Episode 3836

- [Narrator] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by--

- [Narrator] Some of our biggest checks 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] Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways where adventure, cuisine and history come together. With 16 scenic driving trails, you can discover why Tennessee sounds perfect. Trips can be planned at tntrailsandbyways.com

- [Narrator] The co-op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Narrator] 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.

- This week, it's time for the crew to make the donuts. Cuddle up with some of the sweetest critters in creation. We'll meet an unbelievable artist and go underground in Kentucky. Thanks for joining us everybody, I'm Miranda Cohen. Welcome to "Tennessee Crossroads". First up, there are very few things that motivate people to get up every day at 3:30 in the morning, but pastries are one of them. Tammi Arender got up before the chickens herself to check out East Park Donuts and Coffee.

- [Tammi] Long before the sun comes up, Lauren Anderson and her team are hard at work. You could say the folks here at East Park Donuts and Coffee are the ones who wake up the chickens who wake up everyone else.

- We get here as early as four in the morning to start getting our brioche show that we made the day before 'cause it needs to proof overnight and they start rolling that out and getting that in the proofer. And then the next person comes in and they start frying off of all of our cake donuts that we made the day before. And then the next person comes in and they start glazing all the donuts. So there's just this constant stream of people coming in in the morning just to get it all done so that we have as many donuts glazed by the time that we open at 6:30.

- [Tammi] Anderson says she's a self-taught pastry chef. She likes to think outside the donut hole when it comes to recipes.

- I like to travel and had been to Portland and they had brioche donuts there, and I'd never had those before and I hadn't heard of them, so I thought it would be a fun concept to try and make here. And so that's how we ended up with the brioche donuts. And then same thing with the flavors. I really love that you can take different concepts and create flavors and you just always have the same base, so it makes it easier to work with in that sense.

- [Tammi] Anderson is the pastry chef and store manager. Ken Woodard is the owner. He got the idea to open a business in East Nashville when he noticed what he called a lack of good donut shops in this part of town, at least ones that also did great coffee.

- There'd been a dearth of donut shops here. Of course now there's a bunch, but really there weren't that many when we opened up and we decided, well, we'll just open it, we'll open a donut shop. But another thing we noticed was there wasn't a donut shop that took coffee seriously. That was one thing, one key thing that I thought would draw people in and make people come in every day. Even if they weren't getting donuts or whatever, they'd still come in, get our coffee, get our espresso drinks and everything, getting their routine so I thought that would help.

- So with a full espresso bar made from locally roasted coffee beans, you get service with a smile and a design. Lots of flavors to choose from featuring house made syrups as well. But for those coming in for the donuts, rest assured the coffee takes a supporting role. The dough is made the day before, so it has a chance to proof or rise. Then it's put through the ringer or well, the roller. Next, it's time for cutting out the shapes. There's lots more to do here than simple circles. East Park is famous for their donut grams. They'll spell out any message you like, and we like this one. Now it's time to go for a swim in a very hot pool, hands with what appears to be large chopsticks flip the donuts at just the right time. Alright, so I'm going with the salted brown butter donut as well as a brown butter latte, how's that? Now they say a donut has about anywhere from two to 300 calories. I bet this one's gonna be worth every calorie. Oh my goodness. That is sensational. You can really taste the richness of that brown butter. I gotta jog an extra five miles today, but I don't care. And most of the customers agree. John Dwyer and his wife often come by after their morning workout.

- I just went to the gym, Tammi. Nothing green here, is there. I'm a salt sugar guy and I love that. It is not too dense. Sometimes it's just like you pick up a five pound weight, which I did at the gym earlier. This cancels that out.

- [Tammi] I love that philosophy. They also serve savory dishes as well, from breakfast sandwiches to a lunch menu. And while the restaurant business can be tough all on its own, Woodard says they faced a mountain of obstacles from a tornado in 2020 that blew off most of their roof, followed by COVID and then a woman crashing into their lobby. They've had to dig deep to keep their desire to serve donuts to this East Nashville community alive, but they never once said it wasn't worth it.

