By MARGARET HOBBS / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Tim Hitchcock with Day Lily Nursery, shows one of his plants to McMinnville Garden Club members, from left, Martha Gillespie, Diane Martin, Helen Elkins, Peggy McColloch, Mary Jo Boyd, Melba Hale and Judy Worthington. (Photo provided) The McMinnville Garden Club is celebrating 78 years of…

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard Brooklynn Moats celebrates as she hits a basket at the basketball throw, one of the many games at the Dibrell Back-to-School Festival. Braving threatening skies, Dibrell Elementary welcomed hundreds of students and their families to their annual Back-to-School Festival Saturday.“We enjoy having events like this…

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard C.J. Rogers enjoys a delicious, but a little bit messy, funnel cake from the Leadership Warren food booth. (Margaret Hobbs and Charles W. Johnson photos) It was a little like a drive-in movie, but without the cars, as another successful Leadership Warren Back-to-School Movie…

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer has been openly optimistic about the third-ranked Volunteers, and on Tuesday he seemed even more eager to see what the team can do. “I can’t help that every year at this time you start getting butterflies about the season,” he said at his first weekly news conference. “I…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard Local martial arts students from Gary Steele Karate Studio broke a 30-year record, as they captured 10 state championships in Cookeville recently.The school’s huge success was crowned by karate fighter Michael Grubbs, who brought home another “triple crown” from the state championship, with first-place wins…

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — JB Closner thinks Alabama fans fretting over the two biggest preseason question marks can rest easy. How will an offensive line with three new starters fare? The Alabama center figures that will be answered in the positive in Saturday night’s opener against Middle Tennessee. “That’s what we’ve been talking about. That’s…

By Dale Stubblefield / Columnist In just four days the Tennessee Volunteers will kick of their 2005 campaign, with hopes of another SEC title and just maybe a National Championship.For only the second time in school history, the Volunteers will take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Saturday. Tennessee defeated UAB in 1998,…

MURFREESBORO (AP) — Middle Tennessee coach Andy McCollum is nothing if not confident. He is preparing his Blue Raiders, who went 5-6 last season, to open the season Saturday night at Alabama. And he promises they won’t be intimidated. “We expect to win the football game,” McCollum said Tuesday at his first weekly news conference.…

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard Mark Chambers (40) of the Pioneer defensive unit meets DeKalb County fullback Tyler Cantrell head-on during last Friday’s win. (Dale Stubblefield photo) In 2001, the Warren County High School football team left Fayetteville having suffered its second loss of the season.At the time, no one…

NASHVILLE (AP) — Steve McNair wore no helmet — only a visor — Tuesday and watched practice as the Tennessee Titans worked out inside because of the remnants of Hurricane Katrina. But coach Jeff Fisher said his quarterback will play in the exhibition finale against Green Bay Thursday. McNair rested during practice on Sunday as…