17] answer questions, maybe quiet some concerns, um, and, and ease people's minds as to what's going on. And this is not just it. I wanted to say this too. Uh, this is not just people that live in Warren County. The land goes all the way to Van Buren County. Yes. So it's connected. So, and I've heard, uh, we've had not only Warren County people call me, um, I've also had some Van Buren friends of mine call me and, and they're, they're just concerned because

[00:37:46] it's so tight knit and it's like you said, the unknown. And so I think if, uh, it seems very secretive, which it might not be secretive, but it does seem, it seems very secretive and very inclusive. And that can be a little bit scary. Um, but I've always found that when you don't know how something is, or you don't understand how, how things work, go and ask questions and find out.

[00:38:09] And the reality of the situation is Warren County holds about 40,000 people, 20,000 in the city, 20,000 in the county. And these are rough estimates, but when you get a population of 25,000 plus that's not included necessarily in that, then that changes the way things are voted on. It will realign districts. There's a lot of things that will- If they vote. I don't even know if they vote. They vote.

[00:38:35] And then, and the reason I know that is because the shells for pollings or election stations- That's right. Is in that district. Okay. So that's where people who live at Isha have to vote. And it just so happens I was there. That's your area. I worked that station this year. I early voted, so you didn't see me. Oh, I know I didn't see you. Sorry. But guys, we're going to stay with it. We're going to find out what it is. It'd be nice to have some of the commissioners come on, especially in that area. Yeah.

[00:39:03] To find out what, what we need to look forward to. Get to the bottom of it, you know? And somebody from Isha. We'd love to come. Come on down. Now, before we get Mr. Wayne on here, let's go send some love. Thank you, Mr. Tom Davis, for sending us some love this morning. Good morning. Good morning, Deborah Jo. Thank you so much, Ms. Reetha. Good morning. Yes. Love Ms. Reetha. Connie Judkins, thank you so much for tagging several people.

[00:39:33] We're going to send some love to Bobby Judkins and Rigsby Hawkins. Stephanie Smith, Bobby Jo Person, and Julie Rigsby Kirksky. Kirksy. Kirksy. And Kirksy, yeah. Okay. And then Shanna Caldwell, she wrote Depot Bottom is the best. It is. And she is right. Depot Bottom is great. Yep. And you can actually start getting our newsletters now at Depot Bottom. We actually had a caller this morning. And I do apologize. I don't remember your name.

[00:40:01] But said thank you so much for doing a newsletter like this. Because, you know, it's just phenomenal. Yes. Who's coming in first? I tell you what, if you want to get them both on, I don't mind sliding out. I'm good. Yep. You want to switch? All right. Switcheroo-hoo. Musical cheers. Thank you all for having us over here this morning. I'm very excited. Come on in, Ms. Rebecca. No.

[00:40:31] All right. All right. So we are here, like we said, live at the Warren County Black History Museum here in downtown McMinnville. And with us, we have two special guests that run the top ship here. We got Ms. Rebecca and Mr. Wayne Wolford, a.k.a. my substitute teacher back in the day. But good morning, guys. Good morning.

[00:40:55] Speaking about that, Mr. Wayne, a lot of people may not realize, is the one who started the Black History Club at the high school, which is now the Multicultural Club. No. Jeff Martin did. Jeff Martin, I'm sorry. And then a year later when I retired, then I joined him. Okay. I'm sorry. See, I got it wrong. Yeah. He's getting clarified. He's getting his props. That's all right. That's why we're getting clarified. But it's called the Multicultural Club. Club now. Right. Yes. I think so. When it started as the. Shout out to Catherine and Leah and all them keeping it going.

[00:41:25] It is quite a large number of students. It is. I didn't hear you with them last year during this time. Yeah. But with that said, we have toured this amazing facility. If you have not come here, you have got to check it out. Just the history of McMinnville alone. This is. Talk about it. Like how this got started. Why it got started. Who wants to start? Wayne. Rebecca's like, I'm out.

[00:41:54] I know all that stuff. It came to a point to where I was retired, retired from military. And when you're retired, you get kind of relaxed and you want to just chill, you know? And so I was laying in bed and, you know, these premonitions, these voices come to you and say, you need to do this. You need to do that. So we just wave off others. You know, we kind of listen to a little bit. And this one particular one came through and said, Wayne, I know you're retired, but I have one more thing for you to do. I looked up. I said, what's that?