- I just hope that they feel welcome and greeted here, that they feel like this is a place that they want to come back to. It's really important to me, especially because I live in the neighborhood, that people are excited to be here and that they want to be here, that they feel welcome and that they enjoy their donuts.

- Well, I mean, I just hope they realize we're trying to do a good job. I mean, everybody, it's all just a bunch of people trying to do the best they can. And then hopefully just have a good feeling about the place and the people.

- Have you ever noticed how walking the peaceful pastures of a farm can often make your troubles just melt away? Next, we'll head to a very special place in Rutherford County where you can get to know some very special barnyard animals. Life hasn't always been easy for them, but the story of their healing is an inspiration to all of us.

- When you walk on the property, there's an energy that you feel, it's just peaceful, it's just calming. We can say an exhale.

- [Miranda] Jay Weiner is quick to point out that he is the co-founder of the Gentle Barn. The original Gentle Barn was founded by his wife Ellie Lacks in California in 1999. He started volunteering at the farm, and he's not quite sure if he fell in love with the animals or with Ellie Lacks first.

- We had some abuse in our lives and we had things that weren't good, that animals healed, and we were both sort of saved by animals as children, and we both wanted to give that back.

- [Miranda] Fast forward 15 years, the couple learned of a cow in need in Tennessee named Delly. Faced with the dilemma of how to get an injured cow across the country, they found the perfect solution.

- So we started looking and we came across this amazing, incredible, beautiful place. And this is 40 acres and it allows us to do the work we need to do. We've got three barns and a house for people to come and stay at to visit pastures and enough room for the animals to graze and move about.

- [Miranda] The Gentle Barn is located in Christiana in Rutherford County, and it is the only farm animal sanctuary in middle Tennessee.

- So we'll go in and we'll hug a cow. And around them is, it's a fly mask. And what it does is it has a couple different purposes. Number one is that it keeps the flies away from their eyes.

- But they can see through it.

- They can see through it, it's like a screen door, and it also shades the sun. We have cows, we have horses, pigs, we have some goats. We have turkeys and chickens.

- [Miranda] All of the beloved animals at the Gentle Barn have been rescued and have unique stories of their own. Miles and his mother Mabel were saved from abuse and neglect at a dairy farm. Lolly suffered frostbite on her feet and ears after being left outside in the cold. She, along with her parents, Minnie Mae and Merlin, are now thriving in these beautiful green pastures. And as you can see, nothing is slowing Lolly down.

- The fact that she lives a normal life and loves her life and loves her family and plays and all those kinds of things is inspiring to someone who comes to the Gentle Barn in a wheelchair.

- [Miranda] A handsome rooster named Rick Springfield was found running around at the Nashville Airport, and a bright and curious turkey named Luke Skywalker round out the flock party. But it's not all leisure and play. These gorgeous creatures have an important job. They are helping people learn to deal with their own issues, get beyond abuse or abandonment, and see things a little differently.

- We really wanna show people how beautiful animals are and how they're just like us. I think that where that comes from is this preconceived notion that our domesticated animals that we have in our homes with us all the time are the only ones that understand us or that we can have a connection with. But I'm here to tell you that you can play ball with the cows. You can cuddle with the turkeys. There's so many different things that animals of all different kinds show us. And we wanna share that message. So we work with our animals to heal them from the abusive or neglectful stories that they come in with, and then we connect them with the children and people of the community that need them.

- One of the most amazing things that you can do here at the Gentle Barn is called Cow Hug Therapy. These gentle beauties are quite the cuddlers, and you can actually come and snuggle with them. And founder Ellie Lacks says it best, you can't have a bad day after hugging a cow.

- So, cow hug therapy started at the beginning of the Gentle Barn in 1999. As far as we know, we're the first ones to be doing it.

- [Miranda] Even every one of the Crossroads crew had to give it a try.

- They're able to one-on-one come out to the Gentle Barn and have this experience with a cow that is so warm and inviting and caring and nurturing that they just have these profound experiences.

- [Miranda] What you'll see and feel at the Gentle Barn is tenderness, love and compassion. In these beautiful faces, you will never see fear, loneliness, or worry about the future. These gentle souls will live out their lives here working with adults and children. They are living proof that there is hope for the future.

