January 2021 Murfreesboro Pulse by The Murfreesboro Pulse

ART Prolific Local Pointillist Artist Gary James Releases New Autobiography

2013

JAN 2021 / VOL. 16, ISSUE 1 / FREE

Middle Tennessee’s Source for Art, Entertainment and Culture News

2014

2015

Celebrating 15 YEARS

2017

MUSIC Many MTSU Recording Graduates Nominated for Grammy Awards

2018

2016

AND COUNTING

2019

Murfreesboro’s Local Publication Presses on After Decade and a Half

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Contents

18 FEATURES

IN EVERY ISSUE

5 Events

GRAMMY AWARDS Lecrae, The Secret Sisters, Hillary Scott among MTSU alumni nominated for 2021 Grammys.

CALENDAR Alive & The Bluebird, Wedding Dresses, Orienteering, Radnor Lake Hike and more

8 Sounds

CONNECTING THE DOTS Artist Gary James recalls his life’s work in Autobiography.

MUSIC NOTES Reba McEntire, Manny Blu

15 YEARS STRONG The Murfreesboro Pulse celebrates 15 years of publishing local, familymagazine. owned, independent magazine

CONCERT CALENDAR

LOCAL BUSINESS CONNECTION Entrepreneurs gather at Walnut House for Dec. 10 Small Business Fair.

ALBUM The Reveal

ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

20 22

A LOOK BACK We look back at the top Pulse stories of 2020.

RESTAURANT REVIEW CoreLife Eatery offers healthy dining options.

24 News

BUSINESS BUZZ Slim & Husky’s, Pepper+Peach, Hyundai, Buff City Soap, Mahle, Maple Street Biscuit, Bink’s, Transparent Heart and more

11 Reviews 26 Opinion MOVIE Wonder Woman 1984

12 Art

FILM The Last Earth Girl

Art Director: Sarah Mayo Copy Editor: Steve Morley Publisher/Editor in Chief: Bracken Mayo

16 Food

Advertising: Jared Stuart

COMMON GROUND 5 STEPS for finding common ground in a polarized world. STEERED STRAIGHT Vaping me crazy LIVE . . . WELL Live in awe. PHIL VALENTINE Keep distance, but keep business open. GARDENING Hugelkulture

33 Sports

POLITICS Democrats reject Rep. John DeBerry; governor hires him as advisor. CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH Chiropractic treatment

Contributors: Michael DeLeon, Jennifer Durand, Laura Lindsay, Angela Loupe, Zach Maxfield, Edwina Shannon, Rep. Mike Sparks, Jay Spight, Andrea Stockard, Phil Valentine, Dr. Ming Wang

can help relieve stress and anxiety.

BLUE RAIDER BASKETBALL Men and women each split four games in Dec. SPORTS TALK Titans win the division and King Henry gets his 2,000 yards.

Copyright © 2020, The Murfreesboro Pulse, 714 W. Main St., #208, Murfreesboro, TN 37129. Proudly owned, operated and published the first Thursday of each month by the Mayo family; printed by Franklin Web Printing Co. The Pulse is a free publication funded by advertisers. Views expressed in the Pulse do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. ISSN: 1940-378X

714 W. Main St., Suite 208, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 • 615-796-6248 To carry the PULSE at your business, or to submit letters, stories and photography: bracken@boropulse.com

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THE PULSE HAS COMPLETED 15 YEARS OF OPERATING AND PUBLISHING. That is the type of thing that, 15 years ago, I hoped to be able to be able to say someday. Thanks, as always, for everyone’s support of this endeavor. Compiling, financing, writing, designing, publishing and distributing this thing has its challenges and frustrations; it’s not always easy, but I remain enormously blessed. Murfreesboro has been good to the Pulse and has offered the support, encouragement, readership and advertising to keep this little independent media outlet going. Say what you want to say today. You don’t know when someone will be going away. Set aside the time to do the things you want and need to do this year and the time to spend with those you want to be around. Bracken Jr. asked me a couple of years ago “how many hours are in a year?” After some calculations, we discovered that a year contains 8,760 hours. Hmm, that’s not that many. Especially considering that one may sleep approximately 2,920 of those hours if they would like to get their eight hours. Working 40 hours per week (taking two weeks of vacation of course), well, there goes another 2,000. How much time do you need to eat, prepare your meals, grocery shop, wash dishes, bathe, get your haircut, mow the yard and all of that? Wait, you still haven’t exercised yet! Use your hours wisely. You may not have as many as you think. The NFL pulled it off. The league played all 256 games of the 2020 regular season. It wasn’t exactly “normal.” They had to reschedule a few games, and played many of the games in almost empty stadiums. Some of the players could not participate in certain games after positive virus test results, and the league cancelled the preseason and the Pro-Bowl, but they delivered their product, played the game they love, kept some people employed and accomplished the mission of completing an entire season. Don’t be bullied into covering your face if you are not comfortable doing so. When it comes to masks, I support your right to choose what to do with your own body. When I heard of the Tennessee governor’s wife testing positive for Coronavirus, I first thought, “Well, anyone could catch the virus. I hope she recovers quickly.” But thinking about it, it’s really not a good look for the governor. He represents himself as the man with the plan. He says he knows that masks are the weapons to fight the virus. So either he didn’t have the leadership to convince his wife to strap a napkin to her own face, which does not reﬂect well on the executive, or she did wear the face covering and still got the virus, blowing a hole in the governor’s logic, also not a good look. Decide for yourself. If you feel that covering your face will be the best decision for your health, by all means, do so. If you determine that breathing and speaking freely without a mask on is the best decision . . . well, at this point, I am not part of the establishment attempting to convince healthy people that walking around with a piece of cloth on their face while conducting everyday activities for the rest of time is a normal thing to do. Especially not for kids. How much sense does it make to force children to keep their faces covered all day? How many instances have you heard of regarding kids experiencing significant negative effects from the virus? Now, how many instances have there been of kids experiencing negative effects from wearing masks? Kids have sacrificed just about enough over the past year. Many were forced to give up sports, summer camp, vacations, youth group activities, holiday gatherings, recitals, plays and various other activities. Stay home forever if you want. Wear a mask everywhere. But it’s past time to allow the young and healthy to live.

Peace, BRACKEN MAYO Publisher/Editor in Chief

Events

CALENDAR / JANUARY 2021

BY ANDREA STOCKARD

THROUGH JAN. 7 ART LEAGUE EXHIBIT AT CITY HALL ROTUNDA

 ERIN ENDERLIN JIM PHOTOGLO  KENDELL MARVEL 

The Murfreesboro Art League will exhibit members’ works of art in the Murfreesboro City Hall Rotunda through Jan. 7. A virtual online tour of the exhibit is available on murfreesborotn.gov by searching “Current Exhibit.” Founded by a local group of artists in 1966, the Murfreesboro Art League aims to develop and maintain a vibrant artistic environment in the Murfreesboro community. The Art League offers classes in many disciplines for artists of all levels, as well as open studio times, at its Cannonsburgh Village art gallery. Look for these to return soon. Learn more about the Murfreesboro Art League at murfreesboroartleague.blogspot. com. City Hall is located at 111 W. Vine St.

THROUGH JAN. 8 ORPHEUS COMPETITION

JAN. 7, 14, 21, & FEB. 4 ALIVE & THE BLUEBIRD For the past 28 years, The Bluebird Cafe and a host of songwriters have helped raise funds for Alive Hospice. Revenue from a month’s worth of shows, donated by the songwriters performing, has provided a significant portion of the nonprofit hospice’s annual budget over the years. This year the partners have reimagined how this fundraiser can go forward considering the tiny venue’s continued closure and lack of opportunity for social distancing. Their solution is to channel their creativity in new directions that include livestreaming from the cafe via StageIt’s platform plus a new partnership with Green Door Gourmet to ensure that the show will go on. Erika Wollam Nichols, president of the Bluebird Cafe, said that this past year forced many to think more about what really matters and find creative ways to sustain their work. In seeking safe spaces to expand the series throughout the year, Goessele turned to friend and farmer Sylvia Ganier, co-founder of Green Door Gourmet. Green Door Gourmet will partner with Alive for a series of fundraisers at their 350-acre farm, including concerts and

invitation-only tastings. The local family business, which provides fresh food choices, is finding new ways to connect to the community as an outdoor venue, and the partnership with Alive is part of this initiative. “Connection is desperately needed right now, and so is the support Alive provides to local families at the end of a life,” Ganier said. This year’s Alive at The Bluebird series will consist of 15 live streamed shows from The Bluebird over the course of the year. Shows will stream every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in January (Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28) and the first Thursday of each month thereafter. Starting in February, The Bluebird will continue to donate proceeds from one show per month to Alive. Follow Alive and The Bluebird Cafe on social media to learn about performers as they are announced. Musicians slated to perform include: Jan. 7: Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman and Jim Photoglo Jan. 14: Marc Beeson, Lucie Silvas and friends Jan. 21: Erin Enderlin, Kendell Marvel and Waylon Payne Jan. 28: J.T. Harding and friends Feb. 4: Shane McAnally, Josh

Osborne and friends In keeping with The Bluebird’s tradition of providing an affordable and intimate space to interact with the songwriters, tickets for the virtual experience will cost $20 and attendance will be limited. Audience members will be able to send applause, donations, requests and messages to the performers via SategeIt’s live chat feature. StageIt is on a mission to enable live intimate experiences, providing a stage for every creator and a front-row seat for every fan. Visit stageit.com/signup to create an account. Tickets can be purchased at stageit/bluebirdtn once an account is created. Alive is the only nonprofit provider of hospice care and end-of-life services in Middle Tennessee. Its mission is to provide loving care for people with life-threatening illnesses, support to their families and service to the community. This includes in-home and in-patient hospice care, grief support, advance care planning, outreach, support to under-served communities, education, financial assistance, a comprehensive volunteer program, and professional training. To learn more or volunteer, visit alivehospice.org. For more information on Bluebird Cafe, visit bluebirdcafe.com.

Since 1996, The Middle Tennessee Choral Society has sponsored the Orpheus Vocal Competition, which provides financial support and encouragement to singers up to age 30 from around the U.S. who are pursuing careers as vocal artists. Orpheus is the only competition of its kind in the south central U.S. This year the Society awards grand prizes of $3,000 for the Student winner and $5,000 for the Young Artist winner. Additional prizes are awarded by individuals and corporations. The competition is open to any singer who has completed or is in the process of completing an accredited music education. Applicants will submit audition videos to the competition. For more information, contact Raphael Bundage at 615-898-2849 or 615-898-2694 visit orpheusvocal.com.

JAN. 5 AND 19 YARN LOVE MURFREESBORO Yarn Love Murfreesboro is a casual group of yarn enthusiasts who love to knit and crochet. All levels of experience are welcome, and the cost is free. Come out and talk shop, bring your current works in progress, stitch a project for charity or just to learn. Bring your own yarn, hooks or needles. Yarn swaps also happen from time to time. YLM usually meets in Linebaugh Library’s first ﬂoor club room on the first and third Tuesday of the month CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 5

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 from 6–8 p.m. For more information, visit rclstn.org or contact 615-893-4131.

Wilderness Station at Barfield Park (401 Volunteer Rd.) on Sunday, Jan. 17, from 2–3 p.m. Use natural resources foraged from the forest or garden to create a oneof-a-kind piece to take home and display. Registration is required; the cost is $3 per person or $10 per family. Ages 5 and up are welcome. For more information, contact apool@murfreesborotn.gov or 615-217-3017.

JAN. 8 KIDS NATURE JOURNALING Nature journaling is a great way to exercise your artistic skills and engage your senses while exploring in the woods, a park, or your very own backyard. Make your own personalized nature journal and go on a leisurely hike beginning at Wilderness Station at Barfield Park (401 Volunteer Rd.) on Friday, Jan. 8, beginning at 3 p.m. Registration is required. Ages 5–12 are welcome and admission is $2 per person and $5 per family. For more information, contact 615-217-3017 or apool@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 9 MARBLE PLAINS LOOP TRAIL Join Murfreesboro Parks & Rec for the first hike of the new year with beautiful views of Tim’s Ford Lake on Saturday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. The trail crosses two suspension bridges into the trees and covers approximately 3.5 miles. Transportation is not provided. Online registration is required at murfreesboroparks.com. Further information about the location will be disclosed to registrants. The cost for the guided hike is $8 per person. For more information, contact 615217-3017 or clipscomb@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 9 TENNESSEE MOTORAMA Both Barrels will present the 10th annual Tennessee Motorama from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Farm Bureau Exposition Center in Wilson County (945 E. Baddour Pkwy., Lebanon). The Motorama features a custom car show, custom bicycle show and swap meet with all sorts of automotive parts and accessories. The allindoor show will be a rain-or-shine event. The car show is open to all models and years. Best of show wins $500. Admission to the event is $10 (kids under 12 are free); entry for a vehicle in the car show is $25. For more information, call 615-3641828 or visit bothbarrelspromotions.com.

