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rom graceful 1800s homes along Murfreesboro’s picturesque Main Street to Smyrna’s high-tech Nissan plant that turns out 120 vehicles an hour, Rutherford County is a study in contrasts. Here

you’ll find contemporary shopping developments with big-name retailers – and longstanding mom-and-pop shops and quaint cafés on Murfreesboro’s historic square. This complementary combination has helped make the area one of the fastest-growing counties in the state.

But don’t take our word for it. Take a whirlwind tour and sample the region’s vibrant mix of offerings.

Begin your day with breakfast at one of Murfreesboro’s locally owned eateries, such as The Ivy Bistro in Georgetown Park, City Café or Julia’s HomeStyle Bakery.

Make your way to downtown Murfreesboro and peruse the eclectic mix of shops. Landmarks include Holden Hardware – an old-fashioned hardware store that opened in 1948 – and Shacklett’s

Photography, a family-owned studio open since 1936. While downtown, don’t miss the stately old homes along

Main Street, and peek in the Heritage Center, a museum that explores Murfreesboro’s colorful history from the Civil War to the jazz age.

Dining in Rutherford County is a delicious experience, thanks to a wealth of restaurants you won’t find anywhere else. Choose from Maple Street Grill (try the Fried Hershey Bar or Bananas Foster), Kleer-Vu Lunchroom (for classic Southern fare) or The Front Porch Café, located in an antebellum home.

Explore Cannonsburgh Village, a reconstructed pioneer village, on Front Street. Or take the kids to the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring, a hands-on children’s museum. Another option: Tour the Bradley Academy, a 1917 African American school-turned-museum and cultural center.

For dinner, try Demos’ Restaurant – but be sure to get there early to avoid a wait. Or head for Toot’s, a colorful establishment with a menu that features everything from fried dill pickles and buffalo wings to ribs and seafood.

See a play at the Center for the Arts or check out a horse show at Miller Coliseum. From June through October, bring your lawn chairs to Public Square in Murfreesboro for Friday Night Live, a free summer concert series held the first Friday of the month.

You don’t have to be a history buff to appreciate local attractions such as Smyrna’s Sam Davis Home and Museum, where the Confederate Civil War hero lived. Other historical sites include Murfreesboro’s Oaklands Historic House Museum – an Italianate mansion caught in the crossfire of the Civil War – and Stones River National Battlefield.

No trip to Rutherford County would be complete without discovering all the shopping it has to offer. Choose from Smyrna’s new Colonial Town Park shopping center, The Avenue Murfreesboro or Stones River Mall. Then refuel with lunch at Legends Steakhouse in Smyrna.

Take the scenic back roads to Eagleville, a cozy rural community where you can shop for antiques, visit a candle shop and savor the small-town life. Or take a leisurely stroll on the scenic 500-acre campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Round out your Saturday with dinner at Miller’s Grocery – A Country Café located on Main Street in Christiana. Not only will you find homemade meatloaf, fried frog legs, country-style pork ribs, hand-dipped chicken tenders and award- winning desserts at the country store-turned café, but also live bluegrass, folk and Americana music on Friday and Saturday nights.

utherford County may be in the heart of Middle Ten-nessee, but finding cuisine outside your culinary com-

fort zone is easy. Polynesian, Latin, Greek, Thai,

Indian, Mexican, Italian and Mongolian cuisines – you’ll find them all here, no passport required.

Omni Hut in Smyrna is the oldest Asian-style restaurant in the state, and its Polynesian fare is the real deal.

Hand-cut steaks, kabobs, seafood, egg rolls and more – they’re all created with fresh ingredients from authentic, proprietary recipes.

“All our recipes are our own, so anything you order will be a little different than you’ve had before,” says Polly Walls, daughter of the restaurant’s founder, Jim Walls. “Our Tahitian Tid Bits are a sweet and meaty appetizer great for nibbling. They’re bits of pork brisket marinated in our own teriyaki sauce and cooked to a golden brown.”

Shrimp Panamanian is another popular dish, featuring giant prawns marinated in a wine and herb sauce, dipped in batter and deep fried.

“We serve it with our homemade duck sauce and Dijon honey mustard,”

says Walls, who now owns and operates the restaurant under the watchful eye of her father.

While serving in the U.S. Air Force in Hawaii in the early 1940s, Jim Walls befriended a Chinese American who introduced him to Asian and Polynesian style cuisine.

“He started collecting recipes and dreamed of opening a restaurant one day,” Polly Walls says.

Jim Walls opened Omni Hut in Smyrna in 1960 after retiring from the

service, and the restaurant remains a local favorite.

It’s easy to see why the tiny restaurant has not only survived, but thrived, for nearly half a century. Eye-catching Hawaiian and Polynesian artifacts adorn the walls and ceiling, and festive tiki torches and creative light fixtures abound.

