“Kindred Spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” Patti Yancey took those words, from Anne of Green Gables, to heart in 2010 to launch not just a business but a mission and a movement. When she started Kindred Spirit Style, she began by designing handbags and totes in her home. Her grandkids were involved, making it a family affair. She took her homemade bags to dozens of trade shows across the country. She was happily picturing her future making and selling her unique bags, when in 2013 a lady by the name of June Taylor, owner of Loudean’s, called her. “You need to sell your bags next door to me.” June stated plainly. It wasn’t a suggestion. Patti did just as June said and in 2013 she opened her first brick & mortar in Mid-town on Cooper-Young. She sold her purses along with soap, lip balm, and jewelry. The items were locally made, and Patti was excited to showcase that talent. Local products and items made in the USA have always been and continue to be especially important to Patti. Her time in that location was well spent. June mentored her and was a catalyst to Patti’s success.

In 2014 Patti moved her store to Oakland. It was a small store, but she was determined to fill it with good quality products and give locals a place to shop where they felt welcome. Even if they never bought a single item. In the new store Patti once again featured her bags along with other locally made items, but she also added a small rack of clothing. The purses were her biggest attraction, with organizations such as St. Jude taking notice and purchasing 3000 of her purses for their fund raisers. At one point Patti was employing 20+ seamstresses. Her purses were sold in her store, but also sold wholesale in over 250 other stores across the US. As the years went on Patti continued to grow the store. She added more clothing, shoes, jeans and gift items. Life seemed to be moving along smoothly. Each year new things were added. New lives were touched coming into the store. It was unfolding in ways Patti longed for but could never have dreamt. Then 2020 happened.

Those first few days after the world shut down were upsetting for most and terrifying for business owners. Patti, like others, took a day or two to contemplate her future. Then she called Stephanie, her trusty assistant. They met at the store, did a Facebook live so their customers could shop and started curbside service. They had over 27, 000 people watching their Facebook lives. They began working 18 hour days delivering product curbside, doing Facebook live events and daily shipping hundreds of packages. Marilyn Kain, Stephanie Langston, Joy Smith, Cherie Fowler, Allison Canale and Patti were running the show while each of their families pitched in as well. They knew this was the only way to move forward. And they did. On a nudge from Joy, Patti called the owner of the building on the north side of her store. To her surprise and amazement, the man told her he’d bring her the key that night. Patti and Joy rallied their husbands and some tools and began tearing a hole in the wall to expand the store. The rest is history, you might say.

Today you’ll find twice the space, hundreds of new items changing regularly and many new staff members. Though some things have changed, Patti’s motto has not. “Freedom, Fellowship and Fearless living” is still what you’ll find when you walk through the doors. The soft perfume scent of one of their products brings a feel of home to the store. At Kindred Spirit Style their goal is to make each visit a memorable experience. A friendly face greets you the minute you walk in. Each staff member is knowledgeable and accommodating. Speaking of her employees, she hasn’t had to go find one to hire yet. God has intervened in every instance and each employee has landed on her doorstep in a Mary Poppins-esque way.    

Currently the store hours are Monday-Saturday from 10-6. You can also find Kindred Spirit Style online at www.kindredspiritstyle.com and they have an app as well. If you’re looking for ready-made meals, they’ve got it. Painting parties are a regular and community connecting event. Custom made t-shirts, trending fashion styles in regular and plus sizes, baby clothes, wedding gifts, sauces & seasonings, gifts for the home and men’s clothing are also available at Kindred Spirit Style. With all that Fayette County has available, you should never have to go to Memphis to shop. If you don’t think she has what you’re looking for, ask her, she knows what business does.  She humbly said during our interview, “It’s not about making money. It’s about making a difference.” Another business whose long goal is the betterment of the community. What more could we ask for? Remember, shop local and shop Fayette first!

It seems odd to be writing about the very paper that is publishing the article I’m writing, but what better way to celebrate a business that’s been in operation for 187 years?  The Fayette Falcon has had several names over the years; however, it’s run has been continuous save for a year or two during the Civil War. 39 presidents have come onto the scene and 38 have gone during the Falcon’s tenure. It has been printed a single letter at a time, improving with each new advent of technology including a linotype that used liquid lead! Thankfully technology has continued to improve, so much so that you may not even be reading this paper in hand, but instead reading it on your computer screen with the digital version.