JAN. 9 SUSAN GUINN BOOK SIGNING Linebaugh Public Library (105 W. Vine St.) welcomes local author Susan Guinn for a book signing on Saturday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Guinn signs copies of her book When Heaven Sighs, published in July 2020. With heaven on one side, hell on the other and a man caught in the middle, which side will he choose? Faith and courage are tested as a dedicated 6 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

JAN. 18 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. CELEBRATION

BEGINNING JAN. 16 WEDDING DRESSES THROUGH THE DECADES Enjoy the 10th Anniversary of “Wedding Dresses Through the Decades” Jan. 16– March 27. Witness vintage gowns from the past 100 years on display for the first time inside the elegant Oaklands Mansion (900 N. Maney Ave.) alongside brides’ photos and stories from their wedding day. View other favorites from the past exhibits and a selection from the Historic Clothing Collection in the Department of Human Sciences at MTSU. Visit the exhibit Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and select Saturdays. Admission for adults is $15, $12 for seniors and military and $10 for students ages 6 and up. Admission includes a self-guided tour of the mansion. All tickets must be purchased in advance at oaklandsmansion.org. Reservations can also be made by contacting 615-893-0022 or mb@oaklandsmansion.org. homicide detective in Nashville struggles to help two victims linked only by their mutual interest and belief in a mysterious, ancient document. Guinn retired from a long career as a laboratory technologist after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and after taking several classes in art and creative writing, she began this novel, completing it during her last round of chemotherapy. Book copies are $9 each; cash and cards accepted. For more information, call 615-893-4131 or visit rclstn.org.

JAN. 12 DNA DYNAMICS

Island Reception Center (1875 W. College St.) from 11 a.m.–noon or 1–2 p.m. for an opportunity to get creative. Cultural Arts features a monthly pop-up where participants create a craft and learn something new with a different surprise activity each month. Class size is limited, so sign up early. The class repeats itself each pop-up day. Admission is free; ages 7 and up are welcome. For more information, contact dhunter@ murfreesborotn.gov or 615-801-2606.

JAN. 13, 14, 16 AND 23 BOOK BINDING

DNA makes up all the living things. Wilderness Station (401 Volunteer Rd.) breaks down what exactly it is on a kid level with some cool hands-on activities on Tuesday, Jan. 12, from 10–11 a.m. Make Twizzler-andmarshmallow double helixes to help understand the makeup of the world around us. Ages 7–12 are welcome. Admission is free. For more information, contact hmeyer@ murfreesborotn.gov or 615-217-3017.

Learn a fun craft and a quick and easy way of making nice presents and gifts with book binding classes at Gateway Island Reception Center (1875 W. College St.) Jan. 13 and 16 from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and Jan. 14 and 23 from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Book binding is an ancient craft that is not difficult to learn. All ages are welcome. Pre-registration is required. Admission is $15 and space is limited. For more information, contact 615893-2141 or efaye@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 13

JAN. 17

CULTURAL ARTS POP-UP

ECO PRINTING

Join Murfreesboro Parks & Rec the second Wednesday of the month at the Gateway

Learn about a beautiful and unique artistic medium known as eco printing at

Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and story through arts, culture and more with the Discovery Center (502 SE Broad St.) on Monday, Jan. 18, from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Admission is free (walkup) with capacity limitations. For more information, call 615-890-2300 or visit explorethedc.org/mlkday.

JAN. 19 IN HER FOOTSTEPS Journey through time as Cannonsburgh Village (312 S. Front St., Lions Club Building) features a fun, interactive program about Women’s Suffrage and the notable women who have deeply impacted the community. Get inspired and learn about inﬂuential Rutherford County women while participating in a collaborative art project and taking a picture posing as suffragist Annie Brawley Jackson. Ages 7–17 are welcome Tuesday, Jan. 19, from 4–4:45 p.m. Admission is free (class max is 20). For more information, contact 615-8012606 or dhunter@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 21 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION Discuss some of the environmental challenges facing Earth and what we can do about it. Talk about pollution, climate, invasive species and animal exploitation with hands-on activities and an outdoor walk at Wilderness Station at Barfield Park (401 Volunteer Rd.) on Thursday, Jan. 21, from 9–10:30 a.m. Ages 7–13 are welcome. Admission is free. For more information, contact 615-217-3017 or hmeyer@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 23 RADNOR LAKE HIKE Join Murfreesboro Parks & Rec for the Radnor Lake hike covering approximately five miles of the trails on Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Radnor Lake is the State of Tennessee’s first Natural Area. Transportation is not provided. Online registration is required at murfreesboroparks.com. Further

information about location will be disclosed to registrants. Ages 15 and up are welcome. The cost for this guided hike is $8. For more information, contact clipscomb@murfreesborotn.gov or 615-217-3017.

in January from 6–8. p.m., and tools and materials are included in your first fourweek class. The cost is $85 (8-person max). Ages 16 and up are welcome. For more information, contact 615-801-2606 or dhunter@murfreesborotn.gov.

JAN. 30 LET’S GO PLOGGING

WEDNESDAYS

Plogging is a combination of jogging and picking up trash. A Swedish fitness craze, plogging is now catching on all over the world. A combination of two words, “plocka”, which means “to pick,” and “jogging,” plogging is part workout and part social responsibility. Meet at Cannonsburgh Village (312 S. Front St.) on Saturdays, Jan. 30 and Feb. 20, at 8 a.m. to jog and pick up trash along the Greenway. Ages 13 and up are welcome. For more information, call 615-890-0355.

Enjoy a cup of hot chocolate with a guided tour of Cannonsburgh Village (312 S. Front St.) featuring history from the late 1800s-early 1900s Wednesdays in January from 10–11:30 a.m. Admission is $3; dress according to the weather. All ages are welcome. For more information, call 615-890-0355.

JAN. 31 NATURALIST: THEODORE ROOSEVELT When hearing the name Theodore Roosevelt, we think of the memorable American’s role as the President of the United States, but did you know the he was also a conservationist and naturalist? On Sunday, Jan. 31, from 2–3 p.m., Wilderness Station at Barfield Park (401 Volunteer Rd.) teaches about the strides Roosevelt took so we can enjoy today’s beautiful, wide spaces. Registration is required. Ages 8 and up are welcome. For more information, contact 615-217-3017 or apool@murfreeborotn.gov.

MONDAYS ADULT RECREATIONAL COED VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE

HOT CHOCOLATE AND STROLL CANNONSBURGH VILLAGE

THURSDAYS GUARDIANS OF THE GREENWAY Help keep the Greenway clean for the plants, animals, and people that love it Thursdays in January and February from 9–10 a.m. Pickers, gloves and trash bags are provided, and volunteer hours can be signed. All ages are welcome. Jan. 7 – Manson Pike Trailhead (1208 Searcy St.) Jan. 14 – Cannonsburgh Trailhead (312 S. Front St.) Jan. 21 – Overall Creek Trailhead (264 Overall St.) Jan. 28 – Walter Hill Trailhead (North Murfreesboro Greenway) For more information, contact 615-217-3017 or hmeyer@murfreesborotn.gov. before by contacting 615-217-3017 or hmeyer@murfreesborotn.gov.

WEDNESDAYS

is $4 per player per visit or premium pass. For more information, contact 615-9072251 or mmcafferty@murfreesborotn.gov.

ADULT BASKETBALL LEAGUE

WEDNESDAYS

Adult athletes can stay in shape, socialize and play basketball at Sports*Com (2310 Memorial Blvd.) Wednesdays in January. The league offers full court games with trained officials beginning at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. Join the list, and efforts are made to assist individuals in finding a team. The cost

Learn how to make a small copper-foiled stained glass suncatcher (Tiffany technique) and take home the finished piece you created in a four-week class at Wilderness Station at Barfield Crescent Park (697 Veterans Pkwy.). Classes are Wednesdays

STAINED GLASS CLASS

The Recreation Department offers recreational volleyball for players who are looking to have fun in a laid-back atmosphere. The league plays at Patterson Park (521 Mercury Blvd.) on Monday nights with games at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. Social interaction and fun are a big part of the league. The cost is $4 per player per visit or premium pass. For more information, contact 615-907-2251 or shull@murfreeborotn.gov.

ADULT COED VOLLEYBALL Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation offers competitive volleyball for players who have experience with the game. The league plays at Sports*Com (2310 Memorial Blvd.) on Thursday nights at 6, 7 and 8 p.m., and the competition is stiff. Efforts are made to find experienced players a spot on a team. The cost is $4 per player per visit or premium pass. For more information, contact shull@murfreesborotn.gov or 615-907-2251.

SATURDAYS ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS The Wilderness Station at Barfield Crescent (401 Volunteer Rd.) features a short program introducing an educational animal at 1:30 p.m. Learn about the animal’s cool adaptations and natural history. All ages are welcome, and the cost is free. For more information, contact 615-217-3017 or hmeyer@murfreesborotn.gov.

THROUGHOUT JANUARY WALK THE GREENWAY WITH ST. CLAIR

WEDNESDAYS OUTDOOR WILD THINGS The Wilderness Station’s (697 Veterans Pkwy.) classic Wild Things program is back on Wednesdays in January from 9:30–10:30 a.m. Sing songs, read a story, complete a craft and conclude with a short walk (dress accordingly). Focus on a different nature theme each week; ages 1–4 are welcome with parents. Admission is $3; registration is required the day

THURSDAYS

JAN. 30 ORIENTEERING BASICS Learn the parts of a compass and how it works on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 1–2:30 p.m. Practice finding and following a bearing, calibrate pacing and do a 10-point orienteering course outside the Wilderness Station (401 Volunteer Rd.). Admission is free. Ages 7 and up are welcome. For more information, contact 615-2173017 or hmeyer@murfreesborotn.gov.

 Send community event information to CONTACT@BOROPULSE.COM

Enjoy the brisk days of winter with a walk through the Greenway with St. Clair Senior Walking Group on Tuesdays from 2–3 p.m. (cancellations due to rain, snow and temperatures below 32 degrees). Please call 615-848-2550 by 10 a.m. the day of the walk to register. For more information, contact lgrissom@murfreeboroth.gov. Jan. 5 – Barfield Crescent Park Trailhead (697 Veterans Pkwy.) Jan. 12 – Gateway Island and Reception Center (1875 W. College St.) Jan. 19 – General Bragg Trailhead (1540 W. College St.) Jan. 26 – Stones River National Battlefield (3501 Old Nashville Hwy.) BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 7

Sounds

Read more about local music at

boropulse.com/category/music PHOTO BY ALYSSE GAFKJEN

LET'S HEAR IT Lecrae, The Secret Sisters, Hillary Scott, Jason Hall, Jimmy Mansfield, Jeff Braun and Wayne Haun Among Grammy Nominees with MTSU Ties Middle Tennessee State University alumni and former students are once again well represented at the annual Grammy Awards. The Grammys have recognized MTSUtrained artists and recording professionals in multiple genres and categories. CBS will broadcast the Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Jan. 31. The new slate of nominees, for work ranging from performance to songwriting to engineering in country, contemporary Christian, gospel, folk and roots music released between September 2019 and Aug. 31, 2020, includes: • 2000 Department of Recording Industry alumnus JASON A. HALL and 2014 audio production grad JIMMY MANSFIELD, who are looking at their third consecutive year of Grammy nominations together, this time for both their teamwork and independent efforts on four of the five 10 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

release Gravity, then won again for his 2014 contemporary Christian song, “Messengers,” featuring For God & Country. He co-wrote that winning song with Grammywinning 2003 music business graduate TORRANCE “STREET SYMPHONY” ESMOND.

A rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor, Moore has so far released nine solo studio albums, including 2014’s Anomaly, which was the first to top both Billboard‘s Top 200 and gospel listings. • 2009 music business alumna Laura Rogers and her sibling, Lydia Slagle, who perform as THE SECRET SISTERS and are nominated for two new Grammys: Best Folk Album for Saturn Return, their fourth release; and for writing a Best American Roots song nominee on it, “Cabin.” The Rogers sisters’ 2017 album, You Don’t Own Me Anymore, was a crowdfunded project that garnered the duo’s first Grammy nomination, also in the Best Folk Album Category. Americana superstar Brandi Carlile and her longtime collaborators and bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth returned to produce Saturn Return. THE SECRET SISTERS

Best Country Album candidates. Hall and Mansfield, who’ve worked together on multiple artists’ award-winning projects, have been Grammy-nominated for their work on country albums released in 2018, 2019 and now 2020, including work by Eric Church, Little Big Town, the Brothers Osborne and Brandy Clark. Hall won a 2005 Best Rock Gospel Album Grammy for his work with Audio Adrenaline. For the 2020 nominations, the two are credited for their work on a pair of country albums: Ashley McBryde’s Never Will and Miranda Lambert’s Wildcard. Hall also is nominated as engineer for Little Big Town’s Nightfall and Mansfield for mixing Clark’s Your Life Is a Record.

• 2000 School of Music alumnus WAYNE HAUN, a producer and songwriter whose work on three of the five Best Roots Gospel album nominees has him competing with himself again, just as he did at the 2018 awards ceremony. Haun has been nominated for seven previous Grammys and has won more than 30 Gospel Music Association/ Dove Awards and three BMI Music Awards. He’s nominated in the 63rd annual Grammys for producing his longtime collaborators Ernie Haase & Signature Sound’s Something Beautiful album and The Erwins’ What Christmas Really Means. Haun also provided orchestral arrangements for The Crabb Family’s 20/20 album in this category, though he didn’t produce it.

• 2012 audio production alumnus JEFF BRAUN whose mixing work on the remaining country album project by Ingrid Andress, Lady Like, earned him a Grammy nomination. Braun has previously mixed releases for Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Hunter Hayes and fellow MTSU alumnus MITCHELL TENPENNY. He’s played a role in four No. 1 hits so far and has been nominated for seven previous Grammys.

• Former student and multi-Grammy winner LECRAE MOORE, who’s back in the golden circle for two new efforts: Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance, “Sunday Morning,” with gospel icon Kirk Franklin and a Best Gospel Performance/ Song co-writing nod for “Come Together” for Rodney Jerkins Presents: The Good News. Moore won the Grammy for Best Gospel Album at the 2013 awards for his 2012

• Former student HILLARY SCOTT and her bandmates in Lady A, multiGrammy winners who are nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their song “Ocean.” Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley won the first of their five Grammys in 2009 for “I Run to You,” and then commenced a two-year dance through the Country Album, Performance and Record of the Year categories that also earned 1980 recording industry alumnus L. CLARKE SCHLEICHER three engineering Grammys. Additionally, F. REID SHIPPEN, a 1994 recording industry graduate, produced the Best Country Solo Performance nominee Mickey Guyton’s debut album, Bridges. 2009 Master of Fine Arts alumnus Aaron Raitiere has two co-written cuts on McBryde’s Best Country Album nominee: “Voodoo Doll” and “Sparrow.” 2006 music business grad SEAN McCONNELL co-wrote “The Daughters,” “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” and “Problem Child” on Best Country Album nominee Little Big Town’s Nightfall, and 2001 music business grad Luke Laird co-wrote “The Past Is the Past” with Clark on her nominated album.

Reviews

THE REVEAL Do You Know?

The Reveal rocks, laying down confident jams with some swagger to them. The guys are workin’ it on the new release Do You Know? Passages on the project move from mildly head-nodding to captivatingly footstomping. The rock-blues-garage-funk-jam-dancegrunge band, formerly known as No Name Blues, combined a few new tunes with remasters of some previous work the band released under its old moniker and leads the listener on quite a journey during the release’s 36 minutes, but leaves some fans still wanting more even after the 11 tracks are over. It’s rock ’n’ roll right up my alley. The Reveal seems comfortable letting a fairly simple groove ride for a little while and letting the listener get caught up in the jam, and it rocks. The distorted vocals and at-times-heavily effected guitar sounds can set it apart from traditional blues-rock and bring a bit of an experimental quality. “Brookshire” displays just a supremely groovy call-and-answer guitar portion. This slamming, brief instrumental lets the guitars— and drums—do the talking. At most points, Do You Know? isn’t incredibly complex, but it should get the rock ’n’ roll fans rockin’. The guys don’t overplay and are fine with letting a segment or note hang just for a little while and giving the music some space to breathe. The ridiculously funky “Tick Tock” has one such passage where The Reveal shows some restraint and lets the listener hang for a moment before the groove hits, paired with an

ALBUM

extremely overdriven bass guitar solo. The band’s got work to do but they’re down to clown, to paraphrase “Tick Tock.” Members of the trio—Dustin McKee on bass and vocals, Kirk Morrow Jr. on drums and Josh Norﬂeet on guitar—three young men from Kokomo, Indiana, now based in Tennessee, all seem to have some well-rounded musical backgrounds contributing to the eclectic sound of The Reveal. McKee spent time as a drum line instructor; the family of Norﬂeet schooled him on bluegrass music before he gravitated toward rock; Morrow, who also has experience on acoustic guitar and vocals, grew up with his dad playing drums. “She’s Bad” should get some feet stomping; midway through the first verse of “Work,” The Reveal introduces a catchy little guitar riff used throughout the song. The instrumental of “Lost at Sea” takes things into a different, deeper realm, almost drifting into some heavy metal territory. S.O.S. I’m in distress! Something about the more wacky and lighthearted “$3 Blues” doesn’t quite seem to fit the theme of the album. Maybe this is one of the older ones. In its own right it’s still a fun “Luther played the boogie-woogie” kind of ditty that tells of an individual spending his $3 on a Swisher Sweet, sweet tea lemonade and a bar of chocolate. Really, some of the lyrics throughout can be a little silly and clichéd—Rock your body with me; I don’t wanna work no more; She’s so bad I’m so confused; I’m so broke. But the music is seriously groovy, and has just enough experimental elements to give The Reveal some separation from a wealth of other groups and keep things fresh. Find Do You Know? on Spotify and other streaming services. — BRACKEN MAYO

MOVIE

WONDER WOMAN DIRECTOR Patty Jenkins STARRING Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig RATED PG-13

Wonder Woman 1984 caps off what is certainly one of the weirdest and worst years for the movie industry in decades. Owing solely to the still raging pandemic, half the movies that were supposed to come out in 2020 have been indefinitely delayed, while the other half were haphazardly delivered to the public via empty theaters, pay-per-view streaming services or, like this one, an awkward combination of both. So, is the sequel to one of DC’s best-liked films worth a trip to the theater or the price of a month of HBO Max? Tldr; No to the former (that goes for any movie); and to the latter, it depends. WW84 kicks off right where Wonder Woman’s (2017) prologue ended: with a young Diana still trying to prove herself, this time in some sort of Amazonian decathlon racing against women twice her age and size. The point is obviously for her to learn some lesson that will later apply (but apparently wasn’t very important to her journey in the first film), but its connection to Diana’s internal struggles later in the film feel so tenuous that the two-and-a-half-hour movie could surely have done without it. Cut to: the ’80s! Neon, spandex . . . and malls! Wonder Woman has come into her own as a superhero, ﬂying around town saving innocents from

routine accidents and jewelry store robberies all while maintaining her anonymity. But when an ancient stone that grants wishes is one of the stolen items, it attracts the attention of Max Lord (Pedro Pascal), a Troy McClure-type wannabe oil tycoon. Kristen Wiig plays Barbara Minerva, Diana’s insecure and annoying colleague at the Smithsonian charged with studying the stone, whose admiration for Diana becomes something greater thanks to the stone. It’s not hard to predict that Lord gets his hands on the magical mineral monkey’s paw, or that he puts it to bad use. Pascal seems to be the only one having fun in the film. His over-thetop performance matches the nownostalgic décor of the time period, and elevates the often dull gear-spinning of the plot. Even Wiig, who seems well-cast in theory, isn’t given the material to play to her strengths the way a Marvel film would’ve mined her charm. And Chris Pine, the fighter pilot love-interest from the ’40s, returns in a hackneyed conceit, his character’s best moments merely serving to point out just how futuristic the ’80s truly were when compared to the ’40s. What WW84 proves with its own internal retconning, its sometimes hilariously bad dialogue, and its simultaneously bombastic and boring action sequences, is that its predecessor wasn’t so much a turning point for DC movies but an anomaly, elevated above its dour filmic siblings by its relative lightness and charm. WW84 goes for both tones and fails. In the end, Wonder Woman gives a hopeful speech to our villain, one that is obviously meant to evoke our “troubled times,” and it goes down about as well as Gal Gadot’s now-infamous “Imagine” video. — JAY SPIGHT BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 11

Art

 PROFILE

PHOTO BY BRACKEN MAYO

Connecting the Dots Proliﬁc Murfreesboro artist Gary James recounts life in autobiography BY LAURA LINDSAY

urfreesboro artist Gary James says all his talent was given to him by God, and he in turn gives God all the credit for his work. One of the best-known examples of James’ pointillist artwork might just be his beautiful rendering of our state ﬂower, the iris, featured at the Tennessee State Capital. He has produced hundreds of intricate, captivating works over his decades-spanning art career, some of the pieces containing hundreds of thousands of tiny dots that, taken together, depict an animal, building, person or other visual subject. James wrote in his recent book, Gary James – Autobiography, published in 2019 under Christian Faith Publishing, that he would have no talent “without His divine glory.” James’ book tells his story from his early childhood in Texas to his move to Murfrees-

12 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

boro and his time traveling with the military. “My earliest memories start when I etched images in white face powder atop a dark mahogany dresser and watched the dust particles spin into images in the streaming sunlight of my picture window,” he writes. “I learned the basics of light on dark and dark on light. I did it every day for long stretches of time or when my mom would stop me from using her face powder. So then, I would just turn and focus my attentions to the ﬂoating spinning dust-particle pictures captured in the sunlight of my picture windows.” He says life for him as an artist began on his first day of kindergarten when his teacher “got in front of the class and clasped her hands together and said ‘let’s see who all the little artists are!’”

When he was in the sixth grade, he became a serial artist, following strict compositional rules, learning to draw horses from a book that became one of his prized possessions. He also drew a lot of cartoons and realized the importance of drawing in ink for reproduction qualities, preferring black magic markers. He drew pictures on the back of notebooks for anyone who would pay his price of 50 cents to a dollar for his work. James was an artist for his school drama club and literary magazine. He served as an apprentice illustrator for the

49th Tactical Fighter Wings graphics section and then received a position at the Air Force Academy’s Dean of Faculty Instructional Studios and did government graphics work and then exhibited his first art show in California. “In 1976, God came to me and said, ‘Gary, I’ll make you famous, but you gotta do the dot.’ A black ink dot to create my fine art repertoire, and he added, ‘You gotta register each point, each dot an essential part of the design.’ In layman’s terms, we had to count them, and I can tell you how many points are in each piece,” according to the artist. He adds some of his art contains subliminal messages that were put there by God. He says he started with dots in 1974 as an apprentice at the Air Force Academy. Each of his pictures is made up of thousands upon thousands of dots, made with BIC pens. He then colors that work with beeswax. James cites Van Gogh and M.C. Escher as two of his major inﬂuences. This can be seen prominently in James’ versions of sunﬂowers and a few labyrinth-themed pieces. His body of work also includes realistic architectural drawings of buildings like the Nashville skyline and one of an ornate home along Main Street in Murfreesboro. He created his portrait of Jesus after visiting a palm reader in Smyrna. This is the same portrait featured on the cover of James’ autobiography. “ . . . she read my palm, looked at me, and said in a thick Russian accent, ‘You are a great artist. You draw me Jesus,’” James says in his book. “And that was the night in the summer of ’84 when I laid out the pictures of a dead bloody Jesus that God gave me to spread the gospel with because it was [in the] bloodshed and death of Jesus that we find salvation before God.”

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was given to us by God.” Some of Gary James’ work is available to view and purchase at Emery’s Fine Art Gallery on Memorial Boulevard and at Hernandez Mexican Deli on Vine Street.on Vine Street.