[00:42:25] And that boy said, you're going to start a black history museum. I said, what? You're going to start a black history museum. Yeah. I thought about it and thought about it. And I got up early that morning, took my shower and everything, put my clothes on, got my checkbook. Let me find me an accountant. So I went, got an accountant. And I got 501c3, charter, chapter, tax exempt, all that out of my pocket. Okay. Not knowing what's going to happen from here, you know? Yeah.

[00:42:52] And so not too long after that, I started telling people about it. And I had pulled around and got $8,000 within about a two week period. Wow. No building, no anything. Yeah. And so all of a sudden we got lucky and got this building here, this suite and on Main Street. And I thought that was pretty neat. And next thing I know, okay, how am I going to fill this thing up? Now I have some storage at home that I thought I was really going to be able to pack in here. Yeah.

[00:43:22] But that didn't happen. People have really been nice bringing and getting stuff to me. And so to make a long story short, my daughter had talked to somebody and they had some jewelry cases. And I said, yeah, that would work. And so it was supposed to have been 20 jewelry cases and it was supposed to have been $50 a piece. I said, okay, we had the money for that. So we go ahead and do it. But by the time they got here, they had 26 cases.

[00:43:50] And most of these are jewelry cases, but there are two seven foot cases that have lights and everything on them. Yeah. And so they stuck that in there. So it was 26 cases all together. Wow. Everything included paying for them, getting them here and everything. $1,900. I looked up. I said, wow. Yeah. That'll put you where you need to be when you need to be. And so it's just taking off from there. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, talk about the room we're in specifically, because I'm assuming like each room I can see

[00:44:19] somebody from McMinnville. I know. You know, talk about it. Well, I started out with the back room back there because I'm retired military. And I said, well, if there's going to be a subject that I'm going to pick on, that would be the one to pick on. Yeah. And so when I was in the military, I started out with radars, working on radars. And then it got to the point to where we were working on the programs and I started writing

[00:44:47] the program and start teaching the program. And that's from tubes into digital. Yeah. Okay. And I also taught liaison people from, you know, liaisons from other countries. And then I was teaching instructors. So I had that capability. And so when you said about substitute teaching, I wanted to come here and start a basic training, not basic training, basic electronics. But I had the lesson plans, but I didn't have the equipment.

[00:45:16] And so I couldn't start at a particular time. So I said, I'll just take a break for you and see what happens. And so when I did that and I went and got my barber's license back because I used to do froze back in the day. Well, there you go. And then when I did that, I said, let me try something. Let me try substitute teaching and see how the system is. So that was a good idea to go through all the systems here because we had a couple of blacks and hit start, but we only had one black principal here and that was Mr. Martin.

[00:45:46] So he wasn't in the classroom. No. So the kids couldn't see anybody my flavor in the classroom. And so by teaching in the military, I knew what discipline was. I knew what respect was and I know what character is. And so my character spoke for itself. And what I wanted to do was let McMillivale know this is the way it is now. This is who you're looking at. So when you leave McMillivale, you have a pretty good idea of what it's like out there.

[00:46:15] I agree with that because he always made it so fun. And when he came in the room, his presence commanded me. You had fun with him, but you didn't want to make him mad. Can I say that? Intimidated. Not bad. I think his daughter would agree with that statement. Which I would say, your daughter is incredible. She is the sweetest soul and she's so smart and she's just an incredible human being. Yeah. But so talk about the rooms, like each room.

[00:46:45] I mean, I see a school setting room that's across from us. Which is my favorite. And then talk about this room. What is special about this room? Well, you hit on that. Okay. And I'll hit on some of those. This room right here is to commemorate all the people in McMillivale. Our families, our uncles, cousins. And I'm not done with it. I got about like 9 million more pictures to put in here. Oh, gosh. But we try to represent the families, represent some organizations.

[00:47:13] We have the Sedberry Hotel and the people that work there and all of that. And it's just to, you know, if someone comes in, like you said, anybody that comes in just about, it doesn't matter who they are, they see somebody they know. They see a teacher or a friend or somebody's mother or whatever. And it's just, it's home. Yeah. I just feel welcome here. It's just two battles up there. Yeah. Which was called Turkey. Yeah. That's why people don't know.