“There’s always something to look at. And on the f lip side, there’s always something to dust and clean,” Polly jokes. “There are several non-replaceable items, and some things are original to when we

opened in 1960. It’s worth seeing.”Cuzco Peruvian Restaurant in

Murfreesboro offers international cuisine of a different sort.

“Americans are already familiar with Mexican food, and it was my dream to start introducing Latin dishes to them,” says Maria Zambrano, owner of Cuzco.

Customer favorites include rotisserie chicken marinated in wine, fresh garlic and beer; ceviche, or fresh seafood cooked in lime juice served with lettuce and sweet potatoes; and parihuela, or

seafood soup made with fish, shrimp and mussels.

“Our rice pudding is also very popu-lar,” Zambrano says. “I’m not bragging, but a lot of people tell us it’s the best rice pudding they’ve ever had.”

The Bunganut Pig in Murfreesboro is an Old English-style pub known for its Shepherd’s Pie – ground beef and vege-tables topped with mashed potatoes, melted cheddar cheese and seasonings. Other favorites are fish and chips and The King’s Good Ole Burger, a half-

pound Black Angus beef burger with all the fixings.

“People dig that because we use ground filet meat in our burgers instead of regular ground beef,” says Lee Lasater, general manager of The Bunganut Pig. “We also accommodate a lot of special orders. We sell a lot of club sandwiches, and some guys will ask for one piece of sourdough bread, one piece of white and one wheat.”

The restaurant also serves brunch on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Bunganut Pig is reminiscent of bars and pubs you’d see in London, with a bevy of posters, signs and artifacts the previous owner brought back from a trip there.

Rutherford County offers a wealth of options for gourmet globe-trotting. A sampling of additional international restaurants includes the Greek-themed Parthenon Steak House, Bangkok Thai Cuisine, Golden Eagle Mongolian Stirfry and The Clay Pit, which serves authentic Indian cuisine.

he small but fast-growing town of Smyrna garnered worldwide attention in September 2007 when U.S.

News & World Report featured it as one of the best places in the nation to retire. But the story wasn’t a newsflash to thousands of retirees who already call Smyrna home. They’ve been living the good life here for years.

“There’s an awful lot to do here. Smyrna’s a bustling area that it wasn’t 20 or 30 years ago,” says Patsy Brown, who moved to Smyrna in 1960 with her husband, Bill. He was stationed at Sewart Air Force Base, which is now Smyrna Airport.

“We have a wonderful park system that’s second to none for a town this

size, a YMCA, the Smyrna Town Centre fitness facility and all kinds of opportunities for exercise,” she says. “We love to go out to eat at local restaurants, and there are two theaters in Murfreesboro and one in Smyrna. And if you don’t mind driving 12 miles to Nashville, you can find even more things to do.”

Smyrna’s excellent park system was one of the assets that caught the eye of editors at U.S. News & World Report. The town is home to 10 parks, a public golf course, seven miles of greenways and a 3,000-square-foot outdoor splash park where children can play. A short drive from Smyrna is Percy Priest Lake, which offers plenty of fishing and boating opportunities. There is also an abun-dance of churches, top-notch health-care facilities close by and job opportunities for retirees who want to keep working. For history buffs, there is the famous Sam Davis Home, where Confederate Civil War hero Sam Davis lived. The 21-year-old was captured and hung by Union soldiers after refusing to give them information that might compromise the Confederate cause.

The Smyrna Senior Citizen Center is another jewel in the community, and retirees gather here for fellowship, classes and activities. Brown was one of the founders of the Senior Citizen Center in 1979 – long before she was a senior citizen herself.

“I was a member of the Smyrna United Methodist Church, and our minister said it was too bad there wasn’t a place in Smyrna for older people to go for fellowship other than their own churches. That turned a light bulb on for me,” Brown recalls. “I was president of a local women’s group, and we started the center with 10 members. Now there are over 500.”

A short drive from Smyrna, retirees can also find the scenic campus of Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, as well as the Nashville International Airport and shopping oppor tunities galore. Smyrna’s newest and largest shopping development, Colonial Town Park, opened in 2008 on Sam Ridley Parkway and Interstate 24. It’s home to Super Target, Kohl’s, PetSmart, Staples, Dress Barn and a bevy of other retailers.

By all accounts, the little town of Smyrna is growing up.

“I remember when there wasn’t even a place to eat in Smyrna,” says Printiss Fulton Jr., a retired chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. Fulton moved to Smyrna in 1957 when he was stationed at Sewart Air Force Base. He chose to retire in the area he fell in love with.

“Of all my travels in the U.S. and abroad, this was my choice of places to live,” he says. “I love the people and the location. It’s close to anything you want to do, and I’ve met super people through church and the Boy Scouts. My three sons went to MTSU, and my granddaughter graduated from MTSU, too.”

