Marcee and Greg Mathews, owners of MGM Lavender Farm, have just returned from another wildly successful Oak Ridge Lavender Festival. It is the same festival that inspired the Halls couple’s business in 2016.
“It was hectic,” said Marcee Mathews, who started MGM Lavender Farm with her husband in 2017. “Our first year as a vendor was in 2019 and Greg and I worked a single booth. We were swamped and sold out a couple of hours before it was over.”
The Lavender Festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 by the pandemic but returned to Oak Ridge this year with extended hours on June 18. “We doubled our booth size and employed people to help us, but we still only had one break,” Greg said.
MGM Lavender Farm harvests, bundles and then hangs their lavender up to dry. The lavender is sold by the bunch or used to make their goat’s milk soap, linen spray, beard balm, skin salve, bath salts and to fill eye pillows. Recently they added soy candles to their inventory, and they are dabbling with pet products.
The couple has found success at major festivals, such as the Dogwood Arts House & Garden Show and the Farmhouse Living Fair in Lebanon, Tennessee.
The best-selling products vary all the time. “At one event every person will come by and get linen spray, at another event they won’t touch it,” Greg said. Bundles of lavender are a constant favorite at festivals, and typically the soy candles are a big seller.
“We are trying to take care of the guys with the beard balm,” he said.
“Mostly women like the scent, but guys buy the soap, too.”
MGM Lavender started with 200 plants, slowly expanding to 500 plants since then. “We are deciding how much bigger we want to grow,” Greg said. “We will probably hold at that.”
The overwhelming majority of their lavender is Phenomenal Lavender, a French hybrid lavender known for its cold hardiness, tolerance to moisture and beautiful purple flowers.
“We had to do a lot of soil amendment,” Greg said. “The mistake we made early on was that we planted it too close. Marcee likes it more filled in, but it needs to be given breathing room. It needs air circulation.”
Culinary uses for lavender have become increasingly popular in cookies, cupcakes, coffee, and simple syrup. “Copper Cellar purchased some lavender buds to make lavender lemonade for a catering event,” Marcee said. “We haven’t done the culinary as much.”
MGM Lavender is still experimenting with lavender as a natural insect repellent. “The pet spritzer is good for two things, one as a calming agent with anxiety – we have a friend who has a Pyrenees-Labrador mix who uses it during thunderstorms,” Marcee said. “And another is for use between baths.”
The couple may introduce bandanas with a sachet of lavender integrated into them for dogs, according to Marcee, who noticed lots of dogs at the lavender festival.
In June and July the farm is popular with photographers. “Last year a photographer made an appointment for a bride and groom wedding shoot,” Marcee said. The Mathews have been in demand with garden and painting clubs, too.
Growing and harvesting the lavender, making products and hosting photo shoots keep the couple busy for much of the year.
“We still work full time; this is our evening job,” Marcee said. “Primarily June is our busiest time; the flowers come in for about two weeks and we have to harvest them before the majority bloom. We have a very narrow window of cutting them, then we leave four rows to bloom out for the photographers and the bees.
Many of the dried lavender bundles go to the Oak Ridge Lavender Festival, and what is left we use for different things throughout the year. We make products as we need them.”
Marcee Mathews’ 10-year-old granddaughter, Laney, is interested in sewing and helps make the sachets and eye masks, as well as putting labels on the sprays and candles.
The MGM Lavender Farm website is still under development. The majority of orders are placed via the Facebook page @mgmlavenderfarm2017 or email at mgmlavenderfarm@gmail.com.
“We ship all over, we just shipped to Florida, California and Washington state,” Marcee said.
Local boutiques in Knoxville and Asheville have approached MGM Lavender Farm to sell their products. “We have been approved to sell our products in all of the state parks,” Greg added.
It was a beautiful day for a slime battle at Concord United Methodist Church on June 22. About 30 teenagers gathered on the front lawn with a giant ball and gallons upon gallons of slime in various colors.
It took only minutes for everyone, leadership included, to be covered in slime. A giant tarp made an excellent Slip-N-Slide.
