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Runaway Home to play Friday night
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Lisa Hobbs
Published: Jul 10, 2013, 12:23 AM

An original group called Runaway Home will take the stage Friday night at 7 p.m. as the Main Street Live summer concert series takes an Americana theme.
Out of Nashville, the band was founded by three performers looking for a road back to the music they grew up on, says Mark Elliott.
“We met by chance at a small-town venue,” Elliott said. “We discovered something we had all been looking for, a three-part harmony over lyrics that matter.”
Elliott, considered the “troubadour of the group,” founded the band with Gary Culley, the “guitar slinger,” and Lisa McCarter, the “mountain songbird.”
Elliott has logged countless miles as a solo folk and bluegrass artist. The Oklahoma native was a protégé of musician Tom Paxton. After opening for him in 1988, Elliott found himself relocating to Nashville and signing as a writer with Cherry Lane Music — the first of many publishing houses.
Culley, a Chicago native, moved to Nashville in 1991 and found success as a staff writer for Sony-Edisto Music. He recorded his own CD and became an integral park of the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Words and Music Program.
McCarter was born and raised in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. As one-third of the Warner Bros. group The McCarter Sisters, she released two albums and had seven hits, including three top 10 singles.
Runaway Home is currently rounded out by two more musicians, drummer/ percussionist Chip Chipoletti and bassist Lisa Horngren.
Elliott says he is looking forward to Main Street Live, after getting to check out the venue June 14.
I got to attend when Craig Morrison performed,” said Elliott. “I think concert series are a great thing for towns to do. They are getting less and less common. Main Street Live is well produced with the sound and staging.”
There will be a variety of food and beverages available from vendors. Parking and admission are free so bring a chair and enjoy the music. Come early and stake out a good spot.
Runaway Home will take the stage and begin entertaining at 7 p.m. on the West Lawn of Security Federal. Food and beverage vendors open at 6 p.m. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Smoking is not allowed in the crowd.
Main Street Live summer concert series is a production of Main Street McMinnville. Events are free due to sponsorship by Dr Pepper Bottling Company, the Law Offices of Galligan and Newman, Security Federal Savings Bank, River Park Hospital, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas, Ben Lomand, McMinnville Electric System, city of McMinnville, Peg Broadcasting and the Southern Standard, your source for local news.
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