Fulton and his wife, Betty, enjoy going to Murfreesboro to eat at Demos’ Restaurant, Fulton’s favorite restaurant. They also like to travel, but as the saying goes, there is no place like home.

“We just came back from a trip to Kansas and the mid-states, but it’s no comparison to Tennessee – and I’m a Mississippi boy, born and raised,” he says with a chuckle. “There’s nothing but wonderful people around here.”

hildren who attend school in Rutherford County get some of the best education available in the state, with a host of innovative programs and accolades to tout.

Cheryl Harris, school/community-relations coordinator for Murfreesboro City Schools – which operates schools for students through sixth grade – was surprised to walk by a kindergarten classroom at Discovery School at Reeves Rogers and hear the students discussing square roots. But that kind of curiosity-driven learning is par for the course at Discovery School, a program for high-achieving students from diverse socioeconomic groups, ethnic backgrounds and neighbor-hoods all over the district.

“It gives those students the opportunity to be with their high-achieving peers, which raises the bar for everyone in the class,” Harris explains. “We also have the one-to-one laptop initiative, which really helps these kids take their work to the next level.”

Murfreesboro City Schools ranks among the top 10 school systems in the state, Harris says, thanks in large part to its wonderful group of teachers.

“We have had seven teachers in the Tennessee Teachers Hall

of Fame, three teachers named Tennessee Teacher of the Year and one in the National Teachers Hall of Fame – Cindy Jones, who currently teaches fourth grade at Discovery School at Reeves Rogers. Last year we had two finalists in the top three for Tennessee Teacher of the Year,” Harris adds.

Other innovative city schools include Hobgood Elementary, a participant in the NASA Explorer Schools program; Bradley Academy, an arts-integrated school; and Bellwood-Bowdoin Preschool, named for early childhood education pioneer and Murfreesboro teacher Ruth Bowdoin.

Rutherford County Schools also gets high marks for quality. In fact, the district earned some of the highest in the state on the Tennessee Department of Education’s 2007 Report Card. Rutherford County Schools also ranked among the region’s best districts in an evaluation of school data conducted by the Nashville Business Journal.

“We are very proud of our system,” says James Evans, spokesman for Rutherford County Schools. “It was neck-and-neck with (the highly regarded) Williamson County and Sumner County school systems in every category evaluated.”

Several schools in the district were singled out for special

recognition. The business journal’s ranking named McFadden School of Excellence – a K-8 communications technology magnet – the No. 1 middle school in Middle Tennessee. Eagleville School, the only public pre-K through 12 school in the county, also made the list.

When it comes to preparing students for real-life experiences, the county’s Oakland High School takes a literal approach. The school is one of only 13 high schools in the state to earn International Baccalaureate status.

This huge accomplishment points to the school’s rigorous academic standards and its focus on producing internationally minded graduates, says Lee Rennick, executive director of the Business Education Partnership at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.

And Rutherford County Schools was the first district in the state to implement Virtual Enterprise – a hands-on business and commerce education program – in all its high schools.

Numerous private schools also serve Rutherford County families. With an enrollment of more than 700 students, Middle Tennessee Christian School in Murfreesboro is the area’s largest.

iddle Tennessee State University is serious about giving students the opportunity to develop healthy lifestyles.

Serious to the tune of $17 million – the amount that bankrolled a major expansion of MTSU’s Campus Recreation Center and the construction of a Student Health and Wellness Center and a 16.5-acre Sport Club Complex.

“It’s essential to live a healthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Wendy Windsor, the school’s associate director of intramurals, sports clubs and wellness. “It’s not just about working out but man-aging your overall diet, making healthy decisions, finding recreational activities that you actually enjoy, being mentally healthy and just staying active.”

Students have plenty of options. In addition to an intramural sports program that features

more than 30 sports, the school sponsors 23 club programs ranging from lacrosse and ice hockey to rugby and skydiving.

The Sport Club Complex is now home to some teams that, in the words of rugby coach Mark Williams, had become “gypsies” as they wandered around trying to find adequate space to practice and play.

The Sport Club Complex, located a half mile southeast of the main campus, includes two large multipurpose fields, a walking track, scoreboards and a clubhouse.

“Our last field was uneven and bumpy with no fences,” says Bradley McDuffie, MTSU lacrosse president. “(Before the Sport

Club Complex opened), we spent most of our time chasing balls rather than having productive practices.

“Now that we have our games and practices at the Sport Club Complex, teams coming in feel like they are playing at a venue rather than just a field in the middle of nowhere. It’s nice to have our own place to call our home field.”

