Episode 3727

- [Narrator] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made possible in part by.

- [Phil] I'm Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham. Here in Cookville, Tennessee's college town, we are bold, fearless, confident, and kind. Tech prepares students for careers by making everyone's experience personal. We call that living wings up. Learn more at tntech.edu.

- [Narrator] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at tntrailsandbyways.com.

- This time on "Tennessee Crossroads," we'll take in a decades-old dining experience in Nashville, then travel to Gatlinburg to meet a master wood carver. We'll visit a museum in Chattanooga that's all about tow trucks and, finally, meet a Franklin artist who creates art with pictures and words. Hi, everybody, I'm Joe Elmore. That's the lineup for this edition of "Tennessee Crossroads." Thanks for joining us. It's been a staple of West Nashville since 1980. In our first story, Laura Faber shares the secret to the success of Dalts American Grill, while also sharing a personal connection to the restaurant.

- [Laura] It's home cooking on a grand scale, meals that make you think of your grandma, and new dishes too. Pot roast, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, the burgers and milkshakes, those onion rings and fried mushrooms.

- People like our fried mushrooms. We hand batter them ourself. Our onion rings is a top seller because the batter is quite unique. Can't get it everywhere.

- [Laura] This is Dalts American Grill.

- [Shannon] It's a local favorite. It's a westside tradition. The Belle Meade community and the West Nashville community has kept this place going for 43 years. They keep coming, and we keep trying to serve them good food with good service.

- Three trays of rolls, please.

- [Laura] Owner Shannon Powell got his start working in restaurants while at college. He had heard of Dalts when it was a chain owned by TGI Friday's in 1980. And when the company started selling off the Dalts restaurants, Shannon bought the White Bridge Road location in 2001, and he and his family have owned it ever since.

- [Shannon] There was four of them left in the '90s, and this was one of them. And now it's the only one standing.

- [Laura] The area where Dalts sits has transformed since 1980. Longtime Nashvillians will remember that this part of town used to be called Lion's Head. In fact, back in 1992, my very first date with my soon-to-be husband was at Dalts. There are a lot of stories like that.

- And when they built this restaurant, this was the outside of Nashville. I mean, there was hardly anything out here. And then as it developed into Lion's Head, you know, Calhoun's was here. Caesar's was a famous restaurant that was in the back, and they had the movie theater. I get a lot of stories about people that would have their first date at the movie theater and then come to Dalts. I get adults now that say, "My grandma brought me here, and we would sit at the counter and have a milkshake."

- [Laura] The secret is also the food. Good food and most everything homemade.

- [Shannon] We do everything we can homemade, from scratch as much as we can. The only things I can't do, fat-free dressing. I buy that. But we do all our dressings, all our desserts, all our soups, and that's what I stand by. You don't get that a lot anymore.

- [Laura] Regular customers clearly have their favorites, like Melissa Womack, who used to be a waitress here.

- I ordered the, they call it now the Summer Melt, but it used to be called Chicken Salad Quesadilla.

- Summer Melt. That's a chicken salad, which is different than anybody else's chicken salad. Secret ingredient there's dill. Well, not a lot of people put dill in their chicken salad. But the Summer Melt's one of our top sellers.

- [Laura] Linda Wakefield and her group are regulars too. Dalts is great at accommodating larger groups.

- You can feed 8 to 80. There's a party room that they use quite often. The food pretty much stays the same. They have changed the menu several times, but when we don't like it, we tell them. They have great carrot cake. Consistent food. There's several consistent employees.

- [Chef] Going to table 20.

- I eat here seven days a week 'cause I'm here all the time. But French Dip is one of my favorites. The Philly Cheesesteak. Those two are kind of hand in hand. I rotate between those two. We have a really good Reuben, which is unique to West Nashville. They like their Reubens. So we've always, Reuben sells well. It's original. It's like the light rye. It's got the sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, so it stands true to what a Reuben should be.

- And then there are the desserts. The chocolate malt cake is a Dalts original. Chocolate through and through, homemade, covered with jumbo malt balls, it was a customer favorite back in 1980 and remains a top favorite today.

- [Shannon] Chocolate malt cake. And it is an original item that was on the menu from the very beginning. And it's quite a hard recipe to follow. And we did them for 43 years, and they continue to sell because it's a rich, it's got the malt powder in it, so it's a rich chocolate cake.

- [Laura] The menu has been updated a bit since 1980, and some parts of the restaurant have been, too, like the sunroom, with a beloved mural by Kentucky artist David Jones. He also painted the one inside.

