- [Voiceover] This time on Tennessee Crossroads, Rob Wilds takes us back a couple of centuries at an event in Goodlettsville.

I'll take you up in the sky over Eagleville for some motorless flying.

Ken Wilshire finds the taste of the wild west in Cleveland.

And finally, Tressa Bush meets up with a pine needle artist in Pleasant Hill.

That, my friends, is our line up for this edition of Tennessee Crossroads, I'm Joe Elmore, thanks for coming back.

(soft music) Mansker Station in Goodlettsville is a great place to go explore Tennessee frontier life as it was in the 1700s.

Now, children can find many reasons there to appreciate their lifestyle here in the 21st century.

That's especially true during the annual Heritage Days celebration and our own Rob Wilds was there bright and early for the most recent event.

- Shoulder.

Arms.

- [Voiceover] The severe militia is having drill today.

- Right.

Face.

Forward, march.

- [Voiceover] Not severe as in harsh, but severe as in John Severe who is Tennessee's first governor elected back in 1796.

Back in those days, when you lived here on the frontier, your militia had to be ready for all kinds of invaders.

- Fire.

(gun shots blown) (crowd yelling) - [Voiceover] But today, the invaders are hundreds of school kids who come to visit Heritage Days at Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville.

- We're gonna make a bigger pot now.

- [Voiceover] Kristen Letsinger brought her class from Poplar Grove Elementary in Franklin for a lesson come to life.

- We've been learning about the Colonial Times up until the American Revolution, so this really gets their brains engaged in to how life was back then and helps them kind of put themselves in the Colonial's shoes.

So, really, when they get back into the classroom, they make a lot of great connections between what they learned here today and what we're learning out of our history books in class.

(tools clashing - [Voiceover] Dozens of artists and reenactors have come to the park to show how things might have been done, how pots might have been made by hand.

- You're going to take this off using our wire tool by the early American Indians used.

- Horse hair.

- Horse hair.

- Horse hair, to cut with.

- [Voiceover] Not only hearing but touching.

- [Potter] How does it feel?

- Squishy - [Potter] Squishy, cold, wet.

- [Voiceover] Of course there were certain things back in 1796 you had to feel very carefully.

- Do not touch anything unless one of the demonstrators tells you you can because it will cut you, scrape you, stab you or otherwise hurt you if you do.

- [Voiceover] Still lots of things to touch and see and experience like a lady actually making crackers with a recipe that contains a surprise.

Now let's see, there's flour.

- A half a teaspoon of salt, a quarter cup of water, and a third of lard.

- [Student] A third of what?

- Lard.

- Lard.

- It is animal fat.

- It's animal fat.

- Ew.

- [Voiceover] Another surprise from a lady making soap.

Yes, making soap.

- [Soap Maker] Before we had giant factories to make all of our soap for us, there would be a family that would devote their whole cottage, their whole house, to making soap and then selling it at the market.

- [Bill] This is what's going to provide our energy.

- [Voiceover] The kids even get to work.

Yes, and they line up for the chance.

- [Bill] Place your right foot on that board, right in the center of those lines, and you need to push, watch me, push straight down, straight up, okay?

And, go.

- [Voiceover] Bill Maddox is an interpreter here at the Park and today he's portraying, not a hero of mythical proportions, but an average settler.

- Being able to keep your history, your heritage alive, is important to any culture.

Quite often we see where these, even as of today, we see where we advance technologically so fast that where we came from is lost.

And if you cannot find a way of tying back into that root and those roots and offering it back to the general public for them to come and see, you are definitely going to lose, where, you know, who you are.

You become so wrapped up and we need to go some place and find a signal for our cell phone or is there wi-fi available.

At this time, this was not a concern for us.

Our concern was making sure that our families were cared for, our crops were in the ground.

(lively piano music) (children cheering) - [Voiceover] Of course life wasn't all work.

There was dancing which is pretty hard to learn to do in a couple of minutes, but still a lot of fun.

The people donating their time to stage this event, really get into their roles, so that a visitor might do the same and if, let's say, he was feeling a bit ill, well... Dr. Kealing, I'm Rob Wilds, down in Nashborough.

I just rode up here and I've got, I think I've got a little touch of fever.

- Well, have a seat here.

- It's bothering me a little bit.

- I have something that's perfect for that.

- Oh, what would that be, Doctor?

- We're going to be trying a procedure called venesection.

- [Rob] (stuttering) What is that?

- [Dr. Kealing] This is my land set.

- You know, that looks a lot like a knife, Doctor.

- It is.

- What are you gonna do with that?

- We're going to roll up your sleeve and we're going to extract some of the blood.

- Extract?

- Mm-hm, you have an excess of blood and that's going to be causing your fever.

I'm probably going to take about two ounces of blood out.

And, once your fever reduces a little bit, you should be feeling right as rain.

