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Jam at Smithville Jamboree this weekend
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The 45th Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree starts this Friday in Smithville. The Jamboree receives thousands of visitors each year and offers a wide variety of music and crafts.
Lacy Garrison
Updated: Jun 28, 2016, 9:38 PM
Published: Jun 28, 2016, 10:38 PM

The small town of Smithville will become one of the bigger towns in the Midstate this weekend as it celebrates the Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival for the 45th year.
The annual event, which attracts spectators from far and wide, will be held in Smithville Town Square on Friday and Saturday. For those who can’t wait for the pickin’ and grinnin’ to begin, there will be a concert offered in downtown Smithville on Thursday evening at the open-air stage of Joe L. and Ann S. Evins Park across from the post office. Picking Friends will go onstage at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Since its beginning in 1972, the old-time Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree and Crafts Festival has grown into a major event, drawing hundreds of musicians and crafts people, as well as many thousands of spectators from throughout the world.
The festival began as a small-town event, as a way to celebrate Independence Day, just as generations before had done on the Town Square. It continues that tradition today – a throwback to days gone by – paying homage to the music and art of our ancestors, reminding us of the simple pleasures to be had from gathering together and enjoying the pure, unadulterated sound of live Appalachian music.
The festival officially begins at 9 a.m., July 1-2 each day and continues until the final competition has been awarded. With over 35 music and dance categories, streets full of handmade crafts, and over a dozen food booths, organizers say there is something for everyone at the Jamboree.
The contests are constant throughout the two-day festival, culminating with the national championship and the Junior and Senior Fiddle-Off for the grand championship and the coveted Berry C. Williams Memorial Trophy. The competitions during the two-day event include, but aren’t limited to, clogging, buck dancing, folk singing, dulcimer, gospel singing, harmonica, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and square dancing.
Registration to enter the events begins at 8 a.m. both days and cuts off 15 minutes before the event begins. There are cash prizes for the winners.
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