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Morrison Ruritan honors outstanding members
Ruritan recognition
Three familiar faces with Morrison Ruritan Club have been recognized for their service to the organization, as they stepped down from their official duties to allow younger members to take over as officers. Pictured, from left, are John Jacobs, Shirley Driver and Lavell Whitehead.

Morrison Ruritan Club has recognized three of its members for their longstanding service to the organization.
Club president Lavell Whitehead, treasurer Shirley Driver and secretary John Jacobs were presented plaques for their dedication. The three have resigned their official duties and new officers have been appointed.

“We are getting too old to keep going like we were, especially John and Shirley,” said Whitehead, laughing at the remark. “John and Shirley will love that joke. We’re all pretty old.”

Whitehead and Jacobs were founding members of the club. It began in 1967. Driver came along later. The three were recurring officers in the club.

“Shirley was the treasurer for years,” said Whitehead. “She never, never made a mistake. Those are going to be big shoes to fill. John was secretary for years. He’s also leaving big shoes to fill. I was president off and on over the years. Sometimes I was more on than off. There’s supposed to be a new president appointed every year. When no one wanted it, I’d stay on as president. Shirley and John had the difficult jobs. Being president is easy. I had the pie job in comparison.”

The group isn’t leaving the organization.

“If you hear a rumor that we’re leaving Morrison Ruritan, it’s not true,” said Whitehead. “We’re still going to be as active as we can be and for as long as we can be. We did feel like it was time to step down and allow younger folks to take over. We love Morrison Ruritan. This club has done a lot of good in the community over the years and we want that to continue. The only way to do that is to step aside and allow younger folks to take over.”

Newly appointed officers are Wes Williams, president; Moe Gallagher, vice president; Darlene Bryant, secretary; Tanarra Grissom, treasurer; Sue Anderson, three-year director.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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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