The Sport Club Complex has given several team sports – including soccer and rugby – a place to call home. But individual pursuits can be found here as well. Even before its expansion, the Campus Recreation Center was home to six basketball/volleyball courts, six racquetball courts, a three-lane track, weight room, exercise equipment, swimming pool and a rock-climbing wall.

Since MTSU pumped millions into the facility, it offers expanded weight training, cardio rooms and a 10,000-square-foot wellness center with a medical staff and pharmacy.

The emphasis on student recreation, wellness and the multimillion-dollar commitment to facilities make MTSU unique among schools its size.

“Before the completion of this project, there was no centralized location for the sports clubs to practice,” Windsor says. “Many were using off-site facilities for both their practices and games.

“This facility sets us apart from many universities in that most have intramural sport complexes, but very few have a designated facility just for their sports clubs. At MTSU, we are fortunate to have both.”

urfreesboro native Terry Confer has always loved eating at The

Front Porch Café, located a block off the Public Square in Murfreesboro.

“I’ve been a regular here for years,” he says.

He’s also had a lifelong dream of owning a restaurant. So when the landmark eatery came up for sale in 2008, Confer and business partner Chris Hendley didn’t waste any time making an offer. Now they own the popular restaurant, which is housed in a century-old antebellum home, and they have big plans for its future.

“It was built in 1898 as a gentle-men’s club, and it’s worn many different hats since then,” Confer says. “We are in the process of renovating and

updating it – something it has needed for 20-plus years.”

The renovation will include replac-ing f looring and light fixtures and putting a fresh coat of paint in all the rooms. Though The Front Porch Café will soon take on a shiny new look, Confer and Hendley plan to keep the food – the reason behind its local fame – the same.

“The Front Porch has won a lot of awards for its desserts and is best known for red velvet and Snickers bar cakes,” Confer says. “The Magnolia Delight is also a favorite and includes our homemade chicken salad or pimento cheese on a plate with our homemade pineapple cheese salad, frozen fruit salad and a muffin. We’re

also known for our fruit tea and strawberry lemonade.”

Other favorites on the menu include the made-from-scratch meatloaf, the Monte Cristo sandwich, the “to die for” chicken crepes, and comfort-inducing sides such as mashed potatoes and squash casserole.

Confer has worked in the airline industry for two decades, while Hendley has enjoyed a career as a college professor of music. But the restaurant rookies are already gearing up for a long and successful career at The Front Porch Café.

They plan to offer dinner theaters and murder mysteries here in the future. And within the next two years, they plan to open a coffee shop and bakery next door, as well as add a Sunday brunch.

Regular customers will be glad to know that The Front Porch Café will still be open for holidays, including Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, by reservation.

223 S. Spring St.Murfreesboro, TN 37130 (615) 893-7721

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country ham breakfast, live music, a parade and fireworks are just a

small part of what has made La Vergne’s Old Timers Day festival a hit the past 37 years.

Held the third Saturday in September, Old Timers Day takes place at Veterans Memorial Park and celebrates the City of La Vergne and its residents.

“The day starts with a country ham breakfast put on by the Fire and Rescue Squad, and the breakfast is followed by a parade at 10:30,” says Angie Mayes, festival coordinator. “It’s amazing how many people line up along the parade route. And after the parade, thousands of people swarm the park, where we have live music, food and craft vendors, business information tents, a seniors tent, a children’s area and sponsor tents.”

The festival has featured nationally known musicians such as “Nashville Star” winner Chris Young, singer/song-writer Ashley Monroe and bluegrass artist Del McCoury.

“It’s mostly bluegrass, country and a little bit of ’50s music,” Mayes says. “The cloggers from Smyrna are always a hit, too.”

When Old Timers Day began nearly four decades ago, citizens donned long dresses, bonnets, suspenders and other old-fashioned clothing, and demon-strators displayed their crafts. Today, the festival has a more modern feel, but the city kept the name for tradition’s sake.

“We still do have a few demonstra-tors – there’s a blacksmith, and another guy makes white beans, cornbread and peach cobbler in cast iron over an open fire,” Mayes says. “We’re always looking for more demonstrators and more ways to bring back that old-time feel.”

To satisfy local sports fans, the city broadcasts the University of Tennessee football game on big screens at the park. The festival wraps up with a 15-minute fireworks show in the evening.

“We usually spend about $12,000 on the fireworks show,” Mayes says. “It’s just awesome.”

f you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build a car or truck, sign up for a

free tour of Nissan North America’s manufacturing plant in Smyrna.

The 5.4 million-square-foot plant sits on 884 acres and has the amazing capacity to produce 550,000 vehicles each year, including the Altima, Frontier, Maxima, Pathfinder and Xterra. The cars and trucks are assembled by about 4,400 employees and more than 1,000 robots, and a tour gives you a rare inside look at the entire process.