Re s i d

In conjunction with some of its spiritual overtones, his autobiography includes some surprisingly graphic details of hookups with women along with some strong language, discussion of physical confrontations and graphic stories from time spent in mental hospitals. On Christmas Day 2010, James lost his balance and fell. From that day forth, he continued having problems with his balance. “Over the next year, my right leg slowly left me, and the right hand turned to concrete,” he says. “I didn’t know why. It played hell with me. In 2013, the month of July, I went through a battery of tests at the VA: EEG, EKG, CAT scan, X-ray and MRI. The MRI showed the problem: multiple sclerosis.” James says he used dots until 2013, when they were taken away by MS. “They were taken away for four years until my personal caregiver, Ruthy, who lives in the back of my studio, prayed over my hands and my ability to do the dots; my old way returned in 2017. Praise the Lord.” In 2019, James said that since his diagnosis with MS, he has done about six major pieces with very little difference from his original art style. “These are my pictures,” he says. “I’m still the same artist. This is my domain that

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Art

 FILM

Sci-Fi Feature The Last Earth Girl Filmed in Tennessee THE TENNESSEE-MADE FEATURE length film The Last Earth Girl has won multiple awards in several 2020 film festivals, including two awards for best sci-fi feature film. The film, shot entirely in Tennessee using local actors, production crew and resources, is currently available in the US and UK on Amazon Prime. The Solaris Film Festival in France, the Caorle Film Festival in Italy, the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in Louisiana, the Las Vegas International Film and Screenwriting Festival and other festivals around the world have screened The Last Earth Girl. Recognition for the work includes: – Best Feature Sci-Fi Film Las Vegas International Film and Screenwriting Festival – Best Feature Sci-Fi Film Caorle Film Festival, Caorle, Italy – Best Actress – Peak City Film Festival, Apex, North Carolina – Semi-Finalist – Andromeda Film Festival, Istanbul, Turkey – Semi-Finalist – Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival, Lafayette, Louisiana – Semi-Finalist – Solaris Film Festival, Cannes, France – Semi-Finalist – Eau Claire World Film Festival, Eau Claire, Wisconsin For more information on The Last Earth Girl, visit cellardoorcinema.com or facebook.com/ thelastearthgirl. 14 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

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Food

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Natural Selection Pick from simple ingredients to fuel your life at CoreLife

STORY BY BRACKEN MAYO • PHOTOS BY SARAH MAYO SO MANY WELLNESS ADVOCATES and consumers will emphasize the importance of eating clean, of making vegetables and lean meat the foundation of the human diet, of knowing what goes in your body and avoiding (or at least limiting the intake of ) the starches, grease, sugars, processed meats, deep-fried foods and white bread that happen to make up a large portion of the menu of many of America’s quick and affordable restaurants. CoreLife Eatery goes a different direction. This restaurant, located on Medical Center Parkway, serves salads, grain bowls and soups all loaded with veggies, along with steak, grilled chicken and tuna. Most items found at CoreLife, other than the sauces, are a single ingredient. CoreLife offers various combination suggestions on the menu to select, or as Kelcie Lyn Daniels, a local customer, said, “You can customize anything you order. Every time I go I try something new because it’s so much more diverse of a menu than your typical sandwich/salad place.” CoreLife “brings a flair to healthy food, which is good so that it doesn’t get boring,” she added. “Tuna poke is the bomb.” 16 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

For diners looking for a healthy and quick (well, depending on how many are in line at the popular spot) meal focusing on natural ingredients, CoreLife is the choice for many. “Plenty of options for meat eaters and vegans alike,” another patron, Shauna, said following a meal. “Everything was very clean and healthy, which I really appreciated. Their drinks were also very natural and delicious. I was impressed with the wide array of food.” The restaurant offers a bowl with items from this wide array, such as various salad greens, cheeses, peppers, carrots, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, grain, broth, sauce and protein selections, along with a soup or a side for $8.95. Many diners say CoreLife is the place to come if someone is on a strict diet, whether that is vegan, keto, low-carb, raw, Atkins or otherwise. “If you want to eat healthy, try it out,” Angela Jackson said. “I got the Spicy Ginger Steak and Rice Noodles with beef broth, grass-fed steak, rice noodles, shredded kale, broccoli, carrots, scallions, sliced almonds, ginger, cilantro, sriracha . . . it was good.” After diners pick up their food, they may notice the absence of something found in almost every other restaurant in town—

CoreLife does not have a soda machine. The eatery offers an array of cold beverages to try, though, including lemonade varieties, tea, iced coffee and juices. The bright red beet lemonade makes an interesting, vitamin-packed, refreshing substitute for carbonated sodas; the taste of the beets certainly comes through. For a lighter taste, the berry juice with apple cider vinegar tastes great. It’s not a thick and sugary juice but a fruity refreshment, sweeter and more exciting than water, but nowhere near as sweet as a cola or even some bottled juices. “The raw tuna was wonderful,” a local Yelper, Steven, posted after trying CoreLife. “It is also a place to bring my wife who complains about restaurants that don’t have a good salad selection.” The indoor dining area is spacious and usually has upbeat music playing and CoreLife also has plenty of outdoor seating. As far as the side items, CoreLife will offer a few warm items each day, such as Brussels sprouts and bacon or some tender roasted sweet potatoes. The coconut curry chicken soup has a little spice to it, but the broth is not heavily seasoned or salted—maybe a positive thing for those on a low sodium diet, but some don’t find the broth as flavorful as they

would like. “I can’t overlook the lack of flavor. Both soups were bland,” another customer posted after giving CoreLife a try. “I ended up having to add a lot of spices and so did my friend. In my experience, broth tends to be flavorful and that simply wasn’t the case.” With the steak pieces found in a $9 combo deal, well, as a steak enthusiast may imagine, it’s not a fine filet mignon and can be tough. One diner said pieces of steak in a salad were so tough and gristly they could not be chewed. “The meat was more rare than we would have liked,” another patron noted in regards to the steak. Plenty of others, though, have positive CoreLife experiences to report. “I had the chicken Cobb bowl without eggs and substituted blue cheese sauce. It was super-fresh and delicious,” one patron said. “Try the ginger lemonade.” Another said she enjoyed the bit of spiciness in the Southwest grilled chicken bowl. “If you’re wanting to eat healthy and still wanting it to taste good, then go here,” a diner named Sandra said after a meal. It’s probably not for everyone, but for healthy, natural eating in a casual atmosphere, and as a place to meet others in the local fitness community, come in to CoreLife.

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SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESS

first met Bracken Mayo a couple of years ago, around the time I’d begun writing for the Pulse. He immediately struck me as a genuine and sentimental guy. Walking through the doors of his office offered a continuity of that character. It is a delightfully eclectic collection of thoughtfully organized memorabilia. The harmonious arrangement of these keepsakes suggests his fondness for them. They are an ensemble of mementos gathered throughout the years from the very same community he serves in his endeavor as founder and editor of the Murfreesboro Pulse newspaper, which in January 2020 celebrates its 15-year anniversary. Behind every good man there is a good woman, with no exception here. Bracken’s wife, Sarah, is the other half of the equation. Her behind-the-scenes efforts as graphic designer, online publisher, social media manager and happily dutiful supporter of both the newspaper and her husband complement his skills in the cohesive kind of way that has caused the Pulse to become and remain a staple in our community. Whether you’re looking for local live entertainment, news and events, the best places to dine, truths, or opinions, the Pulse does not fail to deliver. There is always a wide variety of news available to locals that helps them stay connected to the culture, business and politics of our city. The Pulse was first conceived as an idea Bracken formed in college at MTSU, where he settled into a journalism major. Once he graduated, it didn’t take long for the Mayo team to get cracking on the idea shortly after starting their lives together. Since then it has become a full-time family business in every way. Bracken Jr., the eldest son of their brood, has already been involved for a while now, participating in the distribution of the paper by accompanying his father once a month to the businesses around the city that carry it. He also stated

18 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

15 YEARS STRONG

The Murfreesboro Pulse continues to celebrate the city it loves BY ANGELA LOUPE that he assists on occasion by offering his own feedback on various restaurants located throughout the city. I really get the impression that this family works very well together. There is a lot of love and laughter, thoughtful conversation and common sense that radiate from them as I get to know them better. They rely on each other, and appreciate the fact that they can. “He’s such a positive person to be around, and we’re constantly chuckling about something. Even when things are not on schedule or going smoothly, he’s always smiling,” Sarah said about hubby Bracken when I asked about the day-to-

day inner workings. Their unity as a family and as a small business is inspiring, and it spills over onto their gratitude list. “Every single issue of the Pulse depends on the support of the community, of readers, of distributors, and of sponsors to carry on,” Bracken said. “We cannot claim to do it all ourselves. Though there are no fulltime Pulse employees, there is a great team around us of contributing writers who help make each edition possible, and some have been around almost since the beginning.” The Mayos make it very clear that the Pulse is itself a small business, dedicated to the promotion and legacy of other small

businesses in our community, and they will continue to provide ethical news and information on the happenings of our city with integrity and accountability. The Pulse is an alternative source of news, which is very important in today’s world. The Mayos recognize the importance of a free press and what that means to our country. As larger news sources align with each other and offer a collective narrative, alternative publications carry a profound responsibility to report alternate views to the public, leaving the reader with the liberty to choose which outlet resonates most with the truth inside of themselves. That’s an important distinction, and one that any ethical media contributor would stand behind. The mission statement of the Pulse also stands behind this theme, solidifying its stance as an honest voice reporting news and events as accurately as possible, correcting for accountability whenever applicable, before or after publication, and looking out for the health and the heart of Murfreesboro and its residents. “The mission of the Pulse,” Bracken relates, “involves seeking the truth, reporting it, and celebrating creativity and community life.” Indeed, that it exactly the spirit I feel from this family of four who have dedicated the last 15 years of their lives expressing the love of their city by celebrating successes, mourning losses, reporting on happenings, keeping us informed of events, and sharing their profound sense of joy that comes from even the smallest meaningful connections made on a day-to-day basis with members of the community. It is with my own sincere gratitude that I contribute this article, and look forward to what’s yet to come in our city, in our country, in our world, and in news outlets like the Pulse, whose ongoing efforts seek to provide its readers with clarity in an increasingly muddied world.

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SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESS Megha Bradley

Phil Valdez

Cindy Brindley

Bracken Mayo Sr. and Bracken Mayo Jr. with The Murfreesboro Pulse

Local Business Owners Gather To Connect and Support One Another at Dec. 10 Walnut House Event BY BRACKEN MAYO ALTHOUGH LOCAL BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENTS, and public activities in general, had been scarce in 2020, a great group of Murfreesboro entrepreneurs and supporters of the small business community gathered at the Walnut House on Dec. 10 for a local small business fair. Many of the businesses set up tables and displays, Ross Lester from Everybody Drum Some led attendees in group drumming sessions, Champy’s Fried Chicken and Hank’s Honky Tonk were on hand to offer food and beverages and Robyn Taylor and Phil Valdez performed music at the event. Business professionals had plenty of time and space to make connections, visit and mingle and all had the opportunity to introduce themselves and their company to those in attendance. The Fox & Goat gave out some cups of its fine coffee, Premiere Six Theatre offered some of its freshly popped popcorn, Big Creek Winery Tasting Room conducted some wine sampling and Jim Genet led a movement demonstration.

PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES INCLUDED: The Murfreesboro Pulse Walnut House Fox & Goat Coffee Cultivation Network Steered Straight Thrift Soigne Better Business Bureau Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate Three Rivers Family Dentistry CSL Plasma Tri Star Property Services Big Creek Winery Tasting Room Premiere Six Theatre Everybody Drum Some Genet Moves Middle Tennessee Princess Parties 20 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

Three Rivers Family Dentistry team

Gen 1:29 CBD Oil Swanson Direct James Price with Better Business Bureau Healing Cypress Massage Lory Breckler from Reliant Realty Robyn Taylor Megha Bradley: Business and Life Transformation Strategies Come to Life Chiropractic Hope Restored Counseling ITEX Mikey’s Motors Debbie Harrington with Pink Zebra MTSU Online Champy’s Hank’s Honky Tonk Stay tuned to the Murfreesboro Pulse for information on upcoming small business fairs in the coming months.

Jorge Oceguerra with Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate

Kari Horony with Fox & Goat Coffee

A Look Back

Top Pulse

Stories in 2020

APRIL 2020 MAY 2020 Pulse Readers Also Enjoyed Learning About FatGuy BBQ

Murfreesboro Businesses Navigated the Effects of the Coronavirus Pandemic and Government Response As the shutdowns and executive orders began in spring of 2020, many in the community came together to support its small businesses, while local Murfreesboro merchants had to find creative ways to make sales and stay aﬂoat. Hank’s Honky Tonk focused on takeout business, 219 Mixed Cuisine used some of the time to remodel its restaurant, and The Alley on Main brought its food truck to various neighborhoods around the area.

