385 Magazine Winter 2023

Staff

Editor Lindsay Pride lindsay.pride@herald-citizen.com

Publisher Joyce Taylor

Graphic Designer

Carrie Pettit

Contributors

Ben Craven

Jim Herrin

Megan Reagan

Advertising

Roger Wells

Stephanie Garrett

Austin Cherry

Ad Composition

Becky Watkins

Accounting

Lori Colson

Circulation & Distribution

Pat Long

385 Magazine is a publication of and distributed quarterly by the Herald-Citizen, a division of Paxton Media Group. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored for retrieval by any means without written consent from the publisher. 385 Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited materials and the publisher accepts no responsibility for the contents or accuracy of claims in any advertisement in any issue. 385 Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or changes in information. The opinions of contributing writers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine and its publisher.

Our mission is to promote the 385 zip code areas of the Upper Cumberland and to showcase their many attributes. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions at 385Magazine@herald-citizen.com

© 2023 Herald-Citizen

385 Magazine

P.O. Box 2729

Cookeville, TN 38502 931.526.9715

Email: 385Magazine@herald-citizen.com

January is traditionally the time of year for improvement, and we're excited to feature three stories that go far beyond the typical resolutions of working out and losing weight. This special edition of 385 includes a gym owner who seeks to help others struggling with addiction, a criminal court judge with a part-time hobby of training kids how to deal with tough situations through wrestling and a Jamestown school basketball coach attempting to give his players an edge on the court through a new innovative shooting technology. And in our regular column, "Why I Love ..." you can read about how a popular mayor entered a life of public service and what his vision is for the future of Putnam County. Thanks for reading!

Lindsay Pride, Editor

Photo by Megan Reagan

8 Building Community

The ''Perfect" Shot

The purpose of the Noah Shooting System is to help basketball players turn their shot into the perfect shot.

16 Outreach Job

Judge believes the rigor of a good wrestling program can also "physically change children."

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter tells why he loves Putnam County.

Loren Crowder, inspired by Randy Chaff in, used the name "Muscle Factory" to carry on a legacy.

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Car r y i ng o Carrying

Local gym becomes place for community connection

Story and photos by Megan Reagan

"Asa gym owner, the real payoff is creating impact and building community.”

That is what 26-year-old Loren Crowder, of Overton County, said of his business endeavor — the Muscle Factory.

Crowder, lifelong Overton County resident and young entrepreneur, said Muscle Factory came out of a goal to create a place where people can create and maintain healthy habits while also connecting with others in the community. It was also inspired by Randy Chaffi n, an in-law of Crowder's, who owned a gym also named the Muscle Factory in Cookeville some years ago.

This sense of community, he said, carries over from his CrossFit gym — Muscle Factory Functional Fit, which was formerly known as CrossFit Overton.

Muscle Factory opened in August of 2022 at 714 N. Church St., Livingston, and more than 400 members, or nearly 10% of Livingston’s near 4,000-resident population, have joined.

“This has always been something that I wanted to do, and the pieces of the puzzle fi nally fell into place,” Crowder said.

After storing equipment he had gathered for a year and a half, Crowder found someone to help run Muscle Factory.

Ed Sells, 38, also of Overton County, returned to the area after a mutual friend connected him with Crowder.

“I was running a gym in Cookeville called Fitness Master,” he said. “Loren and I didn’t really know each other. I was going to the Iron Kitchen, and I was going to help run it. Loren called me to see if I wanted to come see the gym (Muscle Factory), and I walked in. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is home.”

Sells hadn’t lived in the area for nearly a decade, but says he sees the potential for the positivity that is coming from this little gym community.

One of the positives is the relationship Sells and Crowder have developed with Hope Center Ministries.

“We know what it's like to hurt. We know no one is perfect,” Sells said. Also in recovery himself, Sells said their goal is to take care of people.

The Hope Center is a faith-based sober living facility that opened in Rickman. Their program also provides vocational training to prepare residents for assimilation back into society.

"Self value — being in addiction, they have no value, look back, lost weight, they don’t even look into the mirrors, and sometimes they don’t even shower. Restoration is physical, mental, spiritual,"

on a legacy on a

A client works out inside The Muscle Factory.

A view inside the gym.

Jed Stevens, director of the Hope Center, explained. "When they go to the gym, they start putting on weight and looking healthier so their self value rises as they start taking care of their bodies. It also teaches them to substitute old bad habits into good new habits and fun hobbies."

