Little Lights founder retires

From Staff ReportsIf you attended public school in Wa-

tertown in the past few decades, or Little Lights Christian Preschool in the past 15 years, then you are familiar with be-loved educator Paulette Floyd Dorris.

Ms. Paulette said her official farewell at her last Little Lights Preschool grad-uation on May 11, as the parents, stu-dents and her co-workers celebrated her retirement.

This would be her second retirement, since Paulette retired some 16 years earlier from teaching in public schools, most of which she spent in her home-town of Watertown. She took a year off after that before launching Little Lights Christian Preschool with the blessing of her church, First Baptist of Watertown, where the private school is housed.

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Volume #4 Issue #11 Thursday, May 24, 2018 Distributed Bi-Weekly

Little Lights founder retiresPre-school visionary, longtime teacher says farewell after 50 years

Members of the Dead Tree Desperados check out their pistols as they gather on the Public Square in Watertown on Sat-urday, May 19 after “robbing” the Excursion Train that was headed to the town. The gang stopped the train just outside of Watertown at Pruitt Hill, boarding the passenger cars and “demanding” money - all in good fun and for a good cause. For story and more photos, see page 3. The Edge photo by Lounita Howard, Publisher

Paulette Floyd Dorris will be honored at a reception on Saturday, June 9 at Wa-tertown First Baptist Church. All former students, family and friends are invited.

See ‘Little Lights’ on page 2

Desperados descend on East Wilson community, rob train

2 The Edge * Thursday, May 24, 2018

Some of her first students at Little Lights came to the Friday night pre-school graduation just one week prior to graduating from Watertown High: Owen Queen, Brenna Luttrell, Halie Tunks, Preston Tomlinson and Nathan-iel Gutierrez. The five came to honor Ms. Paulette for all that she taught them at Little Lights - even joining in from the balcony to participate in the traditional and fun “Tuti Ta” song.

As always, no graduation is complete without caps and gowns and the little graduates were adorable in their white robes. Paulette led the ceremony, and her very last graduate - Paulette’s very own granddaughter, Elizabeth Bagnall (daughter of Nicholle and Michael Ba-gnall) led the prayer for the graduates.

Not only was the near capacity crowd celebrating Paulette’s retirement - they were also honoring Ms. Nell McKinney, who joined Paulette at the preschool a year after it opened. Nell also came from the public school system, having served in the cafeteria at Watertown Elemen-tary for 30 years, the last 21 as cafeteria manager.

Prior to Little Lights, Paulette taught second grade at Watertown Elementary for 14 years and math at Watertown High for 20 years. She began her career at Greensboro High School teaching P.E. after attending MTSU and transfer-ring to and graduating from Belmont University with a major in Business Administration and a minor in P.E. She continued in summer school to obtain additional certifications after beginning to teach.

At the time, Watertown’s Albert Jewell was superintendent of Wilson County Schools and hired Paulette as an inter-im at Tuckers Crossroads to fill in for a teacher on leave, after which she came to Watertown Elementary.

Leaving second grade - where the kids welcomed her hugs every day - to teach 7th and 8th graders math gave Paulette a slight pause since older students are different than the little ones. However, Paulette was experienced with that age through her own children, and loved working with that age.

Paulette has three grown children: William, Michelle and Nicholle.

After 25 years of teaching, Paulette reached out to her former teachers by writing letters to those who “meant something to me.” In a turn on that theme, the five high school students who came to the preschool event wrote letters to Ms. Paulette, thanking her for all she did for them as a teacher.

“The things kids say later - you just didn’t know what an impact you had at the time.”

“Ms. Allie Coe Baker, a 5th grade teacher, said, ‘You’ve got to rule with an iron fist and a velvet glove’ (in the classroom). You’ve got to let the chil-dren know you demand their respect, but you’ve got to let them know you love them,” Paulette says. “I have received so many blessings from the kids that I had.”

Among memories that come to her as she reminisces during a sit-down inter-view at Depot Junction Cafe, following a lunch meeting of the Watertown Senior Citizens, Paulette recalls a child whose parents had divorced and who was hav-ing a birthday. The student was having a tough time with the divorce. Paulette sent him to the office on some “errand” where they delayed him for several min-utes (as planned). When he returned to the classroom, the lights were off and he walked into a surprise party, complete with cake. She saw that now-grown stu-dent recently and he came up and gave her a hug.

Paulette says eight years before retiring from Wilson County Schools, “God put it on my heart” about the need for a pre-school in Watertown. At that time, there wasn’t one in the school system. And even though there now is a county pro-gram, enrollment is limited and based on financial need. Paulette started buying books and after retirement visited other preschools to see how it was done.

With the blessing of the Deacon Board at First Baptist, Little Lights opened its classroom doors in 2003 with Paulette as founder and director.

A special reception honoring Paulette is planned for Saturday, June 9 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Watertown First Baptist

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Little Lights...continued from page 1

Graduates of Little Lights Christian Preschool, Class of 2018, lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance with assistance from Ms. Nell McKinney, who also has just retired from the school, where she taught for the past 14 years alongside founder Paulette Dorris. The Edge photo by Lounita Howard, Publisher

See ‘Reception’ on page 7

The Edge * Thursday, May 24, 2018 3

Is it safe to ride the Excursion Train to Watertown? Well, if you don’t mind being robbed while on board the train, then you’ll enjoy the scenery and the quaint town when you arrive.

For 18 years now, once in the spring and once in the fall, passengers actually buy tickets to ride the train from Nash-ville to be robbed. You hear it right!

An idea conceived of some 20 years ago by the late Harry Macomber was to do a bit of outlaw playacting and rob the train. It’s even been done on horseback in some past years. Harry and his com-rade in arms, the late and legendary Ed-sel Floyd, joined together to create the Wilson and Mackle gangs - a bunch of local volunteers who dressed up as rob-bers, floozies and townspeople to stop the tourist train at Pruitt Hill to board it and “rob” the passengers before it pro-ceeded on into Watertown.

The money given up by the passengers has always gone toward the Sue Talley Memorial Scholarship Fund, which an-nually awards Watertown High gradu-ates going on to college. Starting with just a few hundred dollars per train, the amount has been growing steadily. And the event is now conducted by an inde-pendent group - the Deadtree Despera-dos, a cowboy entertainment group that

also recently staged a “bank robbery” in Granville over in Jackson County.

Paul Casner, one of the Desperados, said the fall 2017 train raised $1,350 for the scholarship fund, and he was doubtful that could be beat. The train on Saturday, May 19, however, proved a surprise. Another record was set, with $1,479 raised.

Paul says the best thing about robbing the train “is the reactions from the kids.”

Once the train is robbed, some of the outlaws stay onboard to ride into Water-town, while others deboard to drive ve-hicles back to town. As the train arrives, they are greeted by some of the outlaws

as they make their way to the Public Square and scatter into the restaurants, the Depot, Lulu’s, Mi Ranchito, Nona Lisa - before emerging again an hour or so later to catch a shootout, play wild west games, and even listen to some good country music from the Marshall who chases after the Desperadoes (he’s quite good and a songwriter as well).

A core group of a dozen or so form the Desperados, with many others help-ing out when they can - usually 20 to 25 show up to participate at a given event.

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The Edge photos by Lounita Howard A robber awaits the train as it comes around the bend, at left. Above: a passenger reacts to one robbers de-mands. Right: youngsters get into the spirit wearing their own bandanas and finger shooting at the robbers.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

~ Oscar Wilde


There were a lot of activities occurring in and around our community this past weekend. A highlight was graduation at Watertown High School on Friday eve-ning, May 18.

One hundred and nine graduates re-ceived their well-earned diplomas and heard a very good commencement speech from Watertown High School graduate Ricky Baker, class of 1972. Sev-eral local scholarships were awarded to very deserving graduates and Principal Jeff Luttrell announced that this graduat-ing class was eligible to receive $5,400,000 in scholarship money. As of gradua-tion, they had accepted $3,400,000. That sounds like a pretty good return for our educational investment.