The Fayette Falcon has changed and grown over the years just like the community it sits in. The current location is its third known location. It has drifted across the town square to ultimately end up across from City Hall. When Butch and Carolyn purchased the paper in 2002, they became the 23^rd and 24^th owners. The newspaper industry was nothing new to them, though. Purchasing it was the next logical step because Butch had been in the industry since 1965. He took a small hiatus to serve and defend our country in Vietnam from 1968-1969. He returned home to marry the love of his life, Carolyn, and his job at the Fayette Falcon. Carolyn joined him at the paper in 1995 while the Jones’ still owned it. They ran the paper together from 2002 until Butch passed in 2020. Butch had served the community by dedicating 50 years of his life to the Fayette Falcon. As with all things, there is a time for change and the following year Carolyn decided to move the paper to its current location.

The office is just as you might suspect a newspaper office to be. The scent of paper is on the air when you enter. The quiet of the office is broken only by the click of a mouse or the clatter of keys. Debra works on ads, Randy sets copy, and Carolyn is often busy listening to a recorded meeting while she types the outcome for the current week’s issue. Somewhere in the office lurks a cat who is happy to have been rescued but refuses to show her gratitude. Patches lives the high life of a cat in the publishing industry. In the back of the office, you’ll see this week’s paper being pieced together physically like it was in days gone by. It’s not necessary because the paper hasn’t been pieced together and delivered to the printer since 2004. It’s sent digitally and immediately on Monday mornings. However, Carolyn finds she can deliver a better quality product when she can see the product in real time and in real size. It’s her personal touch that guarantees the reader a great experience.

It’s no small job being the only newspaper in a county of nearly 42,000 people. It’s a big responsibility to report accurately on Commissioner meetings, City Hall meetings for 10 different cities and towns, births, deaths, sporting events and the daily happenings within the county. With a current staff of 3; Carolyn, her son Randy and Debra Joyner, this is an epic task. Sometimes this leaves a gap in the reporting. The Fayette Falcon recognizes this and welcomes reports from all local schools, including Buckley-Carpenter, West Junior High, Fayette Christian School, East Junior High, Rossville Academy, Fayette-Ware High School and Fayette Academy on sports, awards, honors and activities. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes volunteers to recognize and report on those kids in our community.

Community is what brings the newspaper to life. Carolyn is quick to support the community that has supported her and her family all of these years. She doesn’t charge for benefits, obituaries or school information printed in the paper. It’s one of many ways she gives back to the community that continues to purchase its news from her paper. If you aren’t a subscriber to this paper you’re reading right now, you should be. Stop by the office to start a subscription or go online to www.fayttefalcon.com . You can start your subscription there and receive your weekly edition of the paper a day early online.  It’s hard to estimate the impact of community newspaper, but this quote by Michael Connelly makes his thoughts on it clear, “A newspaper is the center of a community, it’s one of the tent poles of the community…”  Remember to shop local and shop Fayette first!  

Written by Karri Buck

~Originally published in the Fayette Falcon July 22, 2024~

Food is often the thread that brings a community together. Gathered around tables conversations occur that are missed in passing on the street. It takes a special location to foster those conversations and by all appearances Steve & Sue Seamon and their daughter Rachel Bing have that location. Located on North Main St. in Somerville, it’s hard to miss the Main St. Eatery sign hanging at an angle, inviting you to come inside. As you step in, a woodsy scent mixed with coffee and something homey (might be biscuits!) fills your senses. The tables are scattered throughout the restaurant in such a way as to dispel an air of pretense. A hearty hello is hollered from somewhere within the restaurant by more than one waitress. On a good day you might even get a hello from the sweetest hostesses you can find, Hazel and Shoshanna Bing, daughters of Rachel & Zach. Pull up a seat at any table and you’ll find you aren’t in a regular restaurant, no, you’re almost home.

8 years ago, Rachel Bing approached her folks, Steve & Sue Seamon, about buying “The Main Street Eatery” operated at that time by Patricia Yager. It was a thriving restaurant and Rachel felt God calling her to open a restaurant for people who needed to be loved. Though her dad had never had interest in owning a restaurant, he knew this was Rachel’s dream so with his support the family went all in. With Rachel’s 7 siblings and her soon-to-be husband, there was no shortage of creative help within the Seamon family. Her husband-to-be, Zach, helped with electrical, her brothers built her one-of-a-kind pallet wall and her sister Grace rounded out the team by photographing the food and providing creative ideas. A breakfast menu was created and within 2 short months of purchase, Main Street Eatery was open for business.