- You know, I'm feeling a lot better already, you know, inside, I don't think I really need that, and I left my insurance card out in my saddle bag.

Thank you, Doctor.

- It's astounding how many people feel better after my consultation.

(laughing) - [Rob] It's just the magic touch you have, Doctor, thank you very much.

(soothing country music) We may not want to return to everything that happened back then but interpretor Jennifer Curks says being able to take a peek at it.

- I don't know if you can put a value on it.

I think it is something that every city should have.

I think people need to know their history.

And the house in 1787, well, that's the same year the Constitution was defined.

So, when people step into that house and they hear that and they realize that George Washington is not president yet then that just kinda tells you just, well, it kinda just sends you some little chills.

- Whoa.

- Ooh.

- What's all the excitement about?

- Butter.

- [Voiceoever] Chills that for some of the kids here may turn into a love of history begun at Heritage Days in Goodlettsville.

- Thanks so much, Rob.

You know there's no better view of Middle Tennessee than from, well, up there.

I'm not talking about from an airplane or a noisy helicopter, I'm talking about a motorless glider.

Now, for about three decades, the Eagleville Soaring Club has attracted a breed of aviator who just gets off on a natural high.

What's more, they often take passengers as well.

It's a clear, Saturday morning at the Eagleville Soaring Club.

And, a dozen or so members have shown up to get their weekly natural high.

After a quick check up with pros in the cock pit, they take turns taxing down the runway for take off.

(upbeat music) A rope is attached to the underside of the glider and a tow plane carries them thousands of feet into the air.

Then they're loose and on their own.

It's an air borne adventure all powered by Mother Nature.

- [Voiceover] We use the sun's energy that hits the earth and then it expands to the air.

- [Voiceover] We'll be flying into those thermals and use that thermal power.

If you've ever noticed a buzzer that's up maybe mid day or after, that's what they're doing.

We're just doing the same thing they're doing.

- [Voiceover] That's Warner Reuger coming in for a landing.

He's one of the club's most avid gliders.

- [Voiceover] I learned to fly in Switzerland, came over here and found Eagleville and if you land out, they come and pick you up.

It feels like a real good family.

- [Voiceover] Have you ever landed in someone else's field?

- Oh, yeah.

(laughing) - I'm well known for that.

(laughing) - [Voiceover] The origins of gliding go back to the early 1800s by an inventor named George Cayley.

Gliding or soaring as a sport goes back to the 1920s.

Gary Davis is a veteran glider pilot and instructor who gave me a tour of the club's ASK 21 German built two seater.

- [Gary] Vertical speed indicator or variometer in the case of a glider is called a variometer, your speed indicator and altimeter.

- [Joe] Oh, I see.

- Pop it out, look out there down on the wing there.

And there it is, see, it's just like two big billboards up there that really kill the heck out of the lift.

- I would say it's simple, but it's probably not.

- Well, what do you say, let's go down there and try it out.

(upbeat music) - [Gary] I'm still locked, are you locked up front?

- Yes, sir.

- Check list is complete.

We're probably getting ready to get hooked up, the tow planes are back, our check list is complete.

- If you get really hot in there, you can open this up.

- This is the air conditioning.

- That's your air conditioning.

- All right, I think we're gonna roll here in a second.

(gears starting) - [Gary] And, you're in the air, all you gotta do now is just keep the tow rope's up.

It's starting to get a little bit bumpy, so that's an indicator it's going to be a good glider day.

- [Voiceover] The tilt plane takes us up to about 3,000 feet then it's time to let go.

- There we go.

- [Gary] Okay, there we go, you did good.

Check out, Ron, there.

Good-bye, Ron.

- [Voiceover] Finding the thermals takes a combination of skill and luck.

Apparently Gary and I had both.

The great, open views and the rush were exactly what I expected.

What I didn't expect was taking over the controls myself.

Experienced pilots like Gary can make a fast low pass at about 200 feet.

Hit another thermal and quickly gain altitude.

Time flies literally when you're having fun like this.

After a half hour, Gary makes a few quick turns and safely puts us back down on the ground.

- Pop your canopy, Joe, and you're good to go.

- What a ride, what a ride.

- What'd you think about that, Joe?

- It's nothing like anything else.

Flying, don't need a motor.

That was great there, thanks.

- All right, glad you had a good time.

- That was awesome.

The Eagleville Soaring Club supports itself by selling rides to the public and that ride can often lead to a gliding addiction.

- [Gary] That's usually the way it goes.

You get one ride and then the next thing you know, they want to wrap their wings and get their private pilot license.

And, then, they can give their friends and family rides.

- [Voiceover] Here's Eddie Keutros landing after a solo flight that earned him his license.

- It was great, it was fantastic, unbelievable experience.

- [Voiceover] Bet you're ready to go up again, aren't you?