Our graduates do well in all walks of life in many different counties and states and not just this general area. It was heartwarming for me to see six of our seven Board of Education members present, along with Director of Schools Dr. Donna Wright and Deputy Direc-

tor of Schools Rebecca Owen. Please remember that these folks can attend a graduation ceremony just about every night for a week and only one of those Board members, our own Bill Robinson, represents this area. The other five did not have to be here, but they were. (Well, perhaps Larry Tomlinson had to be here. He had two grandchildren graduating!) I very much appreciate their interest in our community and our schools as we show-case what we have here. And if you don’t think our schools are highly thought of, ask Jeff Luttrell how many more students we have now than we had four years ago and the estimated numbers for the in-coming freshman class. Incidentally, this year’s graduating class was the first to go all four years at the new high school. And, it still seems to be a little strange when they sing the alma mater to speak “on our city’s eastern border…” when for many years it was “on our city’s western border.”

Congratulations to all our graduates!Saturday morning brought another

visit from the Excursion Train, which now has been coming to Watertown al-most 30 years, beginning in 1989. My

grandson, Max, who turned three on Sat-urday, wanted to spend part of his birth-day “seeing the train.” So we went down and waited and enjoyed visiting with a family from Lebanon. The mother was very complimentary of our community and said two of her sons had participated in the World War II re-enactment that was held here for many years. They asked about the possibility of returning to Wa-tertown, and I told them that I felt a great majority of our citizens would welcome them back on Veteran’s Day weekend. I hope this turns into something positive for us. You never know when, or where, these types of opportunities will present themselves.

People from other areas have taken notice of this community for many years and it only seems to be increasing. And these high school graduates, as they go out into the world, will call even more at-tention to Watertown in a very positive way. Sometimes when we see, and ex-perience, things every day we lose track of the fact that many people are envious of what we have in Watertown. I try to sell Watertown every chance I get, to anybody I can, and I think many of our

citizens are doing the same thing. They are proud of our community, as well they should be.

And, you may have noticed, that we had several ballgames going on in the Park on Saturday. There was a good crowd present and I’m sure many en-joyed that good concession food.

When I had to ask to reschedule our Watertown City Council Meeting for May 15, I assumed that May 29 would be an available date. Turns out, the Com-munity Center is not available that eve-ning as County Mayor Randall Hutto has a campaign event previously scheduled. Our center is used on Wednesday eve-nings by a church, and it now looks like our May meeting will be on the last day of the month, May 31 at 6 p.m. If there is any change in that date, notification will be given.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your mayor. I look forward to continu-ing to work with the city council and the great people of our community to make our community the best it can possibly be. As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please let me or any member of the city council know.

I have written here a number of times about my love of the west and of how much early television influenced such at-traction.

I suppose if you were asked what the most famous old time western prison was you might answer “Yuma Territorial Prison.”

You might have known that from some of the famous mov-ies about it like 3:10 to Yuma starring Glen Ford and its recent remake starring Russell Crow. Interestingly, nei-ther of these movies actually shows any scenes of the prison but the whole story-line is about getting there.

Other movies include Riot, Badland-ers, Red River Valley and To Kill a Mem-

ory. One of my early heroes, Gene Autry, starred in Red River Valley.

It was built in 1876 with a cost allotted by the Arizona legislature of $25,000. The first seven prisoners actually built their own cells on a high cliff looking over the Colorado River in Yuma, Ariz.

I have always pictured in my mind that this had to have been one of the toughest

places on earth for a criminal to be sent and that only the meanest and baddest of the lot were sentenced there.

It seemed like in every western movie some bad buy was being sent to his cer-tain death at Yuma.

Thoughts from Life in The Edge

Reflections fromWatertown Mayor Mike Jennings

VOL. 4, NO. 11 Thursday, May 24, 2018

THE EDGEP.O. Box 152, Watertown TN 37184

615.618.2184email: [email protected]

www.TheEdge.NewsPublished bi-weekly by Lounita Howard, dba The Edge

Established November 2015Reproduction of all matter contained herein is prohibited without the express consent of The Edge. Advertising is accepted with the understanding that all liability for copyright violation is the responsibility of the advertiser. Columns and letters to the editor reflect

the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of The Edge.

The Edge is a free distribution newspaper available at various locations in our coverage area. The Edge serves primarily rural, small town areas in the edges

of Wilson, Dekalb, Smith, Cannon and Rutherford counties.

Mailed subscriptions rates effective Nov. 15, 2015 4 issues (8 Weeks) $7.50 13 issues (26 Weeks) $20 8 issues (16 Weeks) $15 26 issues (52 Weeks) $30

Beyond

By Dave Pitt

Busy week includes WHS graduation ceremoniesClass of 2018 first to attend new high school all four years

See ‘Exploring Yuma’ on page 5

Exploring Yuma Territorial Prison


Once again, my love of old western TV shows and movies prejudiced my mind to making it something a whole lot worse than it was. I re-cently visited there to see for myself.

Now this is not to say that it wasn’t, as the in-mates called it, a hellhole. The cells held four men each, with two bunks and a chamber pot with a large iron ring on the floor in the middle of the room that they were chained to each night. The cells were 6x8 foot.

If a prisoner gave the guards any trouble, they were placed in confine-ment in a dark cell in the middle of the com-pound with only bread and water once a day until they got their minds right. The longest for any inmate to stay confined there was 100 days.

Inside the cell, which had a heavy wooden door to block out any outside light, was a 12x12 cubed iron cage in which they were locked inside. No bunks, no mattress, no blankets, just a chamber pot. Sometimes as many as eight men were locked in

there together for weeks. The only time they saw the light of day was when their bread and water was brought to them by guards.

In the cell ceiling had been drilled a two inch hole suppos-edly for air to circulate. The guards found entertainment d r o p p i n g scorpions and snakes down that hole into the total dark-ness to further torture those confined.

I swear when I went into the room, my nose told my mind the stench of the place was still there some 109 years after the prison was closed.

In the photo you can see the different charges for which they had been detained, ranging from murder to sell-ing liquor to the Indians.

Of the 3,069 prisoners held there from 1876 to 1909, 20 were women. One of

the most famous was Pearl Hart, con-victed of being part of the last recorded stagecoach robbery in history. She and her male partner took $431.20 off the occupants of the stage. Before leaving, she gave each of them one dollar back so they would be able to purchase food and drink when they got back to a relay station.

She served two years and was paroled to live a long and interesting life.

Eleven Mormon deacons were told to quit their polygamy practices and when they refused, they were each sentenced to five years at Yuma. They were such model inmates that they helped start many of the educational and rehabili-tation programs the prison developed. After two years, they were pardoned and released.

When the prison was shut down in 1909, the local Yuma Union High School was waiting the completion of their new building. The school moved into the prison and occupied it from 1910 to 1914.

Their sport opponents began calling them “The Criminals”. The study body

liked it so much, they shortened their nickname to the “Crims.” Their mascot was the face of a hardened criminal and their bookstore for student merchandise was called the “Cell Block.”

This seasons’ poster for their wrestling team has each of the 20 or so mem-bers dressed in the old black and white striped prison uniforms with the caption underneath “Four years of hard labor.”

While this might not have been a place for just murderers and thieves, it had its share. Was it cold in the winter with no facilities for heat? You bet. Was it hot in the 115 degree temperatures of the summer? I can’t imagine. Was the solitary confinement dark cell with scorpions and snakes truly a horror? I suspect it was.

One hundred nine inmates died there and are buried in graves covered until this day with large round river stones taken from the shores nearby.

Oddly, only one person was executed there.

Look at the list of offensives in the photo. This was life at the turn of the 19th century Beyond the Edge.

Exploring Yuma...continued from page 4

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The photo above shows the various offenses labeled as “Crimes, May-hem and other Outrages” committed by the 3,069 prisoners incarcerated at Yuma Territorial Prison from 1876 to 1909. Twenty women were among those detained over the years at the prison. photo by Dave Pitt


Bro. Jimmy Atnip Bro. Jimmy Bazel Atnip, age 83, of Wa-

tertown died Sunday morning, May 20, 2018 at his residence.

Born Oct. 13, 1934 in DeKalb County, he was the son of the late Willie Allen Atnip and Josephine Summers Atnip.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jodene Dodd Atnip; daughter, Phylllis Atnip; son, Tony Atnip; sisters, Nelda Atnip, Lorene Taylor and Vada Thomas; brothers, Grady, T.J. and Willie Allen Atnip, Jr.

