Episode 3533

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made possible in part by, this season there's something small that makes a big difference. Flu vaccines protect ourselves and others. Flu vaccines are available. Learn more at tn.gov/health/fightflu.

- This time on "Tennessee Crossroads" we'll explore the Commodore Hotel in the town of Linden. Then meet Nashville's Anne of All Trades. We'll sample some major league barbecue in Springfield and discover the comeback of the simple pencil in Shelbyville. Well, mark my word, that's our lineup for this edition of "Tennessee Crossroads." I'm Joe Elmore, sure glad to have you. Judging from the name of our first story, you might think we took a trip to the coast. But the Commodore Hotel isn't near the ocean, it's in a lovely but landlocked little town of Linden. Cindy Carter met the couple that refurbished a dilapidated old bank and turned it into destination fit for a commodore.

- When the weekend rolls around in Linden, Tennessee, you'll need to follow State Route 100 to the town square, hang a right of the classic car, walk past the mini Pearl statue and make a hard left when you hear the music play. ♪ Country road, take me home ♪ That's when you'll know you've reached your destination, the Commodore Hotel. A historic hotel that has reemerged as the place in Linden to stop in, stop by or spend a night or two.

- And there aren't a lot of historic hotels left, they've been, especially in small towns, they've been knocked down because there was no business.

- [Cindy] Not here, not anymore. Business is back at the old hotel thanks to owners, Michael and Kathy Dumont who fell in love with the Commodore in 2004.

- No intention ever of running a hotel. We were gonna like renovate it and turn it over to an operator and that was our plan. And you know, things change.

- [Cindy] Boy did they, after years of disregard and dilapidation the Dumonts turned the hotel and Linden into a destination, like it was by when the town was a frequent overnight stop in between Nashville and Memphis.

- We have stories of Elvis coming through here and Johnny Cash.

- Yeah, definitely.

- That's awesome. Elvis supposedly had his hair here in town one day.

- Was a shave.

- Oh, was a shave.

- [Cindy] The original building was built in 1939 by local businessmen, Robert Staley, who ran the hotel and a cafe until he passed away in the 1950s.

- [Kathy] We went into this repair for about 20, 25 years and then we bought it.

- [Cindy] Bought it and slowly brought the hotel back to life, much to the great interest of the locals who were understandably curious about these strangers from the Northeast.

- The town embraced the project and us at that time because while we were renovating, my whole job basically was, my days were spent touring people around. The local townspeople and everything would come to town, they would say, "I'm so glad that you're saving this."

- [Cindy] And the Dumonts wanted to save as much of the original hotel as they possibly could while modernizing it to keep their guests comfortable. The Commodore's lobby just feels like something out of an old movie or television show. Behind the front desk, the restored staircase leads to the second floor guest rooms and no two are exactly alike.

- [Michael] Everything in the rooms is pretty much original. They were four bathrooms up there for 14 rooms when we first bought this. So we left those original bathrooms 'cause they're quirky.

- Rest assured, each bedroom now has its own unique bathroom. It offers its own unique experience, like the Commodore's quarters. The nautical themed room like the hotel is named for not this commodore but this one, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a hero from the war of 1812. Or the Newport suite, which pays subtle tribute to Commodore Perry's hometown of Newport, Rhode Island. The Dumonts can also customize the rooms with birthday, wedding or other celebratory extras. The Commodore Hotel's footprint is actually larger than this building. There are 11 rooms inside the original hotel. But just a few steps down the sidewalk, there are nine more renovated rooms inside what was once the town's boarding house. And a little further, on top of the old bank building, there's a lot space, bringing the total to 21. Yes, the Commodore does stretch out a bit along main street but that gives guests an opportunity to dive into Linden's shops and businesses that have popped up around the town square since the hotel reopened.

- [Michael] It it wasn't an easy path 'cause when we opened this thing up we had no goodwill built in, it wasn't a tourism destination and so it took us a long time to get interest. A lot of things happened, some organically, some were forced.

- [Cindy] That's because not long after the Dumonts moved to the area, a recession gave Linden the distinction of having the second largest unemployment rate in the country. There were few jobs, few visitors and plenty of boarded up buildings. A little Linden reinvention was in order and the hotel's reinvention was the start.

- So to have a 24/7 presence in a small town is actually a real benefit to the local community and the local business community.

- [Cindy] Now the small town is once again a stop for folks who want to get away, enjoy history, appreciate art, maybe even fish or kayak on the nearby Buffalo River, all of which the Commodore tries to facilitate.

- [Kathy] People from the big cities we thought it's peace and quiet, get away from the city, take a breath. You lower your blood pressure.