It’s hard to be a café without having that special something that brings people in. Rachel knew what that special something had to be:  filling people both physically and soulfully. Rachel, and her staff are passionate about loving on every patron that comes through the door. This might be the only place a guest sees a smile all day, so the Main Street Eatery staff makes it their goal to be that one smile. Coffee and tea cups are never empty. The food is southern comfort with a twist because it’s all made with real ingredients. It’s farm-fresh whenever possible. Though the restaurant serves some incredible biscuits & gravy and burritos, it’s the specialty pancakes that make breakfast extra memorable. Sue Seamon is the designer of these culinary wonders. Where else can you find Double Delicious Turtle Truffle or Southern Banana Pudding or Stellar Strawberry Cheesecake? These pancakes will most decidedly elevate your breakfast experience! When it’s time for lunch, a wrap, their famous Chicken Salad or a hard-to-pass-up daily special hot plate are worth stopping in for. In a hurry? You can order online or call your order in. Gluten free? They’ve got you covered. The majority of items on their menu have a Gluten Free option, including the mouth-watering pancakes. No matter what, your meal is delivered with a smile and a thank you.

I asked Rachel what it was she wanted people to know the most about Main Street Eatery. She said, “We love the community and appreciate the locals. We are trying to bring love and joy to Fayette County, to be the light in a dark world. It’s our ministry.”  For the last eight years that’s been the goal. Sometimes that means pivoting and selling food curbside hours after the world shut down in 2020. Sometimes walking that out looks like taking an abused woman from drug court under your wing. She came to life in the kitchen, Rachel tells me, she just needed someone to believe in her and offer her love. Sometimes it’s sharing the story of how God met their needs to the dime while they were trying to care for others during Covid. It’s always about doing the best for their customer.

If you’re looking for a family and budget friendly breakfast or place to relax at lunch, Main Street Eatery is where to find that. They are open Monday through Friday from 8-3 and on Saturday from 7-1. They have just begun offering breakfast all day on Friday and Saturday. It’s a great way to start the weekend! You can find them on Facebook and online at www.mseatery.com Remember to shop local and shop Fayette first!

Written By: Karri Buck

If you were born 119 years ago you would have witnessed the first mass produced car, the first antibiotic, two world wars, the assassination of JFK, the first man on the moon, the invention of the internet and two world-wide pandemics to name a few historic events. No one currently alive is able to have witnessed all of these events, but The Bank, which originated as Moscow Savings Bank, has been here through all of this and more. In 1905 seven local businessmen started the first of what have now grown to be 13 branches in John Steger’s General Store in Moscow, TN. In case you’re not from here; you’re to read that town with a long o sound because, as I’ve been educated by the locals, “There is no cow in Moscow.”

Moscow sits in the south-central part of Fayette County. The first public road in Fayette County originated there. It was home to the 1980 Moscow Olympics that started as a way to support our US Olympians and carried on for 10 years. It has also been a part of great tragedy when the Great Moscow fire swept through in 1937 followed by a devastating tornado in 1952. Moscow has shown tremendous resilience in the face of adversity.

A bank is so much more than money and The Bank is set on proving that. For one reason or another many other banks have sold out to corporate banks of different varieties. Not The Bank. They keep their banks local. Local employees, local branches, local involvement. Their main branch is in Piperton and their newest branch is in Henderson.  You can also find branches in Oakland, Somerville, Bolivar, Arlington, Collierville, Grand Junction, Hickory Withe, Mason, Selmer, and Whiteville. The current president is Mr. H. McCall Wilson. He’s been in this role for 23 years. I had the pleasure of visiting with Tonya Lessel, Branch Manager and Beverly Curland, Assistant Branch Manager at the Somerville Branch. When asked about the bank’s dreams for Fayette County, the response was, “To stay community minded.” Biggest success? “Growth but maintaining the small community bank.” I asked what their favorite story was about their bank. I expected an answer like “how we serve the community” and perhaps in a self-promoting way. I couldn’t have been more wrong. These ladies told me stories that make you proud to be from this rural area of Tennessee. There have been times when an elderly patron has come in and something was amiss, but since this is a local bank where everyone knows your name (Cheers was certainly on to something!) the bank staff noticed and were able to alert family members. Or when a customer has the same question, over and over; they take the time to help them understand. No customer at The Bank is just a number. Each one is a valuable person and treated as such. It should be no surprise then, when I asked what makes The Bank different the response was, “Great customer service.” In a world where people are passed over or counted as a metric, The Bank is doing their part to change that. Their motto is “We live here, we work here, we worship here, we serve here.”

If you’re looking to buy a home, a car, land or to invest in a CD or savings account; you can call The Bank’s main branch at 901-854-2265 or visit them online at www.thebank1905.com You’ll find a friendly voice welcoming you from the other end of the line.

This year is the bicentennial of Fayette County. It is the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce’s desire to highlight some of the longest running businesses in Fayette County. In the course of 200 years, being a business of 119 years is something worth celebrating. We hope that you will call or visit The Bank and see how they can help you. Remember to shop local and shop Fayette first!

