Episode 3806

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

- [Narrator 1] Over the years, some of our biggest winners actually have been in the classroom. The Tennessee Lottery, proud to have awarded more than two million scholarships and grants. Now that's some game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Narrator 2] Discover Tennessee trails and byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history, and more made in Tennessee experiences showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsandByways.com.

- [Narrator 3] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- [Narrator 4] Amazon, a proud supporter of programming on public television. Amazon focuses on building long-term programs that have a lasting impact in communities where employees live and work. More at aboutamazon.com.

- This week on "Tennessee Crossroads," we'll sample barbecue in Gordonsville, pay respects to our greatest generation, enjoy a delicious sandwich in Petersburg, and admire the works of a Nashville pottery artist. It's a little something for everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. Hi everybody, I'm Miranda Cohen. It's great to have you. First up, if you're ever in Smith County, and you've packed your appetite, do we have a place for you. It's a great little spot on the outskirts of Gordonsville that serves up barbecue with a northern twist. If you're just down the road in Gordonsville, and smell something delicious, you must be at Timberloft Barbecue. Owner Kevin Jones has his smokers fired up early, and is getting ready for your arrival. Kevin, his wife Donna, and their daughter Leah, are smoking, stacking, and grilling all the southern favorites here at Timberloft. But don't let the name fool you. It is pure Michigan.

- And we said, "Okay, we need a name." We kind of originally wanted a lumberjack theme, kind of something more Michigan-y, and we just started throwing out words, and Timberloft stuck because it just rolls. And that's the story.

- [Miranda] This dynamic culinary trio hails from the state of Great Lakes. But they moved south nearly three decades ago in 1997, and opened, of all things, a barbecue restaurant.

- [Donna] It's a cute little southern story. When we opened, we were told we would never make it, because we didn't do pinto beans and turnip greens. And we were kind of stunned. We very soon discovered barbecue, by borrowing a smoker from a friend. And it was an instant hit and we fell in love with barbecue. The beauty of barbecue is everybody's is unique. And it's good, like everyone has their own take on it. And so we are highly influenced by Texas brisket and Memphis ribs. We love that style. So we've kind of developed our own thing, but it grew, and we are kind of known for barbecue now.

- [Miranda] In fact, the Jones family handpicked all of their favorite barbecue influences and styles from all over, and combined them together.

- We have the Texas-style brisket, but we have the Memphis-style ribs, and we have pork, which is more Carolina style. And so we kinda just chose our favorite elements of all the barbecue styles and we brought them here.

- [Donna] We tried to dress it up a little bit, and it's very critically important to us that our barbecue is fresh. We smoke it, we smoke every single day, and our sides are made fresh from scratch

- [Miranda] And fully embracing the abundance of local flavors, they like to mix it up, and add creative and seasonal ingredients to everything on the menu.

- [Donna] We put a little whiskey in our baked beans, we put a little pineapple in our coleslaw and our potato salad has a Parmesan cheese, a little sour cream, and it just makes it just different enough. That's why we like to use red beet potatoes in our potato salad. We smoke our cream corn, and so we like to just add a fun little twist to make it just a little different than what all the other barbecue places are doing.

- These brisket had been on for about 10 and a half hours. So what we'll do, so we can finish 'em off, and pull 'em off around three o'clock, is just wrap them in foil. It'll just help 'em cook a little bit quicker and finish off. Starts to get a nice bark on it.

- [Miranda] Timberloft not only serves up rich and smoky barbecue, they also grill up a great burger, club sandwiches, perfectly cooked steaks, delicately seasoned tacos, and even French onion soup. And whatever you do, save room for dessert. So it is no surprise, you're gonna get great barbecue here at Timberloft. But what might surprise you is you're going to get a phenomenal dessert baked by a pastry chef that was actually trained at the Cordon Bleu. Daughter, Leah. And you trained at the Cordon Bleu. That's amazing.

- I did! In Atlanta, I had a great time there. And now I'm here in Tennessee, making really great desserts to finish your meal off. We have our caramel fudge pie. It's a classic Southern fudge pie. It's rich, it's fudgy, it's chocolatey. And we top that off with a thick layer of homemade caramel on top, plus more homemade caramel sauce, chocolate and whipped cream.

- [Miranda] Kevin, Donna and Leah all work together to bring their different talents and passions to the table. And it shows.

- I think that we all get to do our own thing, but yet we all get to be creative together. And it just seems to work for us.

- Their food is outstanding. To me, it's, if you're looking for a good barbecue or something, this is one of the best places to come to. And it's very convenient, and the service is outta sight.

- The beef is excellent. It's slow-smoked. The hamburgers are ginormous and well done. Hey, it's a happy place to eat with good food and good service and great ambiance.

