In the News

Juanita Shaw & "Davy Crockett" on TV April 28th!

Posted April 23rd, 2010:   Stay tuned on Wednesday, April 28th as Juanita Shaw, one of the owners at the Old Country Store, appears on the Jackson 24/7 show with her special guest"Davy Crockett" cooking up "Colonel David Crockett's Black Bear Alamo Stew" recipe.  It will air online at www.eplustv6.com at noon, six and ten and locally on Jackson Energy Authority EplusTV 6. 

Juanita appears regularly on the Jackson 24/7 show cooking up her favorite Southern dishes.  Many thanks to executive producer Steve Beverly for having Juanita on the show sharing her charming Southern hospitality and passion for Southern cooking and culture.  Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Colonel David Crockett's Black Bear Alamo Stew (straight from Davy himself 
 
The recipe starts with a good stock of stew meat as always. It could be 2 lbs. of bear meat, elk or vinison, but for tame purposes we will use beef. The meat should be cut into 1 inch cubes.
 
Next a 1/4 cup of flour to help thicken it up a bit. Make sure there are no weavles or pesky bugs roaming around in it.
 
Then a 1/2 teaspoon of salt staight from Lick Creek. Table salt will do if that's all you got.
 
A 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper. If you don't have black, red pepper will work, it just has more bite.
 
1 1/2 cups of beef broth or other meat broth. Just don't use yard bird broth or turkey.
 
1 teaspoon of imported Kings Elixir or better known as Worcestershire sauce.
 
1 clove of South Texas garlic
 
1 bay leaf from the herb garden
 
1 teaspoon of Polly's favorite spice paprika
 
4  rabbit sprouts or better known as carrots, sliced. I prefer about twenty of those baby rabbit sprouts, but sliced carrots will do.
 
3 Irish spuds or potatoes, diced
 
1 onion or six green onions, chopped
 
1 stalk of celery, sliced. Now this here celery is optional, I ain't much on it, but Ole Jim Bowie liked it and used his own pig sticker to do the slicing, so I threw it in there.
 
Put your stew meat in iron pot or if you like use modern cooking items. You can cook in a crockpot or a regulat old pot on the stove. I prefer to cook over an open fire, the wood smoke adds to the overall flavor.

Mix your flour, salt and pepper together and then pour it over the meat; stir well, so you coat the meat with the flour mix. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to mix it all up real good.
 
Cover your pot and cook over a good bed of hot coals for four to six hours. Some might call it a medium fire, but keep in mind it takes a while to cook, so you can't leave the fire. You may have to chunk a few more sticks of wood on the fire before the stew is done. At the Alamo this was fine, Ole Santa Anna had us surrounded, so we weren't going anywhere. We had plenty of time for the stew to cook. The thing with stew, is to test taste often, when the meat is tender and the taters are soft, it's time to eat.
 

Model Railroad Meeting April 15th!

Calling all model railroaders....See our press release below!

Casey Jones Museum Model Railroad Club Meeting April 15th
 
(Jackson, TN)   The Casey Jones Museum Model Railroad Club monthly meeting will be held at Casey Jones Museum Thursday, April 15th at 6:30 pm.  The new club will be meeting at the Casey Jones Museum monthly on the third Thursday at 6:30 pm. Officers for the club are John Stepzinski - President,  George Googe - Vice President,  Corresponding Secretary - Tim Merwin,  Recording Secretary - Randy James and Treasurer - Lawrence Taylor. Membership is open to anyone interested in N, HO, O and G gauge model trains. Dues are $30.00 annually and include admission to the Museum, workshops, layouts and operating sessions plus a 10% discount on gifts from the Casey Jones Train Store. For more information contact the Casey Jones Museum at 731.668.1222.  Casey Jones Home & Railroad Museum is located in Casey Jones Village at 30 Casey Jones Lane in Jackson. The website is www.caseyjones.com .
 
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Albert Hall

Posted April 8th, 2010: 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Albert Hall family and his wife, Lila, upon his passing this week. His funeral was earlier today.  He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and friend.  He was a dedicated member of the Jackson Area Plectral Society who shared his talents here in Casey Jones Village for many years.  He will be greatly missed. 

From www.jacksonsun.com about his remarkable life and many talents: 

Albert Newton Hall, born March 11, 1931 in Jackson and passed away April 6, 2010 at the age of 79.

