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Noon Exchange honors officers
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Noon Exchange presented its distinguished 2017 Deputy of the Year and Police Officer of the Year awards Tuesday. Making the grade are, from left, sheriffs deputy Brystol Davis and police officer Austin Wortman, with Noon Exchange member Hamilton Hobbs.
Lisa Hobbs
Updated: Nov 15, 2017, 2:04 AM
Published: Nov 15, 2017, 2:10 AM

Two officers were honored during the Noon Exchange Club’s annual Officer of the Year luncheon. Austin Wortman was named Policeman of the Year and Brystol Davis was named Deputy of the Year.
“He is a motivated officer and needs very little encouragement or supervision,” said Police Chief Bryan Denton in reading a statement written by Wortman’s supervisor. “He’s a big part of our field training program and recently became part of our child passenger seat inspection program. He is also a member of our critical response team.”
Denton said Wortman hails from Mt Juliet, has a criminal justice degree from MTSU, and came to work for the department in 2014.
Chief Deputy Tommy Myers had high praise for the deputy of the year who came to the department in July 2015 and has proven his abilities in a very short time.
“Brystol was a 911 dispatcher and had an itch to get into law enforcement,” said Myers. “His father is Bill Davis with McMinnville Police Department, so he’s got a family history of law enforcement. He’s a highly motivated officer. Last year, he made over 700 traffic stops and made 31 DUI arrests. He is a go-getter. He’s dedicated to making Warren County safer.”
This year, Davis has already made more than 20 DUI arrests.
McMinnville Noon Exchange Club annually presents the award during its law enforcement luncheon.
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