APRIL 2020

Fans of smoked meats in Murfreesboro have discovered a contribution to the local barbecue scene at the Kwik Sak market at the corner of Broad Street and Medical Center Parkway. Here, Ray Clark works his smoker out back, preparing ribs, pork, brisket, wings and even some specials like smoked spaghetti, meatloaf or whole chickens and turkeys. At first glance inside the store, the interior looks like a standard gas station. But then a customer notices a variety of guitars, ukuleles, harmonicas, kazoos and other musical instruments for sale throughout the shop, and perhaps a line of customers placing or awaiting orders at the small restaurant counter.

APRIL 2020

The Piece on Primrose Table Was a Popular Restaurant Feature

MTSU Photography Professor Baldwin Dies

Heralded by many for adding a touch of elegance and gourmet to the Murfreesboro culinary landscape, Primrose Table offers some very creative ingredient combinations, alongside meat and potatoes and burgers, in its Memorial Boulevard restaurant space. Billed as family-friendly fine dining, find Korean BBQ-stuffed potato skins, gulf grouper with wild mushroom and Parmesan risotto, shrimp and grits, chicken Wellington and more at Primrose Table.

MTSU photography professor emeritus Harold L. Baldwin, the founder of the university’s photography program, died in 2020 at the age 93. The Murfreesboro resident, who joined the MTSU faculty in 1959, died March 19. Baldwin initially taught metalwork in what was then the Industrial Arts Department. He founded the program’s printing component, which evolved into the photo program. By 1964, he had established the MTSU Photographic Gallery.

22 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

NEW BUSINESSES IN 2020: Domenico’s Italian Deli opened Jan. 27 in downtown Murfreesboro. The deli was started 50 years ago in California, by owner Jeff Murphy’s grandparents. Charlotte Price opened a new boxing gym, Grind House Boxing. Her passion for boxing started at age 7, when she watched Muhammad Ali take on George Foreman. Plans for a Murfreesboro Costco continue to move forward after incentives were approved by the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board.

JAN. 2020 Owners of Grove at Williamson Place Try to Keep Farm Intact City of Murfreesboro officials rekindled a discussion to extend two roadways in the Medical Center Parkway area—Wilkinson Pike and Conference Center Boulevard—to alleviate some of the traffic congestion in the busy area. However, the plan would effectively quarter the farmland property known as The Grove at Williamson Place. The owners of this 200-plus-acre tract of land located directly across from The Avenue shopping center on Medical Center Parkway (which hosts weddings, corn mazes, festivals, craft shows, picnics, parties, prom gatherings, songwriter’s retreats and all sorts of other events) strive to maintain their parents’ legacy and keep the property intact.

DEC. 2020

Phil Valentine’s Column “Those Who Wear Masks Are Still Getting Virus” Generated a Great Deal of Shares and Discussion He pointed out the pattern of hysteria posing as science in order to exert control. Although the message from the mainstream is for everyone to mask up, even those who wear face coverings are still contracting Coronavirus if they spend time close to someone infected.

NOV. 2013

Food truck Big Bobby’s BBQ opened a brick-and-mortar shop on Old Fort Parkway. El Toro Mexican opened on Memorial Boulevard. Steered Straight, a nonprofit organization that leads seminars for youth on making positive choices, has settled into a home for its thrift store at 845 Middle Tennessee Blvd. Grandy’s, the fried-chicken version of Captain D’s (its parent company), opened

LOCAL BUSINESS CLOSINGS IN 2020 INCLUDE: Uncle Bud’s Rick’s Barbecue – Memorial Blvd. Spinelli’s & Nick Newton’s Zoë’s Kitchen Old Chicago Logan’s Roadhouse

a restaurant on South Church Street. Strike & Spare moved into the former Sears space in Stones River Town Centre, a 52,000 square-foot facility that accommodates bowling, an arcade, 3D maze, virtual reality, bumper cars and a fullservice restaurant. El Guache Ice Cream Shop, a Mexican ice cream and paletas shop, has opened next to Mi Patria on Stones River Mall Boulevard. Panther Creek Brews landed in the former home of The Green Dragon Pub and Brewery at 714 W. Main St. Mufreesboro Axe and The Empanada Sonata moved into a shared space at 211 W. Main St. Maddy’s Restaurant opened on Rock Springs Road in Smyrna, serving burgers, hot dogs, fries, tots, bologna sandwiches, ice cream and more. Varin’s Sweet Shop has opened at 315 Robert Rose Dr., Suite A, serving ice cream, wafﬂes, Thai tea and bubble tea, cakes and other sweet treats.

MT Bottle Your Burger Dog Haus The Pie Five – Smyrna Gold’s Gym – Church Street Fresko The Ascent / Crossﬁt Murfreesboro Dallas and Jane Romano’s Macaroni Grill Family Video

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Pilgrims Society and the Anglo-American Connection

Renewed interest in the deep state and the globalist agenda drove some traffic to a piece the Pulse published in 2013 on The Pilgrims Society. Some students of deep politics believe the United States never achieved true independence from the U.K. and that the British ruling elite still hold an extraordinary amount of clandestine inﬂuence over the United States. The Pilgrims Society is one alleged vehicle for said inﬂuence. Founded in 1902, this club was established to foster good relations between the United States and Great Britain. Its official patron is the British Crown and its ranks include a host of British aristocracy and industry leadership. It has also counted as members some of the most prestigious people in United States history including John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and others from the highest echelons of society. Following the Revolutionary War, our “founding fathers” even allowed the Crown to dictate the terms of the treaty heavily in its own favor a full two years after cessation of hostilities in 1791. Some say America didn’t actually negotiate this treaty from a position of victory but instead, England simply changed strategy from a military approach to an economic one and the new Anglo-American aristocracy was born. BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 23

AROUND TOWN ’BORO BUSINESS BUZZ

Slim & Husky’s, Pepper+Peach, Hyundai, Buff City Soap, Mahle, Maple Street Biscuit, Bink’s, Transparent Heart BY BRACKEN MAYO SLIM & HUSKY’S PIZZA BEERIA has announced it will open a Murfreesboro location, reportedly in the Medical Center Parkway space that formerly housed Freebirds World Burrito. The Nashville-based business, now with locations in Antioch, Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta and Sacramento, serves signature oval-shaped pizzas in “slim” or “husky” varieties, even a hot chicken pizza. Slim & Husky’s also slings some popular

cinnamon rolls in different varieties—including one with bacon, caramel, whiskey and pecans. MURFREESBORO HYUNDAI has taken over the property at 1625 S. Church St. formerly occupied by the Honda dealership (which has since relocated to John Rice Boulevard). The dealership sells the popular sedans and small SUVs that Hyundai is known for, such as the Tucson, Santa Fe, Sonata, Kona and Elantra. Murfreesboro Hyundai is part of the Hudson Automotive Group, which also includes Beaman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat—adjacent to Murfreesboro Hyundai on Church Street—and Murfreesboro Volkswagen, as well as over 20 other auto dealerships in the Southeast. MAHLE will expand its operations in Rutherford County. The automotive supplier, based in Stuttgart, Germany, expects to bring approximately 300 additional jobs to the area with a multi-million-dollar expansion that adds 140,000 square feet to

MAPLE STREET BISCUIT COMPANY plans

to open a location in the former Taco Garage building on Medical Center Parkway near the hospital. The restaurant will offer biscuits, gravy, fried chicken, wafﬂes and coffee. Originating in Florida and now owned by Cracker Barrel, Maple Street Biscuit has locations all over the Southeast U.S., including seven existing Tennessee restaurants.

24 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

BUFF CITY SOAP will open its third Murfreesboro location at 2113 Memorial Blvd., near Chipotle and Newk’s. The brand’s rapid expansion is part of an aggressive franchise agreement with Louisville businessman Rick Kueber, the founder of Sun Tan City and a Planet Fitness franchisee. Kueber’s franchise group has signed development deals that will result in a total of 150 new Buff City Soap stores, or soap makeries, within a five-year period, many of them in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana. Buff City makes bar soaps, bath bombs and laundry soap, allowing guests to customize the scent and ingredients with multiple fragrances such as apple, peach, rose, bergamot, cinnamon, lavender, cedarwood and other aromas. “It’s a unique product in a growing space and natural products have been growing pretty rapidly,” Kueber said. A bar of Buff City Soap, produced in a beautiful swirled tiedye pattern, sells for $7 per bar.

its operations at 906 Butler Dr. in Murfreesboro and will include new injection-molding production lines. “These new jobs will be a tremendous boost to our local economy,” said State Sen. Shane Reeves of Murfreesboro. “Thank you, Mahle, for your confidence in the Rutherford County worker.” The company, which employs approximately 77,000 workers worldwide, said its products address all issues relating to the power train and air conditioning technology both in automobiles with combustion engines and electric vehicles. Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron said the company’s Murfreesboro expansion will provide more “above-averagepaying jobs locally.” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee added that “substantial investments like Mahle’s are crucial to get Tennessee’s economy back on track and ensure quality jobs are available for Tennesseans.”

HELLO BEAUTIFUL has permanently closed its boutique on Old Fort Parkway. Business owner Molly Brown thanked all of her customers for supporting her and her dream throughout the store’s run. “It’s definitely been a hard year on small businesses,” Brown posted. “It’s been so sad . . . everyone, really, thank you for your support.” She will continue to operate Hello Beautiful Glam Bar, which will offer onsite makeup and hair services for special occasions. BINK’S OUTFITTERS has announced that it will close its store on the Murfreesboro Public Square after 18 years in downtown Murfreesboro. Bink’s does operate another Murfreesboro location at Stones River Mall, where it carries products from Yeti, Columbia, Patagonia, Teva, North Face, Camelback and other popular outdoor brands. SHONEY’S on Church Street in Murfreesboro has closed temporarily, according

to its sign. The restaurant has a history of sudden closures; this Shoney’s closed temporarily in 2017 for remodeling. TRANSPARENT HEART YOGA has closed its Lytle Street yoga studio. “We have tried our best to mold and change within the current landscape, but this business model is not sustainable,” according to owner Courtney Sabbagh. “I am excited about the future,” she added. In the immediate future, Transparent Heart will shift from group classes, which were primarily physically based, to more individualized, on-demand offerings that focus on the mind and purpose of the soul. Sabbagh has also begun clearing land on her own property for a building that can host yoga classes, workshops and retreats. “I look forward to this evolution for all of us,” Sabbagh said. On transparentheartyoga.com, as part of the mission of the business, she posted that “I believe that you, no matter who you are or what your background is, or what your current state of affairs is, or what your current mental state is, can become that excellence that you desire to be.” After only two months of operation, PEPPER+PEACH HOT CHICKEN

has announced that it will close permanently. THE PEACH COBBLER FACTORY, which operates two Nashville locations, a Smyrna location and a food truck, opened the restaurant at 1824 Old Fort Pkwy. (the former home of Uncle Bud’s, Jazzmatazz and Santa Fe) as a new concept adding hot chicken and other entrees to the menu. However, Pepper+Peach closed suddenly in early December, and employees gathered and demonstrated in the parking lot shortly thereafter, requesting their final paychecks. “Our leadership team, including myself, missed an opportunity to have a better dialogue in the hours leading up to this decision,” Peach Cobbler Factory CEO Juan Edgerton posted on social media following the public demonstration and subsequent negative media attention in response to the “abrupt announcement” of closure, but assured his employees that they would soon be paid in full for their work. Edgerton added that he would resign from his position following the incident. “I will no longer have a day-to-day role in the business I founded,” Edgerton said. “My drive and passion caused us to depart from our core values. I deeply regret that.” The three other Peach Cobbler Factory locations will remain open.

