The Barn

More than 45 years ago, Chaffin's Barn opened as Nashville's first professional theater and was the first place to bring live theater tours from New York to Nashville. It was part of a chain of "barn" theaters around the country that offered its audiences a full buffet dinner along with live theater in the round. Today Chaffin's claims to be one of only two remaining original barn dinner theaters in the country.

Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre

 

A.W. "John" Chaffin and his wife Edna – known to everyone as "Puny" – opened their theater at 8204 Highway 100 on March 27, 1967. It still provides live theater productions, comedies, mysteries, musicals and special events under the leadership of their son John. One of the barn's most unique features is its elevator stage. Guests are treated to a full dinner buffet, set up and served in the center of the seating area. Once the salad bar and hot food are removed from the floor, the stage is slowly lowered from the ceiling and the live in-the-round entertainment begins.

In addition to dinner and a show, Chaffin's Barn also hosts a number of charity events to help raise money for area non-profits, including churches, the YMCA and the Nashville Symphony.

Edna "Puny" Chaffin passed away earlier this month and will be missed by not only her family, but the Nashville theater community as well. What started in a little red barn in Bellevue in the late 1960s is known as one of Nashville's most unique venues for quality, live entertainment.

 John and Puny Chaffin opened Nashville's first live theater in 1967. Puny died on Dec. 10, 2012.

 

 

 

50 years of WPLN

Fifty years ago today, Nashville's public radio station went on the air. At 9 a.m. on December 17, 1962, there was an official opening ceremony followed by the broadcast of Brahms' Sextet #1 in B flat. Thus began a tradition of news, information and classical music that continues today. In fact, WPLN is older than all the members of the news staff at the station today.

The call letters WPLN serve as an homage to the station's first home in studios set up in the Richland Park branch of the Public Library of Nashville (get it?). The station was originally licensed to the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County as a unit of the public library. With a transmitter and antenna on Love Circle, the station operated for only 14 hours each weekday at 15,000 watts. Three years later, the station moved to the main Ben West library downtown where it remained for more than 30 years.

 WPLN studios in the Ben West library basement circa 1966

In the mid-1990s, WPLN separated from Metro Nashville and became an independent station. Shortly after that, work began on a brand new studio on Mainstream Drive in Metro Centre. The switch was flipped on May 24, 1998, and the newest era of public radio began in Nashville as the station began broadcasting from its current location.

Today, WPLN has repeater stations that allow its broadcasts to reach further into Middle Tennessee. World news and talk WPLN 1430 AM began in 2002,  HD services began in 2006, and the station recently began operating WFCL 91.1 FM with 24/7 classical music and arts programming.

  WPLN's state-of-the-art studios today

As a founding member of National Public Radio, WPLN has had a strong presence in Nashville for 50 years. With a strategy of in-depth reporting, quality programming and community involvement, the station and all of its entities will undoubtedly be a Nashville icon for a long time.

You can help WPLN celebrate this milestone at an open house this afternoon from 4-6 pm at the studio located at 630 Mainstream Drive. Everyone is welcome.

The "supoilative" florist

If you've lived in or near Nashville any time during the last 30 years, you've undoubtedly heard a grandfatherly voice on the radio talking about Emma's Flowers: the "supoilative" florist. This instantly recognizable tag line was created – and spoken – by advertising professional Edward M. Stratton. Ed died this week at age 101.

A Nashville native, Ed started his advertising career in ad sales at the Tennessean newspaper in 1935 after graduating from the University of Tennessee where he sang in the Glee Club and co-ed choruses. After four years away during WWII, Ed returned to the Tennessean. He then joined the ad sales staff at WSIX radio in 1948 and remained there for an astonishing 48 years.

He began the Merry Sounds advertising agency in 1976 and served as its president until his death. That is where he began his work for Emma's Flowers and created the now-locally-famous tag line "the superlative florist." Ed was approached over the years by countless other brands, agencies and radio stations nationwide to lend his voice to their messages. He rejected them all so that the Emma's campaign would be purely unique. That it was.

And so was Ed.

Cy Young

There is a phrase often tossed around that "there is always a Nashville connection." That goes for the business and entertainment worlds, of course, but also applies to sports. BOTH of this year's Cy Young Award winners have Nashville-area ties.

CY YOUNG
Denton True Young was born in Ohio just after the end of the Civil War and dropped out of school to work on the family farm. But the lure of baseball soon took him from handling crops to pitching baseballs. He learned his skill from his grandfather, who taught him to hunt by throwing rocks to kill birds and squirrels. That served him well when he was recruited by the Cleveland Spiders and pitched in his first professional baseball game in 1890. His teammates said he pitched like a cyclone, later shortened to his famous nickname Cy.