- The one in the sunroom is more about West Nashville on one side and then Downtown Nashville on the other side. The one in the dining room is all about old Downtown Nashville and stars. We've got Minnie Pearl on the far left of that mural. We've got Hank Williams, Senior. I always get to say his name because everybody goes, "Where's the restroom?" I go, "Go to Hank Williams, Senior and take a right.

- [Laura] What hasn't changed is the main dining room at Dalts.

- [Shannon] Built after a '40s diner. That was the concept. So it's got unique things, like the marble floor was flown from Italy to come in and build this. The countertops at the bar and the counter are both flown in from Italy. They're original marble. The mahogany wood, you don't get that everywhere. They really did a good job building this in 1980.

- [Laura] Turns out the secret recipe to Dalts' success is not so secret, after all.

- [Shannon] It's been good people taking care of people each and every day. And that's our only secret.

- Thanks, Laura. If you've ever tried to carve wood or whittle, you know it's so much harder than it looks. Well, in our next story, Miranda Cohen's gonna take you to Gatlinburg to meet an incredibly talented wood carver who has found the secret to revealing beautiful sculptures hidden away in wood.

- [Miranda] Michael Copas is in his element, chainsaw in hand, covered in shavings, discovering a hidden sculpture most of us can't quite yet see.

- I'm not intimidated by any design. It's kind of a fun thing to watch because, like I said, I do precision cutting. I'm cutting everything out right down to it at first, instead of, like, whittling it down. And I've developed these cuts over time.

- [Miranda] The master wood carver started carving caricatures at the Opryland Theme Park back in the early '70s. A fellow artist suggested he pack up his talent and move to the Great Smokey Mountains, and he has been here ever since. In his early days in Gatlinburg, he met a carving mentor who was impressed by his talent, and was willing to pay for it.

- He said if I could carve a face in a half of a log, he'd buy every one of them.

- [Miranda] Copas started carving full time. He was inspired by the rustic beauty and wildlife in the mountains of East Tennessee. He started with bears, big cats, birds of prey, and much more.

- Just wanting to see something. You know, like, if I decide I'm gonna carve an eagle in flight, it's because I want to see the carving. That's the only reason, is I just want to see it.

- [Miranda] And astonishingly, the scale of his masterpieces are life size, often carved from a single piece of wood.

- [Michael] I carved a bear's head first, then I carved the owl, then I did the cat. I do from-

- Tiny.

- tabletop to monumental pieces. I think the tallest carving I've done was 32 feet. But when it's a single piece, you gotta keep the physics in mind. 'Cause you don't want to create a weak spot.

- He is now known as one of the true masters of the craft, and the Smithsonian Institute maintains a database of his work. Master Wood Carver Michael Copas says the art of wood carving is really the art of subtraction. He can walk up to a log like this and see what's in there. All he has to do is take away everything that doesn't belong.

- It's one thing to construct a piece. But as an art form, when it's pure subtraction, it has no rival. And it's kind of funny to think that you stop when you reach the image, and it's like it's always been there. That tree grew for the purpose of being that sculpture.

- [Miranda] Michael Copas carves in Paulownia, sugar pine, white pine, sassafras, and walnut. The type of wood the master chooses depends on the scale and detail of the piece. While he can carve a complete bear in a few hours, it is the smaller increments of time when he finds himself in the zone, completely lost in his work.

- There's very few things in life that the seconds remain fresh. You know, we get caught in the minutes, get caught in the hours. And that's what I love about it. Every second is fresh. I'm neither, you know, looking forward on prosperity or looking backward on prosperity.

- [Miranda] His exquisitely detailed sculptures have a huge following, many in the hands of devoted private collectors. But thanks to social media, more and more people are getting the opportunity to see his art.

- And every time I start a carving, I put the pictures on Facebook, every stage of the process, as they sell as quick as I carve them. You know, the last thing I want to see is a bunch of my inventory.

- [Miranda] For Copas, the real joy is in the carving itself. And the masterpieces he discovers in the wood? They're for someone else to enjoy.

- It's the journey that the pleasure's in. And when the carving's done, it's no big deal. No art is finished, it's only abandoned.

- [Miranda] Copas has had great success in these mountains, but he also found much more: a community of fellow carvers and artists, and the comradery of kindred spirits.

- I love the friends I've made here 'cause they've been in my life ever since I've been here.

- [Miranda] Michael Copas is at peace living in these hills, surrounded by his lifelong friends, doing exactly what he feels he was intended to do, and carving out his legacy along the way.

- Well, it's what I was put here for. A painting is like looking out a window and a sculpture has presence in the room, so you don't feel so alone when you're around art.

