Heritage Alliance hosts October trivia

The Heritage Alliance hosts October trivia night Friday, October 8 at 7 p.m. at the Historic Eureka Inn, located at 127 West Main in Jonesborough. The  Historic Eureka Inn will host the event in their outside courtyard and feature a “light bites” menu.

Cost is $5 per team, and additional donations are appreciated. Attendees can sign up for trivia at Heritageall.org, and the link to sign up is at the top of the home page.

The questions cover a range of categories, but also will include questions about Halloween, witches and movies. Costumes are encouraged.

Teams, up to six people, can register until the evening of the event. The event will kick off at 7 p.m. and last an hour and a half. Teams should check in with the hosts prior to the event. Joe Spiker, head docent of the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum, and Megan Cullen Tewell, programming coordinator at the Heritage Alliance, will host the event, tallying points and administering prizes to the winners. The event is family-friendly and open to all ages.

This is an outdoor event, weather permitting, but it is requested attendees wear a mask until seated. It is also requested to wear a mask for any attendee entering the Historic Eureka Inn.

Like and follow the Heritage Alliance on Facebook for more information.

This project is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Historical Commission. For more information on the Chester Inn Museum, History Happy Hour or the Heritage Alliance, please call 423.753.9580, or call the Chester Inn Museum at 423.753.4580.  The organization can also be reached via email at info@heritageall.org.  Additional information about the Heritage Alliance and its mission can be found online at heritageall.org/. Follow the Chester Inn and Heritage Alliance Facebook pages for updates about events at the Chester Inn and other Heritage Alliance programs.

McKinney Center Volunteers Recognized

The McKinney Center hosted a Volunteer Appreciation Ice Cream Social on Thursday, September 23 at 7 p.m. McKinney Center volunteers were invited to eat ice cream, with a large array of toppings to choose from, and to gather to socialize. At 7:30 p.m. Skye McFarland, McKinney Center’s community program specialist, welcomed guests and gave awards to specific volunteers.

The McKinney Center has over 70 volunteers that served over 4,000 hours in 2020 and 2021. Volunteer hours come from a variety of activities including StoryTown tasks such as story collecting, participating in the radio show and helping with fundraisers. Other McKinney Center volunteer tasks include baking or donating food for events, distributing posters and catalogs, providing outreach activities and working as greeters.

This year’s awards included: Paul & Venessa Braxton, Sweet Treat Sweeties; Ann Florence, Ceramic Supporter of the Year; Zel Hester, The Queen of the Check-In 3 Years Running; Susu Floyd, Pastry Making Princess; Foye Webb, Motorist Master; Phyllis Fabozzi, Puts up with the most Drama 3 Years Running; Gregg Huddlestone, Extra Mile Award; Heidi Ehle and Michelle Treece, Outstanding Volunteers and Nancy Kavanaugh, Greatest of All-Time award (G.O.A.T).

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at the McKinney Center, please visit McKinneyCenter.com or contact Skye McFarland at skyem@jonesboroughtn.org.

Jonesborough hosts Strolling on Main

Link to tickets for the button: https://townofjonesborough.thundertix.com/events/190738

Historic Jonesborough will host Strolling on Main on Saturday, October 2 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendees of this event can tour downtown Jonesborough while sampling tapas and beverages, perusing work from local artists and enjoying music.

Attendees can sample tapas throughout downtown Jonesborough and enjoy wine, cocktail and beer selections, offered at various locations.

Local artists will demo, display and sell their work along Main Street. Strolling musicians will entertain guests along the route.

Admission is $30 for tapas and alcoholic beverage tastings and $20 for tapas only tastings. A limited number of tickets are available. For more information and to purchase tickets visit strollingonmain.com or call the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 423.753.1010 to purchase tickets.

This event is sponsored by the Jonesborough Area Merchants and Services Association (JAMSA).

Jonesborough hosts series of Halloween events

The Town of Jonesborough is preparing for different Halloween events in the month of October including ​Ghoulish Goodies, Jack-o-lantern Drive Thru and a Drive-In movie featuring “Disney’s Hocus Pocus”. ​ 

Ghoulish Goodies

The Washington County Library has teamed up with the Jonesborough community for a second year to bring a virtual ​trick-or-treating alternative to the Haunts and Happenings event.