[00:47:39] And of course, I know Odisha because, you know, I had her in cubbies when she was like three and four years old. I mean, you know, it's just so great. And like, are y'all still accepting donations from families like throughout? When you say donations, you're talking about pictures, items, stuff like that. Yeah. Yes, most definitely. Is there anything that y'all are missing that you've been trying to like look for?

[00:48:03] I want to do more research myself on the way things were when the earlier times started, what the population was for us, blacks, whites, what the jobs were, plantations. We didn't have basically what they call plantations like they did in Georgia and places like that.

[00:48:24] Because the main thing here, which we are the nursery capital of the world, were the apple trees and the peach trees, apple cider and stuff. That's right. And that kicked off more anything. And I'd like to have more information on that, you know. Yeah. I've heard like we've had, we were helping make apple bourbon at one time. Yeah. Yeah. It was keen. And then, you know, I was talking with, you know, you might want to go over and talk with CK and Dan. Okay. Because their new place, they got it at Pure Will. Magnus.

[00:48:53] They were talking about the house that we're in. That's where the workers would go. Oh, okay. Because they had every, the rooms were broke down. She goes in. It's really neat. Like the history of Warren County guys, just, it blows my mind. But they were like, there were columns here and they go because each of these were a room. And then the main guy, the main that managed all them, lived in the bigger, like right here.

[00:49:20] It was, you need to go and holler at him because there's so much history, you know. But I mean, the school room's phenomenal. It changes all the time. So I remember the first meeting you guys had at the library to talk about this, to try to raise money. And I'm like, I'm in. Yes, this is great. This is what we need. But I've come up here multiple times. And as you've developed this place, and every time I come in here, there's new stuff. And I'm like, where'd this come from? But it's incredible.

[00:49:50] So if you've already been here and you're like, oh, I've already seen that. No, you haven't. Come on back up because it's great. And now there's an upstairs that you're starting to work on, right? And you've got a music room, gorgeous picture of Jasmine Dillon up there. Beautiful. She's phenomenal. And you just keep expanding and growing as more people are willing to. And you don't have to give it up. They can loan it, right? You can just loan it and get it back, you know, just as a temporary thing or whatever.

[00:50:18] They're happy to take a donation in whatever way they can get it. And it's always, you know, we always invite people to come. We have a number there. You can basically reach me. We have a museum number, too. But you can reach me at area code 931-212-6609. And even though we don't have a lot of hours set up to where we come in, but it doesn't take me but 10 minutes to get here.

[00:50:44] And so if you come ring the doorbell or give me a call, I can be here. Because if you're from out of town or whatever, you know, you might want something to do that day. So, you know, I can come and Miss Rebecca can give you a tour. So there's no problem at all. We do want people to come in and be educated. It's not just seeing what's what, but the education on the way things were. Yes. And then the way things have changed.

[00:51:10] And myself, you know, when I'm doing different descriptions, yes, sometimes I have to use the white. Sometimes I have to use black. Right. But my main thing is flavor. So you come in. I have a bunch of kids come in. They look around. I say, you're all different flavors. They look around at one another. I love that. So, you know, this is the thing, you know, we're trying to do teaching here more than anything. Educate. And when the time comes, if we get the, when we get the money, not if we get the money,

[00:51:37] but we have some land over by Ramsey Park and we want to put a cultural center. This way, we're opening up the door to all cultures. Yes. So this is, yeah, all flavors. All flavors. So this is, this is one of the main Robins, but for people. But this is what we're really pushing for right now. Like you said, we want to make our changes here. We want to keep some of it simple because like you say, the Brown Hotel and Sidbury, you know, those were monumental places around here. And you had people coming in from all over.

[00:52:07] This used to be a jumping town. It did. Yeah. The amount of celebrities. Now, is there an admission fee to come into the museum? You walk in, we give you a tour. We talk, we have fun. You share your ideas with us. We share your ideas with you. We share ideas with you. And we have a box there that where you can conveniently put in a donation or if you want to write a check. Donations are appreciated, but there's also a gift shop now. So you've got mugs. Yes. Mr. Wolford here is an author of one of our local authors.