Cy Young pitched for 21 years in the major leagues and holds the record for most wins (511), most losses (316), most games started (815) and most consecutive scoreless innings pitched (25 1/3), among other records. After his death in 1956 at the age of 88, the Cy Young Award was created to annually recognize the best Major League Baseball pitcher. It is now given to the best pitcher each year in both the American and National leagues.

2012 WINNERS FROM NASHVILLE

 
R.A. Dickey, a right-handed pitcher for the National League New York Mets, grew up in Nashville and went to Montgomery Bell Academy, the private all-boys prep school on the west side of town, before starring on the University of Tennessee baseball team in college. He's best known as being the sole remaining knuckle ball pitcher in the Majors and is now the first knuckleballer to win the Cy Young Award.

David Price, a left-hander for the American League Tampa Bay Rays, was born in nearby Murfreesboro and played for Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He was the AL's first draft pick in 2007 and came in second place for the Cy Young Award in 2010. His fastball consistently clocks in at nearly 100 mph. Apparently, the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, who vote and selects each year's winners, subconsciously waited until 2012 so both Cy Young winners were from Nashville!

Congrats to you both. Keep up the good work. Play ball!

- photo by Tim Evearitt

Fly to BNA

LAX is Los Angeles International airport, sure. JFK is John F. Kennedy airport in New York, obviously. DFW is Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, of course. But how, exactly, do the letters BNA represent the Nashville International Airport? It goes back more than 75 years, when commercial air transportation was new in many cities.

Although there were a few smaller airports in the Nashville area in the 1920s and 1930s, the first major Nashville airport was built on former farm land along Dixie Parkway, now known as Murfreesboro Road. Construction began in 1936 as one of the first major Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects in the area. It officially opened in the summer of 1937 with a parade, an air show and lots of fanfare. Two airlines – American and Eastern – operated DC-3s from three asphalt runways. The Tennessee administrator for the WPA who oversaw this $1.2 million project was Col. Harry Berry and this new airport was named Berry Field in his honor. In its first year, Berry Field served nearly 190,000 passengers.

A number of additions and updates took place, but it wasn't until the 1980s that a major renovation project was completed. That's when the current airport terminal was constructed and the main entrance was moved from Briley Parkway to I-40 at Donelson Pike. Again, the grand re-opening in 1987 was heralded with lots of hoopla and fanfare with American Airlines naming BNA as one of its hubs.

Today, (BNA's 75th Anniversary) there are 12 airlines servicing Nashville International Airport with Southwest Airlines boasting the largest presence. More than 380 flights come and go daily, transporting some 9.4 million passengers annually to nearly 70 locations throughout North America. There are also areas for live music performances, local restaurant locations and museum-like displays of fine art throughout all the terminals.

But what about those BNA letters? The International Air Transport Association assigns those three-letter codes and since the airport was originally named Berry Field, it was decided that BNA would be used as the moniker for Berry NAshville.

Howdy!

"The doctor must have put my pacemaker in wrong. Every time my husband kisses me, the garage door goes up."

That's the kind of humor that Minnie Pearl shared with Grand Ole Opry audiences for decades. Of course, she was known for greeting her fans with a loud and welcoming, "Howwww-deeeee! I'm just so proud to be here," while wearing her trademark straw hat with flowers and a $1.98 price tag still attached.

Minnie Pearl was a character created by Sarah Colley Cannon, who was born 100 years ago (Oct. 25, 1912) in Centerville, Tenn. She attended Nashville's Ward-Belmont College and was named "Most Humorous" by her classmates. Then came several years of stage acting and the eventual creation of her Minnie Pearl character.

In 1940, Minnie Pearl joined the Grand Ole Opry and was a crowd favorite with her knee-slapping humor and silly joke-telling style. She was also a regular on the "Hee Haw" television series beginning with its first show in 1969. Although she was not known as a musical performer, her down-home character from Grinder's Switch earned her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1975.

Offstage, Sarah Cannon was a sophisticated, elegant lady who performed lots of charitable work and was an avid tennis player. She and her husband Henry were next-door neighbors to the Tennessee Governor's mansion. After a couple bouts with cancer and a series of strokes, Sarah Cannon died on March 4, 1996. In her honor, there are two Nashville-area cancer centers named for her: the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center at Skyline and Centennial hospitals.

"Cousin" Minnie will be remembered for her laugh, her smile and her silly jokes. Sarah Cannon's memory lives on through her charitable work and numerous humanitarian awards. Both of these ladies are cherished by Nashvillians even today.

Minnie, we're just so proud you were here, too.