Participating businesses in Historic Jonesborough will have QR codes displayed in their windows​, these codes will be changed every Wednesday from October 4 ​to October 24. Each code ​equals a specific prize, ranging from handfuls of candy, full-sized candy bars ​or digital raffle tickets for giveaways. Prize pick up will be October 25 to October 29.

In order to participate, please visit the Beanstack website and register. The Beanstack app ​is also available for both iOS and Android devices. Registration will start September 20 and will last until October 17, the end of the second week.

This event is free and open to all ages.

For questions, please contact Allen McCumber at amccumber@wclibrarytn.org.

Jack-o-lantern Drive Thru

​We are bringing back a community favorite and will be hosting our Jack-o-lantern Drive Thru again this year.  First, plan to pick up a pumpkin from the Jonesborough Visitors Center, located at 117 Boone Street, on Monday, October 25, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Take your pumpkin home, carve it and bring it back to the Jonesborough Visitors Center on Wednesday, October 27, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. or Thursday, October 28, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. During the Jack-o-lantern Drive Thru ​these pumpkins will be lit and on display along Main Street from Thursday, October 28 through Sunday, October 31, ​from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. ​each evening​.

There will be three categories’ participants can enter in for prizes: kids, family and adults. ​Winners will be announced on social media and will receive gift certificates to use in our downtown businesses.

Drive-In Movie Night

The ​Town of Jonesborough will host a special Drive-In Movie night ​which will take place Friday, October 29 at 8 p.m. behind the Washington County Courthouse. ​We will ​show ​”Disney’s Hocus Pocus​”. The cost is $10 for each car, and registration information will be announced on Historic Jonesborough’s Facebook page. At check-in attendees will be refunded $10 but in JAMSA coins that can be used in ​most downtown shops and restaurants. ​Plan to arrive early to pick the perfect movie spot, check-in will begin at 6 p.m. Guests are encouraged to grab dinner downtown at one of our restaurants and participate with the Jack-o-lantern Drive Thru.

Heritage Alliance hosts virtual History Happy Hour

The Heritage Alliance will host a virtual History Happy Hour on Thursday, September 16 at 6:30 p.m. available via Zoom and Facebook live. The Zoom login information is available on Facebook and the Heritage Alliance website. This program is free and open to the public.

The theme of this month’s History Happy Hour will feature a favorite fall beverage, cider.

The program will welcome Kim Floyd and Jeff “Puff” Irvin for their presentation, “The In-Cider’s Scoop.” They will discuss the history of apples and cider as well as the science behind the beverage.

Floyd is the director of the North Carolina Craft Beverage Museum, and Puff Irvin is the Director of the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast at Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College. The North Carolina Craft Beverage Museum is dedicated to preserving and interpreting the state’s craft beverage story, and celebrates its role in building and defining a local, state, and national community. The Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is designed to support the rapidly growing craft beverage industry in Western North Carolina and the Southeast by providing curriculum and non-credit courses in brewing, distilling, fermentation and related business practices.

This project is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Historical Commission. For more information on the Chester Inn Museum, History Happy Hour or the Heritage Alliance, please call 423.753.9580, or call the Chester Inn Museum at 423.753.4580.  The organization can also be reached via email at info@heritageall.org.  Additional information about the Heritage Alliance and its mission can be found online at http://www.heritageall.org/. Follow the Chester Inn and Heritage Alliance Facebook pages for updates about events at the Chester Inn and other Heritage Alliance programs.

Jonesborough Senior Center to host Autumn Outing

The Jonesborough Senior Center will host Autumn Outing, an outdoor event, on Friday, September 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be held at the Jonesborough Senior Center, located at 307 East Main Street. This event is open to the general public.

The Autumn Outing will include a performance from The Jonesborough Novelty Band, games including horseshoes, ring toss, checkers and Tic Tac Toe, cornhole and croquet, door prizes and food trucks.

Walk with Ease, a Jonesborough Senior Center monthly activity, will happen that day going through downtown Jonesborough starting at 11:30 a.m. meeting in front of the Senior Center. Attendees do not have to preregister.

The Senior Center will also be conducting fitness testing from 11 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. with 10 minute sessions per person. Interested participants must sign up for a slot, and can call ahead at 423.753.4781.

