December 15, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

Even with a steady population increase in recent years, Spring Hill's population has been higher, if only temporarily.
On a historic day in November of 1864 General John Bell Hood and most of his 35,000 Rebel troops marched into Spring Hill to find some 28,000 Northern troops already there.
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A new sign at Jerry Erwin Park reads:
Park Hours
5 a.m.-Dark
I have no idea what prompted such a notice after all this time. Whomever erected the notice perhaps missed another sign, a small one close to the ground near the plank entrance. That advertisement sign has taken up exposure for five weeks now. I suspect that is a no-no for a city park. Sign blight takes on many forms. How about removing it and perhaps posting a new sign: Post No Bills. The “bill” part means “handbill,” or advertisement.
Also, cars for sale alongside the road on Children's Home property seems a little tacky. Too many restrictions takes away from the small town feel Spring Hill still retains in large part. Nevertheless, the posting of signs and guidlines for such matters within the city needs to be examined and measures taken to curb certain activities.
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In mentioning two former major league baseball players residing in Spring Hill in a recent column, I did not forget about current Atlanta Braves infielder Dan Uggla, who lives in nearby Columbia. I juat figured that most people knew that. But, since some have brought it up in conversations since, he is now duly noted. He's got some pop in his bat, now if he will just work out here in the offseason with the goal of getting that batting average up...
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Atlanta Braves second-sacker Uggla has relatives who are members of the Columbia Area Beekeepers Association (CABA). The group has more than 100 local members, some with just one hive and others with several. Honeybees are dying off due to a mysterious villain called Colony Collapse Disorder. No one is quite sure of the cause but one theory is referred to as "altruistic sucicide," meaning they fly away to die when becoming ill so as to not endanger the rest of the hive. Interesting, but probably not the cause. For information about joining CABA, check this newspaper's events page.

December 1, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

Spring Hill is home to two former major league baseball players, both pitchers and both of whom reside in the Ridgeport subdivision. Marty McLeary toiled from 2004 to 2007 and Paul Foytack toed the slab for 11 years ending in 1964. With the Detroit Tigers, Foytack was a teammate with current U.S. Senator from Kentucky and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning.
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In another life as a car salesman, I encountered Nashville songwriter Clarence Selman. He was looking for an inexpensive, safe "getabout" for a daughter. My sales manager arranged the deal and we both went to meet Selman at his Nashville office in the Music Row area. During a long and congenial talk session, Selman mentioned how singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall had commissioned him to research the history of Spring Hill to provide background for a novel Hall was writing. I have since delved to see if either Selman or Hall had found inspiration in their endeavors to write a song with "Spring Hill" in the title somewhere. Hall was especially fond of writing songs with place name titles. I found none by the two, but I did discover a song titled "Spring Hill Factory Assembly Line Blues," written by a Ralph Landis for Wherefore Music (BMI).
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How big was the $5 billion Saturn Project? Only "the largest single industrial investment in American history," according to journalist William Plummer in a piece he wrote for People magazine, August 19, 1985.
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A house for sale at 1074 Beechcroft Rd. has a going price of $8,980,000. It's a big package: 5,002 sq. ft., 445 acres. A little bit surprising for me is it and my little house have one thing in common: 2 bathrooms. Getting up in the middle of the night there might require something with wheels as an aide.
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Thompson's Station's mood molders are holding a slogan contest in hopes of using it to "brand" the community in a way that best summarizes what the place represents. Sort of a "Gracious and Growing" concept that Gallatin employed a few years ago. When I think of Thompson's Station I can't get beyond the whistle-stop name. I think of other such names, such as Minnie Pearl's "Grinder's Switch," and television's Green Acres spinoff "Petticoat Junction." I like Thompson's Station and think it is a good idea. I am already anxious to hear the finished slogan. It is a good idea for Spring Hill as well. "America's 14th Fastest Growing City" is getting stale, plus it always lacked in pizazz.