- But when we're talking to a child who feels isolated and alone and isn't being cared for and was neglected or abused, that story in the connection between them is healing in and of itself. So once we introduce them to the animal, what you'll see often is a petting that'll happen. And they'll be saying to the horse don't worry, you're gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay. And they're really talking to themselves.

- [Miranda] So whether you are an animal lover, just long for a day of farm fresh air, or come to see and love on these beautiful farm animals, don't be surprised if you walk away feeling a little more loved on yourself.

- We've just seen these children and adults go through these monumental life changes within hours of being here. I think that there's an energy about this property and about the work that we do and about the calmness and care of the animals and the staff that works here that I think provides a place and a way for them to have an exhale or a release or a breath.

- We love our woodworkers here at Crossroads, and that is the subject of our next story. Judy Gale Roberts is one of the leading experts in her form of art. Laura Faber spent the day in her shop, and once you see her work, you will understand why she is so popular.

- Section by section, this seagull is pieced together like a puzzle. Every piece and there are dozens has its place. It's in art form with a fancy name, one that Judy Gale Roberts didn't even know when she first started creating these mosaic masterpieces.

- So we sent pictures to the National Woodcarvers Association and asked, is there a name for this? Have you seen this before? And so we pronounced it intarsia. I mean, it's like a mosaic. It's all glued to wooden support. It's just using different colors of wood to create the picture.

- [Laura] Judy is one of the world's leading intarsia artists. In fact, she's the only woman to have been inducted into the Woodworkers Hall of Fame for intarsia.

- It was for teaching intarsia and just bringing it, reintroducing intarsia.

- She's world famous, she's got customers in different countries all over.

- [Laura] Diana Copper is one of Judy's students and friends.

- I was hooked from the first day, and Judy is just so patient and so sweet and sharing everything. She doesn't keep any secrets. Everything she does, she will explain it in detail.

- [Laura] From her mountaintop studio and gallery in Seymour, Tennessee, Judy has been creating wood mosaics for 35 years. Her parents were both artists and Judy's creativity was nurtured by her dad in particular. They painted and sculpted with clay, ceramics, even steel. But wood is where Judy found her artistic calling.

- And the wood itself has so much to it that when you start sanding it, the grains come alive and it just follows the contours and that is what's kept my interest in it. Every piece of wood is so different, it's a living object.

- [Laura] The process is painstakingly slow and it starts with a pattern.

- With my dad, I became the pattern maker and I would do the old fashioned grid method where he would do the sketch.

- Judy sells patterns for intarsia pieces, thousands of them. Most of her work is by commission, and many customers send a photograph of what they want her to recreate in wood. Except for the blue that you see in an American flag, Judy doesn't paint any of her pieces. All of the colors that you see comes from the actual wood. For instance, this is yellow heart, red heart. The green comes from a poplar. Dark as walnut, the white from an aspen. And the piece that I'm holding here, this is purple heart. After choosing the wood, it's prepped and the pieces are glued to the pattern. One by one, each individual piece is cut out. Maryanne Vanderbor is her scroller.

- I am lining my blade up right now to what we call a lead in line before we get to the actual pattern. And I kind of creep along, I let the blade cut the wood. I don't push the wood into the blade.

- [Laura] The pieces are shaped, sanded, and sculpted. Three coats of finish are applied, and finally they're assembled and glued onto a common backing. Nothing about this is fast. At the end of every day, Judy can't quite believe this is her life, that she's made a living from her passion and has a goal for the future.

- I walk around this building, I said, God, I can't believe I get to do this for a living. My parents struggled so hard trying to support a family that I feel so fortunate that I've got a crew behind me too that works with me and helps keep this whole thing going.

- Judy Gale Roberts was an incredible artist. Sadly, she passed away a few months ago, but we can all take solace in the beautiful work she left behind. Coming up next, we're gonna head north to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Joe Elmore explored the Lost River Cave. It's an urban nature center featuring an ancient marvel that attracts modern day adventurers.

