Charm of the Carolines

It’s time for a Celebration!

Gold lame. That's what I was told to wear, gold lame.

Every woman wears gold lame to The Celebration. It's all the rage!

I thought they were pulling a fast one, you know like when Bridget Jones wore a bunny costume to the Tarts and Vicars party that turned out to be just a Sunday garden brunch at her mother's house? Luckily, however, I already owned a metalic gold cowboy hat with a large gold lame bow that I had purchased in Tahoe, knowing somehow it would come in handy. I could build an outfit around that. And I'm glad I did.

 Shelbyville, Tennessee, at the end of "summah" is the place to see and be seen. And yes, there was gold lame everywhere. And horses, sleek, beautiful, talented horses draped in ribbons and roses with Elvis singing the Trilogy in the background... you know, the song that starts out Look away Dixieland moves to Hush little baby don't you cry and ends with Glory, Glory, Hallelujah.

Beautiful girls were sashaying about holding large silver bowls to award the winners. Our nation's flag, state's flag, and yes, at one time even the Confederate battle flag perched high in the background. For two weeks each year, local Shelbyville residents leave town, renting their homes to families traveling in from around the world to attend the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration which takes place during the 11 days and nights prior to Labor Day.

The Celebration is the premier event for the Tennessee Walking Horse, during which the breed's World Grand Champion and some 20 World Champions are named. It is a festival event, encompassing exciting classes in competition where more than $650,000 in prizes and awards are given.

Other activities include a barn decorating contest, a trade fair and a dog show. This year marks the 71st Annual Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration scheduled August 26 - September 5, 2009.

The Celebration is the term generally used to identify both the event and the organization that manages and presents it. The idea for a Walking Horse "festival" (later identified as the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration) is generally credited to the late Henry Davis of Wartrace, TN. Henry Davis went to nearby Winchester one spring day in 1939 and observed the Crimson Clover Festival. He became very enthusiastic about what he saw and returned to Shelbyville with the idea that his home county should have a festival to celebrate their most important asset - the Tennessee Walking Horse.

The idea was cultivated into the first Celebration on September 7, 8, and 9, 1939. It has been held every year, without interruption, since. I don't know if gold lame is all the rage anymore or even where to find it, if it is, but for more information regarding directions, tickets, winners, owners, and schedules, visit www.twhnc.com.

Jennifer O'Neill and the Summer of '42

One of middle Tennessee’s most recognized faces and one of the busiest women I’ve ever met is internationally acclaimed actress, film and television star, Ford cover model, entrepreneur, CoverGirl spokeswoman for 30 (count ‘em, 30) years, author, and proud mother of three, Jennifer O’Neill.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to an English mother and a Spanish-Irish father, Ms. O’Neill’s career first began when her family moved from Connecticut to New York City. Blessed with great energy and beauty, Jennifer quickly entered international modeling at age fifteen. Having developed a passion for horses while visiting her grandparents in Brazil, Jennifer envisioned modeling as a way to purchasing her very own first horse. The fashion world quickly opened doors to other goals like acting. And only a short while later did her unique qualities get noticed by director Howard Hawks, who cast her to star opposite John Wayne in Rio Lobo. Ms. O’Neill was a leading actress, married and a mother by age twenty-one.

After her film debut, and against the advice of her agents, Ms. O’Neill accepted a role in the “small” film, Summer of ‘42. Her portrayal of Dorothy in this film made Jennifer O’Neill a household name, and today Summer of ‘42 is one of home videos’ most popular titles.

As if all this activity weren’t enough to fill the day, Ms. O’Neill is also a constant worker for charitable causes, having served as chairperson for the American Cancer as well as other worthy causes too numerous to name. Additionally, she remains actively involved with her childhood love of animals, sponsoring the Jennifer O’Neill Tennis Tournament to benefit the ASPCA, and fund-raiser for Guiding Eyes for the blind. Today Jennifer successfully continues to train and show champion jumping horses at her home near Brentwood, Tennessee.

What I know Ms. O’Neill best for is her incredible and inspirational testimony published in her book From Fallen To Forgiven. She volunteers her time speaking and counseling women and teens and will be the special guest speaker at the PureStyle Fashion Workshop and Show, Saturday, September 19, at the Columbia Mall in Columbia, TN. The event is free and open to the public beginning at 5pm. However the workshop for teens between 10 and 18 years old is from 1 to 4pm and costs $35.

For more information on Ms. O’Neill, please visit www.jenniferoneill.com. For more information on the PureStyle Fashion Show or to register for the PureStyle Fashion Workshop, visit www.purefashiontn.com.

From Plowshares to Swords and back again

Years ago on the way home from a family vacation to Nag's Head, North Carolina, my family stopped at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Museum of Atomic Energy. Much to the chagrin of my younger brothers who only found amusement in the hair-raising static ball, our dad made us stay for hours and hours while he read every sign of every exhibit.

On the 64th anniversary of the end of WWII, brought to a close by the detination of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I found it only fitting to ask our dad to jot down the most interesting points he learned that day about the mammoth and secretive Atom bomb project the government conducted at Oak Ridge.

The story really began in the 1800s...

"Bear Creek Valley someday will be filled with great buildings and factories, and they will help towards winning the greatest war that will ever be. And there will be a city on Black Oak Ridge and the center of authority will be on a spot middle-way between Sevier Tadlock's farm and Joe Pyatt's place. A railroad spur will branch off the main L&N line, run down toward Robertsville and then branch off and turn toward Scarborough. Big engines will dig big ditches, and thousands of people will be running to and fro. They will be building things, and there will be great noise and confusion, and the earth will shake. I've seen it! It's coming!" This quote was from John Hendrix (1865-1915), a local resident regarded as somewhat of a mystic, as he prophesied some 40 years before his vision became reality.