Mr. Hall served in the U.S. Air Force in 1949-1950 during the Korean Conflict. He was the President of Madison Hall Community Center in the 1960's. Albert served as President of PTA South Side High School 1970, and served as Advancement chairman for Boy Scouts of America for 5 years. In 1967-1968, he served on Advisory Council for Buick Motors Division. Mr. Hall was the Commissioner for the Racking Horse Breeder's Association in the 1980's; he showed racking horses and had a 1983 World Champion Show Pleasure Horse, "Joe Cool". He traveled for 10 years with his band, "Wilted Grass" throughout Florida, Tennessee, South Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. Albert was well known for the song "I Saw the Master this Morning". He was the founder of Golden Circle Opry and a member of Jackson Area Plectral Society.

Mr. Hall served as the Minister of Music at Madison Baptist Church for 15 years and he was in the Madison Hall Quartet. He operated Hall's Exxon station on Airways Blvd. He went to work for Whalley Construction Company as a Shop Supervisor for 5 years. He spent 22 years as the Service Manager for the Buick dealership of Jackson, and was working for Golden Circle Ford where he had been since 1989 in the service department and transporting cars, up till the time of death.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Albert Newton Hall, Sr. and Irene Wells Hall.

He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Lila Taylor Hall; daughter, Connie Perkins (Stan); son, Russell Hall (Cindy); grandchildren, Lesleigh Holmes (Roy), Britni Cahill (Chris), Haley Hall; special grandchildren, Peyton Hurbis, Carlee Langley, Kate Langley; sister, Ola Mae Beller; brother-in-law, Ray Taylor (Brenda); several nieces and nephews; a host of friends and his church, Englewood Baptist Church.

Juanita Shaw & Coffee Punch with Community Coffee

Posted April 7th:  Today's live taping with Juanita Shaw on the Jackson 24/7 Show that airs on Channel 6 here locally and online went great.  She prepared Coffee Punch with our new coffee ~ Community Coffee!  Jackson 24/7 is airing at 6:30 pm today also and 10 pm.  See more below...

Posted April 6th, 2010: 

Juanita Shaw will be cooking tomorrow ~ April 7th ~ on the Jackson 24/7 Show that airs at noon on JEA Channel 6. If you live far away or don't have JEA cable you can download a free service at
www.eplustv6.com  to watch it live on Wednesday, April 7th with replays at 6 pm and 10 pm.

Juanita has a regular cooking segme
nt on the show and tomorrow's recipe is a delicious Coffee Punch made with Community Coffee...our new coffee we are proudly serving at the Old Country Store.  She does an awesome job. Be sure to watch!  To read more about Community Coffee and their rich Southern tradition visit www.communitycoffee.com .   Here is the recipe:

                                                                    Coffee Punch
 
             2 Qts (8 cups) Strong Brewed Coffee
             1 Pint (2 cups) Cold Whole Milk
             2 tsp Vanilla Extract
             1/2 cup Sugar
             2 Qts (1/2 gal) Vanilla Ice Cream
             1/2 Pint Heavy Cream
             1/2 TBS Ground Nutmeg
 
  Combine coffee, milk, vanilla and sugar. Chill. Put ice cream in a punch bowl and cut into chunks. Pour 
  chilled coffee mixture over ice cream. Whip cream and spoon into mounds on top of the punch. Sprinkle
  with nutmeg and serve.  Enjoy!
 
 

Juanita Shaw on the Jackson 24/7 Show March 30th

Posted March 29th, 2010:  Our favorite Southern cook, Juanita Shaw, from the Old Country Store will be on a "Best Of" replay on the Jackson 24/7 television show on Tuesday, March 30th.  Juanita is a regular guest on the popular show cooking up Southern favorites. Produced by Union University, Jackson 24/7 is showing past favorites during the Spring Break hiatus this week and will be airing two previous segments of Juanita cooking on the show taped this season.  Be sure to watch if you have Jackson Energy Authority or watch the online version as it airs.  Check www.eplustv6.com for times.  It generally airs at noon, six and ten. 

Mary Spellings Art Chosen for Three Spring Exhibitions

Posted March 29th, 2010:  Congratulations to Mary Spellings with Art in the Village on the following exciting news!

 
Mary Spellings Art Selected for Three Prestigious Exhibitions

(Jackson, TN)  Local artist Mary P. Spellings has had work accepted in three prestigious exhibitions this spring. Spellings is a co-founder of Art in the Village, a co-operative gallery featuring twenty five regional artists work in Casey Jones Village in Jackson, Tennessee.
 
Her painting "Band of Brothers" has been accepted is the Southern Watercolor Society 33rd Annual Exhibition. Juror Cheng Khee Chee chose 95 paintings out of the 379 submitted. The Exhibition is held at the Anne P. Baker Gallery in the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts on the campus of Madisonville Community College in Madisonville, Kentucky from March 26 - April 30, 2010.  Spellings was awarded the Muhlenberg Community Arts Advocacy Award of Honor this past weekend for her painting at this exhibition.

