Gallatin Relay for Life raises over $27,000 last Friday

By TIERNEY CAMPBELL
The Gallatin News

Cancer survivors, loved ones of those who lost their battles, friends and members of the community turned out in large numbers for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at the Gallatin Civic Center on Friday.

The relay is the American Cancer Society’s way to raise funds for cancer research, to celebrate the survivors, and to honor those who were lost in a battle with cancer.

The event included a Survivor Dinner, live music and auction, various games and parties, and the Luminaria Ceremony. The Luminaria are personalized dedication bags in honor, memory, or support of a loved one. 

American Cancer Society representative Emily Friedrich explained how the event is set up. She said, “It is a community based event in which teams of friends, family members, churches, anybody and everybody come together and form a team.” The Relay for Life takes place all over the country and in some parts of Europe and Asia.

Log mansion gets $3.8 million makeover after '08 tornado

In February 2008, a tornado took its best shot at leveling one of Tennessee’s largest historic log structures.

Today, Wynnewood, in tiny Castalian Springs, near Gallatin, looks as good as new, and that’s saying something for a 185-year-old National Historic Landmark.

“It’s the largest log structure for its age in the state: 142 feet long and 21 feet wide,” said site director Rick Hendrix. “Some of the logs are 32-feet long with 14-inch faces in places. Majestic is the best word to describe the log mansion, but you’re going to have to come and see for yourself to grasp the grandeur of the place.”

The first section of the structure was built in 1828 with the two other pens added on over the next 10 years. Most of the logs are white oak, while the downstairs floors were laid with ash planks and the upstairs floors with poplar. The house, which features a wide breezeway and a 110-foot gallery on the back, also boasts handsome cut limestone chimneys and fireplaces.

Hendrix, a Gallatin High School alumni with a background in nursing and rehabilitation, has lived in Castalian Springs since he was 6 months old. His first memories of Wynnewood go back to a 4^th of July celebration in 1975. During the 1980s, he served as a part-time tour guide and on the board of directors.

“I’ve always been into history. I started collecting antiques and coins when I was 5 years old,” he said.

Hendrix has been site director since the 2008 twister devastated the structure and the Castalian Springs community. The tornado shuttered Wynnewood for four years. It reopened last July 4, but is now into its first full season since the storm.

Tony Carter celebrates his 26th year involved in Gallatin Little League

By TIERNEY CAMPBELL
The Gallatin News

Baseball has been a child’s favorite pastime for many years and Coach Tony Carter, or TC, has been a vital part of making the Little League in Gallatin so memorable.

Carter, who is now the President of the American Legion Little League, began coaching in 1988. Over the years, he has been the assistant coach, head coach, umpire, and then became the president last year, however he still umpires some of the tee-ball games.

Carter played in the Babe Ruth League, which used to be the older division of Little League, when he was 13, 14 and 15-years-old. He was a star pitcher for the Babe Ruth team and wanted to continue playing. He then became a member of the first baseball team at Gallatin High School.

“I was a sophomore, and I was the scorekeeper, but I was on the team,” he said smiling.

Carter also played as a quarterback for the Gallatin High School football team and was the last class to graduate from the old Gallatin High School.

Carter started coaching kids’ football first. He said, “I was working on a job with a guy in Gallatin. His son played football and he asked if I wanted to help coach the football team, and I said yes. That was in ’88. He switched to baseball in the spring and asked if I wanted to help him and I have been here ever since.”

Organic Fitness Factory provides Gallatin residents an eco-friendly group fitness facility

Group fitness guru Laura Trantum achieved her life-long dream of being a business owner, and is also trying to make sure that business has little effect on the environment, but a major effect on local residents who look to the Organic Fitness Factory as a way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Trantum opened Organic Fitness Factory in Gallatin on Nov. 1, 2012. The facility caters to those who love to participate in group fitness classes, such as Zumba or Piloxing, and provides these fitness classes six days a week.

Trantum is no newbie when it comes to the fitness world. Her mother owns a gym, Sports Village, in Lebanon and Trantum had been working at that gym for some time, but she wanted to branch out on her own.

“I wanted to do something different. I wanted to find a niche. I wanted something that I enjoy too, and I love to come to work,” said Trantum.

“I was born into it. My mom has owned a gym since I was a little kid so I grew up with it. Honestly this is what I know best. I have always loved it. I was a cheerleader and a dancer, so this, my business, falls into that category of the dancing type stuff,” Trantum noted.

Trantum said she started teaching classes five years ago and began obtaining certifications in different methods of teaching fitness. She soon had three or four certifications and found a love for the classes and the participants she instructs.