“The tour provides an overview of the manufacturing process beginning with rolls of steel and ending with a completed vehicle,” says Pat Vickers, senior financial analyst for Nissan North America Inc. “We use trams capable of carrying 52 people per tour around the plant. It is an entertaining, informative tour designed to showcase the commitment Nissan has made to provide a quality product.”

The tour begins with a short video about Nissan, after which visitors board a tram, where they are outfitted with safety glasses and headphones. As the tram rolls through the plant, visitors watch as vehicle hoods, doors and other parts are stamped out of raw steel. Sparks fly as robots weld parts together and vehicle bodies are assembled, spray painted, equipped with engines, and given the final touches such as bumpers, head lights, carpeting and seats.

The plant’s technology is so advanced, it takes only 24 hours to create a vehicle from start to finish – and that includes eight hours of drying time for the car’s paint job.

“The strong work ethic of our area’s citizens attracted the company here in 1982, and it has kept it running strong for more than 25 years,” Vickers says.

To sign up for the Nissan plant tour, call (615) 459-1444.

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urfreesboro residents will soon have a new venue for corporate

events and private parties, and it’s unlike anything the city has ever seen.

As part of the City of Murfreesboro’s plan to extend its current greenway system, an island is being constructed on the eastern part of a manmade pond along the Gateway Trail. This will be home to a 1,300-square-foot reception center that will include a caterer’s kitchen, restrooms and a multipurpose room.

“The island is about the size of a football field, and it will include the reception center, a pavilion and an overlook,” says Rob Lyons, deputy city manager for the City of Murfreesboro. “Accommodations have been made to display public art on a sculpture pad. The island is accessed from two steel bridges that span over waterfalls, which add to the ambiance, and it will be lushly landscaped.”

The Gateway Trail extension, island and reception center are being built at a cost of about $5 million, largely funded by the federal government.

“The project is substantially funded through two federal transportation acts and supplemented by transportation enhancement funds awarded by the Ten-nessee Department of Transportation,” Lyons says.

The Gateway Trail portion of the project will include extending the city’s current greenway system an additional 2.2 miles through the newly developed $300 million campus of Middle Ten-nessee Medical Center, scheduled for completion in 2010, along Medical Center Parkway. In the future, the city hopes to extend the trail system to Siegel Park and Walter Hill Park, and eventually to Smyrna, La Vergne and Nashville.

urfreesboro resident Dana Cox has two passions in life – animals

and children. So when she graduated from occupational therapy school, Cox combined those passions and created DreamCatchers Therapy Services in 2004.

“I have always been an outside-the-box thinker, and I envisioned while still in OT school that my practice would one day be a friendly, relaxed, country setting where children could play and just be children, and families could enjoy the peaceful environment while their child was receiving support services,” Cox says. “DreamCatchers is housed in a medium-sized rustic barn equipped with hardwood f loors and sensory rooms where stalls once were. I felt that if Jesus was born in a barn, that would be the perfect place to work with special-needs kiddos.”

DreamCatchers serves approxi-mately 60 clients from age 15 months to 17 years. The majority of the children have autism, cerebral palsy, Williams syndrome, Downs syndrome, sensory

processing disorders or developmental delays. The clients engage in equine activities with Cox’s three horses – Belle, a spotted saddle horse; PayDay, a Tennessee walking horse; and Courage, a Palamino.

“Belle and PayDay are used as equine assistants in therapy sessions, and Courage, a disabled horse himself, is used for grooming and mischief play around the property,” Cox says.

DreamCatchers uses a treatment called hippotherapy (using the move-

ment of a horse) to improve functions in clients with neuro-musculoskeletal dysfunctions and other disabilities.

“Once hippotherapy has begun to regulate the core central nervous system in posture control, balance and coordi-nation,” Cox explains, “then higher-order skills such as visual motor, fine motor, sensory processing, speech acquisition, expressive and receptive language, and academics can grow and develop to their fullest.”

– Stories by Jessica Mozo

ven before the doors opened, staff at the new Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center knew they

had a hit on their hands.“We’ve got bookings as far ahead as

2011 and 2012,” says David Latture, general manager. “And when people come in, they’re just blown away by our facilities, by this beautiful building.”

The 10-story, $70 million facility opened Sept. 12, 2008, and it immediately began doing a brisk business – not only for its 283 rooms, but also for its 40,000 square feet of meeting space.

That space includes the 28,000-square -foot grand ballroom, a 7,200-square-foot junior ballroom and several smaller breakout rooms. The facility can hold up to 2,000 people for an event, and convention and meeting planners have been booking some or all the space at a steady pace.

“This facility puts Murfreesboro on the map as a destination for state and regional meetings,” says Becky Vealey,

director of sales and marketing for the hotel. “The combination of the hotel and conference center, The Avenue Murfreesboro and the many other amenities the area offers creates a very attractive package to entice meeting planners to choose Murfreesboro.”

