County Firefighters Respond to Grease Fire at DeKalb Market

The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department was summoned to DeKalb Market on Highway 70 west to help extinguish a grease fire Monday afternoon.
County Fire Chief Donny Green told WJLE that a grease fire in the deli forced an evacuation of the building. A customer grabbed a fire extinguisher and attacked the blaze. Chief Green arrived and finished putting out the fire with an extinguisher.
Members of the Main Station and Cookeville Highway Station also responded. Middle Tennessee Natural Gas was called to send a crew to shut off the flow of natural gas to the building.
According to Chief Green, although the fire was contained smoke spread throughout the store. Fans were used to ventilate the building. No one was injured. The store later re-opened.
Members of DeKalb EMS and the Sheriff’s Department were also on the scene.

Ivy Phillips Repeats as Jamboree Fiddling Grand Champion

Ivy Phillips of Chapmansboro, Tennessee has repeated as the Grand Champion Fiddler of the Smithville Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Phillips, who won the title for the first time last year, took home the Berry C. Williams Memorial Award Saturday night after the Grand Finale Fiddle-Off between the best Junior and Senior Fiddler. The two day festival came to a close a few minutes before midnight.
Phillips made it to the fiddle off by winning, for the second year in a row, the Junior Fiddling competition and she won the Grand Championship by beating the winner of the Senior Fiddling contest Tony Haley of Mount Juliet. Phillips also repeated as the winner of the Contest Fiddle competition and the Neil Dudney Award. She received that award from members of Dudney’s family. Dudney is a former long time Coordinator of the Fiddler’s Jamboree.
Phillips is a two time Jamboree fiddling champion of the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners in 2012 and 2013.
Winners in the Saturday session of the Fiddler’s Jamboree are as follows:
Junior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages up to 39): First Place-Chris Stewart of Lebanon; Second Place- Jason Wade of Paris, Tennessee; and Third Place- Hillary Klug of Shelbyville.
Senior Old-Time Appalachian Flatfoot Dance (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Ruth Alpert of Santa Barbara, California; Second Place- Danny Campbell of Murfreesboro; and Third Place- Eileen Stewart of Cumberland City, Tennessee.
Senior Buck Dancing (Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Ruth Alpert of Santa Barbara, California; Second Place Traci Warren of Burns, Tennessee; and Third Place-Tommie Scruggs, Jr. of Hartsville.
Senior Clogging (Ages 40 & Over): First Place-Tammy Scruggs of Gallatin; Second Place- Darrin Stryker of Crossville; and Third Place- Tommy Jackson of Franklin.
Bluegrass Banjo: First Place-Tyler Collins of Allons, Tennessee; Second Place-Trevor Holder of Ringgold, Georgia; and Third Place- Kurt Stephenson of Dyersburg
Junior Fiddlers (Ages 13-39): First Place-Ivy Phillips of Chapmansboro; Second Place- Hillary Klug of Shelbyville; and Third Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville.
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville; Second Place-Ivy Phillips of Chapmansboro; and Third Place-Daniel Amick of Centerville.
Contest Fiddle (Neil Dudney Award): First Place- Ivy Phillips of Chapmansboro; Second Place- Tyler Andal of Nashville; and Third Place- Hillary Klug of Shelbyville. The Neil Dudney Award was presented to Phillips by Dudney’s grandsons Dylan, Ethan, and Brandon Shaw and great grandson Carson Shaw.
Bluegrass Band: First Place- Mountain Cove Bluegrass of Signal Mountain; Second Place- Lonesome Highway of Bumpus Mills, Tennessee; and Third Place-Blue Collar Bluegrass of Sparta.
Senior Fiddlers ( Ages 40 & Over): First Place- Tony Haley of Mount Juliet; Second Place- Marcia Denton of Murfreesboro; and Third Place- Richard Dahl of Logan, New Mexico
Square Dancing: First Place-Harpeth River of Franklin; Second Place- Rhythym N Motion of Cookeville ; and Third Place- Sarah’s Stompers of Dickson.
A Henry, Tennessee girl won the top Jamboree award Saturday as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners.
Iris Shepherd won the coveted James G. “Bobo” Driver Memorial Award, named for the man who started the children’s competition during the 1980’s as part of the annual Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Driver’s son Jimmy Driver and granddaughter Kim Luton presented the award to Shepherd.
Meanwhile Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar was named “Entertainer of the Year”. The award is presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, five string banjo, and flat top guitar competition.
Chunn placed first in the Mandolin and Clogging competition; second in Dobro Guitar and Buck Dancing, and third place in the Fiddle and Flat Top Guitar contests.
(VIEW VIDEO BELOW OF SATURDAY’S SQUARE DANCING WINNER HARPETH RIVER OF FRANKLIN)

The National Championship for Country Musician Beginners showcases the talents of children up to age twelve in seven categories of competition.
(VIEW SEPARATE STORY FOR PHOTOS OF WINNERS)
This year’s winners are as follows:
Fiddle: First Place- Iris Shepherd of Henry, Tennessee; Second Place- Hailey Bryant of Grenbriar; and Third Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar.
Buck Dancing: First Place- Kaelin Wade of Paris, Tennessee; Second Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbrier, and Third Place- Jacob Ferrell of Dickson
Clogging: First Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbrier; Second Place- Arlee Fowlkes of Hurricane Mills, Tennessee; and Third Place- Emily Brown of Hartsville.
Dobro Guitar: First Place- Maddie McKenney of Cullman, Alabama; Second Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar; and Third Place- Darrah Ramsey of Smithville.
Mandolin: First Place-Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar; Second Place-Maddie McKenney of Cullman, Alabama; and Third Place- Kevin Beddingfield of Flag Pond, Tennessee.
Five String Banjo: First Place- Conner Derryberry of Shelbyville; Second Place- Cooper Brown of Smithville; and Third Place- Kevin Beddingfield of Flag Pond, Tennessee
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Robert Wheeler of Smithville; Second Place-Mary Davis of Knoxville; and Third Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar

John Wayne Grandstaff

58 year old John Wayne Grandstaff of Liberty passed away at his residence. He was an employee of Star Manufacturing, a DeKalb County native, and a member of the Cave Springs Missionary Baptist Church. The funeral will be Monday at 3:00 p.m. at the Chapel of Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria. Dennis Young and Wilson Williams will officiate and burial will be in Hillview Cemetery. The pallbearers are Kevin Rhody, Corey Morrow, Chris Chapman, Keith Billings, Tom Sklenka, Danny Chapman, Tyler Bundy, and Daniel Sklenka. Visitation will be Sunday from noon until 8 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. until the service. He was preceded in death by his grandparents; Lizzy, and Hobart Herman; parents, John B. Grandstaff and Mildred Herman; and a brother, Roy Grandstaff. Survivors include his wife, Donna Grandstaff of Liberty. A daughter, Tiffany and Corey Morrow of Liberty. A granddaughter, Lexy Gammons of Liberty. A nephew, Marcus and Diana Grandstaff of Woodbury. Three great nephews and several cousins also survive. Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria is in charge of the arrangements.

Tennessee Mafia Jug Band Receives Jamboree’s “Blue Blaze Award” (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band became the fourth annual recipient of the Fiddlers’ Jamboree’s “Blue Blaze Award” Saturday evening.
Members of the band received the award from Fiddlers’ Jamboree Coordinator Sam Stout and Shan Burklow, who introduced the group. The band then entertained the Jamboree crowd.
The Fiddler’s Jamboree “Blue Blaze Award” is given to a musician or band who is actively cultivating a love of bluegrass music. Previous winners are Darrin Vincent of Dailey and Vincent, Sierra Hull, and Danny Roberts of the Grascals.
The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band includes guitar picker Mike Armistead, banjo player Leroy Troy, fiddler Dan Kelly, Ernie Sykes, Kent Blanton on the bass fiddle, and Dobro player Mike Webb. The overalls-clad band has appeared on the Opry, at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, at The Station Inn and at numerous other venues, playing boisterous songs like “Too Old to Cut the Mustard,” “What a Waste of Good Corn Liquor” and “Slide Them Jugs Down the Mountain.”
This frolicking sixsome brightens up the stage with rib-tickling old time tunes. They not only know the music, they wear the costumes, tell corny jokes, and even do slapstick gags.
Leroy Troy is a regular on the weekly Marty Stuart television show on RFD TV and the entire band is often featured on the show.
(VIEW VIDEO OF THE PERFORMANCE BELOW)
M2U02481 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