Goo Goo

From: http://www.googoo.com/ 

The First Combination Confection
In 1912, in a copper kettle at the Standard Candy Company at Clark & First Avenue in Nashville, TN, the world’s first ever combination candy bar was invented. A roundish mound of caramel, marshmallow nougat, fresh roasted peanuts and real milk chocolate; its renegade shape was more difficult to wrap than the conventional rectangular or square shapes of the day. More importantly, this was the first time multiple elements were being mass-produced in a retail confection. Previous to the advent of the Goo Goo Cluster, candy bar manufacturing consisted of bars solely using chocolate, caramel or taffy. The Goo Goo Cluster represented the first time a bar consisted of more than just one principal ingredient.

About That Great Name
For a time it was impossible to ask for a Goo Goo by name since no one could decide what to call the delicious thick clusters of candy. The story of how the candy came to be named comes in many versions. Two stand out over all the rest. Some people say that it was named Goo Goo because it’s the first thing a baby says. Howell Campbell, Jr., the man whose father invented the Goo Goo Cluster, says that his father used to ride the streetcar to work every day and he would talk the matter over with fellow passengers. Mr. Campbell was announcing to fellow passengers on the streetcar his newborn son’s first words and a school teacher made the connection with the candy. She suggested Mr. Campbell name his treat Goo Goo! It is so good, people will ask for it from birth.

    There are also rumors that the Goo Goo came from the initials of Grand Ole Opry. Makes a lot of sense, especially since Goo Goo Clusters has been a long-time sponsor of the live radio show. However, Standar Candy Company started making Goo Goos in 1912, but the Grand Ole Opry didn't start broadcasting on WSM radio until the mid-1920s, more than a decade later. It's still a good story, though. 

     You can now find Goo Goo Clusters in stores nationwide and they're even available for sale online at googoo.com. But Nashville is still the only place where this unique and original sweet treat is made. Yet another Nashville original!

Book it!

Writers, readers, poets, publishers, distributors, librarians, linguists and bibliophiles of all sorts. Must be the annual "Southern Festival of Books" at Nashville's legislative plaza this weekend.

Humanities Tennessee's Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word was first held in Nashville on the second full weekend in October 1989, and has been held annually on that same weekend for 24 years now. It is the nation's original book festival and hundreds of similar book festivals now take place around the world.
      The Festival has always been a free event that offers readers and writers an opportunity to interact, to create a public community around a festival that promotes and celebrates the joy of reading and of lifelong learning. Each year nearly 250 of the nation's most prominent authors – from legendary mystery writers to critically acclaimed debut novelists, from poets to biographers, from chefs to children's authors – are featured at the festival to read from their works, participate in panel discussions and talk with their fans. Books by all the participating authors are available for sale with proceeds supporting the Festival.
      The SFB is held in and near Legislative Plaza in the shadow of the state capitol building, including Nashville's incredible library. It's free to attend all events, including author appearances.
     It's a fantastic way to "celebrate the written word" and everyone who writes or reads or publishes or promotes exceptional writing.
     To find out more, visit http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/programs/southern-festival-books-celebration-written-word. See you at the celebration!

Jubliee

It's 1871. You're attending a black-only college in Nashville which is struggling to stay open. What do yo do? You form an elite group of singers and go on tour to raise money, of course!

That's how the Fisk University Jubilee Singers ensemble was formed more than 140 years ago. That group of groundbreaking vocalists is celebrated each year on October 6 on "Jubilee Day" at the university.

The original group was put together by the school's treasurer, George White, who was also a Northern missionary. After touring through much of the Midwest, the Jubilee Singers eventually sang for President Ulysses Grant at the White House and even traveled overseas to perform for England's Queen Victoria.

White had vowed to raise at least $200,000 for Fisk and they did just that in the first year. That money was used to build the first permanent building on campus – known as Jubilee Hall – which is now on the National Register for Historic Places and a crowning monument of pride for everyone at Fisk, even today. It is often said that the Jubilee Singers are credited with solidifying Nashville's reputation as a true "Music City."

The 1871 Jubilee Singers made a name for themselves nationally and the group continues to sing and represent the university today. They've won several awards, including the National Medal of Arts, and were part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Music City Walk of Fame. Today's singers continue to perform around the world, representing not only Fisk University, but Nashville's rich musical heritage.

Walk Nashville Week

FROM: MARY HANCE, THE TENNESSEAN

Walking has to be the ultimate free exercise.
    You can do it just about anywhere, just about anytime, at any pace, and all you really need is a good pair of shoes.
    And if ever there were a week to walk in Nashville, this is it.
    It is the official Walk Nashville Week, and there are organized walks every single day, with perks and rewards for those who join in.
    For example, on Monday, when Walk Nashville Week kicked off, there was a downtown stroll with the mayor, and there is even a free lunch afterward.
    A walk in downtown Nashville anytime is worth your while. If you haven’t been here lately, there is a lot to see, with the new convention construction, heightened activity on lower Broadway and the explosive development in the Gulch.And there is no question that you can see so much more on foot than you can in your car.