- [Cindy] And the Commodore Hotel is also once again a place where locals can gather to mix and mingle with those big city folks and each other.

- [Kathy] We have our speakeasy or bar lounge. And then we also have restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner on weekends. And we have live music on Friday and some Saturday nights. ♪ I agree doctor to stay with you ♪

- [Cindy] So if you want to join in on the fun, you don't really need directions. Once you get to Linden, it's easy to spot the Commodore Hotel. It's the a place that looks like history but feels like home.

- Thanks Cindy. These days you don't have to be a TV or movie star to reach celebrity status. A Tennessee woman has done that through social media. Tammi Arender introduces us to Anne Briggs, who's also known as Anne of All Trades. And as you'll see, she certainly is.

- [Tammi] If idle hands are the devil's workshop, then the devil is nowhere near Anne Briggs. This social media sensation is known as Anne of All Trades.

- I want to be able to have a place like my grandpa had where I can think of something and go out and make it. And so it started with woodworking and then it expanded to blacksmithing because I liked hand tools and I could make my own hand tools in my blacksmith shop.

- [Tammi] Briggs lives in Nashville but she was raised mostly overseas by missionary parents, living in places like the Ukraine and Austria. Then she moved to Asia. She's fluent in Chinese and has a business and marketing degree. But that degree isn't being used behind a desk somewhere.

- I always said when I was growing up that I wanted to someday live on a farm because of my parents' career, we weren't able to have pets or animals of any kind that I'd always had a special affinity for animals. So I said, one day if I ever live in America, I'm gonna have a farm. Guys.

- [Tammi] So she does have a farm, complete with cows, chickens, goats and miniature donkeys.

- [Anne] Hi, you'll have a hug?

- [Tammi] Each animal on the farm has a purpose. The dogs which are named Johnny and June, by the way and donkeys are guard animals. The goats are dairy goats. She named them after country music stars. There's Brenda Lee and Waylon Jennings. She uses their milk to make cheese, yogurt and soap.

- [Anne] Here you go buddy.

- [Tammi] Oh, and let's not forget Lucy. Now Lucy is the exception to the rule, she doesn't have a purpose. She was inherited from a neighbor who said Lucy had gotten too big to be a pet.

- I love animals, I always have, I've always had a special relationship with them. And so being able to incorporate them into my daily life and my daily routine and also have them all do something useful for everyone is so fun.

- [Tammi] While the farm is very much a part of the Anne of All Trades repertoire, it's the disappearing life skills as she calls them that keeps her hands busy.

- It really just kind of happened. I was a tomboy my whole childhood and I don't know if that led me to wanting to do stuff like this, but really I just operate so much better when I'm working with my hands.

- [Tammi] From splitting her own wood for making cabinets, chairs, spoons and spatulas to grabbing a chunk of steel to make her own tools of the trade.

- I came from working in the tech industry, in the computer world and once I started getting really serious about this, I just wanted to do it all the time. Because unlike typing and sending an email, you could work really hard on a project on the computer for months and months on end whereas every single day at the end of the day, I get to touch and like run my hands across the things. And so I have physical evidence of my blood, sweat and often tears when I'm building things. And I really do enjoy the way that that kind of reflects itself, I know that I worked hard because I can see that thing in front of me.

- [Tammi] Like a chef would shave shards of chocolate to decorate a cake and shaves away chunks of wood from a wooden block, leaving behind her vision of a spoon, spatula or spindle for a chair.

- I can make a whole chair that only weighs eight pounds because I'm following the grain of the tree and like doing all this stuff by hand. So the disappearing life skills side of things is that, in so many tasks that have been replaced by machines, you lose kind of the artistry and the craftsmanship and the pieces of furniture that do last for three or four or 500 years. And so I'm really passionate about, a, it's a lot more fun to build things that way, it takes a lot longer, surely so it's a little harder to make a profit. But doing things by hand and kind of carrying it through from the tree to the finished piece, especially if it's a tree that I cut down with an ax that I forged in my blacksmithing shop and then used a draw knife that I forged my blacksmithing shop and turned it into a chair, that's a pretty amazing process to kind of just watch happen.

- [Tammi] Her grandfather instilled in her the love of woodworking. And her fascination with fire and the need for woodworking tools led to blacksmithing.

- I'll make bottle openers as gifts or like little hooks to hang your hat on or whatever else. But what I really like making in the blacksmith shop is tools. So I've made a whole set of spoon carving knives, like the ax that I use to chop out the spoon blanks, a froe, splitting wedges. And then of course the cool thing about blacksmithing is that you make all of the tools that you need to make tools.