The men of the Hope Center, according to Crowder, have received highly discounted memberships.

Sells said many people often put off gym memberships because of a misconception of its expense, but he said expense is not something that should deter someone.

“While this is a business, the people and connections that are made here are the true reward,” Sells said. “I wouldn’t say this is Loren’s moneymaker, because he can do great with or without this. I think this has been established through a dream of making this place

for the community to come together.”

Crowder added that Overton County has experienced a lot of turmoil in the last 12 months, but through facilitating a healthy space this is a step in the right direction toward bringing the community together.

Sells, in agreement, said this all has

been the result of the ages-old mantra — Be the change you want to see.

With a contract starting off as little as $30 per month, and $35 for a month-tomonth plan, Sells said he does not want cost to be the reason to be involved.

“We had an issue where a few kids were sneaking in, and we were trying to catch them — not to tell them they couldn’t be here, but to see what it is that we could do to make it more affordable for them,” Crowder said. “We wanted to try and work something out with their parents so they could be members and not sneak around. We will work with anyone to come up with a compromise. We just want you here.”

ED SELLS offers training services as a part of a membership package, and works closely with the clients himself.

For more information about the Muscle Factory, join the Facebook group Muscle Factory Gym & Training Facility and follow them on Instagram @ musclefactory_ livingston. Call 931-214-9367 for information about joining the community.

FROM THE left are Lee Crowder, Randy Chaffin and Loren Crowder.

ED SELLS, left, and Loren Crowder, right, stand outside the Muscle Factory.

Story and photos

by Ben Craven

Noah Shooting System may help

York Agricultural Institute is attempting to be at the forefront of athlete development within its basketball program after the recent installation of the Noah Shooting System.

The purpose of the system is to help players turn their shot into the perfect shot, which Noah defi nes as the ball leaving your hands at a 45-degree angle, the ball entering the basket with 11 inches of depth from the front rim and for the ball to not deviate left or right of the center of the basket.

“Shooting doesn’t seem like it’s quite as good as it used to be,” York boys head coach Rodney Pile said. “There are more things for kids to do these days like play video games than to go out in the backyard and shoot for an extended period of time. Shooting is supposed to be the fun part, but I feel like kids just don’t work on it as much anymore.

“If they’re not going to work on it, you’ve got to fi nd ways to help them get better form. I think

How do you turn a basketball court int o

good shot on the

the "perfect" shot?

Brody Choate

Heath WattenbargerBlaine York

Michael Jordan said you’re wasting your time taking hundreds of shots with bad form. We try to work on some of the basic parts of shooting to help improve their form.”

The system consists of two 3-D half court sensors mounted in the gymnasium rafters directly above each basket that can see every shot taken on that side of the court, two wall-mounted devices at either end of the gym that receive all information from those sensors and speakers on top of those devices to relay information out loud to the players on the court.

The system also has the ability to compile all the information it gathers into statistics and charts that can be viewed on any computer, tablet or smart phone.

While the system is on, any time a player takes a shot, the corresponding speaker audibly tells the shooter either what angle the ball left the player’s hands, the depth from the front rim the ball entered the basket or how much the ball deviated left or right of center. However, if a player meets all three metrics of what Noah defi nes as the perfect shot, the system lets the player know with one of several satisfying sounds, such as a splash or the “cha-ching” of a cash register.

“I’m all the way bought in, I’ve drank the Kool-Aid and I love it,” Pile said. “First of all, I like it because it gives you instant feedback. It’s all about muscle memory, and hopefully, it’s helping them to adjust on the fly and commit that to memory. I was worried that the players wouldn’t like it, but I’ve only heard good comments. They’re usually the ones reminding me to turn it on before practice or turn it on themselves.”

The system can also track all of this information for individual players during games without the audible feedback. However, the York boys have only played one home game since its installation in November, and everyone is still

learning the ins and outs of how it works.

“I’m looking forward to using the information it tracks during a game because players can tighten up a lot,” Pile said. “When that happens, your muscles don’t quite work like they do in practice. Maybe that will give us some insight of how we can translate practice into the game better.”

All that aside, the system is at its best when used more individually. During team practices or shooting sessions where many players are shooting almost simultaneously, it can be confusing which shots are being announced over the speakers.

However, Pile believes there will be plenty of time for individual work to utilize the system’s full potential.