[00:52:36] His book is incredible. Mr. Gwynn, who was not able to be with us. He's also a local author. You can get those books here. Correct. Right. But there's coffee mugs. T-shirts. T-shirts. Some sunglasses up there. So there's things you can buy. But are you still doing the brick program? Yes. I know you were doing that. Tell us a little bit about that. Okay. The brick program we have over at Ramsey Park. And this is a fundraiser too. So if you want to do something like put your name on it, your company's name, somebody that

[00:53:04] in your family that you thought very highly of or somebody in the community that you thought highly of, they're $50 bricks and they're $100 bricks. And we get those and we print them up and we place them over at Ramsey Park. So we have places for them. And again, that's a fundraiser for us. Yeah. And very similar to the bricks that they have in downtown sidewalks, but over at Ramsey Park. Okay.

[00:53:29] And another big thing I don't want to forget to mention is what's happening at the Magnus Library this Saturday, because of course, February 1st starts Black History Month for the whole month of February. But you guys have events going on like throughout the whole month of February. I wish it one Saturday. Yeah. I was going to say, I forgot to bring my calendar with me that I got at the Unity Walk. They did all that. But this Saturday, talk about what's happening at the Magnus Library.

[00:53:57] Well, my director, Mickey Gwynn is really working well with the community and he's really come up with some great ideas. I actually had to turn this over because of all the emails, the bills and all this other stuff. I just wanted to get this thing going and be the curator. So I'm the founder, curator, but I needed somebody to take over all the duties. And Mickey's done a fantastic job.

[00:54:25] And what he did, he set up something with Brad over at the library and there is going to be a Rosenwald display exhibit. A lot of people are not familiar with Rosenwald. One of the key things about him, he was the president of Sears and Robo back in the 20s. And in the 20s, can you imagine a person having $50 million? No. That's a lot of money. And what he did, even though he was Jewish and he was friends with Booker T. Washington,

[00:54:55] but they produced 5,000 schools and buildings for black teachers and students throughout, I think they said 15 states now. I thought it was only seven. 15 and 300 and I think 330, 340 were here in Tennessee. And we actually had a Rosenwald school here. Did where? It's called Bernard. Okay. The original Bernard. The original Bernard. Okay.

[00:55:23] Because the one that you all have seen pictures of is the one that was replaced after a fire. Okay. And some of us had attended that one. Yeah. My mother. Oh, wow. And I attended it. Yeah. Because my folks would let me, living in St. Louis, my mother would let me come here and stay every other year. So my background here is a little different than a lot of people that have been born and raised here. Yeah.

[00:55:52] Because when I came here, I was born in 58. And so when I first got here, I got here in 56. And when you're a young kid, 11, 12, 13 years old in St. Louis, I can get on the bus. I'll sit in where we want to. Right. My friends, right downtown at two stores like Macy's. We go in. You know, you have the grills there where you can get hamburgers, French fries and all that kind of stuff. Sit there and have a good time. You want to go to the movie. There was an all black movie, the theater to go to.

[00:56:21] You turn the radio on, you hear the four tops, Temptations, Supremes, you know, all day long. Yeah. That's it. And all of a sudden, my mother would let me come here every other year. Not summertime, every other year. Yeah. So I had to go to school here. And then I look and I see. Yeah, culture shock. And I see signs saying where I couldn't drink this water. I couldn't go in this bathroom. I couldn't go in the front of this building. Yeah. Go to the back and get your food. Wow. That was. Had to go through the door at the park theater to watch upstairs.

[00:56:51] Had to go upstairs. But those are the good seats. I know. I know. I'm like. And that was all over the country. That's what's so weird about it. Yeah. Yeah. And in churches and in courthouses. I'm like, I'd rather be up there. Can I go up there? That's sweet. What was so weird about it was I had to learn how to walk that walk and talk that talk here. Yeah. Because I had so much freedom where I was. And I come here and everything was different. Yeah.

[00:57:18] And so that's why when people come here and I get to talk to them and share experiences with them, whether they've had the same experiences or not, it's a learning experience, you know. And I tell them, you know, wow, I've come a long way. I've seen a lot of stuff, you know. So, wow, it's been a good ride. It's been a good ride. Well, you know, Wayne, I talked to you about this. I called him as soon as I left the place. And I mean, I cried through the whole thing. But in Clinton, Tennessee, which is not too far down the road, it's right outside of Knoxville.

[00:57:46] There is the McAdoo Cultural Center, which was the McAdoo school, which was the first segregated school in Tennessee. It was the first. Segregated or integrated? Integrated. Sorry, I used my wrong word, y'all. But they were the first ones. And that cultural center lets you know what those people had to deal with. All of the hatred. The using the Bible to justify this. I mean, it was. Separate.