- Thanks a lot, Miranda. Most of us rarely think about tow trucks. In fact, most of us hope we never need one. Well, you'll never look at one the same, though, after you visit this one-of-a-kind museum in Chattanooga. So if you're up for traveling down tow truck memory lane, this place might pull you in.

- [Vincent] There's a tow truck museum, and they think, "Well, that's interesting." You know, I've been to car museums. I've been to all this kind of thing." And they'll come in here and they'll go, "Wow, there is a lot in here. A lot more than I expected."

- [Joe] It all started with a group of towing professionals who decided to preserve their industry's history and share some of it with the public. The result is a unique little attraction with a big name: The International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum. Now as Vincent, the resident historian, showed me around.

- The industry's kind of one that people kind of brush over, but it's a very proud, very rich history. It's essentially a Samaritan industry. They get out there and they say, "Hey, you know, I'm willing to come pick you up when you can't get up yourself."

- The museum is in Chattanooga for good reason. You see, the tow truck was invented here, all thanks to an interior decorator and mechanic named Ernest Holmes. In a way, this is how it all started. You see, Mr. Holmes opened a garage to work on cars, and, well, he realized after a while it'd be easier to bring the cars to him rather than work on the cars in the field. The result? The Model 680. Why 680? That was the cost. The foundation for his invention was a 1913 Cadillac with a fairly stout factory chassis. The towing mechanism is a system of ropes and pulleys, hand cranked, of course.

- [Vincent] Once the company kind of got started, he started selling the wreckers internationally. I mean, it exploded because, you know, there was no such thing as a tow truck prior to that. Vehicles became more prominent. The Model T was everywhere. So, you know, that became very useful for people on the road.

- [Joe] Holmes' company not only manufactured complete tow trucks, it also made rigs that mounted to existing truck beds. With the advent of World War II, American wreckers headed to Europe to give the Allies a lift. Holmes made over 7,200 W45s. This one was part of the Red Ball Express, that carried critically needed supplies to the front lines in France. This monster wrecker was also built for the military, but never saw action.

- [Vincent] Holmes' company had built four of these wreckers. They were prototypes for the military. They had been contracted. Well, unfortunately, the military didn't use it, and they kind of just fell into disarray. This particular one that exists in the museum is only one of four, and it's the only one that survived. And it was restored in the mid to late '80s. And it's still considered the largest wrecker mounted on a truck in the world.

- [Joe] Well, from the biggest to the fastest, this is the one you'd want for speedy service.

- [Vincent] In the '70s, they wanted to see how fast they could get a tow truck, a fully built, fully set up tow truck, that would work, you know, anywhere in the world as far as getting out on the road and picking somebody up. And they wanted to get it out on the Indianapolis Speedway and see how fast they could get it to go. Ended up breaking, I believe, about 109 miles an hour. So it ended up being the fastest recorded tow truck in the world at the time.

- [Joe] All the vehicles were on loan from proud owners who had them meticulously restored to their former towing glory.

- [Vincent] It's like restoring any vehicle. It becomes very specialized and very, you know, you have to have parts machined. And, you know, it has to be restored in a very specific way.

- [Joe] A tow truck driver has an important job, but it's a dangerous one as well. It's estimated that a driver is killed every six days. That's why in 2006, The Wall of the Fallen was dedicated to honor men and women who lost their lives in the line of service. Scott Hickson is a veteran driver from Florida we met. To him, witnessing the wall was an emotional experience.

- It's quite awe-inspiring. It brings out several emotions. It's quite humbling.

- [Interviewer] Have you lost a lot of friends?

- I've lost a lot of friends. I've had a lot of friends get hit. Myself, I've been hit. Yeah.

- [Joe] Obviously, the towing and recovery museum is not your run of the mill roadside attraction. And while most of us hope we never need one, it's fascinating to hook up with all this truck history and tradition. You can't leave this place without a new appreciation for tow trucks and the people who drive them.

- [Vincent] I would just hope that they would be more informed about the industry, realize that there's people out there that work hard every day to make sure the roads stay clear and are there to help them. And at the same time, you know, they come away understanding a part of history that is not often discussed. You know, you don't talk about tow trucks very often, or where they came from.

- Few things have the power to affect us the way literature and art can. Well, Ed Jones met an artist a while back who combines images and the written word to bring about a sense of peace in the viewer. This is the story of David Arms.

- [David] If I had to sum up my work in one word, it'd be hope. People just, they're hungry for it. They're longing for it. And I just think that something deep down there's that strong desire for.