- I am, I am, let's hook her up and go.

(laughing) - [Voiceover] Well congratulations.

- [Eddie] Well, thank you so much, I appreciate it.

- [Voiceover] I guess it's something you never get tired of.

- [Warner] Nope, nope.

I started flying in 1980 and it's still just as much fun as when I started.

- [Voiceover] You guys, ready?

On the count of three, one, two.

(camera shutters) (upbeat music) - [Voiceover] While motorized flights with all of its technology has evolved amazingly over the years, it somehow lacks the natural thrill, well, only a hawk can relate to.

Now I know why they call it, love at first flight.

Well, next on Crossroads, our never ending quest for new dining destinations takes us to Cleveland, Tennessee.

Now, this time, Ken Wilshire has found a place there in the south-eastern town that offers a taste of the wild west with all the ambience to go with it.

A place called, of all things, The Bald Headed Bistro.

(lively music) - [Voiceover] It's located in a renovated 1960s shopping mall in Cleveland, Tennessee.

It's so unique that they just had to give it a catchy name.

So, it's called The Bald Headed Bistro.

And this city of 45,000 residents certainly was looking for someone or something like this to save the old mall as well as to remember its significance to the city's developments So what a welcome surprise it was when the bistro came to town.

The massive log structure's architectural theme outside continues throughout the restaurant's interior.

There are almost 250 of these old logs, giving an incredibly rustic charm to the bistro.

Its new owner is Will Jones.

He acquired it from his father, Cleveland businessman, Alan Jones.

- [Will] Well, the logs came up from a ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Cresonate Ranch.

In 2002, there was the Green Nose Fire, it's a forest fire that came right to the back of, we had several cabins we rent there.

It came right to the back and we thought we were going to lose the whole ranch out there.

But, after that, we were trying to figure out what to do with, and what we did, we got an idea just to cut them down, treat them, sand them down and have them presentable for a restaurant.

We shipped off 238 logs here and hung them on the walls, it looks great.

Award winning executive chef, Mick Johnson, is also no stranger to Cleveland.

He was actually the restaurant's first manager when it opened in 2007.

While he was somewhat cautious, he never doubted the bistro could be a success in this small city.

- I knew Mr. Jones from before and I knew that he had invested a lot of creativity and money into the place.

I knew that he was serious and I knew a lot of the people here because I had been the chef at the country club here years before.

I felt like it was going to be a success, but I did not think it was going to be as big a success so soon.

- [Voiceover] Well, not only was this western cuisine restaurant welcomed, it was an immediate hit with its gamey menu, custom made beef and an atmosphere shipped directly from the heart of Wyoming.

- There was a famous restaurant there called the Snake River Grill that my parents were very fond of.

And they would go and eat there all the time.

And they started to get really enjoying it, so dad was like, "Hey, let's just try to open up "and do the same thing back at home and help these people "find western experience in the heart of the south."

- [Voiceover] And the food, well it's definitely not from around these parts.

- We started out featuring game for one thing and that was somewhat unusual for this area.

But the response there was very positive too.

People were very curious about game and the health benefits of things like bison and elk, the low cholesterol, low fat content.

So, those items have been a staple of our menu ever since.

Course, the wood fire rotisserie is the other thing that makes our brand what it is because it's part of a traditional, western means of cooking.

You know, with the western campfire, etc.

- [Will] People really enjoy it, they really care for our filet, it's a tenderloin put on the rotisserie with our dry rub, and it's cooked for several hours over the smoke to give a flavor.

And they'll cut it into a certain amount of ounces the steak is to order.

It really gives it a special, unique flavor.

- [Voiceover] Chef Johnson has created an abundance of tasty dishes to fill the menu that's as endless as a bright blue Wyoming sky.

- [Voiceover] We make everything from scratch and all our sauces, most of our desserts, we bake our own bread, we get the finest ingredients, the freshest ingredients we possibly can.

And it comes through, you know, and the care in which all our chefs put in to the dishes and the pride they have in their craft.

I think makes a big difference too and all that, you know, filters to the dish itself.

- [Voiceover] Its western fare is garnished with a western flair Not only created with the logs but with the animal mounts on the walls.

Will says it's all part of the ambience the family wants each guest to experience when they dine at the bistro.

- [Will] We have a grand slam here of the ram which is a big deal.

People come in and see that and think that we've been on some wild goose chase up the mountains to kill all the rams to match.

But, we just purchase them.

(laughing) - [Voiceover] And for a feel of the really, really, old wild west, Wyoming was covered by ocean waters millions of years ago.

The Jones' acquired prehistoric fossils that now decorate the bar and other parts of the restaurant.

- [Voiceover] Yeah, the bar is 55 million years old, it's from southern Wyoming.

It was a lot of work to get it fitted in here and cut, shipped it back two or three times, back from Wyoming just to have parts measured and make sure everything's perfect.

