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Residents see value of Blue Building
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Updated: Jan 9, 2013, 1:18 AM
Published: Jan 9, 2013, 1:19 AM

Save the Blue Building seemed to be the consensus among citizens who toured the building on Saturday.
The Blue Building was the first stop on a tour of city buildings sponsored by McMinnville city officials as an orientation for new members on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. City leaders toured the facilities in order to prioritize which properties should be targeted for future capital expenditures.
Citizens were encouraged to take part in the tours and about 15 toured the Blue Building.
Martha Pierce said officials should renovate the oldest part of the building, which is the main structure, but she wasn’t sure about the rest of it.
“I think it might mean too much money being put in it,” said Pierce. “I don’t think it would be cost-effective to renovate the entire thing. I have a background in construction and I noticed things the average person might not have seen. For instance, some walls were added and joined to existing walls which can be a structural issue. Also, some rooms have windows propped up and we can see the bricks separating. That is also a structural issue.”
Pierce said she is not from McMinnville so the building does not bring a sense of nostalgic for her as it may be for other people.
“I do think it is a beautiful old building,” she said. “If you put the police department or fire department here, it would be great to renovate. I don’t think it should be renovated without a purpose though. They have talked about moving City Hall here but, the city owns that building too. What would they do with that empty building if they moved City Hall here?”
The building is nostalgic for Tom Tanner, who attended second grade there in 1940. “I was in that room right there,” he said pointing to a lower window.
“I do not think putting money in this building would be throwing money into a sinkhole. This building is very well built. I’ve put a lot of telephones in this building. It is in pretty good shape. I would hate to see it torn down. It needs to be cleaned up. The police department should be in here. Clean the building up and bring the police back to this building,” said Tanner.
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