By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
African adventure
Group visits improverished desert village
Placeholder Image

McMinnville Breakfast Rotary Club members have made a grueling 112-hour journey to Namibia, South Africa and back.
Making the trip across the world were Pat Bigbee, Neal Cox, Rayah Kirby, Emily Phillips, Katherine Denton, Dave Messina and Rachel Killebrew.
“It was wonderful,” said Killebrew. “I love animals and animals rule there. I took plenty of pictures of us tending to the baboon cages, feeding the carnivores and other animals, and sawing logs for ladders for the baboons.”
Killebrew completed a bucket list item.
“I got to kiss a cheetah,” she said. “That’s something I’ve always wanted to do. There were three cheetahs that had been rescued when they were small. They are the only ones you can actually pet. I kissed one.”
While in Namibia, the Breakfast Rotary members were among 75 volunteers helping with a school, wildlife preserve, and healthcare clinic.
Namibia is the country with the least rainfall in sub-Saharan Africa. With limited rain, sparse transportation, and poor accessibility, it is imperative every rain drop be saved.
The local team’s trip was centered around a grant that provided a water filtration system at Na’ankuse Medical Clinic, which offers free healthcare and schooling for the San Bushmen people in Namibia.
The grant, written by Killebrew, provided the clinic with additional water by putting gutters on the roof of the clinic to collect water in barrels. The water passes through a filtration system as it enters the clinic.
Dr. Rudie van Vuuren, his wife Marlice, and pharmacist friend Chris Heunis started Lifeline Clinic in 2003. Along with medical care, they focus on education of the children with outreach programs at local schools. Rudie is the brother of McMinnville resident Pieter van Vuuren, president of First National Bank.
The clinic, based in Epukiro in the east part of Namibia, began as a monthly outreach service provided by the doctors and pharmacists who traveled from the capital city of Windhoek to provide free healthcare to the San community, which lives in extreme poverty.
The San community is considered to be the oldest culture in the world and its residents are traditionally hunter-gatherers. They have been forced from their original lands, leaving the San unable to survive in their traditional lifestyle. Many San children suffer from malnutrition, disease, discrimination and abuse. Adult-onset diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer are sharply increasing and alcoholism has become prevalent.
In 2012, over 500 international volunteers aged 18 and over came from all over the world to be a part of the working projects which support the wildlife and people of Namibia. The local team volunteered for three weeks.
For more information, visit www.naankuse.com.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
local news.png

Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community