Iris Shepherd Crowned Best Beginner Fiddler at Jamboree

A Henry, Tennessee girl won the top Jamboree award Saturday as the best fiddler in the National Championship for Country Musician Beginners.
Iris Shepherd won the coveted James G. “Bobo” Driver Memorial Award, named for the man who started the children’s competition during the 1980’s as part of the annual Fiddler’s Jamboree and Crafts Festival. Driver’s son Jimmy Driver and granddaughter Kim Luton presented the award to Shepherd.
Meanwhile Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar was named “Entertainer of the Year”. The award is presented to the best overall instrumental entertainer among winners in the dobro guitar, mandolin, five string banjo, and flat top guitar competition.
Chunn placed first in the Mandolin and Clogging competition; second in Dobro Guitar and Buck Dancing, and third place in the Fiddle and Flat Top Guitar contests.
The National Championship for Country Musician Beginners showcases the talents of children up to age twelve in seven categories of competition.
This year’s winners are as follows:
Fiddle: First Place- Iris Shepherd of Henry, Tennessee; Second Place- Hailey Bryant of Grenbriar; and Third Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar.
Buck Dancing: First Place- Kaelin Wade of Paris, Tennessee; Second Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbrier, and Third Place- Jacob Ferrell of Dickson
Clogging: First Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbrier; Second Place- Arlee Fowlkes of Hurricane Mills, Tennessee; and Third Place- Emily Brown of Hartsville.
Dobro Guitar: First Place- Maddie McKenney of Cullman, Alabama; Second Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar; and Third Place- Darrah Ramsey of Smithville.
Mandolin: First Place-Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar; Second Place-Maddie McKenney of Cullman, Alabama; and Third Place- Kevin Beddingfield of Flag Pond, Tennessee.
Five String Banjo: First Place- Conner Derryberry of Shelbyville; Second Place- Cooper Brown of Smithville; and Third Place- Kevin Beddingfield of Flag Pond, Tennessee
Flat Top Guitar: First Place- Robert Wheeler of Smithville; Second Place-Mary Davis of Knoxville; and Third Place- Brayden Chunn of Greenbriar
The Fiddler’s Jamboree will conclude later tonight.
Finals are upcoming in the following categories:
*Junior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance (ages up to 39)
*Senior Old Time Appalachian Flatfoot dance ( ages 40 and over)
*Senior Buckdancing (ages 40 and over)
*Senior Clogging (ages 40 and over)
*Bluegrass Banjo
*Junior Fiddlers (ages 13-39)
*Flat Top Guitar
*Contest Fiddle for the Neil Dudney Award
*Bluegrass Band*
*Senior Fiddlers (ages 40 and over)
*Square Dancing (4 Couples-8 Total Dancers).
The winners of the Junior and Senior Fiddling competition will square off for the Grand Champion Award, the Berry C. Williams Memorial Trophy at the conclusion of the festival.
The Jamboree Blue Blaze Award will be presented at 5:00 p.m. to recognize a band that is actively cultivating a love of bluegrass music. This year’s winner is the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band.
WJLE will broadcast the on-stage entertainment LIVE on AM 1480/ FM 101.7 and LIVE streaming at www.wjle.com.
In addition to music and dancing competitions onstage, the Fiddlers Jamboree also features dozens of crafts displayed along the downtown streets, plenty of delicious foods for sale at local food booths, and lots of shade tree picking under trees around the town square.

Indiana Man Wins Fiddler 5K Race (VIEW VIDEO HERE)

An Indiana man was the overall winner of the 19th Annual Fiddler 5K and One-Mile Fun Run Saturday in Smithville.
Sean Edwards of Carmel, Indiana ran the course in 19:27.
Meanwhile Brooklyn Edwards of Carmel, Indiana won the race among females. She ran the course in 19:46
Winners in other categories were:
TOP MALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): Lee Piccirillo of Murfreesboro at 21:21
TOP FEMALE MASTERS (Age 40 and older): Tracy Watson at 22:42
One-Mile Fun Run (age 12 and younger) winners:
TOP MALE: Jon Andrew Bryson of Woodbury at 7:25
TOP FEMALE: Claire Evans of Alamo, Tennessee at 7:42
The 19th Annual Fiddler 5K and One-Mile Fun Run featured 324 participants.
Funds raised will support Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County
To learn more visit www.fiddler5k.com