“We’ve not had a ton of opportunities to work with it individually. We’ve taken a little time out of a few practices where one person will shoot at each end for about 10 minutes then switch with two more. My daughter has also come in on a few off days, and I’m very pleased with the work she’s been able to get

THE PURPOSE of the Noah system is to help players turn their shot into the perfect shot.

done with it. Her form wasn’t bad, but we discovered she was shooting the ball a little high. I’m hoping that when we get into the offseason, players can spend maybe 30 minutes about twice a week zoning in those things the system tracks.”

The Noah Shooting System is subscription-based and currently being used by 26 out of 30 National Basketball Association teams as well as many college programs. Noah also makes presentations at coaching clinics around the country in the hopes of recruiting more high school programs like York.

The subscription, along with the equipment required to run the system, carry a heavy price tag and complicated setup, but Coach Pile believes there are enough practical applications to hold on to it for a while.

“Th is is my 26th year coaching, I’ve heard about the Noah Shooting System most of those 26 years and I’ve always wanted one,” Pile said. “The fi rst thing I can remember about the system was in the Miami Heat’s practice facility. I can remember seeing videos of Dewayne Wade shooting on it, and now most

pro teams have it. It is a little bit expensive, but right now, it’s well worth it. I’ve got to thank Mr. John Bush, our new Director of Schools, for helping to provide it for us.

“I think we’re going to keep it for a while. We’re fortunate to have a strong fanbase that brings big crowds to all of our home games, and we’re hoping to let kids in the middle and elementary schools use it. I think this is that next step to encouraging kids to shoot more.”

COACH PILE charts players' information.

From judge to coach

Judge sees wrestling job as an outreach

It’s been seven or eight years since Criminal Court Judge Wesley Bray’s son came home one day with a flyer for a local wrestling club and said he wanted to wrestle.

What his son didn’t know at the time was that Bray, who was then in private practice, already had something of a history with the sport. He had taken to the mat for the first time in college at Tennessee Tech after a fraternity brother recruited him

Story by Jim Herrin

for an intramural team.

“Back then, the all-sports champion always came down to who won the wrestling tournament,” Bray remembered. “And winning the wrestling tournament was also bragging rights that every fraternity wanted to have.”

He was able to pick up the

techniques of what’s known as folk-style wrestling — the form practiced mostly in schools and colleges — fairly quickly.

“We didn’t have wrestling videos to watch on YouTube,” he said. “What I learned, I learned on the mat.”

Along the way, he developed a love for the sport and was eager to impart that passion to a new generation, agreeing — at least in part because of his children’s involvement — to help coach AAU

JUDGE WESLEY WESLEY Bray with his Algood Bray with his Algood Middle School wrestling team. Middle School team.

I SEE COACHING THE WRESTLING PROGRAM AS AN OUTREACH. IT’S A CHANCE FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE A GOOD, POSITIVE INTERACTION WITH A SPORT THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT.

Judge Wesley Bray

Wrestling Coach

JUDGE WESLEY BRAY is sworn in by Chancellor Ron Thurman alongside his wife, Ashley, and their children, Addison, Jonah and Jasper.

JUDGE WESLEY Bray with his Algood Middle School wrestling team.

teams and the team at Algood Middle School.

“I highly recommend the sport,” he said. “I think coaches need to understand that wrestling makes their athletes better at every sport.”

Bray took some time off in the fall of 2019 to “focus on settling into the judge’s job,” but returned to the coaching ranks in 2021 to lead the AMS program, despite his busy schedule on the bench.

“A judge is never off. The phone rings all the time,” he said. “Crime never takes a holiday, as they say.”

Still, he thought it important to find time for wrestling.

“I see coaching the wrestling program as an outreach,” he said. “It’s a chance for people to have a good, positive interaction with a sport that a lot of people don’t know anything about. Sometimes, you really don’t understand yourself until you’ve been put through a stressful situation, and I don’t know what would be more stressful than having to go toe-to-toe with somebody else.”

He believes the rigor of a good wrestling program can also “physically change children.”

“It helps them to get their balance,” he said. “If you don’t have balance in wrestling, you’re going to be on your back pretty quick, and if you’re on your back, the

JUDGE WESLEY BRAY after being sworn in alongside Judge Gary McKenzie, Chancellor Ron Thurman and Gov. Bill Lee, right.

CRIMINAL COURT Judge Wesley Bray wears many hats alongside his 14-year-old son, Jonah.

match is over.”

He coached 38 kids at Algood this past season and is always on the lookout for new recruits. He’s also in the midst of a fundraising effort to purchase a new mat for the program.