Jump forward to 1942...

In October, 1942, the U.S. government began quietly acquiring some 60,000 acres of land in the area of the Bear Creek Valley. This site was known as the Clinton Engineering Works and was to develop materials for the Manhattan Project. The area was a 17 mile long remote valley, sparsely populated, but accessible by highway and rail. Utilities such as power and water were available from Norris Dam.

The population of the area grew from 3000 in 1942 to 75,000 in 1945, making it the fifth largest city in the state of Tennessee. The K-25 uranium separating facility covered 44 acres and was the largest building in the world at that time. The area was, however, an official government secret, and did not appear of any maps. A high fence and guard towers surrounded the development and access was restricted, through seven gates, to only cleared personnel. The town, complete with housing, stores, schools, and even a bowling alley, did not have a name until 1949.

The K-25, S-50, and Y-12 plants were built to separate the fissionable isotope U-235 from natural uranium, U-238. (Ok, about here you may begin to understand why Rob and I were bored out of our minds at the end of the family vacation and the static ball was the most interesting exhibit at the museum, but please continue. You're nearly to the end!)

In order to preserve secrecy, President Roosevelt allowed the Manhattan Engineering District to quietly borrow 15,000 tons of silver from the U.S. treasury to make wire for electromagnet coils rather than purchase a like amount of copper on the world market arousing suspicion. All information was on a "need to know" basis, and while the workers knew what they were doing on their individual jobs, few had any idea why.

And 1945...

The "why" was revealed with the news on August 6, 1945, of the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan and the revelation of its power...the power that expedited the conclusion of the second World War.

Physicist Enrico Fermi, who designed the world's first nuclear reactor (at the University of Chicago), was in Oak Ridge when the Graphite Reactor "went critical" on November 4, 1943.

Ghosts of Franklin

In her new book, Ghosts of Franklin... Tennessee's Most Haunted Town, Margie Gould Thessin puts pen to paper to document the ghostly spirits haunting Franklin, TN. Margie is one of the principals of the Carnton Ghost Tour and Franklin on Foot, a walking Ghost Tour of historic downtown Franklin.

From Chapter 1, The Original Steel Magnolia, Margie recounts a story about one of Franklin's most beloved watercolor artist, Shelley Snow."It was approaching midnight on a swelteringly hot night in the summer of 1980. Shelley Snow, nationally-award-winning Tennessee oil and watercolor artist, was painting late in her studio at Shuff's Music on 3rd Avenue. She was alone.

Shuff's Music had opened in 1978 in the elegant 19th century Greek Revival house in downtown. Ron Shuff, the owner and an accomplished musician, rented the rooms in the house to music teachers, composers, and musicians of all kinds, and also sold musical instruments, sheet music, and supplies.However in the early days the studio was not fully rented with musicians, and when Shelley asked Ron to rent a room for her painting studio, he agreed.

Shelley was working late one night because she had a commissioned work on a deadline. As she worked later and later, she began to get sleepy. But with the deadline looming, she stayed at it. Finally, her eyelids heavy, she decided to take a nap on the sofa in her studio.

Suddenly, in the fog of sleep, Shelley heard a loud and unexpected sound... Creeeaaak... creeeaaakkkk.

Shelley, now fully awake and listening intently, recognized the sound... the creak of an old rocking chair and somebody rocking it. But there was no rocking chair in Shuff's and no other person in the building when Shelley locked herself in earlier in the evening.

Curious and unafraid, Shelley followed the sound, passing through several rooms, and finally came upon the source. The creaking sound was coming from a room with the door closed. Shelley opened the door. In the room facing the street, gently rocking back and forth in a rocking chair by the window, was the spirit of a very old woman.

"She looked very wrinkly and tired," Shelley remembered, "and was wearing a long white gown and night cap."

The ghostly woman continued to rock, and as she looked at Shelley she spoke, "I used to live in this house."

Shelley left.

Who was the apparition claiming residence of the house on Third Avenue? Simply visit Landmark Booksellers on Main Street for your very own autographed copy. And for more information, visit www.franklinonfoot.com

Fried Green Tomatoes

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a plate of fried green tomatoes like we used to have at the Whistle Stop Café. Ooh!”

  ~Ninny Threadgoode, from the 1991 film Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes

is more than just a great Jessica Tandy movie. It is also one of the most delectable side dishes you will ever put in yo mouf! Most southern cooks learn to make this when they are no bigger than knee-high to a grasshopper, as long as Momma or Memaw do the frying.

Run out to the garden or your Topsy Turvey or the local farmers’ market and collect 4-6 firm green tomatoes. Wash’em up and slice into ½ inch thick slices.

In a shallow dish, place ½ cup all-purpose flour and ¼ to ½ cup corn meal. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a heavy iron skillet. I use peanut oil, but others will do.

Dredge tomato slices in flour mixture and place in hot oil and fry until brown on both sides. Remove and place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Salt and Pepper to taste.

These fried green tomatoes are perfect just the way they are. Nothing else is needed, unless you want to stack them between 2 slices of bread and make a sandwich. However, some folks like to make sawmill gravy to put on top and I got nothing against a little sawmill gravy.

To make gravy, add a cup of whole milk to the leftover brown bits and oil and other contents of the skillet after frying the tomatoes and stir to make gravy, adding more flour or left-over flour mixture to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste. A little bacon pieces and/or grease doesn’t hurt either.

Pour gravy over tomatoes and get out of the way!

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