Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Centerville Grocery Store Closing

After about 60 years in business, a local grocery store is closing on November 7, 2010. Donna's Cee Bee is the latest casualty of the recession in Centerville. The store has changed hands several times during its history, but this time it is closing.

Channel 5 in Nashville carried a story about the local business. You can view it here

One only needs to take a look around the town to see the that the recent past has not been kind. There are plenty of vacant buildings around the Centerville, TN Square. Many are in disrepair and are perhaps casualties of the American appetite for cheap China-made goods that one finds in the big box stores. Over the last few years, many of the older stores have closed and some that just moved in a few years ago have already closed.

Until jobs return to the smaller towns, store closings will continue to be common. It has been that way in Hickman County and Centerville and probably most small towns for years. With Donna's closing, there will be twelve more people that need a job that is not here.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Tennessee Crossroads in Centerville, TN

Centerville has been featured on the local PBS show Tennessee Crossroads. The Grinder's Switch Hour, carried live by Country KIX 96 radio station on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m., is showcased during one of the segments of the show. The segment has been uploaded to Youtube.com and can be viewed at this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_YQsr93tyo

Centerville, located in Hickman County, was the birthplace of Minnie Pearl, the comedienne of the Grand Ole Opry.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Little Disappointed!

I tried hard not to write this blog entry; I waited several days before I finally decided to.

This past Saturday was a fund raiser for the victims of the "Great Flood" in May. It was billed as "Saturday Night In Hickman County." I suppose this was a reference to the Johnny Cash song by the same name. The concert was held at the Ag pavilion in Grinders Switch - home of Minnie Pearl. Several local acts were performing there and then there was the Crickets - as in Buddy Holly and the Crickets. The drummer, J. I. Allison lives in Lyles, just up the road from Centerville in Hickman County.

Signs were in most business windows around. The information was passed around on Facebook; it was on the radio. So what happened? Where were the people? It only cost $5 to enter and then you could give a donation. I don't know how many showed up throughout the day, but for the Cricket concert, there were only a few hundred.

People in small towns generally don't have a lot of money and perhaps it was too close to the Banana Pudding Festival the week before - at the same location. It drew thousands.

Perhaps it was too long of a day - I only came a couple hours before the Crickets. But, the acts that I heard were great and gave performances fit for an audience of thousands. Thanks to all of the acts that performed, all of the volunteers, and all that came out. I wish more had.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Banana Pudding Festival Winner

The winner of the Banana Pudding Festival in Hickman County, Tennessee is... You can read about the winner on her blog about the festival. Centerville, TN and Grinder's Switch was the place to be. If you missed it, you missed a treat (pun intended).

Sunday, October 3, 2010

What a Day In Centerville, TN

Yesterday was a busy day in Hickman County. Usually in small towns, people seem to complain that there is not much to do, however, if you were anywhere near Centerville, Tennessee you knew something was going on. People were everywhere.

While my wife, George Ann was at the quilt show, I started out at the Car Show at theHickman County Justice Center. Even though this has been held for over two decades, I have never taken the time to go there. I know how to put gas in and change the oil. That's about it. But, walking by and seeing these cars - many from years ago - really was fun. I liked the '56 T-bird convertible and the Austin Healy (that is the one Jill had on Home Improvement.). There were lots of Corvettes that I would get a ticket in if I owned one. And there were plenty of trucks. Some of the vehicles looked as though they were handled with "kids gloves."

Next, we - my youngest son Zack and I - walked to the quilt show. A lady at the door handed us a piece of paper and said to pick out the quilt we liked the most. I don't know anything about quilts other than when I was young they would keep me warm at night. However, I know what I thought was pretty so we wrote down a number. There were lots of quilts there and to my surprise, I spent a little time looking at them. I could not imagine how long it took people to make a quilt in the "old days."

From there we drove to the Banana Pudding Festival at the Ag Pavilion and Fairgrounds inGrinder's Switch - the place Minnie Pearl made famous in her comedy routine. I really did not know what to expect and wondered if very many people would show up. Wow! What a surprise. When we arrived, the lady collecting money at the gate said that it had been lots of people through there. We parked in a field and walked to the main pavilion where there were hundreds of people listening to music. People were everywhere. I would like to know exactly how many were there, but I bet throughout the day there were thousands. There were two areas for live bands, a small area for children with the bouncy things, food of all kinds. Free Ice cream from Purity. I ate the rib-eye sandwich from the Lions Club - it was delicious. We ate the banana pudding and put our dollar in the one we thought was best. George Ann and I disagreed - which is not unusual. But, she has the right to be wrong.

I was happy with the way the day turned out. I had a good time although I was tired by the end of the day and I look forward to next year. After seeing the crowds in Centerville yesterday, maybe better days are ahead for Hickman County.