Jimmy attended schools in DeKalb and Wilson County, he was a graduate of the Hartsville Vocational School and received a Blue Print degree. Jimmy was a welder and pipe fitter with Union 572 in Nash-ville. He was a U.S. Army veteran and

served in the Tennessee National Guard. Brother Atnip has served as pastor of Ramah Baptist Church for the past 35 years. He was a member of Comer Lodge No. 417 and a Scottish Rite Mason.

He is survived by his children, Elaine (Ray) Crook of Lebanon, Greg Atnip of Watertown, Michelle Wolfe of Water-town; grandchildren, Niki Kadlubowski, Eric and Steven Atnip, Joshua and Jacob Wolfe, Trina Waldorf, Tosha Caruthers, Ashley Dickens, Audrey Pitts; 19 great grandchildren; sister, Dean Thomason of Smithville; sister-in-law, Judy Dodd and nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were at 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, 2018 at Hunter Funeral Home with Bro. Larry Self officiating. Pallbear-ers: Kenneth Christian, Terry Vaught, Joe Turner, Don Shipper, Bobby Crook, Bob Lemott, Mark Christian, Johnny Reeder. Honorary pallbearers: Jimbo Robertson and the Deacons and Members of Ramah Baptist Church. Interment was at Hearn Hill Cemetery. Hunter Funeral Home 615.237.9318.

Paul WilkersonPaul Neal Wilkerson, age 75, of Lafay-

ette died Friday morning, May 18, 2018 at the Westmoreland Care & Rebab Center.

Born Nov. 7, 1942, he was the son of the late Charlie and Johnnie Mai Slager Wilkerson. He was a retired truck driver and farmer and was a member of the Sykes Church of Christ.

Paul is survived by his wife, Dorothy Ann Vanatta Wilkerson of Lafayette; son, Terry Wilkerson and his wife, Sue of Holland, Ky.; brother, Raymond Wilk-erson of Lebanon; aunt, Lucy Slager of Lebanon; nephew, Wayne Taylor and Kay Hudson of Lebanon; other nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were at 2 p.m. Monday, May 21, 2018 at Hunter Fu-neral Home. Interment was at Poplar Hill Cemetery. Hunter Funeral Home 615.237.9318.

Sherry Vance Sherry Lou Vance of Watertown went

to rest in her eternal heavenly home on Thursday morning, May 17, 2018.

Sherry was born on April 12, 1955 to Randall Gene and Sally Jane Fogus in Baltimore, Md.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 45 years, Billy Vance; four children, Annie (James) Petty of Vero Beach, Fla., Buck (Stephanie)

Vance of Carthage, Genie (Troy) Adams of Watertown and Rebekah Vance of Watertown; grandchildren, James (Jessica) Stencil, Samantha Stencil, Brianna and Joshua Young, Donavan Petty, Will Vance, Lliam Vance, Lillian Vance, Zach Adams, Dakota Hale, Billy Hale, Helen Hale, Samantha Hale and a great grandson, Carter Johnson; sisters, Vickey Vaden of Watertown, Bobby Crawford of Eustis, Fla., Pat Hess of Bel Air, Md., Penny Fogus of Edwardsville, Pa., Nancy Haymond of Dover, Del.; sisters -in-law, Cathy Campbell, Susan Porter and Barbara Elmer.

She is rejoicing in heaven as she joins her son, Little Billy Vance; mother, Sally Fogus; grandfather, Ev-erette White; sister, Robin Fogus and brother, Ellis Walton.

Sherry was a member of Poplar Hill Baptist Church. She loved spending time with her family, reading her Bible and fellowship with her prayer pal sis-ters. She also adored shoes and held an immaculate collection, which she truly cherished. Regardless of her age, she proudly boasted of never turning a day over 39. Family received friends at Hunter Funeral Home in Watertown on Saturday, May 19 from 4 till 8 p.m. Funeral services were at noon on Sun-day, May 20, 2018. Graveside services followed at Eastern Gate Cemetery. Of-ficiating services was Pastor John Lee, Jeff Oliver and James Earl Petty. Pall-bearers: Sam and James Vaden, Joshua Young, Troy Adams, James Stencil, Buck Vance. Honorary pallbearers: Zach Adams, Will Vance, Dakota Hale, Donavan Petty and Billy Hale. Hunter Funeral Home 615.237.9318.

The Edge Obituaries

Vance

Wilkerson

Atnip

www.WatertownFlowerShop.com412 Public Square Watertown, TN

Obituaries continue on page 7

“For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand,Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” Isaiah 41:13


Church, located on Main Street across from Hunter Funeral Home. Paulette says she would dearly love to see for-mer students at the reception, which is a drop-in style event.

Notably, she isn’t seeking gifts, but if someone would like to honor her, they may do so by donating to her favorite charity, Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue, 2754 Buckner Lane, Thompsons Sta-tion, TN 37179. Snooty Giggles focuses on special needs dogs, but take in dogs of all ages, healthy or not.

Jimmy Wilder Jimmy Lee Wilder, age 84, died

Thursday evening, May 10, 2018 in Ko-komo, Ind.

Born Jan. 8, 1934 in Inman, Va., he was the son of the late Richard Wilder and Bessie Ellen Shook Wilder and was pre-ceded in death by an infant son, Jimmy Lee Wilder Jr.; sis-ters, Dorothy Henderson, Betty Przy-bysz, Helen Fauver; and a brother, Jack Wilder.

Jimmy is survived by his wife, Kay Womack Wilder of Kokomo, Ind.; daughter, Regina (Greg) Decker of Ci-cero, Ind.; brothers, Bill (Rita) Wilder of Inman, Va. and Bob Wilder of Portage, Ind.; sisters, Nila Henderson of Portage, Ind. and Pat Wilder of Gainesville, Va.; and nieces and nephews. Jimmy was a retired millwright with U.S. Steel and an Army veteran.

Funeral services were at 1 p.m. Mon-day, May 14, 2018 at Hunter Funeral Home with Jeff Jewell officiating. In-terment was at Poplar Hill Cemetery. Hunter Funeral Home 615.237.9318.

Reception... continued from page 2

The Edge photo by Lounita Howard, PublisherState Senator Mark Pody, center, honored Paulette Dorris, left, and Nell McKinney, right, with Tennessee Senate Proclamations in honor of their service and retire-ment. Their daughters read the proclamations at the Little Lights graduation. Pody met with the women the following week at the Depot for the official presentation.

Charlene Robin [email protected]

Karen Parker [email protected]

903 W. Main St. Watertown

OwnerMark Fletcher

(615) 237-0009

Wilder

The Edge Obituariescontinued from page 6


A month ago, I was counting the azaleas as winter loss and the very next week they were loaded with beautiful tissue paper-like blossoms. Seems like this happened over-night. They are decidu-ous, losing their leaves every winter. Most of the new leaves follow the blossoms in the spring.

Azaleas are in the same family as Rhodo-dendron. Rhododen-drons are larger shrubs, evergreen and have larger, fewer blooms. Azaleas are mostly na-tive to North America and eastern Asia. The American species are generally deciduous, while the Asian varieties are usually ever-green.

Planting and transplanting Azaleas is best done in the early spring or early fall. When transplanting, replant shrubs at the same level or slightly higher than they were in their original pot or location. Smaller bushes transplant best but, of course,

take longer to produce blooms. Don’t cultivate around the plants, as they have shallow roots. Because they absorb wa-ter through their foliage, wet both the leaves and root zone when you wa-ter. Overhead watering with sprinklers works well, but it’s best to do this in morning so that the leaves dry by after-noon.

Location is impor-tant. Azaleas are acid loving plants. They pre-fer a moist, well drained soil with a pH of 5.5.

Check the soil pH before planting, espe-cially if planting along a foundation where

soils tend to be more alkaline/basic, because concrete can leach lime into the soil. They need protection from midday sun and winter wind. Sun tol-erance varies by species. In gen-eral, most types prefer the par-tial sun or fil-tered shade. The east and north sides of the house are better locations than the west and south, unless west and south are protected. Too much sun bleaches or burns the leaves; too little results in lanky plants that don’t bloom. Insects and dis-eases seldom bother healthy plants.

After the blooms fade, apply mulch – pine needles are good - and fertilize with a slow-release, acid-forming fertilizer such as cottonseed meal or commercial aza-lea/camellia food. Don’t mulch in the fall. This will hold in heat and delay the onset of dormancy, increasing the chances of winter damage. And don’t fertilize before

bloom in the spring. This will encourage leafy growth at the wrong time.