“It was supposed to be Jell-O, but slime was a couple hundred dollars cheaper, so I got slime instead. It works great and it’s very slippery,” said Director of Student Ministry Daniel Doubleday.
It all started when Doubleday was an intern at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and the youth had Jell-O night using real Jell-O. Each youth had to bring a gallon of Jell-O. The event drew nearly 400 kids.
“When I became a youth director myself, I continued Jell-O night. We’ll have paint night and water night, too. We’ve even had flour night. Just anything they can throw at each other is fun.”
The event drew several new kids to the program.
“About a third of the kids here tonight we haven’t seen before, so this is a really good way to bring in new kids to a fun program. We really do have fun here. I mean how often do you get to throw slime at adults and not get into trouble?”
The kids, covered in slime, would gather around a rather clean, unsuspecting victim and hug them, covering them with slime.
Leadership was a particularly attractive target. Youth Leader Jennifer Julius took it all in good humor. She was covered in slime the moment she stepped onto the tarp, as was Doubleday, who tried to maintain some semblance of order with games using a giant beach ball.
Student Ministry Assistant Becca Means was victim to a teenager who poured a bucket of slime over her head.
The Student Ministry is a busy program at the church. Each activity is preceded by Bible study, often student-led.
Next on the calendar for the youth is Games and Grilling 6:30-8 p.m. July 6, then it’s off to Carowinds Theme Park on July 8 and 9.
Vacation Bible School “Mosaic” is July 11-14.
Concord United Methodist Church is at 11020 Roane Drive, Farragut. 865-966-6728.
Liz Hicks used to teach students how to write the ABCs, but now she is focusing on Tees and prints in the realm of women’s clothing.
The former New Zealand resident recently moved to Knoxville with her husband, Justin, after he took a position here in the IT business development and consultant field, and she decided to change jobs, too.
After doing some online searching for franchising opportunities, she has opened an Apricot Lane Boutique for women in Western Plaza next to Hard Knox Pizza and near the Fresh Market.
Like her “down-under” accent, she hopes it is a store that is both unique and appealing to Knoxville area shoppers.
“It’s a women’s fashion boutique with clothing available to all women,” she said. “It has a variety of styles. It is a fashion destination that believes every woman is beautiful.”
As part of the Apricot Lane style, which does encourage individual store owners to select their own styles and clothes to sell, she considers it a store that should appeal to various ages, including both mothers and daughters. And she said she is offering a variety of outfits as well, whether for a casual event or something more formal.
“We will have updated stock lines,” she said, adding that the prices are medium range.
Customer service will also be a focus, she said, adding that she plans to be a hands-on owner and has also hired and trained three women to help. “You are not going to be shopping, you will be styled,” she said confidently.
For Hicks, selling clothing has been a longtime aspiration. After she graduated from high school, she dreamed of getting into a career in textiles. However, her parents took a different approach. “My parents said teaching is a good career,” she recalled with a laugh.
So she taught elementary school, or primary school as it is called in New Zealand, for more than 20 years. But when they moved to the United States about four months ago and she and their two children followed her husband, she realized the time was right to follow her real dream, too.
She said Apricot Lane Boutique, which started as a retail gift shop chain in California in 1991 but began selling women’s clothing under the Apricot Lane name in 2007, proved to be a good business match after she sought the firm out.
“The franchise company helped us find the best location,” she said. “And they are a supportive franchise while letting me show my flair and personal choice.”
She had a ribbon cutting and soft opening of the store on June 23 but plans to have a formal opening on July 16 featuring $200 shopping sprees. Also, the first 50 women in the store will get a swag bag of goodies.
Hicks added that she is excited to be in Knoxville. While she does miss some of her girlfriends in New Zealand, she is looking forward to examining more of the countryside, lakes and mountains of East Tennessee with her family after the busyness of getting the store open.
And so far, she likes the view of her clothing boutique as an owner, too.
“At our boutique, you will feel welcome and beautiful,” she said.