- [Ed] Hope springs eternal from the artwork of David Arms. Arriving a bit late to the world of painting, the native East Tennesseean made up for lost time and now uses his talents to share positivity with a world sorely lacking it. But success didn't happen overnight. As a matter of fact, his first work was less about finding peace and more of a way-

- To decorate the house. Honestly. That one didn't have, to me, a whole lot of inspiration. It was years down the road I started being inspired by the things I loved and things that meant something to me.

- [Ed] You can find many things close to David's heart in and around his gallery, in the picturesque hamlet of Leiper's Fork.

- Well, nature's a big, big inspiration. I've loved nature since I was a kid. And still to this day, I just, I'm in awe of it. There are a couple of birds I use for a specific reason, and one is a hummingbird. You see those a lot. And, you know, I see those as us. Just perpetual motion. But then the first time I ever saw one lie on a limb, I remember it so clearly. I'd never seen a still hummingbird. And it was shocking because I thought, "Wow, that is us." We almost don't know what to do when we stop. And then another one is, I use the bobwhite quail a lot. You'll see it on the outside of the gallery. It's almost a logo for me now. It's just a sentimental bird. My dad raised bird dogs, and we trained them to point quail. And so they were a part of life, that you heard quail all the time where I was from. I look at them and use them as us, as humans, and our busyness and taking care of home, building home. Watching them, I do see us. And so really the scenarios I create in the paintings are reflecting us.

- [Ed] Many of David's works combine his love of nature with his love of the written word.

- Sometimes I'll use a single word just to promote thought. One word could stimulate all different thoughts in people. Even in short form, they can really stimulate someone's thought because it's where they are in life of how they're gonna receive a word. One that you'll see is simply "be still and know." And it's been amazing to me that that is the thing that resonates with people the most, until I really think it through, and I think it's the thing people long for. You know, they really do wish for that, but in this busyness, it's hard to make that happen.

- [Ed] For David, escaping the busyness of modern life is as simple as visiting his gallery: a barn resting where it was originally constructed more than a century ago.

- I'd shown in galleries in numerous states for years, but I always wanted the chance to do it the way I wanted to do it. It wouldn't be a conventional gallery. And then I got a call about this barn being renovated. And I knew when I walked in the door, it was me. And it was questionable whether this would make it through a renovation. And then magic started happening, and it truly is a little piece of heaven.

- [Ed] David's son-in-law, Blake, manages the gallery, which has become a reflection of the artist himself.

- We're humbled by this, but most people kind of call it a sanctuary. It's just a place where people can hopefully relax from the stress of everyday life, which is intentional. But it's just always humbling to know and see that people actually experience that. He's always thinking of new things to create other than just artwork, but things created from his artwork. It's kind of become this, what we would consider a lifestyle brand. There's the sign on the gallery that, under David Arms, reads, "Art. Style. Living." Those three words kind of sum up the brand as a whole. A lot of people consider it kind of a sanctuary.

- I want it to be like instead of walking into a sterile gallery, that when you walk in that door, it's like walking into my living room. We just want people to be, if they want to. Come sit in the chairs and just take in nature. Sit by the fire. We have fires going when weather allows it. But yeah, it's all about feeling more like home than a gallery.

- Leiper's Fork is just a unique place. We talk about it often. There's not a lot of places like this left in the country, with this unique charm and eclectic. And, I mean, we're only 30, 35 minutes from Nashville, depending on traffic, but it feels like you're in a completely different world.

- We just wanna be something that offers a bright spot, a healing spot, whatever, for people that just need it. We don't have to know why they need it or anything. It's just we just feel like that's part of our mission. Our calling here is to provide it. And if we can just be that moment to breathe in a day. If they walk in this door down, discouraged, or just overwhelmed by turning on the news, that there can be something to bring a sense of peace and definitely leave them with a sense of hope, then I would feel like I've done all that I wanted to do.

- Well, that's gonna do it for this edition of "Tennessee Crossroads." Thanks for joining us. In the meantime, check out our website, tennesseecrossroads.org, a place where you can download that PBS app. Well, I wanna thank you before we leave for keeping Crossroads traveling. We reached our goal all thanks to you. See you next week.

- [Narrator] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made possible in part by.

- [Phil] I'm Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham. Here in Cookville, Tennessee's college town, we are bold, fearless, confident, and kind. Tech prepares students for careers by making everyone's experience personal. We call that living wings up. Learn more at tntech.edu.

- [Narrator] Discover Tennessee Trails & Byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made-in-Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at tntrailsandbyways.com.