P r u n i n g or pinching back young Azalea plants helps to pro-mote bushy growth. Prun-ing should be done early in the spring; but any prun-ing may result in cutting off next year’s blooms. If you prune an es-tablished bush heavily, it may not bloom again for two

to three years. At the thought of losing next year’s blooms, University of Arkansas Extension recommends avoiding pruning established plants. Just let them grow natu-rally.

This year’s “winter loss” assessment was premature. Everything I had identified as dead now shows life: the figs, the red twig dogwood, the beauty berry and the aza-leas. Another reminder that Mother Na-ture is truly awesome!

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Books for sale - $2 a bag!Watertown Library makes room for the new

Summer Reading is almost here! We have our guests lined up and ready to give you a great experience. We are look-ing forward to having as many children as possible join us. We will have a story teller, a magician, balloon man, water slide, maker spaces, crafts and so much more. So tell all the children you see about our program. Sign up starts May 29 at 12 noon. We are so excited to see you!

There will be no story time until Sep-

tember. Summer Reading is so busy that we have to take a break from story time so that all children will enjoy being here this summer.

We have books for sale. We have made room for new books, so that means we have many books for you. Just because we love you, we have priced our books at $2 a bag! You read that right. We would like for all children to have books in their homes so come by and grab a couple of bags of books.

Dates to remember: May 28 - Library closed for Memorial Day; May 29 - Sign up for Summer Reading; June 4 - Bruce Amato will be here at 10 a.m.

The Library’s EdgeBy Pamela Wiggins- Watertown Public Library

Azaleas surprise with seemingly overnight blossomsAuntie E’s

The Gardener’s Edge

‘This year’s “winter loss” assessment was

premature. Everything I had identified as dead now shows life: the figs, the red twig dogwood,the beauty berry andthe azaleas. Another

reminder thatMother Nature

is truly awesome!’


The 20th Annual Granville Heri-tage Day on May 26 features the Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Festival, a full day bluegrass competition and per-formances.

The festival takes place at Pruett Stage starting with performances by the Bil-breys at 10 a.m., Evermean Evergreen Cloggers at 11 a.m. and the Jolly String Quartet at 11:30 a.m.

Marty and Charmaine Lanham will be honored at 12:30 p.m. with the 2018 Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Award. Marty has been involved in al-most every aspect of bluegrass music in Tennessee for the past 45 years. He and his wife, Charmaine, co-founded the Station Inn in Nashville in 1974, the longest running bluegrass venue in the world. His career includes banjo player in Wilma Lee Cooper’s Clinch Moun-tain Clan. Charmaine was executive director and co-founder of the Nash-ville Bluegrass Music Association. She produced the first bluegrass concert at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. She has been playing guitar in bluegrass bands since 1974. Marty and Charmaine have performed with his band at the Dixie Café in Byrdstown since introduc-ing bluegrass music there in 2004.

After the ceremony, the Uncle Jimmy Thompson Grand Champion Fiddle Competition gets underway at 1 p.m. Registration for the competition is from 10 to 11 a.m. with an entry fee of $5. The prize money is $225 for first place, $175 for second and $125 for third, with the winner performing center stage at the Birthplace of Bluegrass Music during Springer Mountain Farms Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman Show on June 21 with Dailey and Vincent. For more in-formation on the competition, visit granvilletn.com.

After the competition the Evermean Evergreen Cloggers return to the stage at 2:30 p.m., the Jolly String Quartet at 3 p.m. and the Ida Clare Bluegrass Band at 4 p.m.

The Uncle Jimmy Thompson Blue-grass Festival is sponsored by Bates Ford of Lebanon, Cracker Barrel Old Coun-try Store, Wildwood Resort & Marina Granville and Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman. The bluegrass festival chairman is Jimmy Bilbrey. He can be reached at

931.510.7770. The weekly

Sutton Ole Time Music Bluegrass Dinner Show will occur on May 26 featur-ing Ida Clare Bluegrass Band. R e s e r v a t i o n s are available at 931.653.4151.

“Were it left to me to decideif we should have a government without newspapers, or newspa-

pers without a government,I should not hesitate a moment

to prefer the latter.”~ Thomas Jefferson

Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Festival features Grand Champion Fiddle contest

Marty and Charmaine Lanham, center, will be honored with the 2018 Uncle Jimmy Thompson Bluegrass Award. submitted


Let’ s Get Started...It’ s Time!Let’ s Get Started...It’ s Time!Campaign Kick-off

to Re-electCounty Mayor

Tuesday, May 29th, 20185:00 - 7:00 pm

Watertown Community CenterHwy. 70

Watertown, Tennessee

www.randallhutto.comFor yard signs, email [email protected]

If unable to attend you may send donations to:Lou Ann Hutto, Treasurer, 109 South Fork Drive, Lebanon, TN 37087

(checks payable to Randall Hutto for County Mayor).Paid for by Committee to Elect Randall Hutto for County Mayor

We are asking for your vote!

forCounty Mayor

Vote August 2nd, 2018

Randall HuttoRandall Hutto

Left: Valedictorian Juliana Kathleen Upchurch and Salutatorian Carl Neel Reeves IV lead the way into the gymna-sium for the Processional followed by Principal Jeff Luttrell and Director of Schools Dr. Donna Wright, along with other officials, school board members and staff from Watertown High for the 2018 graduation ceremonies on Fri-day, May 18. These graduates were the first to attend all four years at the new high school campus. The Edge photos by Lounita Howard, Publisher

During the graduation ceremonies, Class President Brenna Luttrell was awarded the Brent Bishop Memorial Scholarship and the Kent Foster Me-morial Scholarship, both presented in memory of former students; the Sue Talley Memorial Scholarship and the Watertown High School Brick Schol-arship, established in recent years through the sale of engraved bricks in the lobby of the new WHS building.

Phillip Eldridge accepts the Brent Bishop Memorial Scholarship from presenter Randall Hutto, Wilson Coun-ty Mayor and a Watertown High alumni.

Watertown Class of 2018 celebrates


Kezney Batey receives the Sue Talley Memorial Scholarship from presenter Pat Wood. Kezney also received a WHS Brick Scholarship.

Alisa Bond receives one of four WHS scholarships awarded by the Com-munity Foundation (funds raised through brick sales), from committee chairman Keith Harrison.

Ashley Miller rceives the final WHS scholarship awarded by the Com-munity Foundation (funds raised through brick sales), from committee chairman Keith Harrison.


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Against a backdrop of accomplishments over the past eight years, Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto announces his bid for a third term.

“I’m running for re-election because I enjoy helping people,” Hutto said. “We’ve accomplished a lot over the past eight years, including last year, when we balanced the general fund budget and achieved an AA+ bond rating. We looked as far back as we were able, and records indicate this is the first time this has hap-pened in our county’s history. We worked hard at cutting the budget as much as pos-sible and building up the fund balance.”

Wilson County’s fund balance has grown from less than $1 million in 2010, when Hutto first took office, to more than $8 million currently. During the same time, the county’s bond rating went from AA to “AA with a positive outlook” to the current AA+. The Wilson County Com-mission recently passed a resolution that prohibits spending below the fund bal-ance without a two-third majority vote.

“We’ve been able to balance the budget, while providing the best service possible on the least amount of revenue. Our ef-forts to expand tourism in the county have been successful and led to a significant increase in revenue from visitors as well as an increase in our sales tax revenue as more people shop locally. These factors al-lowed us to be able to lighten the burden on property owners and generate a budget surplus to help Wilson County prepare for future growth,” Hutto said. “All of which has contributed to improving our educa-tion, public safety and quality of life – areas that will continue to be my top priority.”

“We have been successful at creating

more jobs and expanding economic op-portunities across the county. With the ad-dition of more than 6,300 new jobs in our county, it has generated an additional $988 million in economic investments here.”

Leveraging his more than 25 years of administrative and teaching experience and building consensus in the commu-nity, Hutto has been able to work with the Wilson County Board of Education and Wilson County Commission to complete a school building program, provide every school with a School Resource Officer, in-crease the school board from five to seven members and help the Board of Education fund their differentiated teacher pay plan to attract and retain quality teachers.

Hutto was assistant superintendent of schools for the Lebanon Special School District 2003-2010 and a teacher and coach at Lebanon High School 1985-2002.