That’s exactly what local convention and tourism officials want to hear, says Mona Herring, vice president of the Rutherford County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Following a feasibility study by the city, the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and Destination Rutherford chose hotel developer John Q. Hammons to build the complex.

“Having a hotel of this size and caliber, with the abundant meeting space, gives us the ability to attract conferences, conventions and meetings for up to 2,000 people,” Herring says. “In the past, we have only been able to accommodate meetings in the 350-person range. This facility not only allows us to bring in more conferences and meetings, but it also

allows us to host larger sporting events. This is the piece of the puzzle we were missing and, as a result, I think that we will see a tremendous increase in our tourism dollars in the very near future.”

As the facility moves through its first year of operation, its staff continues to work with the CVB and other local partners to further boost reservations. But the business already on the books has sparked some discussion with other hotel developers who want to emulate the Embassy Suites’ success.

“Plans are on the drawing board for several full-service properties in the Medical Center Parkway corridor, and more developers are looking at the area every day,” Herring says. “With its close proximity to world-class shopping and great restaurants, this area is a prime location for other hotels and retail as well as corporate headquarters. The care that the city planners have taken to develop the Gateway area is paying off in huge dividends for all the residents of Rutherford County.”

Recognized in 2006 by Ernst and Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year, Murfreesboro native Ronnie Barrett has a success story that reads like a modern-day Horatio Alger tale.

That is, an obscure but talented and determined young man with limited resources turns his idea into a world-renowned, multimillion-dollar business, says Ralph Vaughn, business and global brand marketing agent for Barrett Firearms Manufacturing in Murfreesboro.

“With no previous manufacturing or engineering experience, Ronnie created his first rif le in a garage, and now Barrett Firearms is a world-class manufacturer with nearly 100 employees,” Vaughn says.

In 2002, the U.S. Army officially adopted Barrett’s .50-caliber seminal invention and named it the M107. Only four people in the past 100 years have invented guns the U.S. military adopted. Of those, Barrett is the only one to also develop, mass-produce and market his gun to the military.

In 2005, the U.S. Army recognized the M107 as one of the top 10 greatest inventions.

For décor that will truly set your home apart, look no further than Devine Décor, a home-accents boutique that specializes in the unique and extraordinary.

The lamps, mirrors, wall art, frames, candles, sconces and home-oriented gifts at Devine Décor aren’t the type shoppers would find just anywhere, says store owner Paula Campbell-Threatt.

“When you buy an item from our store, it will have people saying, ‘Where’d you get that?’”

One of her most memorable pieces was an unusual, elegantly curved lamp with metallic colors in the finish.

“I say that it was unusual,” she says, “but everything in here is unusual. People comment on how beautiful everything is.”

Devine Décor, located in the Shops of Murfreesboro, also offers professional decorating services for residential and commercial clients.

Dan and Gita Nightingale have been keeping customers’ battery-powered gadgets and gizmos going since opening a Batteries Plus franchise in the Shops of Murfreesboro in June 2008.

“We sell batteries for just about anything,” says owner Dan Nightingale, “from watches to bulldozers and every-thing in between.”

If he doesn’t stock it, he can build it cell by cell, Nightingale says, according to the chemical composition and voltage needed. He can even custom fit batteries to the shape of a particular compart-ment, which comes in handy in medical devices and hobby projects.

“We rebuild battery packs for cordless drills almost every day,” Nightingale says. “A lot of people don’t know you can do that, but we do, and at a much lesser cost than if you bought it new. Plus, our company’s buying power allows us to offer new batteries a lot cheaper too – for instance, for cell phones and laptops.”

Batteries Plus also tests batteries and chargers and will recycle any battery dropped off at the store.

Ever wonder where restaurants like McDonald’s and Burger King get all that gear they use in their kitchens? Some of it comes from Rutherford County.

Switzerland-based global food-service company Franke has two operations here. Franke Foodservice Systems outfits quick-service restaurant kitchens, including building prep tables and “everything stainless steel,” says Claudia Synnatzschke, special projects manager for the company. Franke Resupply Systems sells small wares such as spatulas, trash cans and spare parts for their kitchen equipment.

“We also do project management, lay out kitchens, buy additional kitchen equipment and organize installations,” Synnatzschke adds.

The two operations will move from La Vergne to a $25 million plant sched-uled to open in July 2009 at Smyrna Industrial Park.

The new facility, which is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, will include a research and development center and a distribution warehouse outfitted with solar panels. The company will eventually add about 20 employees to its current 180.

Whether you’re interested in recre-ational f light, executive commuting or a career in aviation, Wings of Eagles School of Flight in Smyrna can get you off the ground.

