Proud to Be from Middle Tennessee

Proud

to Be from

Middle Tennessee

Proud

to Be from

Middle Tennessee

by the

Winners of the Nashville Write-Off

Rutledge Hill Press®

Nashville,Tennessee

Copyright © by Rutledge Hill Press®

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews and articles.

Published by Rutledge Hill Press®, Inc., 211 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee 37219.

Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn & Company, Ltd., 34 Nixon Road, Bolton, Ontario L7E 1W2.

Typography by D&T/Bailey Typesetting, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee

Design by Bateman Design

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Proud to be from Middle Tennessee / by the winners of the Nashville write-off.

        p. cm.

      ISBN 1-55853-580-2

    1. Tennessee, Middle—Social life and customs. 2. Children—Tennessee, Middle— Social life and customs. 3. Children’s writings, American—Tennessee, Middle.

    F442.2.P76 1998

    976.8—dc21

98-4917

CIP

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9—02 01 00 99 98

Contents

Preface

Part One

Young Writers

Ages 6 to 11

Part Two

Young Writers

Ages 12 to 18

Preface

The Nashville Scene created Calling All Kids . . . The Nashville Write-Off in 1996 as a way to inspire young writers. This year, the weekly paper asked its budding authors to address the following topic: My Favorite Things to Do in Middle Tennessee.

Entry forms were run in the Scene over several weeks, and were also distributed at various malls, pizza joints, and at least one optometrist’s office. Soon, essays were flooding our offices. After a panel of judges was convened to review the works, one grand prize winner was selected from each age category (ages 6–12, and 13–18), and a number of honorable mentions were selected as well.

The winners were announced at the Southern Festival of Books, and they were awarded cash prizes. The winners were also assured of having their work published. This book, in fact, is a compliation of the winning works.

The Nashville Scene would like to thank Rutledge Hill Press®, which is publishing this book. More importantly, we would like to thank all of the young people who sent us their essays. Whether they won a prize or not, they tgook the time to pull out a pen and paper and begin the ardous task of creating a written work. They learned it isn’t glamorous. They learned it sometimes isn’t fun. But, as well, they most assuredly learned its rewards.

Part One

Young Writers

Ages 6 to 11

*First Place Winner*

Ages 8 to 11

A Night at the Ballpark

It all started after we had just finished a large lunch of leftover pizza when my dad came home from work. He wanted to take my five-year-old brother and me to a Nashville Sounds baseball game. I hadn’t been to one in a while, but it’s my favorite thing to do in all of Tennessee, so I was pretty excited. At 7:00 P.M. sharp my brother, my dad, and I jumped in the car and hit the road. I brought my mitt along just in case a foul ball came our way.

After a half hour drive we got there. At the entrance a man gave me a blue colored hat with the Sounds’ logo on the top. We found our seats, and before the first batter was up Dad said I could get a hot dog. He got my brother one, too. Before I knew it, it was the third inning and there was still no score. The next Sounds batter to come up knocked a home run out of the park. The crowd went wild. Then I looked up and saw three gigantic fireworks that lit up the sky in purple, red, and green. My brother did not like all the noise and plugged up his ears. In the fifth inning the score was 1–1. Suddenly I heard a loud crack. I saw the ball soaring over the crowd. For a moment it disappeared into the dark night sky. Then it landed in the empty seats above us and bounced back into the air. I ran to the spot where I thought it would land. I reached out, hoping it would plop down right in the middle of my mitt, and that’s exactly what happened. I put the ball in my other hand and yelled for joy.

Then we figured it was a good time to get some ice cream. When I got to the ice cream stand, there was a line, so we waited a few minutes. Finally when everyone in front of us had gone I looked up at the menu, even though I always get the same ice cream flavor— cookies and cream. My dad paid the woman behind the counter, and she gave me a small plastic baseball cap with the ice cream inside. After I finished, my father said my brother was getting tired and we had better get going. He carried him to the car. I got in and I slumped down for the ride. Dad turned the radio on so I could catch the end of the game. At home I listened to the chirping of the summer crickets and fell asleep dreaming about the fun I had at the ballpark.

Kevin Seitz, age 9

For more than twenty seasons the Sounds have played minor-league baseball in Nashville. Since 1998, the Sounds have been affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

My Favorite Things to Do in Middle Tennessee

The main reason I like Middle Tennessee is Governor’s Square Mall. There I can go shopping at Claire’s, the Sound Shop, the Candy Shoppe, Pass Pets, Goody’s, Dillards, Kaybee Toys, and other stores.

Every Labor Day weekend, I like to go to the Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville with my family. It is a lot of fun. I also like to help out at my grandmother’s restaurant. Every summer I spend one week in Kingston Springs with my other grandmother, and we go shopping in Dickson. One of my very best friends lives right next door to me. I go play with her a lot. So I guess you could say I like Middle Tennessee because that’s where my family and friends live.

We have lots of fun places to visit such as Opryland, U.S.A. We have season passes so we can go any time we want. I had my birthday party there once. We also have nice rivers and lakes to swim or fish in. We can drive to the Smoky Mountains in just a few hours from my house. The weather is nice, and we have snow in the winter and nice long hot days in the summer. There is beautiful farmland near my house and big cities like Nashville very close by, so there is something for everyone here in Middle Tennessee.

I have visited other places and thought they were nice, but Middle Tennessee is the place I always want to be.

Lauren Street, age 10

My Favorite Things to Do in Middle Tennessee

My favorite things to do in Middle Tennessee are play football, kickball, and soccer. I like these sports because they are fun, and they are challenging physically and mentally. I also like to camp, hike, swim, and fish. I like to do these things because it’s a way you can enjoy nature.

There are so many things you can do in Middle Tennessee because it has many large buildings, and Middle Tennessee has just the right places to do these things. Tennessee resources are trees, water, and other plants. Tennessee has many places where you can do all these things. There are even more fun things to do in Middle Tennessee such as bike riding, Frisbee, and baseball.

Cameron Brandenburg, age 9½

My Favorite Things to Do in Middle Tennessee

In Middle Tennessee I like to do a lot of things. I think that the Nashville Zoo is really fun. One time when my family went there, my little sister’s hat blew into a pond. My dad had to jump over the fence and get it out of the water. That was really funny, but I like the zoo for a different reason: there are a lot of animals made to live comfortably, where humans can research them, so we can learn to live with them. Here are some other highlights of Middle Tennessee.

I like to watch sports and watch the Sounds play. I don’t know if you could call dancing a sport, but that’s what I do. This summer, I took a pre-pointe class, so that in the fall I can take pointe. Boy, that pre-pointe class is hard. You feel like your legs are going to fall off after thirty minutes of class. Your legs are all the way off after the next thirty minutes. Thank goodness it only lasts an hour.

This past summer, I went to a five-day academy at Belle Meade Plantation. The academy started at 9:00 A.M. and ended at 12:00 P.M. We worked with quill pens, needlepoint, charcoal drawings, and paper filigree. We also made a découpage (a collage with shellac over it) and a shell frame. Working with quill pens is