“Our effort to place an SRO in every school is a model for other Tennessee counties. In addition, the school renova-tions that were part of the Progressed Ed-ucation Building Program created a safety vestibule where someone can’t just walk into a school, but rather must go through the office. We currently have no portables, which increases safety, because students aren’t walking outside, to and from build-ings,” Hutto said.

“Increasing teacher pay increased our teacher retention rate to 97 percent,” he added. The county pay plan also enabled Wilson County to obtain and retain qual-ity personnel across county government.

Wilson County has been able to obtain a Level 4 Insurance Services Office rating because the county prioritized the impor-tance of cross-trained emergency person-

nel, added three new Wilson County Emer-gency Manage-ment Stations, and converted an existing vol-unteer station to a live 24/7 station. “Not only have these public safety

improvements helped lower response times for both rural and urban areas, but the Level 4 ISO rating saves Wilson Coun-ty residents money on their homeowners’ insurance,” Hutto said.

Quality education and public safety ser-vices contribute to better quality of life for Wilson County residents, as well as a $2.5 million expansion to the Mt. Juliet Library, the Wilson County Veterans Museum and Park, Wilson County Expo Center, and a new County Parks Board.

“Prior to the Expo Center, many Wilson County residents traveled out of town to go to events. Now, the quality of life for folks in our communities is increased be-cause we have the Expo Center hosting a variety of events. It allows residents to at-tend events close to home and generates sales tax dollars that provide services to our citizens,” he said.

In addition to his continued focus on education, public safety and quality of life, Hutto will increase transparency on the inner workings of local government and work with the Tennessee Department of Transportation on road improvements and future infrastructure, while recruiting more better-paying jobs.

“At the end of the day, my administra-tion believes in four things: We believe investing in people will always yield the best return on investment. We strive for great customer service. We believe in giv-ing back. And, we want to provide our residents with a great place to live, so you can do one of the most important things in life, and that’s spending time with your family,” Hutto said.

Hutto has received numerous awards, including Certified Public Administra-tor Degree, Greater Nashville Regional Council Maynard Pate Regional Leader-ship Award, Judge T.O. Bond Achieve-ment Award, Nashville Business Journal Business Impact Award (twice), Lebanon-Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Alumni Award, and Wilso-nian of the Year. He served as Metropoli-tan Planning Organization chair, Greater Nashville Regional Council president, and 4 Lakes Regional Authority Organization chair. Hutto is a graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee and a former Lebanon Breakfast Rotary Member.

Hutto graduated from Watertown High School, earned a Bachelor of Science de-gree from Middle Tennessee State Univer-sity and a Master of Education from Trev-ecca Nazarene University. He and his wife of more than 31 years, Paula, have three children, two of whom have earned degrees from Tennessee State University and Ten-nessee Technological University and one who is currently attending TTU. The Hut-tos reside in Lebanon and are members of Immanuel Baptist Church, where Randall is a deacon and teaches Sunday school.

The election is Aug. 2, with early voting July 13-28.

County Mayor Randall Hutto announces bid for third term

Randall Hutto


Hay harvest has started with the re-cent improvement of weather. Small grains such as wheat, rye and barley are being harvested now. Cool season grasses such as tall fescue, orchardgrass and ryegrass have matured and headed, but quantity of blade seems to be shorter this year.

The last few years have been diffi-cult ones for hay producers, regardless if someone is producing hay to feed to their own stock or producing it for sale to the public. The economics of hay pro-duction have drastically increased in the last several years. Striving to produce the best quality possible makes sense with high production costs. It seems to make good “cents” to concentrate on the factors that improve overall quality of hay. The five major factors that affect forage quality (not yield) include: matu-rity, crop species, harvest and storage, environment and soil fertility.

Maturity of the plants or harvest date is the most important factor affect-ing forage quality. Plants continually change in forage quality as they mature. As plant cell wall content increases, in-digestible lignin accumulates. In fact, forage plant maturity changes so rapidly that it is possible to measure significant declines in forage quality every two or three days.

Crop species. Differences in forage quality between grasses and legumes can be very large. The protein content of legumes is typically much higher than that of grasses, and legume fiber tends

to digest faster than grass fiber, allowing livestock to eat more of the legume.

Harvest and storage. Loss of leaves means lower quality. Methods of cut-ting, teddering and baling can impact quality. Improper harvest techniques can seriously reduce forage quality, pri-marily through the loss of leaves. Stor-ing a hay crop at an incorrect moisture content or improper ensiling of a forage crop can dramatically lower its quality.

Environment (climate). Moisture, temperature, and the amount of sun-light influence forage quality. Rain dam-age is very destructive to forage quality. When bad weather delays harvesting, the forage crop becomes more mature and hence lower in quality. High tem-peratures may increase lignin accumu-lation and decrease quality, but drought stress may actually benefit quality by delaying maturity.

Soil fertility. Soil fertility affects for-age yield much more than it does qual-ity. While it is possible to produce high quality forage on poor, unproductive soils, it is generally very difficult to pro-duce high yields of high quality forage with an unproductive soil resource. It is necessary to balance soil fertility to avoid mineral imbalances.

After decades of breeding forages for yield and persistence, attention is being giving to developing or identifying vari-eties with improved quality. Variety or cultivar can affect forage quality, but not as greatly as the other five factors.

See ‘Best hay’ on page 14

What makes best hay?

The Watertown High School FFA Ag Mechanics Team placed first in the State of Tennessee Ag Mechanics contest on Friday, April 27. Members are, from left: Will Poston, Justin Kumpf, Peyton Lamberson and Cade Harrison, with State FFA President Luke Love at far right. The team will be competing again at nationals in this coming October. While they competed, they had to do multiple individual ac-tivities, including the following: Machinery and Equipment, Electricity, Compact Equipment, Structures, and Environment and Natural Resources. After they fin-ished the individual activities, they competed in a team activity. photo submitted

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It is difficult to judge hay quality without having a chemical analysis to determine protein, carbohydrates, di-gestibility and relative nutritional value.

A hay analysis can provide valuable in-formation when making feed choices throughout the year. The best time to have the hay sampled is just after bal-ing, while hay is scattered throughout the field. This allows for sampling of

bales which will give a good representa-tive analysis of the overall hay quality. Forage analysis is inexpensive at $17 per sample. Contact your county agent for additional information and the best methods of collecting a good, represen-

tative hay sample.For more information, contact the

UT-TSU Extension Office in Wilson County at 615.444.9584. You can also find us on Facebook or visit our website: extension.tennessee.edu/Wilson.

Mid-South Livestock, Unionville, TNWeighted Average Report for Monday, May 21

Cattle Receipts: 1085. Last week: 971. Last year: 1052. Compared to last week, Feeder Steers/Bulls steady to 6.00 lower with instances of 10.00 lower; Feeder Heifers steady to 6.00 lower; Slaughter Cows mostly steady; Slaughter Bulls mostly steady. Feeder: 931. Slaughter: 116. Replacement: 38. Slaughter cows made up 10 percent of the offering, slaughter bulls 3 percent, and feeders 87 percent. The feeder supply includ-ed 34 percent steers, 40 percent heifers, and 26 percent bulls. Near 27 percent of the run weighed over 600 lbs.Head Wt Range Avg Wt Price Range Avg PriceFeeder Steers Medium and Large 1 - 2 1 235-235 235 165.00 165.00 5 270-295 284 150.00-165.00 156.0911 300-348 327 154.00-166.00 160.0316 350-380 368 156.00-167.00 163.01

12 405-438 426 155.00-164.50 161.7624 450-490 471 153.00-164.50 158.55 1 465-465 465 166.00 166.00 Fancy30 500-540 516 150.00-160.00 155.69 3 505-515 508 163.00-167.00 165.65 Fancy37 550-595 573 144.00-156.00 148.9630 600-647 625 135.00-146.00 141.5216 650-690 671 131.00-140.50 138.34 6 705-718 712 130.00-138.00 134.69 4 750-765 756 124.00-136.00 130.46 7 806-806 806 126.00 126.00 3 850-880 867 106.00-115.00 110.62 1 905-905 905 105.00 105.00 Small 1 - 2 1 375-375 375 140.00 140.00 1 415-415 415 142.00 142.00 1 565-565 565 126.00 126.00 Medium and Large 2 - 3 1 210-210 210 145.00 145.00 3 255-265 262 145.00-148.00 146.86 2 310-315 313 144.00-152.00 148.03 5 350-395 376 140.00-151.00 146.60 3 425-440 432 142.00-144.00 143.00