The independently owned and oper-ated f light school has been training pilots – private through CFII-rated pilots – since 2000.

“Wings of Eagles was started by a group of professional pilots who wanted to establish a quality training facility for the next generation of pilots,” says Kellie Russ, general manager. “We use brand-new aircraft; all our planes are model year 2000 or newer.”

Recently, Microsoft chose Wings of Eagles, in partnership with Middle Tennessee State University, as the beta site for a new virtual training program.

The school also partners with local organizations to raise funds for worthy causes such as the Boys and Girls Club.

– Carol Cowan

or Michael Malone, selling Rutherford County as a great place to live and work shouldn’t

be too hard. He was recently sold on it himself.Malone, who took over as president

of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce in July 2008, is a 20-year veteran of the chamber industry. He came to Murfreesboro from McLean County, Ill., and says it was a combi-nation of factors – not just one standout amenity – that convinced him to come to Rutherford County.

“It’s a growing part of the country, and it’s a warm, friendly community with a focus on the future,” Malone says. “This is a community that’s looking to do things instead of worrying about what it can’t do. They don’t ask why here, they ask why not, and it’s the same with the chamber; it’s a growing, expanding organization that’s involved with a large part of the community, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

The chamber has around 2,000

members, and it draws from all sectors of business – an inclusiveness Malone says has led it to be one of the largest in the state, and something that new and existing programs can be built upon.

“What we want to expand upon within the chamber itself is our responsiveness to members,” he says. “We want to create more value for their membership within the organization, and that can take all sorts of forms. We want to grow our events and programs but also our communications to members. We’re going to increase our partnerships with our city, county and state govern-ments. And we’re going to work more closely with the community to develop more business opportunities here in

Rutherford County.”In the midst of all this, the chamber

is finalizing plans for its new building, which is set to come out of the ground in early 2009.

The three-story, 30,000-square-foot facility will house the chamber’s offices as well as those of the Rutherford County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Business Education Partnership, Destination Rutherford and other economic-development entities. The new building will be located between Wilkinson Pike and Medical Center Parkway, across the street from the new Embassy Suites Murfreesboro Hotel & Conference Center.

– Joe Morris

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he Stones River Greenway is a popular spot for outdoor enthusiasts, and now it’s become

a destination for art lovers.For the last four years, the Greenway

Arts Festival has been held in September at the Thompson Lane Trailhead, and the event just keeps getting bigger and better, says Rachel Singer, assistant pro-gram coordinator for the Murfreesboro Parks & Recreation Department.

“We had close to 70 artists, which was up from last year, and we had about 1,000 people who visited the festival,” Singer says. “It’s grown every year that we’ve done it, from a couple of artisans to what we have now. We’re really proud that the artists are spreading the word themselves, and that we’re getting more

of them involved every year.”The festival limits participation to

fine art – everything from pottery and painting to jewelry and woodwork.

It’s a lively scene, with live music and children’s areas scattered throughout. In keeping with the natural setting, the music leans toward acoustic rather than full bands.

“We have three stations that nine trailside musicians rotate through during the day,” she says. “We do have speakers and a mike at one station, but it’s really more acoustic and homey feeling.”

The festival began as a vision of Dr. Doug Timmons, a member of the Friends of the Greenway board, and the idea quickly took hold with parks officials and others.

“Everyone thought it would be a great idea to have a festival on a beautiful stretch of the greenway, and it just took off from there,” Singer says. “And it’s a great venue. We’ve got the river on one side, and it’s got plenty of trees for shade. But now that we’re growing so much, we’re probably going to have to move to a park in a few years.”

In the meantime, the festival will con-tinue growing where it’s been planted, much to the delight of its devotees.

“We have people who say they’ve come back year after year, and that they’re looking forward to the next one,” Singer says. “They like the location, they like the artists, they like the whole feel of it, which is wonderful for us to hear.”

– Joe Morris

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ith the completion of the renovated Reese Smith Stadium, Blue Raider baseball fans have another home run to cheer about.

“It’s just staggering what has taken place out there compared to what it was,” says Roy Mewbourne, coordinator of the athletic department for Middle Tennessee State University. “It is a great success story for us that we can do this here at MTSU. Bigger and better things can happen if we are capable of doing things like this.”

At a cost of about $6.2 million, improvements to the stadium were extensive, with a new press box, better concessions, upgraded bleachers, more seating, restrooms, better handicap access and even greater sightlines for the fans.

When it came to raising money to fund the project, the school didn’t have to look much further than alumni and former coaches after receiving the initial seed money of $1.5 million from the city.

“I’m really proud that a large percentage of our donors were former ball players,” says Chris Massaro, director of athletics. “That tells you how they feel about the program.”