November 17, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

You will need to go online with your computer to find it, but it is well worth a look. It is a video on YouTube celebrating Spring Hill High School's Class A State Championship football team from 1986. There's some great vintage footage of the historical unit in action.
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You have no doubt seen the somewhat rustic, nicely structured and designed sign welcoming incomers to Spring Hill from the north side. One problem, though. The sign is situated beyond Spring Hill's outskirts and a half mile inside Thompson's Station. Spring Hill's boundary there is at the tree line behind Tanyard Springs Family Dentistry. The sign needs to be moved to its more specific and exact location. Why not get it right?
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The Bradford pear tree is one tree often not allowed in the planning stage of business communities. I should point out that "not allowed" is more pointed than "not recommended." Other trees getting nixed include American elm, box elder, mimosa, mulberry and silver maple. The City of Spring Hill has no such restrictions for the Bradford pear. The City of Franklin does. City overseers there recognized that the tree's brittle nature caused many problems regarding cleanup from broken limbs and fallen Bradford pear trees during wind storms. The costs involved and the tie-up of city work crews created problems. The solution was simple. Outlaw the tree for city use. Other, studier trees now line medians, sidewalks and streets in Franklin. Spring Hill does have a ban prohibiting the growing of bamboo. The restriction against the highly invasive plant applies to all property owners in the city. A good idea would be to prohibit any future Bradford pear plantings by developers. The Ridgeport subdivision is loaded with Bradford pear trees, planted by developers mostly between 2001-03. They're entering old age and becoming more and more brittle by their very nature.
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Sherry Johnson would prefer the produce on your family's dinner table come from a local farm's harvest. Her dream is to create a place to purchase community-oriented agriculture and make it a regular part of Spring Hill -- today, tomorrow and in the future. "I am determined to make it work," she said, in late September when a poor vendor turnout along her Main Street location signaled finis to this year's attempt. "This is the time of year we needed the late season crops and we didn't get them." She is better known locally for the menagerie of animals in her Loving Touch Petting Zoo (By the way, it is an alpaca, not a llama) and admits she probably needs to scout for a better market location and to reach out to more producers to make it work. "Local produce" is key in her concept. "I know some of the other area markets, the ones that describe themselves as 'local' in nature, have produce brought in from all over." She cringed in the telling. What is local food? Some say it has to come from a 100-mile radius. For her, it needs to come from Spring Hill, or pert near.
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I have nothing against lizards, having had a blue-tailed one (it is actually a skink) residing somewhere in my dense front porch ground cover for years. I have even grown fond of seeing the little darter a couple of times per year. But, the Longview Lizards? Although there is certainly nothing wrong with going for alliteration in choosing school mascot names, I still hesitate in wondering how that happened. How about Lions or Leopards? Either one would have been in keeping with the big cat theme established by the Cheetahs of Chapman's Retreat. The word "lizard" comes with a tinge of sliminess attached to it, deservedly or not. I have a neighbor who has a young daughter who is a "Cheetah," by virtue of the school she attends. I, and my neighbor, both agree that is much better than her having a "Lizard" as a daughter. See what I mean?