[00:58:16] Oh, it was horrible. Jesus doesn't want blacks in our schools. What Jesus are you talking to? I mean, it was wild. And then at the end, it shows the profile of each of these kids and what they're doing now. And I actually bought a book with this woman, actually turned her experiences and wrote poetry about it. I think everybody should go. As I said, it's not that far. It's a great time. Anytime is a good time to go. But it's McAdoo.

[00:58:44] It's M-C-A-D-O-O. At least look it up. It is a moving experience. But I called Wayne. I'm like, you're not going to believe what I just saw. I was like, oh my gosh. I was just so shook. And they have it set up like a school. You sit in old school desks and watch on the blackboard this whole thing about it. It is so well done and so well put together. And it was incredible. But it just, again, it's that culture shock. You know, you just don't.

[00:59:13] Why do they have to fight so hard just to get an education? I mean, my gosh. And the thing is that they were talking about is the town didn't have an issue with it. All of the anger and animosity came after the media came and made such a big deal. And all these people from out of town came. And they're the ones who made such a big deal about it. But the town itself was okay with it. But anyway, it was just, it was a really, really great experience. And I feel like that's why I like Warren County so much is because I do feel like we have a lot of flavor.

[00:59:44] You know, there's so many different cultures here now. And I know everybody could say the joking thing is, why do we need another Mexican restaurant? Why do we need another, you know? But they all, there's so many different cultures in the Hispanic culture. And that's why I love being here because everybody accepts everybody as just a human being. Trying to live a better, the best life that they can live. And you know, when I do go to other towns or other places still this day, it's not the same.

[01:00:13] It's not the same. And you know, my heart goes out to everybody that has that struggle. But it's like you say, we, by having like a multicultural center and having a Black History Museum, we as parents, we need to educate our kids. No matter what their flavor, they need to understand. We have to educate them to let them know there's, you know, it's not just this. There's several others. And that's why I say I love McMinnville because Walker's like, well, what is he?

[01:00:43] And what, you know, all this stuff. And, you know, and for my son, because I, honestly, I'm just going to say it. Mr. Warford was my first Black teacher. Right. And then in fourth and fifth grade, I saw, we only had two, you know, two Black kids in our school. And now, you know, my son's kindergarten teacher. I love Miss Quick. She is amazing. Her accent, I think she's from Nigeria or somewhere. But they absolutely love her.

[01:01:11] And he came up to me, he's like, mom, I have a brown teacher. He's awesome. And we have a South African living here. Yo, I can't remember his name. He works for one of the banks. But I love talking to him because he's got the greatest. Peter. Thank you. I know who you're talking about. I had a long talk with Peter when I first met him. I'm like, what? You're what? I'm like, just sit here and talk to me. I go like, whatever. Okay, I'll take it. I'll take it. Yeah.

[01:01:40] But no, he's a great, great guy too. I mean, it's, it's, I don't think people realize that even though we're a small town, so many kids, people are from so many different countries and so many different flavors. And it's, it's great. And it's just so nice. I do. I love it. And it's so important to, to learn about all of that, to learn about other people's cultures, expand your mind. It goes back to what we were talking about. A lot of the times the fear and the hatred and the ugliness comes from unknown and not understanding.

[01:02:09] And if you ask questions and, and listen to learn not to respond, you will learn so much and that fear will go away. Instead of going down the rabbit hole that everybody goes down, it's a, it's a vicious cycle. It is. But again, I always, I encourage everybody, whether you, you know, I encourage everybody during the month of February, find an event to come out, whether it's here at the Black History Museum or the two big events. And I should have brought the paper, but I accidentally did help.

[01:02:38] Speaking of events, we have heard that you guys have got the local jazz band coming to play for you guys. Yes. When? Remember they came and played for us and they said they were going to be here. The weekend of my birthday. The 23rd. That we came that Saturday. 22nd, 21st. Uh-huh. Yes. Which are phenomenal, but they're going to be doing all the old great, great music. Yeah, they brag on it. Good stuff. I tell those kids, by the way, and this is another thing why I think so great about Howard County.