Poteet Heat and Air in Karns is a mom-and-pop shop owned by Leo Poteet and his wife, Lori. Leo keeps his crew of five, including his son Paxton Poteet, on their toes constantly learning, with morning lessons and field experience. Lori keeps the whole operation running smoothly.
With 27 years of experience, Leo has a few tips on how to beat the heat.
“First and foremost, have your unit inspected and cleaned every spring. The units we work on during a heat wave are by far those that haven’t received service.
“Draw your blinds and drapes. Especially if you don’t have double pane windows.
“Replace your filter as needed. Some houses are dustier than others so you may have to replace it once a month while others can go longer.
“Remember that you only get a 20-degree split from the temperature outside to the temperature inside. The unit can’t maintain 68 degrees when it’s 105 degrees outside. Set your thermostat a little higher.”
Leo said he runs his shop a little differently than most of the big boys. He believes in service first.
“A lot of times a larger company will want to sell you a new unit, or they replace one part after another until they finally find the problem. We diagnose the system right the first time. Let’s figure out what’s going on for the customer so they pay for one repair.”
Lori interjects, saying Leo is honest to a fault.
“Leo is extremely honest,” said Lori. “We came from Florida, and we didn’t have all the ties to business and people like native Knoxvillians have. We had to build from the ground up. The reason we’ve done so well is that Leo is extremely honest. He doesn’t try to push a new unit on you if that's not what you need.”
“My boys are all new except Paxton, who’s been working with me since he was 14, but they’re well-trained service technicians,” said Leo.
“When the pandemic hit, we lost most of our crew. I called Tennessee Tech and hired two technicians from there. Then I hired two others who bootstrapped their way along …like I did,” he said.
“We have a great team now,” Lori said. “This is the best team we’ve had in nine years. They aren’t overly competitive with each other, they’re here on time every day, and there’s no drama. They are serious about their work.”
Leo and Lori moved to Oak Ridge from Florida with a brief stint in Kentucky. Paxton wanted to play football so Leo signed him up in Karns.
“During the course of football season, Lori fell in love with Karns and the people here,” Leo said. “We would go looking for houses after every game. Finally we found this place 11 years ago and now we’re home.
“Our goal is to give back to the community and give the glory to God.”
Consistency is the key to the successful pizza dough flip.
Spin and toss, all in the same motion — and hope like heck that it doesn’t end up on the floor.
That’s one of the lessons Amanda Jablonski and her partner Brandon Chancey have learned as they prepare to give Pizza Hoss in Powell a new life.
A staple in the Powell community for a decade, it was facing staffing shortages and other issues when Justin Holmes was convinced it was time to shut down the 2,400-square-foot facility and concentrate on his Karns location that was nearly twice the size.
It pained Holmes because it was the “baby” that he and his wife, Sarah, started together.
When Sarah died in 2018, even walking through the door was tough for Holmes.
Then came Chancey, who went to high school with Sarah at Farragut, and his partner Jablonski, to take on the challenge to bring the Powell location (7215 Clinton Highway) back to life.
“Justin and Sarah put so much into this,” Jablonski said. “It was hard for him to go in the door after Sarah passed away. He put so much sweat equity into making it a success.”
Chancey has over two decades of management experience in the food service industry. Jablonski has a resume that includes 15 years. While juggling their toddler, she also does catering work. She had been a bartender at the Karns location before taking ownership.
Jablonski said Holmes won’t be totally out of the picture. The menu and the recipes will remain the same. He will be on hand for advice.
“Justin has been so supportive through all this,” Jablonski said. “The transition has been smooth.”
Except for the pizza dough tossing. She said she has landed her flip on the floor a time or two. But, her expertise will likely be in the front of the house while Chancey will handle the back of the house.
“We’ve both got our niche,” she said. “That’s why we work so well together.”
Jablonski has had the challenge of putting together a cohesive staff, which is difficult these days.
“Justin had a well-oiled machine at Karns,” Jablonski said. “There was a culture. The staff cared for each other. If you needed someone to cover for you, no big deal. It was a family-oriented group.”