“Part of wrestling is you need a wrestling mat,” he posted on his Facebook page. “Part of hosting tournaments means you need a competition mat, and therefore, we need a new one. The mat we have is a much appreciated loaner.”

He said a mat suitable in size and durability for competitive wrestling costs about $10,000, but should last for generations. Those wishing to donate to the cause can do so by sending a check to: AMS Wrestling, in care of Algood Middle School, 540 Dry Valley Road, Cookeville 38506.

And whether or not he continues to coach after his kids are grown, Bray will likely remain something of an evangelist for the sport.

“I’ve always been drawn to helping people with their problems,” he said. “And I think that wrestling helps equip people with tools that they can use in life. It teaches you about adversity. It teaches you to have discipline. It teaches you to stick with something. You can’t be a wrestler and be a quitter.”

•385•

JUDGE BRAY coaching on the mat

JUDGE BRAY gives a fist bump to seventh grade student William Sliger Jr.

January

• 15th Annual Fur Ball , Saturday, Jan. 28, from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at the Leslie Town Centre featuring cocktails, appetizers, seated gourmet dinner, live and silent auction, music and dancing to benefit the Friends of the CookevillePutnam County Animals. Find more information by contacting mail@ friendsofcpc.org.

February • A Woman’s Heart, Thursday, Feb. 2 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Leslie Town Centre featuring a meal, silent auction, fashion show and Vanderbilt University Medical Center Dr. Kate Lindley as the featured speaker. Purchase tickets at cookevilleregionalcharity.org

Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 7 at the Leslie Town Centre to celebrate the success of 2022 and the vision for 2023 as well as community award winners. To reserve a table, contact NSaxon@ cookevillechamber.com.

Cookeville Ninja Challenge 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2390

Gainesboro Grade featuring a 125foot ninja style obstacle course, food truck and vendors to benefit Hope Center Adoptions and Family Services. Find out more at at cookevilleninjachallenge.com

A Night to Sparkle from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11 at the Saltbox Inn at 537 Hutcheson Road in Cookeville featuring a dinner and

dance fundraiser to benefit the Stephens Center which promotes healthy families in Tennessee. Tickets available at eventrbrite.

April

• Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation’s Pink Gala, Saturday, April 1, 6 to 11 p.m. at the Leslie Town Centre at 1 W. 1st St. Benefits the Pink Ribbon Mammogram Program. Purchase tickets at cookevilleregionalcharity.org

twinlakes.net|800.644.8582|

What do you love about your job as Putnam County Mayor?

Getting to serve and help people. I love being able to listen to a citizen’s situation and hopefully figure out a solution that makes them happy and their life a little better. I consider myself a people person, and interacting with our citizens is a real joy. I also loving planning for the future and seeing projects come to fruition like new businesses coming to our community or expanding services like high-speed internet to our citizens –making a difference for the future of our county. We have a great county, but when I’m done, I want to leave it even better than when I began as your County Mayor.

What made you want to become Putnam County Mayor?

I have always had a servant’s heart. I think I got it from my grandfather. That’s what led me into Emergency Medical Services, becoming a paramedic and eventually the director. After many years of service, I felt the calling to run for County Mayor. Being a part of county government for all those years allowed me to witness where our county was headed and the problems it was facing.

I felt with my education and county government background I could make a positive difference by planning ahead at least five years down the road. That’s something the county wasn’t doing very effectively. We were doing that at EMS, so I knew what it took to get it done, and I wanted to bring that to the county as a

Why I Love…

Putnam County Mayor Randy Porter

whole. In the end, it was all about wanting to be prepared for the growth our county was soon to face.

Little did I know I would be using all my emergency medical experience right off the bat with a major ice storm, flood and tornado in my fi rst nine months in of fice; not to mention the EF-4 tornado, ice storm and pandemic in 2020. My EMS experience has paid off in more ways than I ever expected.

What’s your vision for the next four years for Putnam County?

I think Putnam County’s future continues to be very bright and we have some great years ahead of us. I want to continue our focus on improving the overall quality of life and economic sustainability for our citizens and future generations. Making sure everyone has access to the basics like high-speed internet, public water access, and emergency services is a high priority. I love seeing new retail shops and restaurants open, giving our citizens nearly everything they could want right here at home.

Putnam County is already a great place to live, work and raise our families, but we want to improve on that each year. Our county is growing, but it has always had a small-town feel where you can walk down the street feeling safe and see people you know. Regardless of how much we grow, I always want us to try to keep that small-town feel.