Reelfoot Forward

From traveling around the world to finding his way back home in West Tennessee, Robert Spencer is a man who has done a little bit of everything. Robert lets us in on some secrets about how life was in the military, his appearances on Saturday Night Live while in New York City, his personal encounter with Burt Reynolds and more in this week’s episode. Later, learn about the history behind the charm...

The mission of Discovery Park of America is "to inspire children and adults to see beyond." The mission of the West Tennessee Regional Art Center is "to provide opportunities to participate in, and education through, the arts." These two powerful mission statements combined in this podcast episode make for a great conversation with the WTRAC’s executive director Bill Hickerson. Both Scott and Bill...

Do you like antique tractors? Have you ever wanted to know how to get involved in collecting these unique treasures? Scott interviews Wes Collier and Randy Deweese in front of a live studio audience and asks them how they got involved in collecting tractors, advice on how to start a collection of antique tractors, as well as how to instill the love of collecting these tractors in the next generati...

In 1901, Andrew Carnegie donated $70,000 for the construction of a library in Jackson, Tenn. Today, the ornate building is devoted to telling stories in a different way. In this episode, John Reitzammer takes us behind-the-scenes of the renovation of the building that now tells the stories of West Tennessee's musical history. As part of the Americana Music Triangle, the Tennessee Music Museum high...

Rusty Robinson combined two of his favorite things to create one of the most unique museums in the world, Rusty’s TV and Movie Car Museum in Jackson, Tenn. Rusty’s passion for both cars and entertainment has led to a museum with more than 26 cars on display that have been used in movies and television shows along with lots of entertainment memorabilia. The list of movies represented there is long...

John Sellers is a young dad, husband, philanthropist and entrepreneur who, with his wife Courtney, runs Martin Coffeehouse along with six other successful West Tennessee businesses. In this episode, find out what drives John to jump in and make things happen and where his passion and inspiration come from. He also talks about their projects in Nepal and Kenya that bridge the literacy gap through s...

If Old McDonald is your idea of a farmer, you will want to listen to this episode featuring Emily Workman. Over 2.1 million farms dot America’s rural landscape and about 99 percent of U.S. farms are operated by families, individuals, family partnerships or family corporations. Because these farm and ranch families comprise just 2 percent of the U.S. population, many people today live their entire...

Julie Hill, Chair of the Music Department at the University of Tennessee at Martin, does more than just talk about her passion for the arts; she puts that passion to work in West Tennessee and around the world as a performer and leader in many different arts-related initiatives. A performer and scholar who has received worldwide recognition and is principal percussionist with the Paducah Symphony...

If you love West Tennessee heritage, don’t miss this conversation with Sonia Outlaw-Clark from the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center. She covers topics like the importance of cotton to the area, the riches of the Hatchie River, Sleepy John Estes and the riverboat queen herself, Tina Turner. She also discusses the beginnings of the center and how they acquired the home of bluesman “Sleepy” John...

The history of the “Minglewood Blues” is as long and complex as the difficult-to-locate Menglewood, the West Tennessee river town it was named after. Danny Walden, president of the Dyer County Historical Society, shares the origin, location and details of the town that was the site of the Mengel Box Company. Walden also sheds light on the history of the song written by Noah Lewis then first record...

Take a step back in time as Scott talks with Marti Doss, who was in on the action when the first conversations were had about the wild idea to build a 100,000SF museum in the middle of a cornfield in Union City, Tennessee. Marti lets us in on how the Obion County Museum played a big role in the development of Discovery Park of America. She is now a volunteer artist at the park, and talks about the...

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to quit your job in the city and create a whole new world in a friendly rural community, you’ll love hearing Kathy Dumont’s story. After searching for a place that would offer a simpler, more peaceful life, she and husband, Michael, found what they call “paradise.” In addition to their 400-acre hobby farm, complete with restored farmhouse, where they r...

Jiréh Breon Holder, born and raised in Memphis, Tenn., is currently a writer on NBC's hit show “New Amsterdam.” Holder talks about how he made it from Memphis to the Yale School of Drama, then on to Hollywood and New York and how his grandmother helped him come up with the idea for his award-winning off-Broadway play, "Too Heavy for Your Pocket." In the play, Holder takes us back to Nashville in t...

Paige Burcham Dennis, a fashion entrepreneur based in Union City, Tenn., welcomes entertainers, celebrities, pageant contestants and others from around the world to Joann’s, her shop where “glitter runs through their veins.” She helps dress and style customers, most who become close friends, for their appearances in everything from music videos and movies to pageants and proms, and anywhere else m...

Lee Wilson’s path through life has led him through jobs in construction, photography, higher education, junk hauling, and college ministry. After developing an appetite for adventure and escape, this West Tennessean found himself on the CBS reality show “Hunted” where he and close friend Hilmar Skagfield ran from former CIA agents, FBI agents, U.S. Marshals, Homeland Security, the NSA and others....

Kelly Powers turned early success as a much-celebrated professional goose caller into a popular retail and mail-order catalog business. Final Flight Outfitters Inc, in Union City, Tenn. was founded with his brothers, Jon Ed and Tripp, and grew from a storage trailer in 1998 to a 25,000-square-foot showroom that contains a large selection of outdoor gear and hunting supplies. Powers talks about how...