With an early-June opening, Chancey and Jablonski recognize what’s ahead. The first couple months are likely to be slow, since vacations will get customers out of their routine.
However, she’s hoping that will be the training period to be ready for football season — which is big in this part of the world.
With 10 televisions and a new configuration of tables and booths, Chancey and Jablonski will hope to maximize the sports-viewing experience.
“We’ll follow Justin’s example by getting involved in the community,” Jablonski said.
“This community will get behind the small businesses. There’s a great support system already in place.
“Justin has been here so long that there are big shoes to fill. That only happens if we’re able to get the community behind us.”
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Youth was served on the Webb School girls’ track team this spring, as two young competitors won a combined three individual events at the state track meet late last month. Two others also placed high and helped a relay team win a title.
In fact, the youngsters were a main factor in driving the team to a fourth-place overall finish in Division II-AA on May 25 behind winner Nashville Harpeth Hall, even though some of them are not old enough to drive a car.
“I was amazed at how the kids grew and competed and also performed at the state,” said Webb head coach Jerome Romain. “A lot of kids were new to track, but they got to see what it takes to compete at that level.”
Leading the youthful way with two individual state titles was ninth-grader Lennox Langham, who won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 5.25 inches and the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet, 08.5 inches.
Not to be outdone in age or accomplishment, eighth-grader Jazzlyn Garmer won the 3,200-meter run in a time of 11 minutes, 10.08 seconds – nearly 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up. She also teamed up with identical twin sister Calysta, sophomore Anna Graves and senior Lawson Phillips to win the 4-by-800 relay in a time of 9:36.2.
Calysta also finished third in the 1,600 individual race, and Graves came in fifth.
Romain — a former University of Arkansas jumper who competed in the triple jump in the 1996 Olympics for Dominica and has also coached at Brown and Tennessee — said Langham has triple jumped more than 39 feet and has limitless potential.
“She is a very talented young lady,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing her develop.”
This summer, her main jumping has been on a volleyball court on a travel team, and she has also played volleyball for longer, he said.
Last spring in the smaller Class A meet as an eighth-grader, she also won both jumping events, even though she just joined the varsity team in time for the postseason after competing in middle school competition.
Just as impressive have been the Garmer sisters. Romain also thinks they have the physical and intangible tools to continue to get better.
“They are definitely hard workers. They are very talented, but they put in the work,” he said. “And thy have a good range, from the 400 to the 3,200.”
When the twins were reached over the phone, Jazzlyn called her 3,200 a crazy race, in that she thought it was going to be postponed due to rain but wasn’t and she had to rush to the starting line. Calysta, meanwhile, said her 1,600 race ended up being a tactical one, and the runners were all moving more slowly the first couple of laps or so than she normally would have.
But they were pleased with their results. “It was really exciting,” Jazzlyn said. “It was really a tough race.”
The girls said they used to play soccer but started running in about the fifth grade. When not at a school or club workout, they run together, they said.
Regarding who the better runner is, each one jokingly said she is better than her sister, even though Calysta focuses generally on shorter distances than Jazzlyn.
“Both of us think to ourselves that we are the better runner,” said Calysta, adding they might do a little trash talking with each other before a meet. “I think I can beat her, and she thinks she can beat me.”
This was Webb’s first year to compete in the larger Division II classification, but Romain feels confident they can continue to compete with the big girls, just like they did this year with some younger ones like the Garmers and Langham.
“That spells really well for us in the future,” he said. “We are a couple of sprinters away from competing for a state championship.”
Carol Z. Shane, Shopper News
On July 9, former UT defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. will honor a true hero when he hosts the first (of what is hoped will be annual) “Camp 24” Football Camp, named for the number Zaevion Dobson wore when he played for Fulton High School.
Dobson, a 15-year-old sophomore, was killed Dec. 17, 2015, after shielding two classmates from random gunfire while they sat on a front porch in Lonsdale.