[01:03:06] These, you know, the jazz band, they're listening to all different types of music. They're off the cuff and they, I mean, they're like, follow my lead. I mean, the drummer. Woody Armstrong. Phenomenal. Billie Holiday. Etta James. Oh. I mean, we had some great music in the day. I can sit there and listen to that music all day long. Instrumental, musical, I don't care. It's great. One of my other favorite movies is Cadillac Records, which tells the story of Etta James

[01:03:35] and The Wolfman and Chuck Berry. Right. And he had some really weird songs. Let me just tell you. I remember the first time my son listened to my ding-a-ling. He's like, wait a minute. My son absolutely loves that song. I did too, but he hated me. I think it's a boy song. I played it for him. Now listen, this is how I educate my kids. The duck walk. You educate them early. He was four years old.

[01:04:03] I was like, oh my God, my son would love this. And so let's just say after bath time, it was very interesting. We were on the way. I'm playing this music like it's like, I'm not even thinking about it. Matt must have been about eight or nine years old. And we're on our way to the fair. And I remember this because we stopped at a lot. And he goes, oh, I got a question. I said, what? Is he singing about his? And I'm like, he is. He is. He goes, why? I guess he really likes it.

[01:04:33] You know, I wish I could ask him. Be like, you know, is this just a parody goof song? I think it was drugs. I think it was drugs. No. But I mean, he made the duck walk famous. I don't, Mondays would not allow me to do that. Not on a good day. Oh my God. But I mean, all of those greats. I mean, they were phenomenal. You've got some great albums out here. We're talking about Isaac Hayes. Ooh, that man's what? These stories you're talking about. The school I went to in St. Louis was called Solon High School. And right across the street, it was a gated area there. Chuck Berry lived there.

[01:05:03] See? See? I love that kind of stuff. And then Chuck Berry came here and performed at the fairway. One of the fairs, huh? Really? I got up front row and I was twisting my way, twisting the night away. Oh, see? A lot of people don't know that Little Richard is from this area. Oh, is he? That's another fun one of Little Richard. I did not know that. Where? What's her name of the Jake Daniels? Lichberg. Lichberg. Really? Yeah. We'll go to Lichberg.

[01:05:32] Well, he passed away, what, two? Last year? Last year, I think. You hear that song about Bush? Oh. Yeah. That question? Yeah. Oh, I had a chance to play with her. You did? Yep. Did you do it? Almost. Almost. Why did you not do this? Right. I lived in St. Louis. So you came here every other year. Went across the river with my friends, and we went to see Ike and Tina Turner, okay?

[01:06:01] And there was a Blue Note Club across the railroad tracks, a little place over there. And we sat there, and it was getting time for them to play. And all of a sudden, Tina said, you know, does anybody here play drums? I threw my hand up. I've been playing since I was six. I'm 76 now. And I'm playing with two bands now. And so got up there and got everything set up. I said, oh, man, this is my moment. You know, I'm in my 20s, you know. So I'm good now, but I was much faster then.

[01:06:27] So we got ready to play, and all of a sudden, guess who walked in the door? The drummer. The drummer. Couldn't you just not have stayed outside for a time or two? I looked up. I said, oh, why? You know. So, yeah, I never was able to get to be a professional drummer. So, no, no, no. Hang on. Back to him. Back to him. I want to go back on this. Hold on. You got on the stage with her and held the sticks, right? Yeah. It counts. Oh, okay. I'm going to say it counts. You raised your hand, you got on the stage and you're like.

[01:06:55] But nobody knows but me and my buddy and then the stories that I tell now. That's it. Oh, my gosh. That's so awesome. Little Richard died May 9th, 2020 in Tallahoma, Tennessee. Yeah. I do remember that. That's wild of all the places to end up. Yeah. Well, you know, a lot of people don't realize how much great music came from. Tennessee in general. This is not just, you know, like from all sorts of sides. Right. Well, I mean, you've got to look at Memphis. Yes. B.B. King.

[01:07:25] I hope it's Presley. Obviously. But there were so many. Johnny Cash basically got his start there before he moved on. I mean, there's so many great music between Nashville and Memphis of people that Dolly Parton. I mean, of course, Sevierville. I mean, we've got so many greats that came out of this state. Yeah. I am noticing now that more people are accepting music as a whole. Yes. Now, like I said, when I was in St. Louis, I had, you know, I was listening to all black music, you know, soul music at that time. Then when I came here, I was still playing drums.

