"Pall Mall" by Wes Aldridge
Today was spent up north on Highway 127, off Interstate 40, between Cookville and Crossville. The quaint little town of Pall Mall, population 2500 our story subject Jim Buck told us, is about a 2 and a half hour drive from Nashville. The assignment was slated for print in our Farm Bureau magazine, Tennessee Home and Farm, is slated for print in next year's winter issue.
In years past, Pall Mall was made famous as the home of World War One hero Sgt. Alvin C. York. York defeated a 150+ man German machine gun unit in the Argonne Forest in France and received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Then, he returned home to live a simple life in cozy little Pall Mall.
In more recent times, Pall Mall's claim to fame comes in the form on an annaul tournament of the card game "Pig" that originated there. I don't know the rules of the game, but one day I hope I find my way back down to the general store there where the tournament is held and play a hand or two at the mercy of the locals.
THE SHOT: This is an outhouse that sits on the land next to one of the cabins of a bed-and-breakfast we are doing a story on. I think it pretty much sums up the community it stands in. Things are still pretty isolated there. It is almost like going back in time a few decades, and for some reason, even in all my high-tech-electronic-gadet-glory, I really felt at home there.