Many people don't realize they're eating on such an old piece there up on the bar.

- [Mick] I think most people leave with a attitude that they've been entertained and they've had a great experience and it's been, you know, a wonderful time.

They keep coming back.

- [Voiceover] So, like the mythical bird the phoenix, The Bald Headed Bistro has risen from the ashes of a Wyoming forest fire to give new life to this old building.

As well as bringing good luck to the success of the Jones' family and their staff who had a vision to make it happen.

- [Voiceover] Well, thanks, Ken, my friend.

Now, finally, we meet an artist who practices what maybe the ultimate in recycling.

Tressa Bush takes us to Cumberland County to meet Sharon Eckhart.

Sharon's speciality is making extraordinary useful baskets out of very ordinary pine needles.

(soft calming music) - [Voiceover] The hardest thing is starting your project because the needles will flop around for awhile.

There are two sides to the needle.

There is a round side which is very smooth and then there is a rough side.

To make a perfect item that would be museum quality, you would want to see more of the smooth side.

- [Voiceover] Sharon Eckhart may not have her work in a museum yet, still she works as if every piece will be on permanent display for all the world to see.

Sharon, a retired teacher, from Indiana didn't know the first thing about making baskets out of long pine needles and raffia.

That is, until she and her husband, Tom, moved to Cumberland County back in 1995 to live at the Uplands Retirement Village in Pleasant Hill.

And that's when she met Elizabeth McCutchin.

- [Sharon] Here at Uplands, there was a resident who did this and I saw some of them in her house and on her walls, it just looked unique.

I had never seen anything like that before and I just thought I'd like to learn that.

I was able to go to her house every Monday night for over a year and a half, sit wit her and she taught me how to do this.

- [Voiceover] When Sharon asked Elizabeth to teach her, she had no idea she could no longer make the baskets.

Elizabeth's hands were just worn out.

Elizabeth couldn't demonstrate the ancient technique of coiling 12 to 15 inch long needles and securing them tightly with raffia but she could talk and Sharon soaked in every word.

- [Voiceover] I miss her, she has died now, and there are times that I get to a point or I want to do something with a pine needle baskets and I don't have her to ask and so I do miss that.

- [Voiceover] What are some of the main things you believe that you've learned from her.

- I remember her always saying that the front has to look as good as the back and the back has to look as good as the front.

I have an example of one that is not like that that I keep so that I'm reminding myself that that is part of Elizabeth's process.

- [Voiceover] Sharon says Elizabeth was a very traditional basket maker using only the needles and raffia.

Given the amount of time it takes to prepare the raffia which can be hours because the plant has to be soaked in water, then straightened, and cut to various widths.

You'd think she would have embraced synthetic thread, well, she didn't.

And, you never saw Elizabeth use shellac to preserve her work.

Over the years, Sharon has ventured away from the very traditional way of making a basket that Elizabeth taught her.

You might say she's added a little bit of bling.

Making them with things such as gourds and even mirrors.

- [Voiceover] There are a couple of them, yes, that I'm very happy with and very proud of, yes.

I also developed the mirrors.

I had not seen mirrors done by anyone and to start with a ring and then to make a border for the mirror.

And then to put a mirror in it is a fun thing to do.

Many of the things with raffia centers become just novelties.

They become very decorative and very model like and very fancy.

Sometimes, they just come.

The pine needles when you're working with them seem to have a life of their own.

And you start out with an idea, you start out with something that you think is going to be a certain bowl or certain shape and as you're working on it, it just seems to evolve into something different.

Pine needles are kind of ordinary and sometimes when people look at them, they just kind of turn up their nose and like, oh, you made that out of pine needles, you know, they're just on the ground.

Or, I have some of those in my yard.

And, so, it's kind of looked down upon because it's so common at that particular point but to really turn it into something that is creative and beautiful and to dress it up in some way is really kind of exciting.

- [Voiceover] For Sharon it can evolve into a precious piece of art, a frame for a mirror, a decoration on a gourd, a bowl, even a coaster, the list is as endless as your imagination.

So, the next time you see a pile of pine needles, stop for a moment and think of Sharon and what she can do with something we often think of as just plain useless.

- Well, that I must say, is just about the end of our show.

You can watch other Tennessee Crossroads stories and catch up on the ones you might have missed on our website tennesseecrossroads.org and of course, a new show next week.

That's when we take you to old Marathon Village in Nashville where Gretchen Bates discovers a multitude of new attractions.

Then, it's off to a music city eatery with Tammi Arender that's full of Italian heritage.

Then to Memphis where Ken Wilshire meets an artist who finds inspiration right in her own neighborhood.

Then, to meet a smurta man with Rob Wilds who built a whole town full of his collectibles.

Quite a show.

Our next Tennessee Crossroads, we'll look for you then.