November 3, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

TOWN TWINNING: Why does Spring Hill not have an official, designated Sister City? Granted, it is not required. In fact, only a dozen or so Tennessee cities have one. Some who do include Smyrna: Zama, Japan; Hendersonville: Tsuru, Japan; Brentwood: Brentwood, England. Again. Why Not? Some cities have a half century and better of history with their sister city. Think of all the stories, all the friends accumulated as years go by. Plus, in conjunction with annual events it would fill another calendar date for Spring Hill in the form of, say, a Sister City Recognition Day, and likely help some local businesses as well.
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A DYING PRACTICE: On July 16, 2001, a plan was approved whereby the City of Spring Hill donated a book to the city's library (then on Main St.) each time a resident died. The book was donated in memory of every person who died, and the plan was approved by the mayor and alderman.
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SAME TO YA, BUDDY: Here's how author Anthony Borden described our piece of Eden back in 1986 per the arrival of Saturn: "Spring Hill is a flea-speck of a town." Okay, he just meant it was small. I imagine there are plenty who wish it were still true.
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With all due respect to the late author John Steinbeck and his book Travels With Charley, I suggest the title Travails With Charlie if Charlie Schoenbrodt ever decides to assemble his Informer columns into book form -- and I hear he has considered such. By his taking a personal stance on what he thinks is best for the city, and expressing it in print and on his own radio show, he has been praised and he has also suffered the slings and arrows derived from stating his opinions. The city needs more like him.
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Anthem of Angels is the name of the newest album from the highly successful Christian rock group Seventh Day Slumber. Founded in Dallas, Texas, by former atheist and druggie Joseph Rojas, the group has long been based in Spring Hill. Their bus can be seen around town during brief departures from their busy travel schedule, and is sometimes parked overnight at the vast Walmart store parking lot in Franklin. Did I say bus? They now have two.
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Spring Hill is located within the Nashville, Davidson, Murfreesboro, Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), with a population of 1,666,566, the 38th largest MSA in the United States and the largest MSA in the state.
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Starbucks on Main St. is up for sale at an asking price of $1,579,548. At 1,850 square foot, the price equates to $853.81 per square foot. That's a lot of caffeine, no matter how you look at it.
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WHERE'S THE CARPET?: One of the more successful businesses in the city has to be the Goodwill store. One only has to drive by and see all the cars clamoring for parking spots. What I remember about the store is the news releases announcing its coming. I found it striking that each article written about its pending construction stated, in similar words, "It will be the only Goodwill store with a carpeted floor." Article after article said the same thing. That seemed to me like a brag and as such stood out. Yet, when it opened, no carpeted floor. I was disappointed. Not for long, though. I too am a regular. I have managed to avoid the highly popular first of the month everything half off sale. I do not get up that early just to get in a sales line. Maybe if the line was carpeted and I had a cup of Starbucks coffee I just might.

October 20, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

A few years back, I was a contestant on a quiz show called 10 Seconds on CMT (Country Music Television). The format was nearly the same as the old Name That Tune show back in the days when televisions had rabbit ears. Another contestant was a girl named Gina Butler. She was a singer from California looking to make it in Music City. We sat and talked some. I gave her a frameable drawing of a Nashville scene I had received as one of my parting gifts. In more recent times, I noticed she had started a nice little business for herself. I dropped by at one of her stores hoping to catch her one day, but she was not in and I left her a note. She phoned me, but, alas, remembered neither the gift I gave her nor myself. That girl, Gina Butler, has one of her stores in Spring Hill: Gigi's Cupcakes. Now you know the rest of the story (Sorry, couldn't resist).
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A LOCALE CALLED EWELL STATION: The Ewell Farm there comprised nearly 3,000 acres just west of Spring Hill and at the far end of Depot Rd., going back to around 1867. It was where Ewell Farm regularly sold herd after herd of registered jerseys in Spring Hill auctions held clear up to the Depression years. It is noteworthy for a number of reasons but primarily due to the fact its owner and namesake, Richard Stoddert Ewell, brought the first jersey cattle into Tennessee, and created one of America's best known livestock farms.
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WHERE HAVE ALL THE SUPPLIERS GONE, LONG, LONG TIME AGO?: Filtech Inc., an Ohio company, won a contract in 1999 with Saturn and anticipated shipping 345,000 oil filters to the Spring Hill automobile facility during its first year under contract. Notable is that Saturn once had more than 200 regular suppliers, and even held annual recognition events to honor them.
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A YANKEE WE ALL LOVED: As a youngster growing up outside Joplin, Mo., my soon-to-be idol Mickey Mantle played Class C minor league baseball for the Joplin Miners. I didn't know who the first baseman was at the time, Cromer Smotherman, but years later our names were in the same Columbia, Tenn.-area phone book. Just the way it was back then in Joplin -- if we had owned a phone at the time. Out in the country, we didn't even have electricity. Smotherman was appointed Mantle's minder by the team's manager, Harry Craft. Mickey was raw and young and Smotherman was married, had a young daughter, and was attending college in the off-season at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro. I became acquainted with the Smotherman personage while helping John Hall in researching his book Mickey Mantle: Before The Glory. And, if I might put in a personal plug, I have an instrumental tribute song about Mantle, "Mickey Mantle Farewell," for sale on CD Baby. It's a single from an album I hope to release soon.
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Parts of a movie were shot earlier this year in Spring Hill, Santa Fe, Pulaski, Nashville and possibly other locations. Titled Deadline, a theatrical release is scheduled in early 2012. Eric Roberts is the most recognizable of the cast names. I was an extra in the flick. I chose to put myself on an email update list regarding the movie. A recent email asked me to chose which art poster for the movie I liked best among three choices. One of the posters showed part of the front of the Rippavilla Mansion. Whether that ends up as the actual poster for the movie or not, Rippavilla plays a main part in the movie, though disguised as just another nice mansion in Alabama.
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A regular feature in The Tennessean is a column called "Chef Du Jour." Our own Whoopie Pie whipper-upper Deana Marcum told me she wondered how she became a recent focus of that column (published August 30). "I was surprised when they called me and asked for an interview," she said. "I thought it was just about big-time chefs in Nashville." Hey, bakers are chefs, too, ya know.