StoryTown Radio Show announces September theme

The September StoryTown Radio Show will take place Monday, September 27 at 7 p.m. at the McKinney Center featuring cooking recipes, favorite food trucks and traditional food and drinks from the East Tennessee region.

Tickets are $5 and available at Jonesborough.com/tickets or by calling the Jonesborough Visitors Center and Emporium at 423.753.1010.
The show will share insights into Northeast Tennessee’s food, from the farmers growing it, to the trucks and restaurants delivering it, to the chefs, moms, dads and grandparents preparing it. Stories from the many adventures of area food trucks will be featured, as well as stories from cookbook writer Pat Sheets, as well as one of Jonesborough’s favorite food vendors, Daniels Ribs and Fish.
Joining the cast this month will be musician Adam Bolt. Based in Abingdon, Virginia, Bolt has been a fixture in this region’s music scene for well over a decade. He will share songs from his recent album And the Vines Grow Still, released in June 2021. This show is sponsored in part by a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.

Local Daughters of the American Revolution chapter to host Constitution Week event

The State of Franklin Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) will host their Eighth Annual Bell Ringing in honor of Constitution Week on Sunday, September 12 at 1:30 p.m. at the historic Oak Hill School, located at 214 East Sabin Drive in Jonesborough across from the Jonesborough Public Library. This event is free to the public.

The program will focus on the history of the First Amendment to the Constitution that reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The program will honor the freedom of religion with Reverend Samuel Doak’s speech at the Battle of Kings Mountain, the freedom of the press and the freedom of assembly.

Several heritage groups will be participating including the Kings Mountain NSSAR, the Overmountain Victory Trail Association and other local chapters of the NSDAR.

The event will follow CDC guidelines. Social distancing will be observed on the lawn of the schoolhouse as there is space for guests to spread out

Bring your own chair and a bell to ring. Seating will not be provided on site.

The Daughters of the American Revolution began the tradition of celebrating the Constitution.  In 1955, the DAR petitioned Congress to set aside September 17 – September 23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week.  The resolution was adopted by Congress and signed into law on August 2, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  The State of Franklin Chapter of the NSDAR has been based in Jonesborough since 1929.

A Spot on the Hill returns to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery

A Spot on the Hill, the original, research-based play returns this October to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. Performances for A Spot on the Hill will take place at 6:30 p.m. on October 15, 16, 22, and 23. There will be 2 p.m. matinee performances on October 16 and 23.

Tickets are $8. To purchase tickets, please call the Jonesborough Visitors Center at 423.753.1010 or online at jonesborough.com/tickets.

All performances will be outdoors. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to sit on. In case of inclement weather, the show will be canceled and audience members will be notified in advance.

Audience members should arrive 15 minutes prior to show time. Parking is available at the First Baptist Church and downtown. It is a short walk on East Main Street to the cemetery from the First Baptist Church lot. A golf cart courtesy shuttle will be available for guests who need it.

Proceeds benefit the Heritage Alliance’s educational programs and initiatives, including ongoing programming in Jonesborough’s historic cemeteries.

Celebrating its seventh season, this edition features new characters. New stories include members of the Panhorst family, John Simpson who owned the Mansion House, Spanish American War veteran William Armstrong and Lucy Stuart who has a secret she’s been keeping.

This program is not suggested for children less than 10 years of age.

Reception for new exhibit at Chuckey Depot Museum

 NOTE: Media is invited to attend the event. Please, RSVP to Nora Davis at norad@jonesboroughtn.org.  

The Chuckey Depot Museum will host a reception for its newest exhibit “The Greatest Good to the Greatest Number: The Railroad in Northeast Tennessee” on Thursday, September 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Jonesborough at 2nd Avenue. This exhibit showcases the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, the first line to come through Jonesborough and Chuckey, and its growth and came to be a part of the Southern Railroad.

The exhibit includes artifacts from the East Tennessee and Virginia line, the East Tennessee and Georgia line, the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia line and the Southern Railway System.

The Chuckey Depot Museum is free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated.

Visit the museum in person on Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum will be closed until September 9 for exhibit changeover and maintenance.

For more information on the exhibit or the Chuckey Depot Museum, visit Jonesborough.com, follow the Chuckey Depot on Facebook or call the Visitors Center at 423.753.1010.