[01:07:54] I would be known books and all this kind of stuff. But I turned the radio on and guess what was on the radio stations? Country. Country music. Yeah. And so I learned that. And so here I am playing with Steve Harvey and Nick Boland and Joe Collier. Assisted living band name, John. And we're playing, you know, we're playing out of country music. Yeah. And so I didn't need any sheets to read it. I knew what it was. So I just fell right in, you know.

[01:08:22] So that was the whole circle there. And I really, I really liked it. And the way people are accepting music now still is a little slow, you know, especially for us. Church is a concern. You go into church, you hear a certain music. Oh, yeah. And if you go to church music. Yeah. Yeah. Because I want, because I want, I want music to move me because I'm, I'm, I'm a, I play instruments. Yeah. Yeah. And I want music to move me and I want the, the teacher to teach me. So when I leave from there, I'm feeling good. Right.

[01:08:52] Let me tell you something. Carrie Underwood. How Great Thou Art. Acapella. Will bring me to tears every time. That performance. But you know, country music, Charlie Pride. I mean, look what he did. You know, and now we've got Darius Rucker. I guess we can throw him in there. One of my good friends. Well, not good friends. I shouldn't say that. One of my, one of my drama theater people I did theater with, Connor Clemons, is now trying to break in on the country music scene. And he's phenomenal. And he's, he's a black artist.

[01:09:22] He performed at Myrtle Beach for years. He's got an album out. He's been on the radio a couple of times. He's trying. He's pushing through. But it's, it's a hard push. It is a hard push. And there wasn't at the time. Cause when, before I left the radio station, we got the, we were cleaning up the albums in the back. And you see all these white people in there. And I'm just like, and then when I come across a brown guy, I'm like, Whoa, for the cowboy hat. And then, and everybody's like, yeah, there was like maybe one or two out of every 10. You see.

[01:09:52] But Charlie had such an incredible voice. Everybody can sing what it, to what they want now. And it's just amazing. And, you know, well, you, you're looking now, you know, there's so many ways to break in. We got so many flavors going on, you know, I guess when I was in the military 20 years and I come back and I go to Walmart and you know, there was a time there where you wouldn't see a white woman holding a brown baby. That's right.

[01:10:21] And then if you say something about that baby, no, this is my blood. This is my grandchild, you know? So that way I'm looking at it. They getting educated about this, you know, because even me and with hair products, you know, there's certain products that you put on the hair. When my mother was in the nursing home, they didn't want to put any grease or anything on it. Well, some people have to have grease like my daughter. Okay. Now she has to wash her hair because she has so much grease in it.

[01:10:49] But us, we have to have grease in it so we don't get dried out. Those are the kinds of things that we learned for us. The culture is concerned. And when you have different flavor babies, you know, you're going to have to learn some of the kinds of stuff. And then these kids now, they don't know what happened back in the old days. They know who their friend is over here. They don't care what flavor is or she is. That's their friend. And then that's how they learn these different cultures. What these kids like, you know, like what people like to eat, what people like to wear,

[01:11:18] what kind of music they like to hear. You know, once we get in that situation where we understand what's going on, it's going to be a better place. One of my favorite videos to find on TikTok is black people bringing their white friend home to the barbecue. And they're just sitting in that corner with a plate full of people going, oh. Every time, they're like hoarding that plate. And I'm like, what am I missing out on?

[01:11:47] I didn't buy me a black barbecue. The only person in my family that I would ever say brought the flavor would be my grandma. But then you go to everybody else, like whether it was our Chilo and him and his wife, and then go to one of my other friends. And I'm like, oh my God, where have I been missing? Like in college, I had a black roommate. And she, after we all took turns cooking, but when it was her turn, no one wanted to

[01:12:14] cook anymore because she brought all this flavor in there. And she's like, I'm telling you guys, but I will tell you the trick she taught me, which was so hysterical. She said her grandma showed her. She's like, if you don't have time making mashed potatoes, make instant. And she showed me the best instant mashed potato recipe. And I was like, so I have used that recipe to the day I die. I'm just telling you, it's just, you got to start talking. You just got to start a conversation. My friend Damaris is supposedly an amazing cook. I've not done that.

[01:12:44] But we always joke. I'm like, don't you come at me with those greens. He goes, you're eating greens. I was like, I'm not eating the greens. I'm not a vegetarian. Because you need to. Well, this one right here can go when it comes to cooking. Maybe we need to. I love to cook actually. It's so therapeutic. And it is so. I love it. I love it. But I'm not eating no greens. With that said, anybody that's interested, because we do have to wrap up. We got some other things we got to do today. Do you have a Facebook page, website?