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THE YEAR 2020 WILL GO DOWN as being known for COVID-19, social distancing and the political ambush of State Rep. John DeBerry by the Tennessee Democratic Party. DeBerry, a Memphis Democrat and respected statesman in the House of Representatives, was ousted by his own party back in May by a 41–18 vote by members of the Tennessee Democrat Executive Committee. Rather than letting voters take him off the ballot, a committee of Democrats who probably never even visited his district cast him out for being conservative on social issues. But it seems that when God closes one door He always opens another, and He had a bigger plan for DeBerry. Gov. Bill Lee announced on Nov. 30 that DeBerry would join his cabinet as a senior advisor beginning Dec. 1. His office will be at the State Capitol and he’ll receive an annual salary of $165,000. DeBerry will play a key role advising the governor and shaping policy when it comes to important issues impacting Tennesseans. DeBerry, a faithful Democrat since 1970 and representative for House District 90 since 1995, is an honorable man of deep conviction and integrity. He dutifully served his district for 26 years, never wavering from the same core beliefs voters elected him 13 times to uphold. “I think the agenda is to sanitize the Democratic Party to where it is a mindless group of folks who simply follow an agenda that is placed before them,” DeBerry told Robyn Walensky of Memphis KWAM News on June 22. “I see them going backwards trying to sanitize the country. We are going down a dangerous path. We’re on a slippery slope that’s going to lead us 26 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

exactly where our enemies said we were going to be in the ’60s,” DeBerry said. The “lamestream media” barely covered the DeBerry political ambush when it happened. Do you know why? The reason is that the narrative doesn’t line up with the agenda of the left, who tout themselves as the party of tolerance. DeBerry is a victim of religious persecution at the hands of an ever-growing leftist Democrat Party—a party who has become anti-Christian, anti-life, socialist and intolerant of others views. Democrats’ dwindling base further demonstrates how out of touch the left is with the majority of people in our state. What the Tennessee Democrat Executive Committee did to Rep. DeBerry is wrong, and it creates a slippery slope on free and fair elections. The voting rights of the people of Memphis were more than suppressed; they were forbidden to vote for their 26-year state representative who has represented them with character. Shame on you NAACP, ACLU, Tennessee Democrat Executive Committee, mainstream media and others who turn a blind eye to this racist, anti-Christian, bigoted atrocity. Thankfully, an overwhelming majority of Tennesseans can plainly see that the Democratic Party has become the party of intolerance, one that will only move our state backwards. Rep. Mike Sparks (R) serves the 49th House District in the Tennessee General Assembly, which includes areas of Smyrna, LaVergne, Almaville and north Murfreesboro. Feel free to contact Mike at rep.mike.sparks@capitol.tn.gov or at (615) 741-6829.

Chiropractic Health

BY MORTER FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC

Chiropractic Treatment Can Help Relieve Stress and Anxiety AT MORTER FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC

we go beyond just adjusting our patients. We strive to correct the issues our patients are having in order to restore their health so that they can experience life. The Morter Chiropractic team would like to start the year off with a few points to help everyone develop good healthy habits going into the new year. We will first address stress and anxiety. We all have it in some way, shape or form. 2020 definitely brought about a lot of unseen doses of both stress and anxiety. Many have experienced various forms of stress during 2020—physical, mental, emotional or chemical stress. The repetitive movements from our day-to-day lives can bring about physical stress, like the electrician looking up over and over to fix a light or an office worker hunched over a computer all day. The mental and emotional stress can speak for themselves. Nowadays, many are working longer hours and most households are single-income homes. Pushing to make ends meet has always been a struggle for some, but we have seen that even more this past year. Chemical stress includes the things we are putting in our bodies—the sugar, the unhealthy foods, the sodas, alcohol, tobacco . . . and the list goes on. We can’t leave out the things we put on our bodies—the lotions, the body washes, the colognes. We put these on our largest organ, the skin. Our bodies then absorbs all of those toxins. And then what? After all of this stress we put our bodies in a state of destruction. No wonder we are at an all-time high for stress, anxiety and depression. Dr. Josh Morter has been able to help

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his patients in dealing with both stress and anxiety through his chiropractic treatments. He provides patients with a plan to help them manage their pain while taking steps toward getting their lives back. Dr. Josh does not take a cookie-cutter approach to helping people reach their health goals. Chiropractic care helps relieve stress in several ways. By adjusting the spine, Dr. Josh can help alleviate muscle tension, relaxing the body and increasing blood flow. This can also help the body’s fight-orflight response. Adjustments can also help with anxiety and depression. Most often, people who suffer from mental health disorders also suffer from headaches or migraines. Chiropractic care is an excellent choice in treating these conditions. By releasing the tension and stiffness along the spine, some anxiety and debilitating depression can be reduced. Pain can cause many individuals to have increased levels of stress and anxiety. When we relieve the pain patients are experiencing, naturally they are more relaxed. According to the Tennessee Chiropractic Association, in addition to stress and anxiety, chiropractic treatment can help with flexibility, weak immune systems, fibromyalgia and migraines and tension headaches. For more, check out the article on tnchiro.com titled “Surprise: Chiropractors Can Treat These 5 Conditions.” Morter Family Chiropractic is located at 221C Castlewood Dr., Murfreesboro. For more information about how Dr. Josh Morter can help restore your health so that you can better experience life, call 615-900-3770 or visit morterchiro.com.

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Opinion 5 Steps to Finding Common Ground in a Polarized World BY DR. MING WANG IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY, we are often incapable of overcoming our differences in order to find common ground. Our social climate is toxic. Our nation is polarized on many important issues, including race relations. The merit of an issue is often not considered as important as power alliances—political, ideological or otherwise. The media has many of us glued to our TV sets, watching 30-second dramatic images that short-circuit imagination and independent judgment, polarizing us. Civil discourse and debates focused on the issues themselves—without insulting the opponent—have become rarities. When I came to this great country many years ago as a poor student, having recently survived China’s Cultural Revolution, what attracted me the most about America was the freedom conveyed in the saying: “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to my death your right to say it.” Unfortunately, since then we have departed from the principles of free speech and mutual respect, and have instead replaced them with intolerance and intimidation. Our society increasingly becomes fixated on our differences, rather than appreciating what we have in common. Though when a natural disaster strikes, we find ourselves in need of the most prepared and experienced disaster-response teams. Similarly, when a crisis such as the coronavirus outbreak occurs, we realize that our ability to deal with it is critically dependent upon how prepared and experienced we already are to overcome our differences and come together as a nation. The ability to find common ground in a polarized world is only

achieved through years of learning and practice. We must first learn to listen, so that instead of trying to score rhetorical points through well-rehearsed sound bites, we may learn valuable information—even from our opponents—that may propel both sides toward breaking the gridlock of our current national discourse. Solutions to difficult problems will come only through collaboration, not alienation, so that not only are we ready to deal with a crisis like this, but also to solve our society’s problems in general. Human beings are all vulnerable, and the only way to survive is to find a way to work together. It is my hope that we will all improve our ability to overcome our differences and find common ground in our lives. Common ground is the cornerstone to resolving human conﬂicts. More than simply a compromise, it is an area of shared interest, a collaborative vision that is greater than any of our own.

HOW DO WE FIND COMMON GROUND? I have co-founded the nonprofit organization the Common Ground Network with Dr. Rice Broocks, and we have formulated a methodology called STEPS to help people find common ground with others: Start, Trade Places, Empathy, Partnership and Seek Common Ground. This methodology has been gleaned by studying the lives of people that have been effective in finding common ground in the midst of difficult circumstances. Here’s a brief description of each aspect of this process.

28 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

START: Something has to get you started. Ask yourself

“what motivates me to find common ground, and why do I care about doing so?” Finding common ground has been essential in being able to have a genuine exchange when it comes to the great question of life’s ultimate meaning and purpose.

TRADE PLACES: Try to see the other person’s perspective. Look at an issue from your opponent’s perspective and speak in the language of the listener. As Jonathan Haidt pointed out in his book The Righteous Mind, we all have an innately biased value system and blind spots that cause us to see the world through tinted glasses. There are other ways of saying this, like “walk in their shoes” or “seek to understand before seeking to be understood.” When we are willing to see things from someone else’s perspective, there are things that become visible that we might have otherwise not seen. Sometimes small details can change an entire narrative.

EMPATHY: Understand

and share the feelings of others. The SALT principle, advocated by Dr. Broocks, is very useful: S—start a conversation; A—ask a question; L—listen, and then, T—talk. S.A.L.T. We need to have a civil and respectful dialogue by separating position from person and policy from value, and be willing to examine the basis and validity of our own narrative by asking ourselves “is there a chance I could be wrong?” There’s no other trait that is more valuable in the times we are living in than empathy, feeling someone else’s burden or pain. As humans, we share in the struggles that life presents. Sickness, death, loss, pain and heartache will come to us all at some point.

PARTNERSHIP: Finding a partner who joins you in reaching out to others, who shares your passion and who collaborates can have an exponential

We need to have a civil and respectful dialogue by separating position from person and policy from value, and be willing to examine the basis and validity of our own narrative by asking ourselves “is there a chance I could be wrong?” impact. Christ sent His disciples out two by two. Partnerships allow you to encourage each other. Partnerships can form quickly with those who share the same vision. Remember the promise Jesus made: “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

SEEK COMMON GROUND: Have the vi-

sion, see the need, take the lead, face the facts and don’t lose heart. Even if we can only find a small amount of common ground, it still could have a significant and transformative effect overall. Common ground seekers are constantly looking for open doors and opportunities to serve others. Living this way turns us from looking inward to looking outward toward others. It is a

paradigm shift that yields greater happiness and contentment. These five common groundseeking STEPS have been inspired by the life of Christ Himself, who truly exemplified these principles. They will enable us to build bridges, break down barriers, understand each other better and be closer to the truth. We all have limited life experience, and therefore limited viewpoints. When we meet someone who has a different life experience, we will learn new things. In fact, we learn the most when we communicate with people who have views opposite our own! As Thomas Crum pointed out in his book The Magic of Conﬂict, finding common ground is a co-creative process which moves us from our own point of view to a joint viewing point— higher ground—so that we gain a broader perspective in the context of a bigger picture. Winning does not mean someone else has to lose. Life should not be “you or me” but rather “you and me.” We all have a shared humanity, and we all will benefit from being partners rather than opponents on Spaceship Earth. Through these genuine and productive STEPS of finding common ground, we will not only be able to identify solutions but also— and even more importantly—be inspired to change and become better human beings who are more willing to work with others. Dr. Ming Wang, a world-class cataract and LASIK eye surgeon, philanthropist and community activist, is the founding director of Wang Vision Institute and the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration and the co-founder of the Common Ground Network. Wang is a doctor of medicine and also holds a PhD in laser physics. He is also a classical ballroom dancer and plays the erhu. Find more on Dr. Wang at drmingwang.com and commongroundnetwork.org.

 STEERED STRAIGHT

BY MICHAEL DELEON

Vaping Me Crazy

Vaping Among Youth Continues to Climb and Will Lead to Respiratory Problems AMERICA IS DEALING with the worst public social health crisis she has ever seen, and I’m not talking about COVID-19. I’m talking about addiction. Parents need to “weed between the lines.” The CDC, NIH, FDA and many non-government organizations are all reporting their survey numbers on adolescent vaping—but none of them are accurate! Steered Straight conducted 10,000 vaping surveys of middle and high school students in nine states in February 2020. Self-reporting has always been a poor method of getting the truth, but with kids, it’s far worse when it comes to accuracy. Academics like to tell you that their surveys are accurate, but all of these organizations and companies share the same deficiency while hiding the same truth. They all get paid to survey kids, yet most of their surveys aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. Kids don’t answer truthfully to people they don’t trust, and if they don’t know them, they don’t trust them, especially on an issue they’re trying to hide. Kids aren’t telling the truth on most surveys about substance use because they don’t answer honestly if they think they’ll get in trouble. With Steered Straight, after we present to them in their schools, they trust us. They know we care. They want to answer honestly. Kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We show them that we do. In our February 2020 surveys we found that the percentage of students that self-reported vaping use was significantly higher than what any of the other surveys reported. It was nearly 30 percent higher! Steered Straight just finished

surveying 10,000 middle and high school students digitally this fall. We surveyed the same states and school districts, and more than 80 percent of the students who participated in our original survey participated again. Given the isolation caused by COVID, the increased accessibility of vaping products through the mail, and the stress and anxiety kids are expressing because of lockdowns and virtual learning, we assumed the numbers would be higher, but our team was even shocked at how much it has increased. More than double the amount of students reported current vaping use when compared to what is being reported by the federal government and the grantees it funds. It had jumped significantly even in our research, and it’s a troubling trend that many parents don’t understand. We surveyed more than 3,500 sixth, seventh and eighth graders about vaping and found their current use to be 46 percent. We surveyed more than 6,500 ninth through twelfth graders to find their current use is 74 percent. Here’s what I am scared of— this is going to get much worse! We have been presenting on this youth trend to students, staff and parents in every state in the country. For three years, I’ve been screaming to people about how kids are vaping and how bad it is. Very few people were listening. Governors issued executive orders and spent millions of dollars on

campaigns to fight it, every major news media in America reported on it before COVID, some even calling it a crisis, hospitalizations were climbing just as I had predicted, young people were even dying from it, and yet here we are almost a year removed from many kids being in schools, and I can’t find a single mainstream story on it. But ironically, respiratory disease is the numberone underlying complication for COVID illness and death. I’m actually scared, because people still think the problem is limited to 37 percent of kids vaping. Our surveys in nine states show that kids self-reported that 46 percent of middle schoolers and 74 percent of high schoolers say they currently use. Where’s the discussion? Where’s the concern? The massive shifts to ordering products in the mail is increasing the ease of kids getting vapes and vape products. The presence of the black market is rising exponentially, and vaping products will be getting more poisonous for youth than ever as their use increases, addiction develops and health consequences manifest themselves. The use of marijuana concentrates in vapes and vape products is growing tenfold and the market is exploding, because kids are the market. They are convinced it’s harmless as more and more states minimize the dangers on the health of Americans with absolutely no clarification on youth and the

developing adolescent brain. Families have nicotine-addicted kids, and no one is telling these parents what to do. There are going to be so many pulmonary cases over the next three years that respiratory disorders will eventually jump over cancer as the No. 2 cause of death in America. No one will be holding the THC market accountable. It’s exploding right now to fill the market for flavors. Many of the manufacturers operate under legal marijuana laws in legal states without any oversight and without any accountability. They are shipping tens of thousands of flavored “pods” containing high concentrations of THC across state lines, violating federal law, and they’re not being held responsible. They sell on their websites and ship nationally, to anyone and everyone, including kids. They’re selling apparel to kids so kids can hide their vape smoke in hoodies. They’re marketing how-to videos to make your own flavors with do-ityourself pods. It’s the far more damaging, far longer-lasting pandemic within the pandemic. The youth and young adult population has always been disproportionally touched by addiction because of risky adolescent