Kelly, who played for UT from 2014-2018, changed his own jersey from No. 6 to No. 24 to honor Dobson. And now he’s taking it a step further by presenting a one-day football camp, with proceeds going to the Zaevion Dobson Memorial Foundation and Emerald Youth Foundation.
The camp will consist of drills, stations and competitions to improve each player’s technique and skill set.
“We have a holistic perspective as well as an individual one; each kid is going to have somebody to work with,” says Kelly. “They’ll get individual feedback that they can take home and work on.”
A meet-and-greet session will be held with current Tennessee athletes — “preseason all-SEC-caliber Tennessee football players” — throughout the camp. Food trucks will be onsite after the event.
Kelly’s father, Todd Kelly Sr., was a linebacker/defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals. Eventually relocating from Ohio back to his mom’s hometown of Knoxville when he was 3, Kelly Jr. and his family rarely missed a home game at Neyland Stadium.
“Looking from all the way in the sky at all the Vol football players, I always dreamed of being one of the eleven. The fact that it came to fruition is pretty amazing for me,” Kelly said. The talented athlete played for Webb High School and was recruited by many colleges, but chose UT.
His mom is an alumnus of Fulton and his cousin Trey Davis played basketball there; Kelly went to football games, too, and saw Dobson in action. “He was a skill position player. He moved all around. He was an athlete, so anywhere you put him he’s going to make a play for you.” He also remembers Zaevion’s mom, Zenobia, wearing her son’s No. 24 to games.
Kelly wore the No. 6 throughout his high school career on into college. But after Dobson’s death, he changed his jersey to 24. “As much as six was important to me I knew that 24 would take on his own image, and would honor his family and his legacy for all.” His cousin felt the same and changed his basketball jersey number to 24.
Now “Camp 24” carries on the tradition.
“I send my greatest encouragement and appreciation to Todd for hosting ‘Camp 24,’” says Zenobia Dobson, president of the Zaevion Dobson Memorial Foundation. “I am Zaevion’s voice and am committed to making his aspirations into achievements, and Todd is a contributor to these goals. His goodness and dedication will support many children in our community.”
Sanford Miller, Emerald Youth Director of Sports Ministry, agrees. “We are thrilled; Todd is a longtime friend of Emerald, and we appreciate his support of our city’s young people. As a child, Zaevion was a member of Emerald Youth’s swim team, so it’s especially meaningful.”
Sponsors for “Camp 24” are D1 Sports Training; The Trust Company of Tennessee; Rice Buick GMC; Prince Technologies; Gambuzza’s Barber Shop; Tim Burchett; Kennedy Concepts; Ephant Group; Avalon Golf & Country Club; Southland Realtors/Breanne Grubb; Kappa Alpha Psi Mu Rho Chapter — Fall ’17; Shafer Insurance/Stanton Oster; and Smoothie King.
Kelly, who’s enjoying his first year as a wealth management associate for The Trust Company of Tennessee’s office in Knoxville, hopes the kids will come running. “I want to give back to my community and help young football players realize their dreams.”
The “Camp 24” Football Camp will be 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, July 9 at the Sansom Sports Complex, 234 Dale Ave. It is open to ages 7-14 for a camp fee of $60. Registration is available online via Eventbrite.com.
While working as activities director at an assisted living facility in Powell for a couple years, Michele Krohn recognized some needs that weren’t being met.
She has allowed herself to think out of the box to come up with what will be some options in which the right seniors might be interested.
With a group of active seniors at the facility (from 2016-18), Krohn used to deliver Meals On Wheels to other seniors in the community.
“There are a lot of seniors who are home alone,” Krohn said. “They have little or no human interaction. That’s bound to have a negative impact on a person’s well-being.”
However, those same lonely folks bristle at the suggestion that they move into an independent living facility. It's important for them to be in a “home” environment.
That’s where Krohn comes in trying to bridge that gap. A year ago she moved from Norris to a four-bedroom home in Powell (723 Bryant Terrace), with a plan of filling three of the bedrooms with seniors interested in a peaceful home setting.
She’s calling it Serenity Place.