[01:13:14] Like people can follow you somewhere. Yeah. Oh, sorry. Black History Museum of Warren County. On Facebook. Okay. And you can also go to the website. On the website. That's the website. The website is bhmwc.org. Okay. Simple as it. And we try to keep that up. Let people know what's going on. Are you guys going to be open the rest of today? If somebody watches this podcast and goes, I need to get up there. Are you guys going to be here?

[01:13:42] We'll be here until 2 p.m. or a little bit later. But if they need, just call that number. 931-212-6609. 6-0-9. And we can get a tour. And talking about education. I'll get you a consult from the Depot Bomb and then come check out the museum. If there is a teacher, a school out there, even the Warren County school systems. If y'all want to tour, I think y'all should take the time in February. I think it's good. Absolutely.

[01:14:09] To make the kids come through here and show them, you know, the Black History Museum. My thing is, as a parent, if you don't start them early, they are going to miss so much. And so that's why I've always tried to teach my son and stuff at the very early age when they were born. Yeah. And so if there is not a school yet that has not come through here, for shame on you, start bringing them. But they don't have to come in February. They can come anywhere. Exactly.

[01:14:38] I'm just thinking it is Black History Museum. You need to come. But anytime throughout the year, people are always looking to be educated in the school systems. This is a great way to do it. And homeschool too. Oh, there you go. It's like I always say, we're not raising children. We're raising adults. You need to not talk to them like their children. Don't treat them like children. They're a lot smarter than you think that they are. They need to absorb and learn. Yeah. Kids could be better lawyers than some today. Yeah. Well, we really appreciate you all guys coming and doing this. This is great.

[01:15:08] The more advertisement, the more exposure we get. Absolutely. Hopefully, more and more people will learn. Yeah. It only takes one to make a difference. It does. It does. And that's the one I'm hoping comes through that door. And Mickey Quinn was with us last year. He came and I was like, no, I got to go over there and see this. And now that I have time, because it's just so crazy. But again, we might actually come back one day and just videotape the whole room and do a good show for you guys. I mean, K-Ron's come back home.

[01:15:38] He's not working at Coffee Bank. CJ Taylor's making a difference. And Jasmine's making a huge difference. She was the first African-American to perform on that show, correct? And Gatlinburg? June 8th. Yeah. And now she's up north somewhere. But I mean, we've got Warren Countians that are making a difference. They're making their mark in history. And I just think that's just incredible. And before I have mentioned this the other day, too, as I'm just now thinking of it, at the Bernard Gym, they also host.

[01:16:05] And I don't know if they always go to the Bernard Gym. I just saw this posted this past weekend. So it's already done. But there's Underdogs Fighting Odds. And they do like a basketball camp sometimes at the Bernard Gym. So, again, if anybody's ever wanting to help horn in on those basketball skills, that's another opportunity for you guys to check that out. And there is a Facebook page called Underdogs Fighting the Odds. And you can check all that out and get all those details.

[01:16:34] And that's another great building. Oh, June Pink there, too. Yeah. That's another great building. Young Men United is another group that's making phenomenal strides and steps in the right direction in our community. Maybe we can get somebody to talk to them. I know you guys work closely with them. Actually, what was it? Is she still here? Just tell her the whole type. Okay. But that's another great group. But with that said, this has been such an awesome time, guys. Thank you.

[01:17:03] And I would love to come back again. Oh, yes. You know, maybe closer to Juneteenth to help push that a little bit for you guys. Yeah, I appreciate it. But make sure you guys come out here and just show your support and get it. Like, that's the big thing I think I'm going to push this month for February. Be educated. Yeah. You know, because that's, it's just important. If you're not educated, what are you going to know? If you've got grandma stuff hanging out in the basement or old documents you haven't gone through or old pictures, please consider donating.

[01:17:31] Either permanently or even just loaning it to help tell the story of more county. Share the stories. Yeah. Share the stories. Well, with that said, it is five minutes till 11 and I have to go and do my next appointment. But, and I have to get up. This is where it's going to look awkwardly weird because I wanted to do it differently today. But remember, y'all can hold up the finger for me today. Okay. Not the bad one. I'm looking at you, Rebecca. She looks like a troublemaker.

[01:18:01] She does, don't you? Remember, Warren County, keep it first. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.