October 6, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

While many Spring Hillers undoubtedly like Florida for vacations and breaks, Florida, in turn, must really like Spring Hill. Why else would the Sunshine State have four towns named Spring Hill?
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GREAT OPENING(S) FOR SUMMIT HIGH: New Summit High's opening was big in more ways than one. For those not in the know, the brand new education facility opened amid a beautiful locale off Buckner Ln. on August 11 with an enrollment comprised entirely of freshman and sophomore students. Then, on August 19, its Summit Spartans football team held a home opener, losing to Clarksville Northwest 34-12. However, continuing with the "opening" theme here, Summit's Phillip Shearry returned the inaugural game's opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, amazingly enough. The school held an Open House August 30.
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DUPLEX ROAD WIDENING: I talked to a high-ranking city official -- unofficially -- about the future widening of Duplex Rd., a state project. I stepped into a City Hall office, unannounced, unknown, and caught the individual totally unprepared for my questions. Unfortunately, I got the responses I expected. Discussion made it obvious he had not even thought about some possible concerns regarding the project. First, he wanted to table any discussion on it right then and there with the declaration, "It is a state project." Not having an appetite for red herring on that day, I persisted that city input could still be administered. He then said, "It's probably two years away." Great. Let's wait two years and by that time the state will have the entire project finalized and any input will be too late. Back a few years ago, then-mayor Danny Leverette made a big push for the state to get on the project posthaste. It did not happen, but some folks at the Wyngate subdivision were alarmed at what might happen to the aesthetics of their entrance. That raises the question of what side, or sides, will the state decide to widen the road? Will they move telephone poles or will they decimate front yards? Aesthetics matter. On a similar project not that long ago concerning the widening of Hillsboro Rd., the City of Franklin kicked in a few million to the state to move some telephone poles. Give the city officials there credit for caring and, more importantly, recognizing the broader picture. Again, it was a matter of aesthetics. Complain now, before it is too late.
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MIGHTY MCCUTCHEON?: In late August, the little no-name creek behind my house inside Ridgeport continued to flow water, while the mighty McCutcheon was dry in places such as Jerry Erwin Park, where joggers and walkers normally hear -- depending on the amount of rainfall -- a soothing swoosh, or a gentle gurgle, indicating the sound of moving water behind the line of trees lining the asphalt trail. Other Spring Hill creeks, those with names, include Aenon, McCormick, Crooked, Rutherford, Grassy Branch, and Johnson Branch. Rutherford, Grassy Branch, McCormick, and McCutcheon are all state waters. Everrun Creek. That's what I've named my modest but active cr'ick.
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COLLEGE, ANYONE?: With so many commercial buildings staring at us with blank storefronts, you would think our city leaders would be more accountable in finding ways to fill those buildings. I have a suggestion that to me seems obvious. How about a college? Nashville State Community College recently spent $3 million to purchase a former Saturn dealership in Clarksville to turn into a branch campus. Nashville State offers a great Music Technology degree. I'm positive our area could find enough qualified sound engineers, songwriters, and the like to qualify as instructors for Nashville State. I do know we have some buildings we could sell for the purpose. How about a campus here connected with Columbia State? Even if their city did oppose our hospital plan. Something of this sort should have been in the works moons ago. Don't tell me about the classes offered at the UAW building. I'm talking about a real college, with a real name, and a real campus. Step up, leaders.