- [Tammi] Briggs doesn't know the word fear. Farming, woodworking or blacksmithing was nowhere in her wheelhouse, but it is now. And she's so passionate about her skills that she's learned, she's constructing a workshop where she'll teach these disappearing life skills to others.

- Maybe I'll have the opportunity for me to then expose some people to that younger in life and then bring in some of the world class teachers that I've been able to now study under thanks to some other privileges that I've received, like working for the magazine and running that woodworking school. So now I can bring some of those amazing teachers in and then provide other people that same opportunity to have someone champion and invest in them and change their lives the way that mine has been changed.

- [Tammi] She's now an expert in several areas, creating her own tools or even musical instruments. But what she really wants to create is community and connectivity.

- I love inviting other people into the journey because again, there just is so much reward to be found in it. Whether it's cooking up a meal that you grew in the garden, or sitting down to your table that you built, in a chair that you built, using tools that you made, like it's all fun. But the most fun for me is when I'm sharing that experience with someone else.

- Okay. Thanks, Tammi. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name, Willie Mae's? Well, baseball probably, right? Folks in Springfield will have another B word that might reach the top spot, barbecue. Miranda Cohen visited a popular restaurant where when it comes to barbecue, Willie Mae's knocks it out of the park.

- [Miranda] From the minute you walk in the door at Willie Mae's Barbecue in Springfield, Tennessee, you just know something is a little different.

- Okay.

- [Customer] Mac and cheese.

- You got it.

- [Miranda] First, you smell the unmistakable aroma of hickory smoke, and then see the same two smiling faces always there to greet you.

- We're 100% hickory smoked start to finish. I think the fact that we keep it old school. Everyone has, for the most part, gotten away from that, with gas and electric. And I don't have anything against those, it's just not what I'm looking for in the barbecue world.

- [Miranda] Joe Tooton and Gail Norman are the owners of Willie Mae's Barbecue on 8th Avenue, a name that is easy to remember and food that is impossible to forget.

- Joe mentioned that he loved to name the restaurant after his late grandmother. And we tossed about 100 names around and I said, nothing sounds better than Willie Mae's Barbecue.

- [Miranda] In a style of cooking people often consider male dominated, it was the strong women in Joe's life that taught him the secrets to great Southern food.

- Well, she was pretty much my best friend all of my life till she passed, so that's really why it was so important to me. She could cook anything and everything, that was my mother's mother. And my mother was a fantastic cook also. I learned how to make something from nothing. My mom was married at 14 and they didn't have much money so she had to figure it out. And both of them could make a great meal from just a few ingredients, keep it simple.

- Joe has been cooking food, doing barbecue his entire life and it's his passion. And well, we pretty much have the old school menu, keep it simple but try to do the best that you can. Ribs, chicken, pole pork, this area is big for pole pork. We brought brisket in the picture because we wanna do a Texas style barbecue. People definitely drive for miles to come. And he will never brag on his food but he does a great job. But the brisket is definitely, probably our biggest seller here.

- [Miranda] They may be keeping it old school but Gail and Joe could be teaching a class in classic smoked barbecue and in Southern hospitality.

- Hello, guys. Hey, how's it going? There are many other sauces on the counter, feel free to bring them over and try 'em out.

- [Miranda] What keeps you coming back to Willie Mae's?

- The food. It's the sauce and the brisket is so good. And I also like the sweet sauce, I put that in with my mac and cheese. And then also dip the Texas toast in the sauce as well. It's really good.

- Something that really amazes me is the way that they treat their customers, they treat us in a very nice way. And the way that she does is just amazing, I just love it.

- {Gail] You two need anything you let me know, okay?

- Okay.

- [Gail] Absolutely.

- Now all of the meats here at Willie Mae's are cooked the same, cooked to perfection, low and slow. But what they do offer are different sauces because everyone eats barbecue a little differently. They have all the sweet sauces, including sweet hot and sweet shine. They have a Carolina sauce and then our photographer's favorite, the inferno.

- Well, I'm a sauce junkie myself. I love sauces and I love all of the different barbecue styles across the entire country. So I just pull it from sauces I've made all of my life.

- We do a thick red sauce that is probably more of a Texas thing. Thick Carolina, people use that a lot on the pork. He makes a mustard sauce, a hot sauce, one called a sweet shine. Everything is in-house made, from the rubs to the sauces, to the sides.

- [Miranda] Oh yes, about those sides, well, the sides at Willie Mae's certainly don't play second fiddle to the main dish.