“Families have nicotine-addicted kids, and no one is telling these parents what to do. There are going to be so many pulmonary cases over the next three years that respiratory disorders will eventually jump over cancer as the No. 2 cause of death in America.”

behavior and seeking escape from trauma through substance use. Compounding this for more than a decade has been so many youth and young adults directly affected by a pharmaceutical-induced opiate explosion. Coupled with the widespread legalization of marijuana, we find ourselves in what is being called by many as a pandemic but not widely accepted as such by society. This is one of the biggest hindrances to our young population. In fact, I personally submit that it is the greatest threat to student success. Education is one of the most important protective factors needed to prevent addiction and the most foundational component in recovery from addiction. Every student and parent needs to be aware of the dangers of these products for the adolescent. Our success as a country is only a success if it’s with our youth. Parents and guardians must lead the way, and we have written an in-depth guide and tool to do just that. Our guide and website can truly give you much of the vital information to learn more about this issue. The book Table Talks and Dashboard Conversations gives parents a year of conversations that they can have with their middle and high school students on a daily basis. There are more than 365 conversations to choose from. And we published it into an easyto-use journaling guide, with 12 months of themes and conversations for every day of the year. Michael DeLeon is the CEO and Founder of Steered Straight, the No. 1-booked school presentation organization in America. He is a recovered addict, ex-offender and a national leader in prevention, recovery, addiction advocacy and criminal justice reform. For more, visit steeredstraight.org or call 856691-6676 or 615-962-7539. Visit the Steered Straight Thrift Store at 845-C Middle TN Blvd., Murfreesboro.

BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 29

Opinion

Live Exceptionally...Well! BY JENNIFER DURAND

Living in Awe AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, many will reflect or consider the life events that shaped or transformed their course over the past calendar year. A year tends to be a good measure of time to put into practice all that one promises to “do better” at. There is a beginning and an end. This year in particular seems to have brought unusual challenges for many. In my personal reflection of the events of this year, one thing remains clear. Life. What life is? Life is always revealing insights into existence— human and divine—through our activities and our relationships. Since the beginning of time there have been challenges, obstacles, confusion, disappointments, doubt and fear of the unknown. They have worn many different labels and have come packaged in various forms. On the other side there has been joy, fulfillment, happiness, satisfaction, contentment, connectedness and purpose. Regardless of the “label” of a particular issue, when you boil it down through all its layers, you are simply dealing with life. Woven through all the layers of discovery—good or not so good—is the heartbeat of existence. Your mind will always believe what you tell it. Feed it faith. Feed it truth. Feed it with love. What would it be like to live your life in awe? Awe of the grandeur of creation, or of the simplest of moments. Awe of nature as you notice its colors, shapes and activity more intently. Notice the intricate detail inside a kiwi or the pattern of a butterfly’s wings. Everything in existence has been created for a purpose. When you come to understand that this existence is made up of learning, managing, growing, juggling and balance, you can begin to react less and respond more. To see this more clearly try one or all of these exercises when you’re done reading this article:

FIRST NOTICING Prepare a meal. Organize your ingredients. As you touch each ingredient (whether it’s salt, pepperoni, tomato, dough) take 30 seconds to notice its shape, color, density, texture and smell. Make a mental impression. Now look beyond what you see and think about what it took to get that ingredient made for you to enjoy. No matter how big, small or refined your measurement, it plays an important part in your final dish. Someone discovered its perfect use and put in motion the opportunity for you to enjoy the end result. Find the awe in that!

SECOND NOTICING Take a walk. On this walk, pay attention to every detail along your path. Notice the pavement or 30 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

dirt. What kind of grooves, grain, cracks or other things do you see? What else do you come across? Trees, leaves, stones, animals, bugs, yard art? Zero in and take note of the tiniest of details in addition to recognizing its full scope, too. What do you see now that you perhaps overlooked or took for granted before? All of this is natural. Think about that. Find awe in the simplicity of this activity.

THIRD NOTICING People-gazing. This one is not meant to be creepy! Be subtle. When you have the opportunity, notice an individual. Look as closely as you can to see the minutiae: face, ears, nose, chin, eyes, eyebrows, lips, hair, clothes, nails, hands, arms, feet, knees, shoes. What are the textures, colors, nuances? What took time to prepare? Was the selection of clothes based on mood, what was clean, or what was appropriate for the occasion? Everything is intentional regardless of how much or how little thought goes into it. This is a great exercise to do with a partner, too. Look and notice each other without talking or touching. When you are done with the activity, share your findings. There is a bit of awe in everyone and everything. “The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives.” – Louise Hay With the results of your observations from the above exercises, look at the changes in your life over the last year. Break down your experiences until you see them as particles of your life. Make new or different decisions if you didn’t like choices you made before. Instead of being daunted by the occasional heaviness life can bring, see the awe in what is before you. See the awe as light. There is a purpose to your being and your experiences show you the way in, out or around. Use your awareness. Be gentle with yourself. Most importantly, remember that regardless of what the label is on the “challenge of the moment,” life will still move as intended. As always, breathe through the tough stuff. Look for the awe. “You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be.” – Marianne Williamson Jennifer Durand is the owner and operator of The Nurture Nook Day Spa & Gift Shoppe; a certiﬁed QiGong and Breathe Empowerment instructor, and is licensed in massage therapy, body work and somatic integration. Visit nurturenook.com or call 615-896-7110.

Use Some Common Sense and Keep Your Distance From People, but Keep Businesses Open VIEWS OF A

CONSERVATIVE

PHIL VALENTINE

philvalentine.com

ou’ve seen it all over the country. Governors shut down businesses and force their citizens to shelter at home while they’re out maskless at fine restaurants or wine bars. It’s the ultimate in “do as I say, not as I do.” So, why aren’t the citizens of these states as outraged as they should be? Because the federal government keeps bailing out tyrants.

D deficient. Studies have shown that 80 percent of the people hospitalized with COVID are vitamin D deficient. Have you heard Drs. Fauci or Birx urge you to get your vitamin D level checked? No. They just continue to scream at you to wear a mask. No matter what the so-called experts tell you, masks simply don’t work. They actually give you a false sense of security. People believe they’re bulletproof from COVID if they just wear a mask, so they get too close to people with COVID for too long and they come down with it themselves. Understand one thing. There are only two things that will protect you from COVID: time and distance. If you stay away from people and limit the time you are in contact with people to five minutes or less you greatly reduce your risk of contracting this virus. But local and state governments, much like Cuomo back in June, still don’t get it. They close, or greatly curtail the operation of, restaurants. In Nashville there are over 5,000 restaurants. There has not been a single COVID outbreak at any of them. Isn’t that amazing? Don’t trust me. Check with the Metro Health Department. They release, periodically, the places where COVID is spreading. Not one restaurant is listed. There are several bars. That makes sense. You’re closer than six feet for more than 15 minutes. Where are you ever closer than six feet for over 15 minutes at a restaurant, except with the people you came with? Exactly. It’s just common sense. In order to get control of this latest wave, cities and states are doing the same insane things they were doing before. And they’re bankrupting their citizens. If they’re too stupid to figure it out that’s between them and the residents of that state. The rest of us shouldn’t pay for the continued stupidity. You don’t have to close anything. You don’t have to put people out of work. Just keep your distance and watch your time spent around anyone. Imagine how many lives and how much money could’ve been saved if we just used some common sense.

You don’t have to close anything. You don’t have to put people out of work. Just keep your distance and watch your time spent around anyone.

We’re staring down the barrel of a $28 trillion debt. I don’t care what you think of this COVID crisis and who should pay, that is totally unsustainable. Everybody looks to Washington for a solution when Washington isn’t the problem. At least not this time. Yes, at the beginning of this pandemic you had the federal government grounding airlines and urging states to shutter businesses. The feds paid for it with stimulus checks and oversized unemployment benefits. I said from day one we were giving people an incentive not to work, but when has Congress ever listened to common sense? Now Congress is about to do it again, only this time it’s not the federal government’s fault. It’s the fault of cities and states who haven’t figured out that what they’ve been doing just isn’t working. I remember when Governor Cuomo quipped that 90 percent of the people who were showing up at the ER with COVID were people who were sheltering at home. What did he do? He doubled down on sheltering at home. The problem was people weren’t going outside and were becoming vitamin

Phil Valentine is heard each weekday afternoon on SuperTalk 99.7FM in Nashville and online at 997wtn.com. For more of his commentary and articles, visit philvalentine.com. BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 31

Gardening Education Series BY EDWINA SHANNON

My Attraction to Hugelkultur

COURTESY OF NEWLIFEONAHOMESTEAD.COM

HUGELKULTUR. I think it’s the word that initially attracts me. It can make me laugh when I’m tired . . . and when I’m not. I have referred to the process of building one as “that hugel fugel thing we did” (no disrespect intended). It was a few years back, when a group from the Rutherford County Master Gardeners, under the guidance of one of their own, Richard Lee, spent a few hours on a nippy afternoon building two hugel mounds. Upon the announcement of the learning experience I determined that I was not missing this event filled with knowledge and probable random outbursts of laughter. Hugel . . . HUUU-gel . . . HugelFUGELLL. LOL. Those hugelkultur mounds are still at the Rutherford County Ag Center, but are not as high as on the day they were built. The word means hill culture or hill mound. It is built with the same components as a compost pile and completed with topsoil. It is quite easy to build and has a long history of success in Germanic countries. I remember Richard telling us that the mounds should be grouped together. Heat from decomposition within the mound does promote and assist cool crops growing in the winter. The proximity to each other allows fresh vegetables through cold weather. The basis of a hugelkultur mound is wood—specifically, decaying logs and branches. In their simplest form, mounds are constructed by piling logs, branches, plant waste, compost and soil into a pyramid shape. Straw, cardboard and kitchen waste can be added. Typically, mounds are 3 feet wide, 6 feet deep and 3 feet high. Expect the height to decrease as the “ingredients” settle. You can also dig the area into the ground. The Master Gardener group went down several inches into the selected area before piling the ingredients. Position hugelkultur beds to receive 32 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

maximum sun for cool-season plants. Place the mounds closely together. Try to position them counter to the prevailing wind direction. As the pile decays, the created humus retains water and improves soil. There has been some criticism and concern over the speed of decay resulting in over-fertilized beds and too much nitrogen. Sepp Holzer, who wrote a book on permaculture, says to use logs and bigger branches instead of woodchip sizes to avoid this issue. Another issue arises when the mound is double-purposed as a hugelkultur mound and a swale or berm for water control. Two different purposes should have two different constructions. Don’t do it. It can create destruction of your mound with a good rainfall. When can you plant in a hugelkultur mound? Well, every mound would have its own answer. How much soil is within the mound? Did you top-dress it only with soil or is it layered throughout? To me, that would be the key indicator. Assess whether the mound has enough soil for the plants you want to grow. Realize there will be more soil eventually, but it takes time to decay. Right now, can the soil in the mound support your crop? On a different topic, Tennessee Tree Day is March 20, 2021. The last day to order trees is March 7, and you do need to reserve them. Types available are bald cypress, buttonbush, northern red oak, pecan, redbud, red mulberry, shortleaf pine, silky dogwood, sweetgum, tulip poplar, white oak and wild plum. For more information and to order trees, visit tectn. org/tennesseetreeday2021.html. Tennessee Tree Day aims to engage Tennesseans of all ages and backgrounds in conservation solutions that will benefit communities for decades to come.