3 450-490 475 131.00-145.00 138.97 3 515-540 532 124.00-147.00 136.63 1 570-570 570 140.00 140.00 3 605-628 620 129.00-133.50 132.04 1 655-655 655 118.00 118.00 1 740-740 740 119.00 119.00 2 780-790 785 114.00 114.00 Holstein Large 3 1 285-285 285 90.00 90.00 1 365-365 365 100.00 100.00 1 865-865 865 67.50 67.50 1 910-910 910 51.50 51.50 2 995-995 995 57.50 57.50 2 1040-1040 1040 53.50 53.50Feeder Heifers Medium and Large 1 - 2 1 225-225 225 140.00 140.0010 300-349 328 144.00-156.00 149.91 1 335-335 335 160.00 160.00 Fancy10 360-390 376 140.00-150.00 144.8639 400-445 425 133.50-144.50 138.27 5 405-415 413 146.00-150.00 146.80 Fancy43 450-495 474 127.00-136.00 131.74 2 465-465 465 140.00 140.00 Fancy53 500-545 520 123.00-133.00 128.0439 553-595 575 120.00-130.00 127.0215 605-645 620 120.00-130.00 125.3220 650-685 668 118.00-127.00 122.94 6 710-735 719 116.00-125.00 118.82 3 815-840 827 90.00-101.00 93.95 1 850-850 850 92.00 92.00 1 935-935 935 90.00 90.00 Small 1 - 2 1 450-450 450 110.00 110.00 Medium and Large 2 - 3 3 250-290 267 135.00 135.00 1 330-330 330 128.00 128.00 5 355-395 383 127.00-134.00 130.2312 405-445 425 120.00-132.00 126.49 6 450-490 473 123.00-125.00 124.18 7 502-540 520 112.00-122.00 118.93 4 560-595 581 114.00-118.00 116.49 2 665-665 665 113.00-115.00 114.00Feeder Bulls Medium and Large 1 - 212 403-445 423 145.00-157.50 151.06

23 450-493 471 137.00-147.00 140.87 1 460-460 460 150.00 150.00 Fancy40 500-545 523 130.00-140.00 134.2819 550-595 570 129.00-137.50 133.4520 600-645 618 122.00-133.00 127.8318 650-685 663 121.00-131.00 126.82 6 700-745 725 115.00-124.00 118.6010 755-795 775 105.00-116.00 111.21 3 810-825 815 95.00-100.00 97.32 2 855-855 855 104.00-108.00 106.00 1 920-920 920 87.00 87.00 Small 1 - 2 1 475-475 475 125.00 125.00 1 580-580 580 120.00 120.00 Medium and Large 2 - 314 405-445 432 126.00-141.00 134.33 7 450-495 475 132.00-135.00 133.45 4 505-545 526 120.00-125.00 121.75 2 570-595 583 119.00-120.00 119.49 3 610-645 630 116.00-120.00 118.63 2 670-675 673 107.00-117.00 111.98 1 735-735 735 111.00 111.00Slaughter Cows Breaker 70-80% Lean 6 1275-1395 1330 50.00-57.00 54.34 2 1540-1735 1638 50.00-51.00 50.53 2 1475-1520 1498 58.00-63.00 60.54 High Dressing Boner 80-85% Lean25 980-1385 1194 52.00-59.50 55.93 6 1400-1690 1550 54.00-58.50 55.80 1 1450-1450 1450 61.00 61.00 High Dressing 1 1585-1585 1585 51.00 51.00 Low Dressing Lean 85-90% Lean 3 680-765 722 40.00-43.00 41.06 Low Dressing37 815-1325 1039 45.00-57.00 49.99 1 1115-1115 1115 60.50 60.50 High Dressing 2 895-1000 948 43.00 43.00 Low DressingSlaughter Bulls Yield Grade 1 3 1470-1490 1482 73.50-76.00 74.83 3 1055-1300 1212 68.00-72.00 70.23 Low Dressing12 1640-2265 1908 74.00-84.00 78.70 2 1555-2140 1848 86.00-89.00 87.74 High Dressing 2 1520-1575 1548 72.00-72.50 72.25 Low Dressing

Source: TN Dept of Ag-USDA Market News Service, Nashville, TN

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Best hay...continued from page 13

Andy McBride, a 15-year veteran of the Division of Forestry, will transition from Assistant District Forester to District For-ester for the Tennessee Department of Ag-riculture.

“Andy has extensive forestry knowl-edge, and his background and years of professional experience with the Depart-ment make him a great fit for this role,” Commissioner Jai Templeton said. “As we work to provide Tennesseans with the best forestry services possible, we are fortunate to have Andy in this important capacity.”

McBride will serve as District Forester for the 27 county Cumberland District,

which includes more than 70,000 state forest acres and has headquarters in Cookeville. He will oversee de-livery of all state forestry services, including wildfire management and prevention, state forest man-agement, landowner assistance, logging forestry best practice management courtesy checks, prescribed fire, tree planting, and other assets. There are 88 full time employees in the Cumberland District that McBride will manage, including foresters, adminis-trative staff, technicians and forestry aides.

“It has been my great pleasure to ob-

serve Andy mature as a forester, as a su-pervisor, and as a manager over the past 15 years,” State Forester Jere Jeter said. “I have no doubt that he will be very successful as he provides leadership for the district and serves on the Divi-sion of Forestry’s management team.”

McBride started his career as a forester for Standing Stone and Pickett State For-ests. In 2015, he became the Assistant Dis-trict Forester for the same district that he will now be managing. In that role, Mc-Bride supervised field foresters, oversaw

budgeting and spending, and implement-ed harvest plans for the state forests in the Cumberland District.

“I am honored to represent the Depart-ment of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry in this role,” McBride said. “I look forward to working with our great team to protect, promote, and manage the public and pri-vate forestlands within the Cumberland District.”

McBride, a Georgia native, graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Man-agement. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and raising beef cattle.

Forestry veteran McBride named Cumberland District Forester

Andy McBride


is published monthly by The Edge and sponsored by Wilson Bank & Trust.

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In past articles, I have talked about food plots and farming for deer and other wild-life. Hopefully you have taken some time and planned a good spot for your summer food plot and thought about what you wanted to plant, because now is the time to get started and get it in the ground to ensure deer and other wildlife in your area have a good summer food source. With a little luck, it will keep them coming in well into early archery season. This time of year there are a lot of options that will grow well as long as they get a little rain and sun. Some great summer food plot ideas are that I have found work really well include:

Clover that is planted in early spring works great, especially when planted dur-ing the cooler weather.

Soy Beans and Cow Peas are a great food source that will last well into the fall as long as you can keep the deer from eat-ing the plants as soon as they pop out of the ground. If you have a large food plot this is definitely a great option.

Corn - although corn has no nutritional value, deer still love it and it works as a great attractant. If you have a corn field, chances are you’re going to have deer coming into it well into the fall.

Brassicas such as radishes, turnips, kale, lettuce, rape, and chicory work great for a late season plot. Turnips become really at-tractive to deer in the late season after a few frosts hit them and cause the sugar in the plants to rise. Deer will spend a lot of time in late winter digging bulbs out of the ground for a quick snack. They’re a great cold weather late season food source that deer have a hard time resisting.

Last spring I planted a food plot con-sisting of clover and brassicas. The bras-sicas grew really well, but the clover didn’t come in as well as I would have liked; so I replanted clover along with winter rye grass right before deer season opened in

September in hopes that it would grow at least by gun season. It came in but was very sparse. After our season closed, I had big plans of replanting for the spring. I also decided I would fertilize my plot, but the issue was the location was hard to ac-cess with anything much bigger than a small tractor or four-wheeler. Just to give it a try, I purchased eight bags of gen-eral purpose 12-12-12 fertilizer, loaded them onto the front and back of my four-wheeler and headed to my plot, thinking maybe it would help when I replanted in the spring. In mid March I went in to get a game plan and to my surprise the food plot was amazing totally full of clover and rye and covered up in signs that deer were frequently using it. As temperatures warm up, the rye dies off, leaving only the clover, which should carry the plot well into the fall hunting season. The moral of this sto-ry is: give it time and find out what works for you and your plot. You don’t need hun-dreds of acres or expensive equipment to produce a nice plot. I promise, you just have to find out what works. Learn all you can, don’t be afraid to experiment, you might find something that works great in your area and that the deer can’t resist.