Krohn’s family moved a lot when she was young. The stability in her life came from both sets of grandparents, who lived in New Mexico.
“I was very close to all my grandparents,” the 52-year-old Krohn said. “That might be a big reason why I enjoy working with seniors so much now.
“I loved my job at (the assisted living facility). We had groups out and about all the time. There were just so many corporate things that limited my time with the seniors. I was spread very thin.”
When Krohn left that job, she became an individual caregiver for five main senior clients. There were others she worked with occasionally.
All the while that she was interacting with her clients, she would hear wishes that there was an opportunity to stay in a home that provided independent living, but with others around and someone who could help with some of the basic needs.
Krohn felt she might be taking a novel approach to senior living.
The big-picture vision of Serenity Place has been launched. Krohn has gone through the basics of what her business offers, but so much of the overall plan will be tailored to the needs of her clients.
She said she will provide two meals a day, depending on the client’s preference. She will provide transportation when necessary, housekeeping and laundry. Krohn said there will be daily activities planned along with evening outings.
“I plan to be here 24/7,” Krohn said of her commitment. “I want to be able to give personal one-on-one care.
“There’s a need out there for what I’m doing. I just need to reach the people who need it; the ones that don’t want to be alone. I know they’re out there. This isn’t something I’ve taken lightly. This is a chance for them to become my family.”
Krohn said the cost of Serenity Place varies depending on the level of care. For more information, email serenityplace.home@gmail.com, call 865-255-4848, or go to the Serenity Place Facebook page.
I used to say there are two kinds of people in this world, “house people” and “car people.”
I’m pretty sure that statement isn’t true, but I was trying to make a point. Some people value their cars more than their living space. They long for a faster, sleeker vehicle to add some punch to their road trips. Others want a lovely home to make them feel more grounded. For those folks, a car is just a way to get from point A to point B.
Based on that not-so-scientific analysis, I‘m a house person. My home is the place where I feel the most at peace.
I like to sit on my back deck and look out at the canopy of trees. I like to watch the birds at the window feeder and the chipmunks tunnel in the pine straw. I need to feel connected to nature, even in my living room. My house, nestled in the woods, feels like a piece of me, and when I’m home, I feel comfortable and happy.
That’s why it seems so strange that I didn’t see it clearly. As the years passed, I stopped noticing all the little things the house needed.
I stopped noticing the coffee stains on the carpet and the broken shelf in the refrigerator. I stopped seeing the leaky faucet in the kitchen and the warped curtain rod in the living room. I didn’t see the broken walkway lights in the back yard or the smeared paint on the picture wall running along our front staircase. I couldn’t see all the problems in my house because I see them every day. And then I couldn’t see them at all.
But a funny thing happened on the way to throwing my husband a 60th birthday party. The RSVPs started rolling in and I started counting. Fourteen people were going to be staying at my house over one very festive weekend. And just like that, I could see again. I could see my house and all its flaws. It was a miracle. Sort of.
With my vision restored, I made a list of all the things that needed to be repaired. It was a long, scary list. I pictured hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. I thought I would be headed for one of those I-have-something-to-tell-you conversations with my husband.
I showed the list to my handyman brother-in-law to get his opinion. He looked at it, and to my surprise said, “If you order the parts, I can take care of most of this in a day.” I didn’t believe him, but it turns out, I was wrong.
In just a few hours almost everything on my scary list was repaired or replaced, and I didn’t have to break the bank to do it. Now I’m kicking myself. Why did I live with a leaky faucet for so long? Why did we keep broken walkway lights and a broken refrigerator shelf? How could a “house person” neglect the object of her affection?
I was blind to the needs of my house, but now I see. And I vow to do a better job tackling house projects as they arise, instead of waiting. Because once I live with a problem for a while, I stop seeing it.
And just to be sure I stick with the plan, I’m going to host my husband’s 70th birthday party, too. Maybe I’ll throw in an anniversary party for good measure. Because, as the house person discovered, nothing cures house-blindness like throwing a party.
Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.
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