Sports 

MTSU MEN’S BASKETBALL UPCOMING SCHEDULE

BLUE RAIDERS

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL Friday, Jan. 8 Murfreesboro, 6 p.m.

Dontrell Shuler Jordan Davis

FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL Saturday, Jan. 9 Murfreesboro, 4 p.m. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Friday, Jan. 15 Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 7 p.m. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Saturday, Jan. 16 Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 4 p.m. WESTERN KENTUCKY Saturday, Jan. 23 Murfreesboro, 4 p.m.

PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE VAN HORN

MTSU Men and Women Both Split Four Home Games in December Center,” Davis said. “We have some really good memories there.” Ole Miss was too much for the Blue Raiders on that day and the Rebels left with a 70–51 victory. The game was also a reunion between Dontrell Shuler of MTSU, who posted 19 points in the contest, and his brother, Devontae Shuler, a guard for Ole Miss. MTSU enters January with a record of 2–4 as it opens Conference USA play. THE LADY RAIDERS ENTER 2021 with a 2–3 record. The team also played four home games in December, splitting them, and it took to the road for a contest in Fort Worth against Texas Christian.

WESTERN KENTUCKY Sunday, Jan. 24 Murfreesboro, 1 p.m. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Thursday, Jan. 28 Murfreesboro, 8 p.m. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Sunday, Jan. 31 Birmingham, Alabama, 2 p.m.

MTSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL UPCOMING SCHEDULE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL Friday, Jan. 8 Miami, Florida, 6 p.m. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL Saturday, Jan. 9 Miami, Florida, 1 p.m. SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Friday, Jan. 15 Murfreesboro, 6 p.m.

For for more information on Blue Raiders athletics and updates on attendance policies, tickets, videos, news and more details, visit goblueraiders.com.

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI Saturday, Jan. 16 Murfreesboro, 4 p.m.

Deja Cage

WESTERN KENTUCKY Friday, Jan. 22 Bowling Green, Kentucky, 6 p.m. WESTERN KENTUCKY Saturday, Jan. 23 Bowling Green, Kentucky, 6 p.m. PHOTO BY NATHAN WALLACH

AFTER STARTING ITS SEASON at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Florida, the MTSU Blue Raiders hosted Murray State on Dec. 2 and turned in a great performance, winning 78–61. “We put together a full 40 minutes on both sides of the ball,” head coach Nick McDevitt said. MTSU found itself in a seven-point hole, but “we came together as a group and decided we were going to play hard on defense,” redshirt senior Jo’Vontae MillnerCriss said. A steal by Jalen Jordan led to a layup on the other end of the ﬂoor for Dontrell Shuler, breaking a scoreless streak for the Blue Raiders. It was the spark MTSU needed, and the fire spread quickly, with the Raiders scoring 12 points in a row. The team followed this game with a 70–80 loss against UT Chattanooga and then a 76–57 win against Covenant College, both in Murfreesboro as well, before welcoming longtime MTSU coach Kermit Davis back to the Murphy Center. Davis brought his Ole Miss Rebels to Murfreesboro on Dec. 16 in his first return since he left in 2018. Davis won 178 times in the building as the head coach of the Blue Raiders and left MTSU as the program’s all-time leader in wins with a 332–188 record compiled over 16 seasons. “It was good to be back in the Murphy

MTSU began the season 0–3 with close losses against tough opponents, falling to Belmont 64–70, Tulane 78–81 and TCU 77–83. But the team rebounded big with a 26-point victory against Troy University and a 20-point win against Lipscomb. MTSU has still never lost against instate foe Lipscomb, bringing its record against the Bison to 13–0. Anastasia Hayes had a huge game in that contest, scoring 35 points. “I just let the game come to me,” Hayes said. The junior Murfreesboro native remains one of the top scorers in the country. Senior Deja Cage has also come on strong for the Lady Raiders, scoring 24 and 22 points, respectively, in the final two games of December. The women’s team also opens C-USA play in January.

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Thursday, Jan. 28 Birmingham, Alabama, 6 p.m. UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Saturday, Jan. 30 Murfreesboro, 4 p.m. BOROPULSE.COM

* JANUARY 2021 * 33

TALK

COLUMN BY “Z-TRAIN”

titanman1984@gmail.com

DERRICK HENRY

THE TRAIN DADDY IS BACK with sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Let us keep this article simple. Goodbye 2020. Hello 2021, a new year and a Titans division title! YeeeYeee Tennessee! So let’s not go on a tangent about how that moron Governor Cuomo recently announced he will keep his boot at the throats of business owners in New York shortly after announcing the Buffalo Bills can have fans in the stadium, himself included. Walk a mile in any direction from that stadium, the restaurants are closed, and business is dead. Yet Cuomo slaps all those business owners begging for work in the face, keeping them closed while allowing 7,000 Bills fans special exemptions. Why would I complain about that? Unconstitutional lockdowns, businesskilling restrictions! If you’re reading this and you live in Tennessee, you should be thankful to live in a state that many progressives like to ridicule—that’s a good thing, by the way! I won’t complain about how I believe it’s up to me and my family to decide what is best in regards to our safety, and not the government’s place to tell me how—or, more accurately, stiﬂe my ability—to make a living. The most worrisome thing for me is imagining what all of this is doing to us. Will today’s youth grow up into a bunch of crazy, depressed germophobes? How many suicides will we see in the next couple of decades? How many Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their marriages? We cannot be so scared of dying that we stop living. When some politicians’ answers are far worse than the virus itself, there will be a reckoning. The New Year is a chance to be better and 34 * JANUARY 2021 * BOROPULSE.COM

TITANS WIN DIVISION AND KING HENRY GETS 2,000 YARDS look at the future in brighter colors. I always have and always will embrace life; I love it, and cherish every day. Taking care of my family will always be one of the things that keeps me happy and grounded. The other thing is football. I am passionate about it. If you have read these articles over the years you know my motto, the 5 F’s: “Faith, Family, Football Food and Friends!” Live life following my motto and life will reward you.

SO, LET’S TALK TITANS!

The Titans clinched the AFC South with a big week-17 win against The Texans, Tennessee’s first division title since 2008. Who would have thought a replacement kicker, Sam Sloman, would be the hero with a 37yard field goal as time expired that doinked off the crossbars before going in? Let’s be honest, though—that amazing 52-yard bomb Tannehill threw and the amazing catch from A.J. Brown with 18 seconds remaining in regulation was the play of the game. As cool a play as that was, the hero of the day and season for your 11–5 AFC South Champs was King Derrick Henry! Henry joined an incredibly talented group of players—all in the Hall of Fame—in leading the NFL in rushing yards in back-to-back seasons. Not only did King Henry eclipse the 2,000 rush yard mark, becoming only the eighth running back in the history of the game to do so, he did it in amazing fashion. Henry entered the week-17 matchup vs. Houston sitting at 1,777 yards and decided it would be a good day to have the best game of his career. Henry rushed for a career-high 250 yards, finishing the season with 2,027 yards. That is the fifth-highest total in NFL history, proving to all that this man is the best running back in the NFL and that the Titans were justified in signing his recent contract.

PHOTO BY DONALD PAGE / TENNESSEETITANS.COM

SPORTS

How about I hit you with a little history lesson? Only eight players have rushed for over 2,000 yards in one season in NFL history, and the Tennessee Titans are the only team in the league to have two players on that list. ’73 O.J. Simpson. ’84 Eric Dickerson. ’97 Barry Sanders. ’98 Terrell Davis. ’03 Jamal Lewis. ’09 Chris Johnson. ’12 Adrian Peterson. And now in 2020, Derrick Henry. Conventional wisdom tells us the 6-foot, 3-inch, 250-pound beast that is Derrick Henry (boasting a bigger build than almost any running back we have ever seen in this game) gets stronger as a season goes on and the defensive players get worn down. In the last four games of 2020, King Henry ran for 710 yards as he pushed to surpass 2,000 yards and, more importantly, win games for his team. I could go on and on bragging about the play of Derrick Henry, who in all honesty is probably the humblest player in the NFL. But I should also try and send my shout-outs to a few other key players on this team. The non-Pro-Bowl-snubbed QB Ryan Tannehill led six game-winning drives this season, the most in the NFL. Not bad for a game manager, ha-ha! Henry may set up the play action like no other, but Tannehill is playing lights-out since taking over for Mariota last season, and the Titans have found their franchise signal caller. Since taking over last season, Tannehill has a 20–9 record as a starter, playoffs included. Ryan threw for nearly 4,000 yards this season with an amazing ratio of 33 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. Tannehill has also shown all season long he is extremely efficient on the run when asked, racking up nearly 250 rush yards and 7 TDs on the ground this season. Respect has been earned and Tannehill has rightfully been added to that top tier list of signal callers. Wide receiver A.J. Brown is a superhero. The second-year player has now surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark both seasons with 19 total receiving TDs. The 2019 second-round draft pick has a chance to be the greatest wide receiver to ever wear a Titans uniform. I believe he is that talented, and a perfect fit in this offense. With that said, it can be easy to forget about wide receiver Corey Davis, who many (myself included) wrote off as a bust being such a ridiculously high draft pick, fifth overall, in 2017. But here we are at the end of the 2020 season and Davis is having the best season of his career just 16 yards shy of having himself a 1,000-yard season. It’s nice seeing Corey start to look like a WR1. Too bad he waited until year four to pop off, but I believe if the Titans want to enjoy an-

other top-five caliber offense next season, they can’t let Corey walk away. Talking about the Titans’ upcoming free agents is another article all by itself, but the fact is Corey put up a good season and teams took notice. Someone will pay him in 2021. The Titans? I do not know the smart move there. The Titans have deep struggles at defense and that may be where the bulk of the cash goes in the off-season. It would be a shame to break up the best wide receiver duo I have seen in my 22 years cheering for the Titans. The chemistry would just continue to grow. A quick shout-out to tight end Jonnu Smith as well. Smith is a player that has gotten a little better every season. His value is more than just stats, though he put together a nice season with eight TDs. I could list off some other players but we’re running out of paper here and, let’s be honest, it’s not as fun for me talking about an offensive lineman as it is the stat machines on offense. Alright, let’s end this with a quick Titansversus-Ravens breakdown. I am 36 years old so of course I remember the glory days of Eddie George versus Ray Lewis. It was one of the better rivalries in the game back in the early 2000s. Since 2000 the Titans have met the Ravens four times in the postseason and the series is split at 2–2. The Ravens head to Nashville to play the Titans on Jan 10. The Ravens will be looking for revenge after the Titans knocked the No. 1 seed Ravens out of the playoffs last season. The Titans also defeated the Ravens in week 11 of this season in a wild comeback game 30–24. I will never forget the ’08 season, the last time the Titans won the division and the last time the team hosted a playoff game in Nashville. The editor in chief of this paper and I went to that game and left in defeat. Back in 2000 the Titans were defeated in the divisional round of the playoffs to a Ravens team that went on to win the Super Bowl. In ’03 the Titans got revenge knocking the Ravens out of the playoffs in Baltimore. I believe Lamar Jackson has more pressure than anyone on that field to play well, and he may prove yet again he isn’t capable in the playoffs. I am very worried about the Titans’ ability to stop Lamar. We need the same game plan as last year: box him in! Titans have a Super Bowl-ready offense, but let’s be honest—this defense isn’t great, and the Titans need some players to step up. I believe we can beat the Ravens, but if this defense doesn’t step up, I don’t see how we compete with teams like the Bills, Chiefs and Packers. The Train is rolling into the station! Much love to all my readers. Titan Up!

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 Traffic Light $ 200

LIONEL JUNCTION O-GAUGE SET

416-F. Medical Center Pkwy.

MON.–SAT. 10 A.M.–4 P.M.

169.99

Porch Rocker $ 69.99

Children’s Rockers $69.99

Ladderback Chairs $79.99

Toy Box $255

Table/ Picker’s Stool $55

4-Drawer Super Chest $255

We Sell G, O, HO & N Scale Trains

Foot Stools $40

WESTERN RAILWAY

Bed Steps $

Children’s Ladderback Chairs $69.99

Nightstand  $150

TV Table 255 $

Complete battery Railroad Crossbucks operated train set $ ONLY $25 125

PENNSYLVANIA FLYER O-GAUGE SET $

299.99