Marc Larese, FoxPro Field Staff

Start planting those summer food plots

Randy Hargis and Ashley Hayes took top honors at the 29th Annual Lions Fish for Sight Charity Tournament on J Percy Priest Lake at Fate Sanders Ma-rina on April 28, weighing in 21.95 lbs, including Big Largemouth at 6.81 lbs. The event is put on by the Lascassas Milton Lions Club. Hargis and Hayes, left and right, are helped out by a friend showing off their limit.

Big Smallmouth, at 4.76 lbs., was awarded to Carl Heflin and Daniel Williams.

Anthony Nash and Dan-iel Johnson receive their third place prize money from Lascassas Lions Club President Cindy Cook. Their catch totaled 17.92 lbs, including a 4.44 lb. largemouth. The tour-nament is held yearly on the last Saturday in April.

David Bell and Chris Tarpley placed second with an 18.87 lb. catch.


John Greer Jr., State Farm Insurance, presents Athlete of the Week awards to Watertown students. WHS Lady Purple Tiger Softball player McKenna George was awarded for May 5. McK-enna has played great defense this season at shortstop. Her BA for the week was .750 with fielding % of 1.000. In top left photo: Greer, McKenna and Coach Sarah Gentry. WHS tennis player Tawny Ashworth had a very good year on the court. With partner Cassidy Parisher, Tawny scored 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 and 7-4 to win the Doubles District Tournament. Photo bottom left: Greer, Tawny and Coach Darrian Brown. WHS Baseball player and pitcher Stratton Mehaffey worked with the pitchers in the bullpen all year and for the week went behind the plate and caught the last few innings in a district tournament game, had 2 putouts with 0 errors. Above photo: Greer, Stratton and Coach E.J. Wood. Brian Putnam is WHS tennis player of the week of May 19. He had an outstanding year, becoming the first WHS boys’ tennis player to qualify for the State Singles Tournament by winning the Region 4-Small championship on May 15, going on the state tournament May 24. Top right photo: Greer, Brian and Coach Jason Knowles. WHS Softball

Players of the Week May 12 are Ridge Morgan and Alicia House. Ridge, rightfielder, had a big double and single in the 11-5 victory vs. Liv-ingston in the District 8-AA tournament and a big hit vs. Macon County. 2nd from top right photo: Greer, Ridge and Coach Gentry. Alicia, pitcher/utility, came in to pitch relief for 6 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and a walk while striking out four and hitting a homerun as the Tigerettes beat Livingston 11-5 in the district game. 3rd photo at right: Greer, Alicia and Gentry. May 12 WHS Base-ball Players of the Week are Lain Hindsley and Owen Queen. Lain pitched in 2 district tournament games, allowing 4 earned runs with 7 strikeouts. 2nd from bot-tom right: Greer, Lain and Coach Wood. Owen pitched a shutout May 7 and the 8-AA District Tournament with a 5-0 blanking of York Institute, struck out 11 with zero base-on-balls. Bot-tom right photo: Greer and Queen . photos submitted

435 West Main Street, Lebanon, TN 37087615-444-9043

John D. Greer Jr.Owner/Agent

John Greer Jr., Tony Shelton, Sue Shelton, Janice Scruggs & Wayne Lokey

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Athletes of the Week


Jones Hill Cemetery Decoration May 27Jones Hill Cemetery will hold Decoration Day on Sun-

day, May 27 at 2:30 p.m.Lebanon Memorial Day Service May 28

Veterans of Wilson County will host a Memorial Service in front of Veterans Museum on East Main Street in Lebanon on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28 at 9 a.m. Everyone is invited and urged to attend. For-mer Lebanon Mayor Fox will be the featured speaker. Patriotic Music and more. Info: 615.351.6128.High school equivalency test June 19

The Wilson County Adult Education program will be giving the high school equivalency test (HiSET formerly GED) on June 19 at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Lebanon. For information on taking the test, call 615.443.8731.Wilson Board of Education meetings

Wilson County Board of Education meets in a Work Session on Thursday, May 31, 5 p.m., and a regular scheduled Board Meeting on Monday, June 4, 6 p.m., at the Wilson County BOE Administrative & Train-ing Complex, 415 Harding Drive, Lebanon. Requests to “Appear Before the Board” and all other “Agenda” items must be submitted no later than 12 noon on Wednesday, May 17.Mt. Juliet Republican Women HQ to open

Headquarters for the Mt. Juliet Republican Women grand opening is Saturday, May 26, 1-4 p.m. next door to Courtney’s Restaurant, 4066 N. Mt. Juliet Road. Meet candidates running in your district and pick up cam-paign signs and materials.Alexandria Open Pantry set June 16

Alexandria UMC Open Pantry is Saturday, June 16, 9-11 a.m. Open to communities of Dowelltown, Lib-erty, Alexandria, Watertown, Brush Creek. Returning clients, please bring back your boxes.Round Lick food pantry 1st, 3rd Wed.

Round Lick Baptist church, Watertown, has a regu-lar food pantry the 1st and 3rd Wednesday, 6-6:30 p.m monthly.

Watertown City Council meets May 31Watertown City Council’s next meeting, postponed

from earlier in May, is set for Thursday, May 31 at 6 p.m. at the Watertown Community Center, 8630 Sparta Pike.Watertown Volunteer Fire Fish Fry

Watertown Volunteer Fire Department holds a fund-raising Fish Fry the first Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. at the Public Safety Building in Watertown. Next fish fry is Saturday, June 2.Lascassas Fire Department Fish Fry

The Lascassas Volunteer Fire Department Fish Fry is held the second Saturday, at the firehall on Lascassas Pike. The next fish fry is June 9, 4-8 p.m.Wilson CASA 30th Anniversary June 15

30th Anniversary Celebration of Wilson County CASA on June 15 at Capitol Theatre honoring Linda Schenk. Tickets $50 each or tables for $350. Cash bar opens 6 p.m. Dinner 6:30. Band “Familiar Faces” at 7:30 sponsored by City of Lebanon. Ticket info: 615.443.2002. Dinner provided by Wildberry, spon-sored by Southern Bank. Give Cancer the Boot June 15

Save the date for Relay for Life and Give Cancer the Boot, June 15, 6 p.m. to midnight, Wilson Bank & Trust West Lawn, 623 W. Main St., Lebanon.Garden of Prayer meals program

Garden of Prayer Tabernacle, Inc., 1015 Bluebird Road, Lebanon, will be providing free meals to children in Leba-non and various locations in Wilson County during the summer months of 2018. If you have a vacation Bible school or other summer activity that need free meals to be provided for children 18 years or younger, contact Angela Howard: 615.784.4620 or 615.752.7215. Chamber’s bass tournament June 9

10th Annual Two Rivers Ford Bass Tournament, in conjunction with the Lebanon-Wilson Chamber of Commerce Sports Council is Saturday, June 9, Old Hickory Lake, Flippers Landing. Entry fee $60 per boat (2 people), $10 Big Bass (optional, per boat). Blast off 6 a.m. Info: Chamber office 615.444.5503 or Paul Jewell 615.319.0810. Payout based on number of boats. Over 31: first place $1,200. 30 or less, $800. Cash prizes top 5.

The Edge Calendar of Events

Hey, if you see Mary Craig,

wish her aHAPPY BIRTHDAY,

June 4th!She’s the Love

Of My Life!~ Jim Amero

The Portrait Preservation Committee of Cum-berland University is working to restore 15 por-traits of university presidents and notable alumni.

Descendants for two of the most notable figures in Cumberland’s history have been identified. Dr. Damon Petty, great-great nephew of Cordell Hull, an alumnus of the CU’s law school who went on to serve as Secretary of State under Franklin D. Roo-sevelt, and Julia Bradford, a 6th generation grand-daughter of Abram Caruthers, founder of the law school at CU.

The committee is seeking descendants of the fol-lowing portrait subjects: Imogene Ahles, Andrew Blake Buchanan, Abram Caruthers, Robert L. Ca-ruthers, Thomas C. Anderson, John Royall Harris, Cordell Hull, Nathan Green Jr., Andrew B. Martin, and Ernest L. Stockton Jr.