- I mean, that's what I think, that's what barbecue is. Barbecue is a story all by itself. So when you go to a barbecue place, you're listening to their story about their food, right? This is their taste, their background, their love, what they're putting into the food, and what they're putting on the plate. And that's how we feel about food. I think you have to love the job and you have to love your staff and you have to love what you're doing. And then, and if you love your guests, and the rest of it, that's just the frosting on the cake, really.

- Next, we're thrilled to announce the return of a wonderful event in the town of Linden. Now, sorry for the late notice, it is this Saturday, September the 28th. It's called Remembering World War II. And it has to be seen to be believed.

- [Narrator 5] The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere, march with you. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940, 41.

- [Narrator 6] Much has happened since the greatest generation saved the world from fascism. But for a few days every fall, the town of Linden remembers their fight. ♪ I'm gonna take the sentimental journey ♪ ♪ Sentimental journey home ♪

- [Narrator 6] This sentimental journey began as the brainchild of energetic Linden resident, Anthony Courter.

- I met a World War II veteran at somebody else's house and he began sharing his story. And I liked the story well enough that I wanted other people to hear it as well. He had an exciting story about some things that he had done during World War II. So I invited a few friends over, about 250 of them. They came over and half of them were dressed in 40s clothes. And so we kind of got in the spirit, we sang some 40s songs. So we did it again the next year, and after that we decided we needed to bring it into town.

- [Narrator 6] Anthony brought it into town, all right. And like the reenactors, it overtook Linden. Growing every year, Remembering World War II enlists the entire community, and then some. You might wonder how Mr. Courter manages it all. Well, did I mention, he's energetic?

- I have 12 children. And that's what makes it a little bit more easier for us to organize, as all of my children are involved in making this happen. It takes 250 volunteers. It's not just my family, but my family is heavily involved in it. I've tried to pass my vision on to my children, and so that's one of the things that my children have helped me do, is expanding my opportunities of reaching out to the community and sharing the stories of these men, and trying to give historical relevance for all of us to walk in.

- [Narrator 6] You can't walk anywhere in Linden without being surrounded by that relevance. Just ask Carrie Diamond, who brought her family all the way from Las Vegas for the event.

- It's really neat. It's the closest thing to going back in time to the 40s. And to be able to honor that time period and the values that they had, and the veterans that are here, and to honor what really happened is, it's fantastic. So for us, it's the best way to teach history. The flyovers, and the food and the movies and the music. And to see the battle re-enactment. I mean, that's amazing.

- [Narrator 6] Amazing indeed. The authentic equipment and attention to detail turns the courthouse square into a Hollywood backlot. But the tanks, trucks, and armaments would just be museum pieces without dedicated reenactors, like Madison County resident, George Jones.

- We're Easy Company, Second Battalion, Eighth Marine, Second Marine division, living history group. We go all over the United States setting up exhibits. The organizers here do a unique experience. They get the reenacting community involved, but they bring out the the civilian side of it too. It is amazing to see men, women and children, older folks, dressed out in period clothing. And it is such a refreshing bit of history and atmosphere that you have.

- The town of Linden has come together to make this event happen. And that is one of the reasons why we have such a crowd as a turnout because there's no other city that I know of that this actually happens at. If you ask any of the reenactors that go to all the other reenactments, they find that it is a man's event held in a field. This is actually in a town where the town is participating and they have so many civilians that are participating in it as well. It gives the women an opportunity to still dress in period clothing, instead of dressing like soldiers and hiding their hair because they're fighting on the front lines, because that's the only place that they have for 'em.

- [Narrator 6] While battles raged on the front lines, the home front was vital in supporting the troops. And nothing boosted morale like the timeless tunes of the 40s. ♪ He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B ♪ ♪ He was our boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B ♪

- [Narrator 6] While they sound like the Andrews Sisters, these Pennsylvania natives are the Everley Sisters. Not to be confused with the 50s crooners, the Everly Brothers.

- Yeah, we didn't really think about that when we named it that, but we were like, "Oh, that sounds good. That sounds kind of 40s. Let's just roll with it." We started out World War II reenacting about five years ago. And everywhere we went, there was three of us. And so everybody thought we were there to sing. And we kept saying, "well, we do sing, but we don't do this era." And everybody kind of started saying, "Why?" And we really didn't know. So somebody contacted us about doing a weekend of shows and I accepted, and then told the rest of the girls in the group that we were gonna be doing it. And that was about two years ago. And we've been doing it ever since.

- [Narrator 6] And audiences are grateful for that. Audiences including those who are in their prime when these songs were written, and to whom we are forever indebted.