The renovations have given the current team quite a boost.“They are excited and proud with the anticipation of

being the first and only team to open up the new refurbished Reese Smith Field,” says Coach Steve Peterson. “There will never be another team to do that, and they can always hang their hat on that.”

The gift will keep on giving, as the improved stadium is expected to help with recruiting.

“It will improve recruiting, attract better athletes to this program, cause more wins and more national recognition,” Mewbourne says.

Massaro agrees.“An improved ball program will put us in a position to host

regional games,” he says, “and that can really have a dramatic effect on business.” – Hollie Deese

WHO IS REESE SMITH?

Reese Smith – and his two sons – played baseball for the Blue Raiders. He contributed to the construction and lighting of the stadium in 1979.

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hen Jennifer McCrary’s migraine wouldn’t go away, her doctor quickly found

she had pressure on her brain. He sent her to the ER at Middle Tennessee Medical Center, and within hours she was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Over the weeks that followed, McCrary underwent brain surgery at MTMC, installation of an intravenous chemo-therapy port at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and dozens of treatments at Tennessee Oncology on Bell Street.

“When something like this happens, the first thing a lot of people want to do is go to Nashville,” McCrary says.

But the excellent facilities and qualified specialists in their hometown

led McCrary (now in remission) and her husband to a different conclusion.

“Phil and I made a conscious decision to stay in Murfreesboro,” she says. “I couldn’t have asked for any better care.”

Like the McCrarys, growing numbers of residents recognize that Rutherford County is a burgeoning hub for top-quality health care.

In August 2008, Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and SurgiCenter opened the first phase of its new 200,000-square-foot facility in the city’s Gateway develop-ment. Roughly 70 percent larger than the North Highland Avenue location, the clinic adds new services and expands existing ones.

With a 60-year history of service and

more than 60 physicians across 18 specialties, MMC provides patients with outstanding coordinated care in a con-venient and compassionate setting, says Joey Peay, the clinic’s CEO.

“We have also completed plans for The Comprehensive Breast Center at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic, where we can provide patients with breast care unmatched in this area,” he adds.

Also in the Gateway, Middle Tennessee Medical Center is building a $268 million, 286-bed hospital set to open in November 2010. The new facility will complement MTMC’s existing hospital, which is home to a Regional Cancer Center and the Women’s Pavilion.

In Smyrna, a $15.8 million project to be finished early in 2009 is expand ing surgical services at StoneCrest Medical Center and will add 26 beds to its current 75.

Additionally, the Alvin C. York Veterans Administration Campus in Murfreesboro meets medical needs of area veterans. – Carol Cowan

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RUTHERFORD COUNTY FAMILY YMCA NORTH RUTHERFORD YMCA

usiness leaders often wish they could get into the classroom and let teachers know what skills they are going to need from

the future workforce. In Rutherford County, that wish has been a

reality for 20 years.Since 1988, the Business Education Partnership

Foundation of Rutherford County has been fostering partnerships between Murfreesboro city and Rutherford County schools and the area business community. The BEP’s programs have evolved over time, but each and every effort has been geared to helping grow the area’s workforce while also ensuring that local educators have the tools and technology they need to excel in their jobs, says Lee Rennick, executive director.

“We are the conduit through which educators can talk to businesses and vice versa, and both sides can learn about each other,” she says.

As an outreach organization of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, the BEP has long had the business community’s collective ear, and over time its outreach efforts have ensured a strong buy-in from the education community as well, Rennick says.

“Businesses really want to see kids succeed, and they want to get in there and be involved,” she says. “But to make that happen, educators

have to take the lead. Education and business speak different languages, so BEP works as the interpreter. That’s led to some wonderful programs, like our Counselor Leadership Institute. This lets counselors meet different people in different professions, so when a school has a career day, they don’t have to dig around for people to come and speak.”

One of BEP’s longest-running programs is the BEP/Nissan Teacher Mini-Grants, which has been around since 1990. It offers up to $500 for teachers to use for special, curriculum-enhancing projects in the classroom.

One effort saw astronaut and Rutherford County resident Hoot Gibson, along with David Swindler – then the president of the Experimental Aircraft Association – helping a class build a working, 12-foot blimp.

“Five of nine students who were undecided about their future careers decided to go into engineering based on that project,” Rennick says.

This sort of cooperative effort puts the county far ahead when it comes to workforce training.

“We are one of the older programs like this,” Rennick says. “There’s talk about a national organization of groups like ours, and we were there before anybody else, thanks to some very forward-thinking leaders in this community.”

– Joe Morris

BEP PARTNERSHIPS

Adopt-A-School Partnerships

BC3 Academy

BEP/Nissan Teacher Mini-Grants

BookLIT

Counselor Leadership Institute

Job Shadow Day

State Farm Summer Business Camp

Youth Leadership Rutherford

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If you’re looking for a small town feel …

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