The members of the committee are Maria Bone, Gay Chamberlain, Mary Ann Denney, Martha Davis, Bettie Hill, Judy Sullivan, and Etta Wilson, chairperson. To date, seven of the portraits have been restored.

“Cumberland’s history is so full of interesting in-dividuals. Their contributions to the school serve as great inspiration for the students of today and into the future,” Wilson said.

On June 8, the committee along with the Marga-ret Gaston Chapter of the Daughters of the Ameri-can Revolution, is hosting a portrait viewing event for the public. Damon Petty and Julia Bradford will be in attendance and other descendants are encour-aged to attend. Bradford, who lives in New York, will be visiting Lebanon for the first time.

If you or someone you know is a descendant of any of these notable people in CU’s history, please contact Judy Sullivan at 615.484.0770 or [email protected].

Seeking descendantsof portrait subjectsCumberland University restoringartwork, to host viewing event


CLASSIFIEDS APARTMENTS

“This institution is an equal opportunity

provider and employer.”

Beckwith Apartments302 Beckwith Avenue Watertown

SERVICES

The Tennessee Artist’s Guild, Inc. is offering a pottery workshop taught by professional artist Susan DeMay on Fri-day, June 22 at 6 p.m.

The workshop includes wheel thrown and handbuilt pieces “making pottery forms.” The forming workshop will last 1-½ hours followed by a glazing workshop on Saturday, June 30 at 10 a.m. Students will have three finished pieces after DeMay has a chance to fire them the final time. DeMay is a nation-ally renowned clay artist who teaches at Vanderbilt University. This is a rare op-portunity to learn her techniques.

“We hope to offer a second series of workshops in the Fall,” says Vickie Fra-zier, secretary of the Tennessee Artist’s Guild. “If the summer workshops go well we are planning another six work-shops from August until November.”

DeMay’s class is on two days to allow for firing of the pieces. Each day will be 1-½ hours. The cost is $60 and includes supplies. The workshop will be held at her studio in Smithville.

There will also be a workshop on Sat-urday, June 23 focused on watercolor techniques, taughter by Joann Mathews at the Watertown Library. She will teach classes from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Next is a metal jewelry workshop with renowned artist Susan Thornton on Saturday, July 28. Susan works in all types of metal and will share techniques working with copper. Susan’s workshop will be at her studio on Depot Street in Watertown. She will conduct two work-shops, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.

Third will be a stained-glass work-shop on Sunday, Aug. 5, taught by Sam Simms of Stained Glass Accessories.

Call Vickie Frazier at 615.697.5066 to sign up. Seats are limited and available at a first come first serve basis. You may stop by Artizan, 214 Public Square, Wa-tertown to sign up. Workshops are for ages 14 and up and supply fee must be paid in advance. No payments will be taken the day of the workshop.

DeMay to teach pottery workshop

Professional artist Susan DeMay

Wilson Bank & Trust officials cut the ribbon on the new 67,000 square foot Clemons-Rich-erson Operations Center on Monday morning, May 21, at a Lebanon-Wilson County Chamber of Commerce Business Before Hours. Doing the honors at center left are Elmer Richerson, and center right, Randall Clemons, joined by the wives, Hettie Lee Richerson and Peggy Clemons. The two men were honored to have the facility named after them in a secret deci-sion made by the senior trustees of the bank. Clemons is the founder of Wilson Bank and has served as president, and currently is CEO and chairman of the board. Richerson recent-ly retired as president and was succeeded by John McDearman, front row left, who will also succeed Clemons as CEO upon his planned retirement in 2020.

The Edge photo by Lounita Howard

New Operations Centerunveiled by WB&T


NEWLY REMODELED3 Bedrooms, 1 Bath with large detached garage on large lot. NEW HVAC, Roof,

Windows, the list goes on.

“Intaxication:Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts

until you realize it was your money to start with.”~ From a Washington Post word contest

THOMAS LAWN CAREMowing, Trimming, Landscaping, Mulching, Yard Cleaning, Gutter

Cleaning, Leaf [email protected]

Free EstimatesWill Beat Prices

615-796-4384 (t6-7)

LAWN CARECLASSIFIEDS

BUYING U.S. COINS2018 SEASON IS NOW OPEN BOOTH OPEN SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS at Parkland Flea Market, Highway 231 South.

See Gerald at Booth 16 or call 615.519.7777. Will come to you.

WANT TO BUY

HOME IMPROVEMENTCarpentry, Decks, Pressure Wash-ing, Drywall, Plumbing, Electrical. Also specializing in landscaping, property maintenance, pond/wa-

terfall design and installation. CDB Home Improvement Services,

Dwayne Binkley, 615-917-4563. Free Estimates.

SERVICES

WATERTOWN SEWERPRETREATMENT PROGRAMThe City of Watertown in accor-dance with Tennessee Department of Environment and Conserva-tion (TDEC) is amending the city’s sewer pretreatment program. The following describes the general amendments to the pretreatment program.(1). Replace the enforcement re-sponse plan with Appendix A. (En-forcement Response Guide Table)(2). Modify section 18-1-506 3e regarding building sewer hookup, cleanouts and insulation require-ments.

(3). Modify section 18-1-507 re-garding septic tank effluent pump or grinder pump wastewater systems.(4). Update Local Limits Plant Pro-tection Criteria.Copies of the proposed changes may be reviewed at Watertown City Hall, 8630 Sparta Pike, Watertown, TN 37184 during normal business hours. Written comments should be addressed to Mayor Mike Jennings at Watertown City Hall at above stated address. Comments may also be emailed to [email protected]. Comments must be received by Friday, June 15, 2018.

(t6/7)

PUBLIC NOTICE

MAINTENANCE PERSONMaintenance person for

apartments complexes inAlexandria and Carthage. Must

have own tools. 30 hours per week. $9.50 to start, raise after 90 days.

Call (615)529-2904, email [email protected],

Fax (615)529-2907 (t7/4)

HELP WANTED


Watertown High School percussionistAshley Miller signs with CU Band

All-District Baseball Awards presented

In photo at right: Watertown High School 2018 graduate Ashley Miller had her official signing with the Cumberland Phoenix Marching Band on May 14 at Cumberland University. Ashley was a Watertown band member since middle school under the direction Watertown Middle School and WHS Band Directors Neil Graves and Scott Corley and has been recruited as a percussionist by the Phoenix Marching Band. Ashley’s parents are Hank and Nicole Miller. photo submitted

Watertown High School had their baseball banquet Monday night, May 21. All-District Awards were given to, from left: Matthew Winfree, Bailey Hold-en, Brandon Allison and Tyler Vastola. photo submitted

Free electronic hearing tests will be given this month for all seniors. Hearing Health Center in Lebanon will offer this testing for anyone who suspects they are not hearing clearly. Using our video otoscope, we will be able to show you the inside of your ear canal. Let’s see if your problem could be as simple as too much earwax. We will then give you a full hearing evaluation, including speech understanding tests. Your results will be explained to you in clear, easy to understand terms and although weencourage early correction of hearing loss you are under no obligation to encourage early correction of hearing loss you are under no obligation to purchase. • Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) 18 and over report some trouble hearing. • People suffering with Diabetes are four times more likely to develop hearing loss. • People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help. • A 12-year study by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found that untreated hearing loss increased the risk for dementia. • Only one out of every five people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wear one.Demonstrations of the latest technology in better hearing will be available. Demonstrations of the latest technology in better hearing will be available. Hear for yourself how easy it can be to understand clearly again. This is an easy and safe way to get the answers to your hearing questions. Hearing Health Center has been serving Wilson County over 36 years and prides itself on being a great customer service company.

(615)444-54251417 W. Baddour Pkwy. Ste. A

Lebanon, TN 37087

Call for yourfree hearingtest today!

1417 West Baddour Pkwy. Lebanon, TN 37087On the grounds of Tennova Healthcare - Lebanon

Don’t miss the most important parts of life.We can help you hear your best when it

ma�ers the most!

or drop in for a visit at 900 Coles Ferry Pike in Lebanon615-443-7929

Housekeeping ServiceActivities Program:

Days-Evenings-WeekendsVan for off-campus activities

Respite Care

RN & LPNs on Duty Social Events

Nutritious MealsPrivate or Short Term Apartments

GRACIOUS LIVING with PEACE OF MIND...

Call Jennifer Bradshaw for a tour!

Documents

Little Lights founder retires