Watermelon Festival

Once a year the small town of Tompkinsville comes alive with hustle and bustle. It is awesome to see people out and about! I feel like I am in a metropolis city far removed from small town America in the heart of Kentucky on the Tennessee stateline! Around 10,000 come to “town” for the annual Monroe County Watermelon Festival each year. The local Tompkinsville Inn is booked years in advance leading up to the big day each Labor Day weekend.

Community volunteers, local business owners, and land owners have been preparing for this event by painting, doing improvement projects, and decorating storefronts. “Town” looks awesome! If you want to donate and give back to “town” the Heart of Tompkinsville Foundation would gladly accept your donation to help with downtown projects and events to help revitalize downtown Tompkinsville.  The mission of the Heart of Tompkinsville Foundation to strengthen the economic base of Tompkinsville’s central business district, to foster the restoration, preservation and development of its unique cultural and architectural heritage, and to establish the downtown as a great place to shop, work, recreate and live. Let me know if you need their contact information.

Getting back to the Monroe County Watermelon Festival…If you have never been to the Monroe County Watermelon Festival it is an annual event held each year the Saturday before Labor Day. The event is sponsored by the Monroe County Arts Council and the Tompkinsville Jaycees and almost all local organizations in the county participate in some form or fashion in the event.

Tomorrow Main Street will be covered with Arts and Crafts booths along with Commercial and Non-Profit promotional booths from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The Parade officially kicks off the day’s events at 10:00 a.m. then live music will be going on throughout the day downtown. So bring your lawn chair and come join the fun! There will also be lots of food vendors offering a variety of food choices. Monroe County BBQ will definitely be a mainstay at the event! Personally the Savage Girl will be helping the Monroe County Extension Homemakers host the Annual Watermelon Festival Quilt Show in the Old Courthouse Courtroom. We will be accepting entries from 8:00-10:00 a.m. and will let the public view the quilts from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Also in the Courtroom an Acrylic Art Show will be on display for viewing.  The festival will be hosting a “Hoop-Off”, Local Author Visitation, 5K & Fun Run, Rolley-Hole Marble Tournament, Watermelon Contests, Cornhole Tournament, Antique Tracker & Engine Show, and much more!

There is something for everyone!  Come join the fun and excitement of all things watermelon at the 34^th Annual Watermelon Festival in downtown Tompkinsville Kentucky tomorrow. If you can’t make it tomorrow then plan to make a visit next year. Mark your calendar for the Saturday of Labor Day weekend next year.              

Tompkinsville's Newest Business..."City Cafe" is NOW OPEN

Today marked the opening day for a new business in downtown Tompkinsville, Kentucky! Terin Burgress Coe opened "City Cafe" on Main Street in the former Subway building. Terin asks that everyone please bare with her as she learns about the business and tries to work out all the bugs and kinks that any new business has whenever they first open.

I first met Terin a few months ago when she came into the Extension Office scoping out information for new businesses and the possibility of using local Kentucky Proud produce for her restaurant. We tossed around a few ideas and exchanged contact information. Fast forward a couple of months and today was the grand opening day of her new business! Terin is full of ideas, enthusiasm, and zest which is just what downtown Tompkinsville needs! Her dream came to fruition today when the doors opened this morning! I wish her the very best of luck. Please go support her and her new business!

City Cafe is open Monday-Friday 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with the possibility of maybe one day expanding hours as their business and customer base grows. City Cafe will be offering breakfast and lunch. Their menu is small for now but once they have their menu items perfected they will be expanding it and will feature seasonal specials.

Here are a few photos of items that my co-worker Susan and I ate for lunch. They all were delicious and we both would recommend them to anyone! This is a must try kind of place for anyone especially the Savage Girl and her blog followers!
 

Chicken Salad on Croissant

Turkey & Swiss Sandwich

Grilled Chicken Salad

 

The Bull and Thistle

I have a passion for community and economic development work. This is one aspect of my work with the Cooperative Extension Service that is relatively new to me within the past four years. I am still learning the "ins and outs" of CED work, but I want to see communities thrive, work together on common goals, and be successful in meeting their challenges, dreams, and aspirations. I love to see communities at work improving things for the well being of their citizens. Fired up communities create jobs and expand into new markets and industries. They are willing to change and be forward thinking. I love seeing communities alive and bursting with energy and excitement. When community stakeholders, government, and local citizens see their own local potential within themselves the possibilities I believe are endless! I enjoy helping and serving in whatever capacity necessary to help play my part in the process too. What about you?