Editor’s Note* I had the great pleasure of visiting with Mr. McCall Wilson after this article was originally published. Five minutes into our conversation I understood why The Bank is as successful as it is. It’s the leadership. McCall is leading an incredible group of folks with an attitude of humility, generosity and loyalty. He is as passionate about taking care of the young couple buying their first home as he is about helping businesses obtain funding. He recognizes that small town America will only succeed if there is support available that understands what small town America needs. McCall said they don’t do a lot of advertising because their loyalty to their customers and their customers’ loyalty to them spreads by word of mouth better than any advertisement ever will. Each bank branch is involved in their community and that is of the utmost importance. Knowing their customers and their needs is what keeps the bank thriving and in turn, the community. McCall said, “I have the best job in the world. I get to make dreams come true.” What an incredible attitude to have. The Bank is a great example for us all.

Written By Karri Buck

“That’s not normal.” Said the uncouth woman from north of the Mason-Dixon line. As brusque as the words were, they became the catalyst for a new life for Emily Giles and her family. Several years down the road that new life became “A New Life Herbs” which opened on Cotton Festival weekend in 2019.

Emily was in the thick of raising her two daughters, one of whom was perpetually sick. It had become “normal” to them, when a kindhearted, though blunt, woman helped her to see that didn’t have to be normal. She put the beginning tools in Emily’s hands to help her daughter which sparked in Emily a desire to help others in a way she hadn’t before. Herbal medicine is better thought of as Herbal Remedies. No one is trying to compare it to modern medicine. Instead, they seek to remedy the source of the problem at hand rather than cover the symptoms. Emily has studied and researched for many years to have the wealth of knowledge she has. She’ll also be the first to say she’s always learning.

In centuries past herbal remedies were common. With the advent of penicillin many were led to believe herbal remedies were no longer effective. Though penicillin was and is a great invention; there’s no way to overlook the thousands of lives it has saved; it would be equally hard to overlook the difference herbal remedies make. A tincture (a mixture of herbs and either alcohol or glycerin steeped over a period of time) can aid in healing internal and external ailments. Nutrients like turmeric can lessen joint pain. Teas can soothe the throat or strengthen a body after birth. Salves can draw infection out or heal a burn. All the herbs used to make tinctures, teas, salves and syrups are sourced from her garden, wild harvested, or purchased from top-quality herb wholesalers. Emily is glad to answer any questions you might have. When delving into the world of herbal remedies, it can feel like you’re falling fast down a hole. There is much to learn and it’s a blessing to have a guide like her to walk alongside you. She teaches classes regularly on making items such as Fire Cider and Kombucha. She also does an herb walk the 2^nd Saturday of each month where she teaches about the value of what most of us would think are weeds. Her wealth of knowledge is a bright and welcome light.  God made the plants for a reason and Emily is using them for those reasons.

Speaking of God, Emily is set on others knowing Him too. A New Life Herbs is named as such for a couple of reasons. First, in Christ we have new life. Secondly, health through herbal remedies can give you a new life. Third, Emily is driven to give others a new life after poor choices. Though A New Life Herbs began in 2010, mostly at Farmer’s Markets, as a way to help others have their best life through the use of herbs, Emily still felt God calling her to do something more. Through a series of events that can only be explained by Divine intervention; the store was able to open in its current location in 2019. Emily’s desire was for it to be a safe place for people to come to turn their lives around. She wanted it to be a place of community. She says building a relationship with people is important. One of her biggest concerns is the lack of love people often show each other. By another definition, it’s hate. As strong of a word as that is, Emily feels loving our neighbor through community is the way we will overcome that darkness. This isn’t a task she takes lightly. Whether it is helping a new parolee find honest work, assisting a youth with community service hours or just listening to a soul who needs a moment to be loved; she is reaching out to help her community. She hosts two Bible studies each week and currently Calvary Hope Fellowship is having their weekly Bible study (Thursday @6pm) and Church service (Sunday @ 10:30am) inside A New Life Herbs.

The store is a quaint, peaceful, and earthy scented place to relax. You can get a sandwich, a cup of coffee, an herbal latte, a glass of house-made kombucha, a muffin or parfait from the shop. While you wait, you will want to check out the herbal tinctures, salves, teas and remedies that are available. There are books to read with cozy seating and wi-fi available for whatever task is at hand. A New Life Herbs is also growing in the Farm to Table space. All of their eggs, chicken and pork are raised on their farm. Their bread and deli meat are sourced locally from Backerman’s in Whiteville. They also make their coffee syrups and kombucha in-house. There is something to satisfy whatever you’re craving. A New Life Herbs is sure to nourish both the body and the soul.

To learn more about A New Life Herbs, check out the website www.anewlifeherbs.com or stop into the store. Remember to shop local and shop Fayette first!

Written By: Karri Buck