- [Joe] A river runs through Bowling Green, Kentucky, one that flows above and below the ground, eventually escaping into a mysterious natural wonder, the Lost River Cave.

- We are a urban nature sanctuary in the heart of Bowling Green, surrounded by the history of the cave and the beauty of nature. We have an amazing place to come to work every day.

- [Joe] That's Road Lanston, CEO of a 60 acre attraction that draws about 80,000 people a year. Many come just to walk the trails, others come to fly above them. More about that later. But the main attraction is of course, the cave. And according to tour manager, Chad Singer, it was once a refuge for ancient Native Americans, a few famous outlaws, and much more.

- Even during the Civil War, Lost River Cave, this whole valley that we're in at one point may have had between 15,000 to 20,000 troops from both sides here at one point.

- [Joe] For about a century, the river was dammed to make power for grain and lumber mills, which either flooded or burned. But in 1933, the Mill Dam was rebuilt to run a water wheel that generated electricity for cave tours and even a nightclub. The Cavern Nightclub, complete with bandstand and dance floor, was a popular entertainment attraction for decades thanks in part to its cool temperatures in a time when air conditioning was rare. But by the early 60s, the nightclub closed and the cave fell into neglect, eventually becoming a dumping site.

- But then Western Kentucky got involved with trying to find the true deaths of the blue holes and trying to see what was really going on here, this unique geological feature that we have. And then some students got extra credit to help do the cleanup, and we were able to pull out 55 tons of trash from the cave and from the valley.

- [Joe] In the mid 1990s, a nonprofit group, friends of Lost River reopened the cave, and now explorers of all ages, can enjoy boat tours through this geological wonder. When you begin the tour, the operative word is duck as you pass under this low limestone ceiling before the cave opens up into a four story cavern.

- Now this room that we're in is what we call the breakdown room. It's about a four story tall room. Caves in this area are gonna be kind of notable by having these bigger portions to it first, and then they're gonna kind of taper down as well throughout. But as you go through here, you may feel a nice cold look wet drip of water on your heads. And that's what we call cave kiss. Yep, we know it's not that big, but we still think it's impressive. It's pretty neat.

- [Joe] Eventually, we arrive at a newer dam built to control the ever-changing water level.

- This is a great example of cave coral or popcorn. This is just what's gonna be littered with it. No matter where that water's going, it's gonna be carrying those minerals too.

- [Joe] The natural beauty is obvious, but the tour also offers a lesson in the cave's delicate ecology.

- Now here's the thing. In a harsh environment, a drop of oil, say leaving a car that's going over top of our road with a little bit of rainwater like we're gonna have today within an hour and a half, those oils can get down here. Where you have caves, that oils and pollutants are gonna move very fast and it's going to damage these environments that are here. Like I've been saying, it's a very unstable ecosystem. It's not gonna bounce back.

- [Joe] Before long, we turned to the mouth of the caves back into natural light. But we're not leaving until we sample a new adventure of the Lost River Valley. In April 2018, the flying squirrel zip line was open to visitors who want a high ride over this wooded wonderland. So with help from Chad and his assistant Heather, photographer Paul and I geared up to give it a go. What a ride and what a place to commune with nature, whether you're zipping through the trees, floating through a cave, or just strolling down a quiet trail.

- Well, that brings us to the close of another show. But that doesn't mean you have to stop watching. Head on over to TennesseeCrossroads.org or check out the PBS app anytime you like. Until next time, take care and thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] "Tennessee Crossroads" is brought to you in part by--

- [Narrator] Students across Tennessee have benefited from over seven and a half billion dollars we've raised for education, providing more than two million scholarships and grants. The Tennessee Lottery, game changing, life changing fun.

- Discover Tennessee Trails and Byways where adventure, cuisine and history come together. With 16 scenic driving trails, you can discover why Tennessee sounds perfect. Trips can be planned at tntrailsandbyways.com.

- [Narrator] The Co-Op system in Tennessee consists of independently owned co-ops, driven to serve farmer owners, rural lifestyle customers, and their communities throughout Tennessee and in five neighboring states. More at ourcoop.com.

- [Narrator] 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.