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Gospel singing to benefit scholarship program
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Updated: Mar 19, 2013, 11:49 PM
Published: Mar 19, 2013, 11:51 PM

by TODD HERZOG

The fifth annual Bud Godwin Gospel Singing Concert will be held Saturday, April 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Warren County High School auditorium. The primary benefactor of this event is the local Citizens for Progress (CFP) Scholarship Program. For a number of reasons, this concert promises to be the best ever in terms of fun, attendance, and overall support. 
This annual Bud Godwin Concert is named in honor of Bud Godwin of Warren County, a long-term enthusiast and radio announcer associated with the area interest and heritage of gospel music. Bud Godwin and gospel music are synonymous. In addition to the honor of recognizing Bud Godwin, the local concert also is offered in the memory of Zeke Pelham and Jennifer Lynne Clark.
The 2013 Bud Godwin Concert will feature Harmony Echoes as the local gospel singing group and the world-renowned Blackwood Brothers Quartet. The Blackwood Brothers are back by popular demand from the 2012 Bud Godwin Concert. They are in a word “fabulous.”
A new entry for this year is the new 72-person WCHS choir directed by Ms. Kennette Dixon. The choir will sing the national anthem and then the first two songs of the concert. They have been in practice since early January for this concert introduction.
There are several student groups selling Bud Godwin event tickets, including CFP students at Motlow-McMinnville, special education students at Motlow-McMinnville; dual enrollment Mechatronics students at WCHS, full-time dual enrollment students at WCHS & Motlow-McMinnville, other WCHS dual enrollment students, and the WCHS Choir.
Tickets are $12 each. They are available from these student groups, the downtown Chamber of Commerce, and at the WCHS auditorium door.
There will be several area merchant discount coupons available to each Bud Godwin ticket holder. Merchants offering special discounts include Kidd Ford, Boskey’s Grille, Cumberland Caverns, and Foodland Plus. The individual coupon value is $2 off or more. 
There are three sponsors for the Bud Godwin Concert that cover 100 percent the event cost. Any ticket purchase or donation therefore goes into the event revenue stream. There is also a “love collection” that is taken during the concert for CFP. Students receiving CFP aid will volunteer as event ushers, love collection basket handlers, and on-stage interviewees while the love collection is occurring. The average annual contribution from this event for the CFP fund is $5,000.
This year the planning committee has asked over 20 area churches to consider making a donation of $100 each for the event love collection. We expect several churches to comply. All told, we are optimistic the 2013 event will contribute a record level to CFP.
The Citizens for Progress Scholarship Program began in July 2007.  We are in the second semester of the sixth academic year since CFP started. Through this year, we will have raised over $350,000 for CFP and awarded almost $300,000. About 200 students have received CFP aid since the program inception.  Last fall we had a record 55 students receiving CFP aid.
This spring the number dropped to 34 which is our second highest headcount. Monies have been given by the state of Tennessee (2007), Warren County, the city of McMinnville, private donors and companies, and have been raised by our top CFP fund raisers – Bud Godwin Concert and the annual WillowBrook Pro-Am Golf Classic. Scholarship aid awarded during 2012 was over $51,000 for Motlow-McMinnville and the Tennessee Technology Center at McMinnville. CFP demand has risen sharply with the growing popularity at WCHS of dual enrollment options and the soaring popularity of Mechatronics which is offered at WCHS and Motlow-McMinnville. There are 70 students taking Mechatronics classes in Warren County at this time. Motlow-McMinnville now has four full time faculty members living in Warren County.
Bottom line is CFP and Mechatronics are very successful programs for Warren County. 
There is a steering committee which meets twice a year to review, monitor, and adjust as needed the CFP program.  Serving on this committee are Rodney Boyd, Shannon Gulick, Mike Birdwell, David Wideman, Steve Stanger, Bobby Cox, John Pelham, Jimmy Haley, Melody Edmonds, Dr. MaryLou Apple, Bill Zechman, Tony Cassel, Alicea Weddington, and myself. We believe the higher education of our youth is a highest priority.
Now we need your help! Please consider the purchase of one or more Bud Godwin Concert tickets to aid our CFP program and to treat yourself and family/ friends to two hours plus of great entertainment at the very comfortable WCHS auditorium. Every seat is a good one. Please come join us for an event you will enjoy. Thank you for your consideration.
Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Published: Apr 2, 2025, 11:31 PM

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