September 22, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

In an effort to establish a theme for an annual community event and, in turn, for that theme to serve as an identifier for the city, was "ham" the first thought choice for the original organizers of the annual Spring Hill Country Ham Festival? The husband and wife team of Eric and Chris DeBerry got the ball rolling. "Myself and a couple of ladies kicked some ideas around," said Eric. "I wanted a community event, and having a theme seemed natural. The history for Early's came to mind, plus there are other area families who produce and market a lot of hams each year. Me and Chris went from there." Early's is a local business that started out as a honey stand in 1925 and was a favorite for motorists passing through when Highway 31 was the major artery to Florida from the north. Back for season eight, this year's expanded autumnal event will take up two days for the first time, October 1-2.
City overseers at Thompson's Station, our northerly neighbor, seemingly liked the concept so well they hosted a first annual Sweet Tea Festival at the historic Homestead Manor August 18 of last year. A flier suggested "come hungry" for its "whole hog cook."
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Back in 2003, during Spring Hill's early boom rise, some Thompson's Station residents took verbal potshots at our "progress." They warned their own about becoming like us. With state Route 840 scheduled to change the topography in Thompson's Station with its opening late next year, citizens there are again worried about losing "bucolic character." The most recent slam to our bow came from a planning commission member when he said about Spring Hill, "We don't want to look like our southern neighbor, where our entire route through town is strip malls." (For attribution, that quote came from a piece in the August 22 edition of The Tennessean's Williamson A.M. news section.)
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It is difficult to miss the big house and grounds of the Tennessee Children's Home on Main Street, but the lake behind it all is secluded. The only time most Spring Hill residents and other visitors see the lake is during the annual Country Ham Festival, where the shimmering waters enhance an already beautiful tableau. Its name is, perhaps, even less known: Orphans Home Lake.
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HOW QUICKLY THINGS CHANGE DEPT.: When the shopping strip anchored by the since departed Kroger store, and the immediate area surrounding it, was booming with new Williamson County commercial building ventures, city hall officials hoisted the notion of building a new city hall in the general region where Publix is now located, so as to be "current," I guess you might say. The idea had little support and such talk quickly abated. Now, the winds have changed. The once mostly ignored Maury County side of the city, where city hall still sits, is where most of the commercial growth has moved.
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Plans for a Saturn car museum floated around a couple of years ago. Not much since has been heard on the subject. Expect it to become a reality one day.
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Not only does the Farmers Market on the grounds of the previously referenced Childrens Home offer such vendor delights as jarred spicy squash, local honey, and whoopie pie, Rick Dracup's jazzy guitar strains soar across the lawn to the delight of all within hearing distance. The transplanted Aussie appears there on most Saturdays from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
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FLIGHT PLANS CANCELLED?: Before burghermaster Michael Dinwiddie was mayoral, the private citizen publicly suggested how Spring Hill could benefit from having its own airport. Dinwiddie, not surprisingly, is a pilot himself. To my knowledge he has not broached the subject from his pulpit as mayor.

September 8, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

One of the busiest side streets in town during rush hours must be Locke Ave. That's the short street used as a shortcut by many drivers going from Main Street to Duplex Rd., and vice versa, of course. It's just too tempting to pass up, especially when heading south and seeing a long line of cars at the Duplex stoplight.
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The "Tour Stop 5" sign across from Jerry Erwin Park on Kedron Parkway is staked next to a shed and combination table and benches. The location is tied to Lane's Brigade and the Spring Hill Battlefield, a prelude to the Battle of Franklin. Other such numbered tour stops in and around the city include battlefields and historic homes involved with the Civil War. How come I have never seen an actual tour bus at any of these locations?
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How many neo-Spring Hillers remember when this city was being groomed as the future home for old age country music industry retirees? A sign saying as much was staked in the grass on Stephen P. Yokich Parkway across from the post office. The Country Music Association in Nashville had for years wanted such a retirement home. It looked like it might become a reality in 2000 when SunTrust Bank donated to the CMA five acres of land in Spring Hill on which to build the home. At that time, the CMA had already spent six years contemplating the project. The plan fizzled for some reason and in 2004 or so, as soon as it was announced that Spring Hill would actually not be the locale, the sign was snatched up immediately. If it was a political sign I suspect the sign might still be there.
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While on the subject of homes, did you know that Nick Lachey, best known as the former husband of Jessica Simpson, once called Spring Hill his home? It was during a time he and a pal formed a music production company.
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The "GM Plant," formerly known as "Saturn Plant," once held regular tours to show off its manufacturing facility? Okay, how many then recall why the practice, once initiated, stopped? The answer: The practice was suspended when our U.S. Government raised the national terrorist alert level to "orange" on the eve of the war with Iraq. Once the alert level was lowered to "yellow," in the spring of 2003, the practice resumed, for a few years anyway, until other considerations stopped the regular plant tours.
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Traveling south on Highway 31 out of Spring Hill proper one can soon see a sign on the right that welcomes travelers to Columbia. Right after that Spring Hill High School becomes visible on the right. So, is the high school in Columbia? No, and it is not in Spring Hill either. It is in the county, Maury County. It seems the welcome sign on the highway frontage is in Columbia, but further back where the school is situated rests on county land.
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The Battle of Spring Hill will soon be a yearly battle. No, not a reenactment of the Battle of Spring Hill, the one that took place during the Civil War, Nov. 29, 1864, between a Federal Army of the Cumberland under Gen. Schofield and a part of the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Hood. This one will be on the gridiron when new Summit High School takes on Spring Hill High School for the first time in football. Mark your calendars. It's slated for October 21 on the Spartans' turf.

August 25, 2011, Spring Hill Informer

From the Hard to Believe Dept.: I do not have the current population total for Spring Hill, but from known populations among other cities (Are we a city? Town?) in Tennessee, we must rank somewhere in the Top 20. Many longtime residents can remember not all that long ago when less than a thousand people lived here.
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POPULATION PERSPECTIVE: Just one county in California, Los Angeles County, far exceeds the entire population of Tennessee -- 9,818,605 to 6,346,105.
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I'm all for helping simplify references made to the city. Using Duplex Rd. as the dividing line, how about getting in the habit of referring to any place north of Duplex as North Spring Hill and any place south of Duplex as South Spring Hill. Any takers?
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Word from the street is that the proposed location for a new Walmart on the Gary family property has some obstacles to overcome before a store becomes a reality at the site along Highway 31, or what we call Main Street.
It seems a creek on the property would have to be re-routed. There is also an underground spring (aren't they all underground?) that needs to be dealt with. But, the big snafu involves a concern that brings in our federal government. The word is that an endangered species of some variety is on the property.
Personally, and selfishly I must admit, I see the endangered species as being the auctions that take place at the auction barn. I love the old-timey atmosphere of the place. Go sometime, maybe while you still can. Bring your kids and let them listen to the auctioneer. Just be ready to respond to such questions as "What's he sayin', Mom (Dad)?," and be sure and bring your checkbook.
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Is your address a Drive? Court? Have you ever wondered if there is a difference between living on a Street than an Avenue? While some places may designate such names for other reasons, I suspect most follow the same guidelines as those according to Williamson County, Tennessee, Subdivision Regulations, whereby road name suffixes shall be determined according to the following formula:

Close - a short cul-de-sac less than 100' in length
Park - a short cul-de-sac less than 100' in length
Place - a short cul-de-sac less than 100’ in length
Way - a short cul-de-sac less than 100' in length
Terrace - a short cul-de-sac less than 300' in length
Lane - a non-thru street over 300' in length
Court - a short cul-de-sac less than 500’ in length
Trail - a through street between two roads, with no other side streets
Pass - a through street between two roads, with no other side streets
Road - through street or connector
Drive - through street or connector
Street - through street or connector
Boulevard - through street with at least four lanes
Avenue - through street with at least four lanes
Highway - through street over two miles long

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CELEBRITY PRIMER: Residents visiting city hall for various reasons probably have noticed a historical plaque at the front entrance, one that has the name "George W. Jones." No, that is not the country music singer George Jones who, by the way, lives in nearby Franklin. That is George W. Jones, a past mayor of Spring Hill. Perhaps making matters even a little more confusing, singer Jones and then-wife Tammy Wynette once owned a home in Spring Hill. The home was Oaklawn, famous to Civil War buffs, and presently owned by Ron Shuff.

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