Chicken houses

going up

The very conspicuous red buildings being constructed on Fred Cooper Road which can be easily seen from Sen. Jerry Cooper Hwy have generated plenty of questions. 

As reported over a year ago in the March 4, 2022 edition of the Southern Standard, the structures are to be chicken houses and a quick glance on the way to Woodbury will tell you there are a lot of them.  Over 100 acres were sold by  Darl Smith in February, 2022 in a deal handled by his daughter and Realtor Jessica Jones. 

The property records indicate the sale was divided into two lots, each nearly 53 acres, one owned by Truman Levo, LLC from Grand Prarie, Texas and another by Perisson Farming, LLC in Dublin, California. 

There are also reportedly chicken houses being built in the Lucky area. This is all I know for now, but I thought it would be worth mentioning due to the level of curiosity the buildings have triggered. 

Stuffed full

of memories

What started as an attempt by Pat Pruitt to keep herself busy has grown into a business that spreads smiles and sparks pleasant memories for many.

Pat calls her business My Little Corner and she makes stuffed animals of all kinds. Making her animals even more special are the materials she uses. "I started in around 2009 or 2010. I needed something to do, so I started making stuffed animals. I retired while my husband was sick. He was on dialysis at home so we didn't go out very much so it began as a hobby. From there I started making personal memory bears and pillows for family out of clothes or items from loved ones. Word of mouth spread and then I started making them for the general public. Now I take orders and I also have some stuffed animals at Trendy Trunk," Pat said.

Her business began in Shelbyville where she lived with her husband until his passing about three years ago when Pat moved to McMinnville where her brother, sister and mother live. "I love McMinnville. The first time I saw McMinnville at Christmas, I thought I was in a Hallmark movie. It's just beautiful downtown," Pat said.

Pat makes all of her creations herself and incorporates clothing, blankets, etc. from loved ones, babies or whatever the client prefers. She calls these creations memory animals or keepsake animals.

"I have a My Little Corner Facebook page where I post pictures so people can see what I do. I can make almost any kind of animal. I have some patterns but sometimes I'll make some adjustments myself. I did a bear recently for Debbie Patrick out of her father's shirt. He was in the Navy, so I made a little Navy collar on him," Pat said.

As My Little Corner is a one-person operation, Pat has to balance her time to keep up with demand. "I can only do so many. I do all my cutting for the week on one day and get the fabric prepared and use interfacing on it. Then I start sewing. I work every day. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have this," Pat said.

Pat puts a lot of thought into how she approaches each creation and tries to capture the personality of the person she is paying tribute to. 

"The memory animals are made of loved ones' clothing and I make keepsake animals out of babies' blankets or onesies or something the parents want to keep. I did one out of my son's Army fatigues for his grandchildren so they'd have something of his," Pat said.

The quality of her animals have caught the attention of others. "I had a lady contact me who just started making animals in Lewisburg. She messaged me and asked me to stuff them. She said hers never stayed full. I told her, 'When you think you've got enough in there, keep stuffing," Pat said.  

She said her most popular item is  her stuffed cow. They make a particularly moo-ving tribute.

Another old building getting new life

There are several old buildings in the downtown area currently being renovated. One of those is the former Goodyear building at the corner of W. Main St. and S. High St. Owned by Chad Graves of Graves Family Pharmacy and John WIlson of Wilson Cutting Systems, it will soon be the new home of John Partin's public defender office. 

Chad said, "The current building was erected in 1964 and was a tire shop. It has been the home of several different small businesses but has been vacant for around 15 years. We have been calling it the Goodyear building because that's how I remember it. Before the current building, the site was the location of the Greyhound bus station."

The renovations going on downtown and particularly in this area prompted two old friends to go into business together.

"John Wilson and I bought the building from Harold Martin in October of 2021. John and I were friends in high school and one day we just decided to form a partnership and purchased the property because we knew there were big things coming with the renovation of the Blue Building and this was such a great location for any business that wants high visibility. The building is a little over 6,700 square feet and we are very proud to have our beloved public defender as our first tenant. We have had several other businesses interested in leasing the space but we currently only have a signed lease for one of three spaces which are available for tenants. There is a 3,000-square-foot space for the public defender, 2,600 square feet in what is currently the garage and there is an 1,100-square-foot space behind the public defender suite," Chad said.

Until next time,

same biz time,

same biz page

I appreciate all the calls and comments I've gotten recently from people expressing appreciation for this column. 

If you have a business you'd like featured, please let me know at editor@southernstandard.com or (931) 473-2191.