- They are amazing men and women. And any chance that we have to speak with them, interact with them, sing the songs to them that are from their era, it's a lot of work, but it's so rewarding. It's the most rewarding thing we've ever done. ♪ Sentimental journey home ♪

- These are men who did extraordinary deeds, who in the 30s just lived ordinary lives, and they were prepared to do extraordinary deeds. And so the youngest one is 90 years old now. So my passion is to get the stories from these men before they all pass. Because firsthand stories are always the best source of the information. So all of those things add to the experience, and hopefully it gives them a better understanding of historical context, and a love, a desire to understand history as a whole. And when you come here, I pray that you're able to just feel like you're stepping back into the 40s and experiencing all those things.

- [Narrator 7] You will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. And let us all beseech the blessing of almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking. ♪ Sentimental journey home ♪ ♪ Sentimental journey ♪

- We all love to see historical buildings get renovated, instead of being torn down. And it's even better when great food is involved. Our own Vicki Yates recently found a perfect example over in Petersburg.

- [Vicki] It takes a little less than an hour and a half to drive to Petersburg from Nashville. And once you arrive, you'll soon find yourself on the town square.

- How are you?

- Got something good to eat?

- [Jean] We have all kinds of good stuff here, Warren. So years ago, back in the 1800s and the early 1900s, it was really a thriving community.

- [Vicki] Jean Griffin knows the town's history. She grew up here. Her parents owned the drug store on the square.

- The railroad used to go through Petersburg. There was a stockyard here, so all of the Pete farmers would bring their cattle and pigs and everything to trade at the stockyard. There was actually something here called the Colt Show, which was a horse show, that was a predecessor to the walking horse industry in Shelbyville. But it was a very thriving community back in the early 1900s, and continued to be so, probably I would say until the 1980s, 1990s.

- Petersburg, Tennessee was once a thriving town. But once local schools closed, so did at almost everything else. That is, until divine intervention stepped in.

- Are y'all coming to eat?

- Yes!

- Are you having ice cream or are you gonna have lunch?

- [Vicki] Miss Jean, owner of Miss Jean's Sandwich and Ice Cream Shop, facing the square, had been one of the natives who left, but retired from her job as a banker, and decided to come back home.

- Is this your first time to be here?

- No, I've been here before.

- Okay, good. Well thank you for coming in!

- Thank you.

- [Vicki] Friends encouraged her to start a business, but the cost of revamping a building made her think twice.

- And I'm like, "Oh, I don't have enough money to redo one of these buildings." 'Cause a lot of 'em were in huge disrepair. And somebody one day said, "Well, somebody's buying these buildings and fixing them up." And I said, "Really?" So that Sunday at church, during silent prayer, I thought, I said to God, "If I'm supposed to do this, you need to send me a sign." And I've never asked for a sign in my entire life. But after church, I came down with a friend, and we were looking in the windows of one of the buildings and nobody was on the square except this one other man. And he was walking around, and I told my girlfriend, I said, "He's an investor, I could tell by looking at him." And she said, "Let's go find out." So we walked over to him, and I said, "You're not from here, are you?" And he laughed and he said, "No, but I bought that building, and I'm attempting to buy these others." And I said, "Well, I'm thinking about opening a sandwich and an ice cream shop." He said, "If you will open a business on the Petersburg Square, I will give you that building free for a year." And now I'm not supposed to tell that, because afterwards, he said, "Quit telling people about the Miss Jean special! I'm not giving everybody rent free for a year." But he did give it to me rent-free for a year.

- [Vicki] And that man with big plans is developer Alex Lustig of Williamson County. How did this happen? It sounds like, was it divine intervention?

- Probably, yeah, I would say that's a big part of it. So we would come on the weekends, and then we'd drive through here and it was just dead dead, like ghost town dead. And then I started learning more about the history. So that theater was actually opened in the 40s, 1945. It was segregated, upstairs, downstairs. So that was interesting. And then the curved building to the left is even older. That was a silent movie theater. How about that? Like in the 20s.

- [Vicki] What was the inspiration? Did you just see old buildings and say, "This could be something?" Or did you just say, "Hey?"

- [Alex] I think so. Yeah, I think the buildings had pretty good bones. And I mean, I was very skeptical. Like when Miss Jean said, "Hey, two years ago, let's turn this into a sandwich shop." I thought you're gonna sell like four sandwiches a day, maybe. And now they're already lining up. And again, when Jessica said, "I'm gonna open up a store." I was like, "You're gonna sell like two hats." Now, there's a line out the door. So I was a lot of skepticism, but it worked out.

- One whole focaccia and two honey oat.

- Good morning. How are you?

- [Vicki] Miss Jean's Sandwich and Ice Cream Shop is thriving, certainly selling more, much more than four sandwiches a day. And like today, there are often people waiting to be seated just for the chance to eat from Miss Jean's menu.