I believe here in Tompkinsville we have a lot of great things going for us right now. Change is slowly happening downtown and around the county, but it is going to take time and more investments. It is time we all get fired up about the now and the future, not the past and how it has always been done before. Dreams turn into goals which when carried out develop communities and change our future. I hope that we can locally here in Tompkinsville keep this momentum going and possibly create more of a buzz. Are you willing to help? We need your help! If it takes a village to raise a child...then it is going to take an entire county plus many others to invest in our communities future. In a few weeks there is going to be a "Community Forum" on April 18th at 6:30 p.m. If you want to help be a part of the envisioning process & hear about the possibilities of our future please make plans on attending the Community Forum on April 18th. We want you there! We need you there! My future...your future...your children's future...and our communities future depend on your input and investment in Monroe County.     

Now that I'm all fired up, let me tell you the real reason why I got all excited about community and economic development today. Yesterday I got the privilege to have a family date night with my awesome parents. My mama mentioned that the "new" restaurant finally opened in Gainesboro and I just had to go. She had been giving me updates on this "new" restaurant for the past year or so...so needless to say I was excited about going. We packed up and traveled there for dinner last night and boy were we in for a treat!    

We got the opportunity to visit a community where one family had a vision and a dream to help be a part of reviving a suffering community in order put it back on the map. This community is Gainesboro, Tennessee.  The town is now hustling and bustling with new life. One whole corner of the town square just recently went through a multi-million dollar complete remodel. Gainesboro now is the home of two newly renovated buildings with a third one on its way soon. The Vault Boutique opened its doors last year and offers ladies jewelry, apparel, fashion accessories, and home décor. The Bull and Thistle, an Celtic/Irish pub & restaurant, opened its doors a few weeks ago with a five star chef from Ireland. This restaurant is one you must go check out! (This is the reason we went to Gainesboro!) And word on the street is that a bakery is in the works for the near future.

I urge you to make the drive from wherever you live and travel to Gainesboro, Tennessee. You will not be disappointed. I would recommend you call ahead and make reservations if you plan on eating at The Bull and Thistle before making the drive though. 

Here are a few photos that I took while we visited yesterday.

The main reason we traveled to Gainesboro, TN...to eat at The Bull & Thistle! Yummy! They have an awesome chef.

 

 

They have lots of antique shops around the square in downtown Gainesboro, TN. We couldn't help but stop at a few along the way!

 

 

 

Cool signage around Gainesboro, TN.

 

 

 Mama and I at dinner! We both got ready at our own houses...and we matched without ever talking about it. LOL. Like mother...like daughter.

 

 

The cool original ceiling they restored.

 

The awesome surroundings of the newly renovated restaurant. These photos do not do the building justice!

 

 

Ploughman's Lunch. This is what mama ate...she said it was good, but not exactly what she expected. I think next time when she comes she plans on her and daddy sharing the 22 oz. T-Bone Beef Entrée Special. My mama is a planner!  

 

 

Dad was a little skeptical when his "Traditional Fish and Chips" came all wrapped up in newspaper. He really enjoyed them, but this Southern Boy never had had his fish arrive in newspaper before! We were proud to see them wrapped in a local newspaper with an ad from Celina (our hometown).

 

 

I got the Bangers and Mash...it was a perfect comfort food for the Savage Girl!  

We could not leave without trying one of their delicious sounding desserts "Steamed Chocolate Fondant Pudding with hot chocolate sauce and chocolate ice cream". It was heavenly!

 

 

In closing, I hope that everyone makes a drive to Gainesboro, TN to check out what's new in their town and if you are a Monroe Countian please come to "town" and attend the Community Forum on April 18th at 6:30 p.m. at the Monroe County High School Gym. Let me know if you have any questions about either of these above mentioned topics. 

Cool link to information about this downtown renovation & community and economic development project in Gainesboro, TN.