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Local officials to get pied for fundraiser
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Margaret Hobbs
Published: Feb 27, 2013, 1:01 AM

What could be more fun that throwing a pie in the face of local celebrities?
McMinnville-Warren County Senior Center director Cheryl Mingle can think of nothing more fun, and she wants to share the joy with local residents.
The public is invited to the Senior Center on Thursday from 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to participate in their Pie in the Sky, Pie in the Face event. It is a fundraiser for the Senior Center, with Mingle emphasizing the importance of raising revenue for the center.
“I don’t know if most people realize this, but it takes $8,000 per month to keep the doors open at the center,” said Mingle. “We have to do everything we can to raise funds.”
The center serves 1,800 senior citizens a year, some at the Senior Center where all kinds of activities and services are available to them, but also in their homes. The organization strives to assist seniors in being able to stay home as long as possible by doing everyday chores for them, such as shopping, cleaning, etc.
The Pie in the Sky activity will feature several “pie eaters.” Scheduled to take a pie in the face are McMinnville Mayor Jimmy Haley, Police Chief Bryan Denton, Judge Bill Locke, Sheriff Jackie Matheny, Mingle and senior citizen Charles Crabtree.
Everyone attending is asked to give a $3 donation, and can be a “pie pusher” or sponsor a favorite person to get hit with a pie for $10. For more information, contact Mingle at 473-6559.
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