- We sell a lot of chicken salad, we make homemade chicken salad. All of our breads, as I said, are made by Merridee's in Franklin, or the Heirloom Bakery here in town. We have a homemade fruit tea that's really good. And believe it or not, our Reuben sells more, next to our chicken salad than anything else.

- [Vicki] Miss Jean is thrilled that other businesses are moving in, including a health drink store, and the Babe Company.

- The girl that was next door to me, the Babe Company, when she first told me about it, so they have parties for little girls and women and you can come decorate hats and T-shirts and so forth. And I thought, "Okay." And then when she opened, man, it just exploded. And it actually brought an entirely new demographic to the Square.

- [Vicki] Today's lunch demographic has attracted all ages, from toddlers to retirees. So what does Miss Jean want her customers, new and older to take away from their visit here?

- I want people to feel at home. I want them to feel like they got a good meal, but I want 'em to feel like they have their money's worth. Love y'all.

- Love you.

- [Jean] Bye, love you. But then I also like the fact that they connect with other people. So it's more than just the food. The food's gotta be good, the service has gotta be good, and I've got a great team. But it's more about how you feel when you leave.

- Thanks, Vicki. Next we'll meet one of Nashville's most talented and versatile artists. Tammy Gentuso's medium of choice is pottery. And her whimsical work truly run the gamut. From her trademark tiny houses to her giant ceramic achievements. Our buddy, Joe Elmore, has the story.

- [Tammy] I grew up with an easel in the dining room. My mother was an oil painter. And so art was strong in our family, but I also had a very practical father who said, "You can't make a living unless you're really good." And I was 10, 11, 12. So he encouraged me to go the route of getting a nursing degree.

- [Joe] So after putting art on the back burner, Tammy Gentuso became a nurse, got married, and lived overseas for a while before returning home to raise a family. Years later, she and her youngest son decided to sign up for a pottery class, here at the Clay Lady's Campus in Nashville. And that will change her life forever.

- We finished it and we looked at each other and said, "We've gotta wait two weeks for the next class? That's not gonna work." Danielle said, "Well, I do have studio space." And that was it. I got a studio and been here ever since.

- [Joe] Tammy always had a fascination with folk art and its innocent way of ignoring the rules. And whether she's sculpting or hand-building, there's usually a playful, often amusing spirit in her work.

- I found that I needed to be working on hopeful things, whimsical things, things that would bring about a smile. And folk art has an appeal to me. I like the, just the groundedness of the folk art. And so I tried to apply the whimsy with folk art and come up with a lot of what I do.

- [Joe] And no matter what she's working on, there are always more ideas and inspiration than minutes in the day.

- [Tammy] I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and it's like, "Don't go there." 'Cause once I start thinking about it, I might as well get up and sketch something out, so,

- [Joe] In 2017, Tammy began work on what would become her magnum opus. A ceramic map of Nashville, measuring 25 feet long by eight feet tall. It was three years in the making, including six months of research.

- I really had fun with the research, the computer, Google images, Google Street View. These were things that became really important. Now, some things, I did a drive by, I did photos, but most of them, I ended up leaning on what I could find on the Internet, for how I would do these particular buildings on each tile.

- [Joe] So using images, sketches, a template was made for each of the 192 one-foot square tiles. Then it was time for carving and painting no less than 1,300 iconic buildings and landmarks. It took a week to install the clay scape mural on an outside wall of the Clay Lady Campus building, an appropriate home for Tammy's tribute to the city she calls home.

- To be down there when somebody comes, and they either they didn't know it was there, or they came to see it, but they did not expect what they found. People just stand there and it just, I get goosebumps with it every time.

- [Joe] Tammy will go on to produce many more whimsical works using her imagination and tools. But chances are, none will match the untiring commitment of the Nashville clayscape, a lasting testament to her talent and determination.

- There are things I look back, and I wish I had done it differently. But no, I'm proud of it. I'm really happy with it.

- You should be.

- Thank you!

- That'll do it for us again this week. But you can check us out anytime at tennesseecrossroads.org. Download the PBS app while you're there. We hope to see you again next week. Take care.

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

- [Narrator 1] Some of our biggest trucks have also made the biggest difference. The Tennessee Lottery, proud to have raised more than $7.5 billion for education. Now that's some game-changing, life-changing fun.

- [Narrator 2] Discover Tennessee trails and byways. Discover Tennessee's adventure, cuisine, history and more made in Tennessee experiences, showcased among these 16 driving trails. More at TNTrailsandByways.com.

- [Narrator 3] Middle Tennessee State University College of Liberal Arts helps students explore the world, engage minds, enrich lives, and earn a living. More at mtsu.edu/cla.

- [Narrator 4] Amazon, a proud supporter of programming on public television. Amazon focuses on building long-term programs that have a lasting impact in communities where employees live and work. More at aboutamazon.com.