- The macaroni and cheese, baked beans, the green beans, coleslaw and potato salad and then your plates come with either cornbread or Texas toast.

- I've been making them, the green beans Willie Mae and my mom taught me how to make when I was a kid and pretty much everything else.

- [Miranda] Willie Mae's is open for lunch only, Tuesday through Friday. And when they're out, they're out.

- It's just the two of us, we're just a two person operation. We do what we can do, we're constantly busy. We cook every day for the next day and we wanna keep everything as fresh as possible. When you order a plate, you know your meat is cut to order, sliced order, chopped and people appreciate that. I think that's what keeps people coming back, they know what they're getting is fresh.

- So it takes a little bit longer than I want it to take but I wouldn't do it any other way.

- [Miranda] Willie Mae never got to see the long lines and smiling customers at the restaurant that bears her name, but Joe's mother did.

- I think she was pretty proud of what we've accomplished. I think she was here three times. I wish Willie Mae's had gotten to see it though.

- [Miranda] But both ladies are still here adorning the walls in a place where many feel right at home.

- Many of them have become friends, when they come in most of the time I know what they're gonna order. You're gonna change it up today?

- No, I'm good.

- We're just glad to be here and glad to be doing what we're doing. Let's eat sausage plait.

- To me, there's no better comfort food than barbecue, is what I love to do.

- Do you know that cursive writing is making a comeback in many elementary schools? Well, that's good news for a little Tennessee company that's been in business more than a century. The Musgrave Pencil Company at Shelbyville has stood the test of time and technology as a leading manufacturer of the good old wood case pencil.

- [Joe] The first practice of writing to record language goes back to about 3,200 BC. While technology has affected the ways people have written since then, arguably the most reliable writing instrument is still the time tested wood case pencil. Since 1916, the Musgrave Pencil Company at Shelbyville has been a leading producer. More than half million pencils a day in various colors, shapes and designs. It all began when founder James Raford Musgrave started milling cedar wood slats for sale to German pencil makers. He devised a plan to provide local farmers with modern wire fencing in exchange for their cedar fence rails.

- Cedar is a fairly straight grain soft wood with a natural oil in it, Cedar oil, of course. And it made just a really premier pencil.

- [Joe] Henry Hulan now heads the company his grandfather started, a company that's made its own complete pencils since the early 1920s. Just like the old days, the process starts with wooden slats now often imported from places like California. So how do they get the lead inside the wood? First, let's get something straight, pencils do not contain lead.

- And there has been, it's a mixture of graphite and clay. And that's an interesting process unto itself because the more graphite you have and the less clay, the softer the pencil will write.

- [Joe] A diamond cutter puts nine grooves into each slat, grooves that are half the width of the graphite cores which go in next with some glue. An identically grooved top slat is glued on and the unit goes into a press. Here, each side of the sandwich passes through a set of cutters to give it its ultimate shape. The next step, painting, is more involved than one might imagine. Five to nine thin coats must be applied to each pencil.

- Mostly we're selling a surface to be printed on and a lot of thin coats, most cases, are better than one or two thick coats of paint.

- [Joe] After paint, some pencils will get printing on their sides. Either way, the final phase is tipping. First, a machine indents the end of the pencil so it receives a metal band called a ferrule. Then an eraser goes into the ferrule which is crimped to hold everything together.

- Now at this station, they start with pencils with the erasers on each end and well, here's what happens.

- [Joe] Actually they're cut in half and pre-sharpened to make short pencils favored at the golf course. In addition the standard number two, Musgrave turns out large quantities of flat carpenter pencils. These are shipped to building supply houses and even box stores like the Home Depot. Advertising and designer pencils have greatly boosted the business here at Musgrave. Machines like this one use special foils to turn out a myriad of multicolored designer pencils that are sold to stores nationwide. So after a century of operation, business is still good for Musgrave, a little company that once earned Shelbyville the name Pencil City. Still making its mark in a quickly changing high tech world. What's more, Henry Hulan wants to ensure a place for the low-tech Tennessee made pencil, at least for another century or so. You think you guys will be making pencils another a 100 years?

- Well, we're planning on it. I don't think I'll be around to watch them but I'm gonna be here a few more years and I think there's a place for the wood case pencil from now.

- Well with that, we hope you pencil in an appointment with our website, tennesseecrossroads.org. Visit us on Facebook, of course. And by all means, join me here next week. I'll see you then.

- [Announcer] "Tennessee Crossroads" is made by possible in part by, this season there's something small that makes a big difference. Flu vaccines protect ourselves and others. Flu vaccines are available. Learn more at tn.gov/health/fight flu.