Franklin Post Card

In honor of May being preservation month, the city of Franklin is partnering with photographer David Braud and Starbucks for the “My Historic Franklin” photo contest.

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to post their photos on the city’s Facebook page from April 15 to 30. The top-20 photos will be displayed at Starbucks in Historic Downtown Franklin on their magnetic photo wall in May. The top-four winners will win a Historic Franklin prize package, with the first place photo being framed and hung permanently at Franklin City Hall. Prizes include Franklin history books and goodies from the Lotz House and Starbucks. The photos should include Franklin landscapes or buildings worthy of preservation.

To enter, go to the city’s Facebook page and post your photo. The photo with the most “likes” will get the People’s Choice award. For more information, visit the city’s website.

Here is our entries:

Franklin Square Event

The Carter House

Natchez Trace Birdsong Hollow Bridge

Natchez Trace Parkway Association invites the public to celebrate the Natchez Trace bicentennial of the 1813 Natchez Expedition at 3 p.m. on April 20 at mile marker 426.3 on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The gathering will honor Andrew Jackson and the Tennessee Volunteer Militia. Remarks will be given by Adjutant General Terry “Max” Haston of the Tennessee National Guard, Acting Superintendent Dale Wilkerson, Tennessee Society U.S. Daughters 1812, President Charlotte Miller and General Society of 1812 member Dr. Sam Gant. Parking is available at the Garrison Creek Site at mile marker 427.6. Franklin Transit Authority will transport guests to the War of 1812 Memorial Site, approximately four miles south of Leiper’s Fork.

December 8, 2012

‘The Bridge’ Booksigning from Athens-South Productions on Vimeo.

Joel and Carol Tomlin of Landmark Booksellers featured on Channel 4′s noon-day television show: ‘Focus on Franklin’.

“#1 NY Times Bestselling Author Karen Kingsbury delivers her biggest book yet with this heartwarming modern-day classic, an unforgettable love story set against the demise of the American bookstore.

Molly Allen lives alone in Protland, but she left her heart back in Tennessee with a man she walked away from five years ago. They had a rare sort of love she hasn’t found since.

Ryan Kelly lives in Nashville after a broken engagement and several years on the road touring with a country music duo. Sometimes when he’s lonely he visit The Bridge – The oldest bookstore in historic downtown Franklin – and remembers the hours he and Molly once spent there.

For more than four decades, Charlie and Donna Barton have run The Bridge, providing customers with coffee, conversation, and shelves of classics – even through dismal sales and the rise of digital books. Then the hundred-year flood sweeps through Franklin and destroys everything. The bank is about to pull the store’s lease when tragedy strikes. Now the question remains: Can two generations of readers rally together to save The Bridge? And is it possible that an unforgettable love might lead to the miracle of a second chance?”

Location: Landmark Booksellers • 114 East Main Street • Franklin, TN

Date: December 8, 2012

Time: 11:00 am to 1:30 pm

Look for more Bookstore Blues comic strip on the

Landmark Booksellers blog!

by Cathy Buchanan

Grant is widely regarded as the man most responsible for winning the war for the Union, Forrest as the Confederacy’s most fearsome defender in the West. Both men had risen through their respective hierarchies thanks to their cunning and military brilliance, and despite their checkered pasts. Grant and Forrest were both “lower”-born officers who struggled to overcome particular, dubious reputations (Forrest’s as a semi-literate rustic and Grant’s as a doltish drunkard). In time, however each became renowned for his intelligence, resourcefulness, and grit. Indeed, as Hurst shows, their familiarity with hardship gave both men a back-against-the-wall mindset that would ultimately determine their success–both on the battlefield, and off it.

Jack Hurst is a former journalist who has written for newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Nashville Tennessean. He is the author of Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. A descendant of both Union and Confederate military officers, he currently lives with his wife outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Watch part of Jack’s commentary on this book filmed the day of it’s release at Landmark Booksellers in downtown Franklin: https://vimeo.com/43951709

Signed copies of ‘Born to Battle’ are now available at Landmark Booksellers.