Walk every day

The downtown walk is just the beginning. There are walking events at different locations around town every day this week.
    The Tuesday walk is Walk for Active Aging at Hadley Park Community Center.
Wednesday is Walk to School Day, and the organizers expect to have more than 58 schools and 10,000 walkers participating.
    Thursday is Walk to Work Day. You don’t have to walk ALL the way to work, but the idea is to add walking to your commute as a way to increase activity in your day. Walk to and from the bus stop or just park a little farther than normal.
    Friday is the 10th annual lunchtime Walk! Green Hills, hosted by The Green Hills Action Partners.
    Saturday, Oct. 6, is the annual American Heart Association Heart Walk, which starts at the Vanderbilt University Sports Field.
    Oct. 6 is also the day for the 2012 Nashville AIDS Walk at Riverfront Park. http://www.nashvilleaidswalk.com/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1028859

Don't forget about Nashville's excellent Greenway walking paths too! So put on those shoes and get out there and walk, at least just a little bit. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Pointe well made

We've all heard stories about how our grandfathers strived to work for the same company their whole career. It was a really big deal for them to get their 30-year engraved watch etched with the company logo. We don't really hear those stories much any more.

One of the few exceptions is Paul Vasterling. He joined the Nashville Ballet in 1989 as a dancer and has been there since. He's now the CEO and Artistic Director. But he's also one of Nashville's biggest fans and advocates.

The stereotype for Nashville, of course, is "country and western music," which is a huge part of what makes this a great city. But her musical heritage includes rock, folk, blues, Americana, pop and (gasp) classical. The artists and staff of the Nashville Ballet are among the hardest working groups around and they do a stellar job representing Nashville from the tips of their pointe shoes to the tops of their costumed heads. Mostly because of Paul's passion and leadership.

Paul was recently featured in the "Executive Profile" section of the Nashville Business Journal. You can read it here: http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/print-edition/2012/08/10/executive-profile-paul-vasterling.html

You can also support one of Nashville's finest treasures by attending a performance of the Nashville Ballet. It's worth it. And the vision that Paul has had for growing and expanding Nashville Ballet for nearly 25 years has been worth it, too. Nashville is blessed to have both.

And just think... Paul is well on his way to getting that 30-year engraved watch!

Evil bear

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Visitors to Nashville often ask what a "demon bruin" is. Is it some kind of evil bear?

What they're referring to, of course, is Demonbreun Street, which runs from the nearly completed new Convention Center in the LoBro area and ends at the "Musica" roundabout at the northern edge of Music Row (Also known as "them nekkid dancers in the middle of the street," but more on that another day.).

Actually, Demonbreun isn’t pronounced like “demon bruin” at all. We say it more like de-MUN-bree-uhn. It’s French. Well, French-Canadian, actually. One Timothy Demonbreun was born in Montreal, Québec, in 1747. As a teen, he traveled south, eventually becoming a fur trader. At one point he discovered a great source of deer and buffalo along the Cumberland River and settled in a make-shift shack after living in a cave for a few weeks. Therefore, he is known as Nashville’s “first citizen.” There’s no record of him hunting for the furs of evil bears, though.

He later fought as an officer in the American Revolution and even served as Lt. Governor of the Illinois Territory. He again returned to Nashville and became a rather successful businessman before dying here in 1826. Demonbreun fathered several children and his descendants are still all over town, with varying spellings and pronunciations of the name. So we can’t be too hard on visitors who have trouble saying Demonbreun when his family can’t even agree on how to pronounce it.

Welcome to OHB

Music City. Athens of the South. The Third Coast. Home of the Grand Ole Opry. Nashville has a lot of nicknames. I like to call her "home."
     This is a great place to live and work. There is always something going on and always something to do, no matter what you're interested in. It's growing all the time, but keeps that small-town charm. Folks here are full of big-city spirit, but also ooze with sincere Southern hospitality.
     Many years ago, before anyone here can remember, a road was built that completely encircled all of Nashville. It was named Old Hickory Boulevard, an homage to local resident President Andrew Jackson, who was also known as Old Hickory. That singular road has since been broken up, rerouted in sections, partly submerged under Percy Priest Lake, and even renamed in parts. So visitors might be confused that there are now several Old Hickory Boulevards around town.
     This blog is a tribute to all the things -- old and new -- in and around Nashville that make this city what it is. Sorta like OHB.
     Please enjoy!