"Cud-ly" has been accepted for the Watercolor Missouri National 2010 to be held at the world famous National Winston Churchill Memorial & Library in Fulton, Missouri. A total of 391 entries made the competition very strong. Eighty paintings were selected for this exhibition by Chris Krupinski.The Exhibition runs March 20 - May 16. The Watercolor Missouri National 2010 online exhibition will open May 25th. To view this and previous exhibitions go to www.mowsart.com <
http://www.mowsart.com>
 
"K is for Kaiser" has been accepted in the Tennessee Watercolor Society's 32nd biennial exhibition at Chattanooga which runs May 16 - June 25, 2010.  Juror George James selected 70 paintings from the 213 received. The TnWS  will be held at Chattanooga State Community College.

Art in the Village is located in the Shoppes at Casey Jones Village at 40 Casey Jones Lane Suite 2 in Jackson, Tennessee.  The Gallery will be hosting a Celebrate Art Festival on Saturday, April 24th from 10 to 5 pm. The Gallery is open from 11 am to 5 pm weekly from Wednesday to Saturday and the phone number is 731.554-ARTS (2787).  For more information visit the Shoppes page at www.caseyjones.com
 
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Facebook News!!

Posted March 25th, 2010:  Did you know we're on Facebook now on two pages & Twitter!  Sign up on our homepage at www.caseyjones.com.  Be our fan at "Brooks Shaw's Old Country Store" on Facebook and follow up on Twitter under www.twitter.com/oldcountrystore.   Just today we also launched a new Facebook page under "Casey Jones Village" for people to easily find us.  It will be a sister page to the Old Country Store Facebook page established last year.  We're just trying to keep up with that there technology.     Join the fun and stay on the "inside track" and friend us on both pages and follow us on Twitter.  Enjoy!

  Become Facebook fan of Old Country Store    Follow us on Twitter

Jackson Sun Readers' Choice Winners Announced!

Posted March 25th, 2010:    The 2010 Jackson Sun newspaper Readers' Choice Awards have been announced and we are so honored that the Old Country Store has won "Best Overall Restaurant" and "Best Southern Cooking" and Casey Jones Village "Best Local Attraction".  Many thanks to the Jackson Sun readers who voted for us. We are humbled by your support and can't tell how much this means to us.  Our thanks to the Jackson Sun for sponsoring these awards annually.  It's a wonderful designation and we are most appreciative.

Hometown Folks Coupon Extended Through April 29th, 2010!



Posted March 24th, 2010:  You're going to love this!!  At our leadership meeting we decided to extend the Hometown Folks coupon at the Old Country Store restaurant for one more month through April 29th, 2010.  Hang onto your Hometown Folks card or right click on the coupon above to print it out.  It says it will be through the end of March but not to worry...we will honor it through the last Thursday in April ~April 29th, 2010.  It is the best deal in the South. Good Monday through Thursday. See coupon above for details. Y'all come!

Taste of Jackson News

March 4th, 2010:  We are honored each year to participate in the March of Dimes "Taste of Jackson & West Tennessee" fundraising event.  It is an exciting night as restaurants from all over our area gather at the Carl Perkins Civic Center downtown to offer tastings of some of their favorite dishes.  We are happy to announce that tonight we won "The Best of Show" at the event.  Our booth featured a Casey Jones train theme and we served our famous hobo stew.  Many thanks to our folks from our company who worked at the booth tonight. 

We so appreciate the remarkable work that the Jackson chapter of the March of Dimes and director Ginger Carver does all year for our area.  Read more below about the Taste of Jackson event....

(JACKSON, TN) Make plans to attend this year’s “A Taste of Jackson and West Tennessee” on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at the Carl Perkins Civic Center. This year's Taste is presented by Region’s Bank and will feature long-time Taste of Jackson Supporter, Premier Place Catering. Attending A Taste of Jackson, is a tasty way to help support the March of Dimes fight against premature births, birth defects and infant mortality. Approximately 50 area restaurants and sponsors will be showcasing their finest dishes for your sampling pleasure and all to benefit the March of Dimes Foundation.
 
Mark your calendar for March 4, 2010 beginning at 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., at the Carl Perkins’ Civic Center. This is the 24th Annual “A Taste of Jackson and West Tennessee”.

This year we will again have entertainment in our Café area, where you can sample your favorite food from each booth and then sit and relax in the quaint Café area as a climax to a wonderful evening of dining and entertainment. 

Each week in the state of Tennessee, 240 babies are born prematurely. In 2009, the Tennessee Chapter of the March of Dimes invested more than $4,000,000 in Tennessee for program services, including national research grants, community grants, and local public and professional education. Through these grants, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies.