Don't miss this meeting as we welcome our special guest:

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice

Cornelia A. "Connie" Clark 

Justice Clark was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in September 2005 and was elected to a full eight-year term in August 2006.

On September 1, 2010, she was sworn in as chief justice, becoming the second woman in Tennessee to serve in that role.

She is a native of Franklin, where her family has lived for eight generations. An active member of the community, Clark served as Franklin City Attorney and as a board member of the Williamson County-Franklin Chamber of Commerce and is a life-long member of First United Methodist Church in Franklin.

Surprise Program

Join us this week to hear:

Dr. Mike Looney

Superintendent

Williamson County Schools

Tennessee’s  #1 School District

Join us this week to hear:

“BILLBOARD POWER 100 Industry Leader”

Mr. Mike Dungan

Chairman and CEO

Universal Music Group-Nashville

Please join us tomorrow for our guest speaker, Mr. Phil Faucett, Boyle Investment Company and Project Manager of Berry Farms.

Berry Farms, rich not only in the Berry family history, but the history of Franklin and our country, is built on the vision of connecting people to the things in their lives that are most meaningful. It is a community centered on making it easy for people to connect to their neighbors, to work, to businesses, to shopping, restaurants and nature. 

Please join us this Thursday and help welcome our Special Guest:

Special Program this week!!!!

The show has offered some insight into the city of Nashville.  Come this week and gain some insight into the show, as we welcome:

Mr. Loucas George

Producer of the hit show "Nashville".

Please join us for the Tennessee Co-Chairs for the Simpson/Bowles Committee's public outreach...

Governor Winfield Dunn and Mr. Tim Pagliara, CEO of CapWealth Advisors, and the Campaign to   

"Fix the Debt"

Please join us this week as we welcome our guest speaker:

Mr. M. Terry Turner

President and Chief Executive Officer

Pinnacle Bank

Join us this Thursday for our Program with 

Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Please join us to welcome ESPN College Basketball Analyst and SEC Hoops Record Holder.... 

Mr. Barry Booker

Join us this week for our speaker 

Dr. Ming Wang

Join us today to welcome our program speaker, Mr. Jim Wright, Chairman and CEO, Tractor Supply Co.

Mr. Asad Hamid

Director of Research and Development

Mars Regional Innovation Center

Upcoming:

           Date                                              Speaker                                                 

November 1^st                    Jim Monsor, Sr VP of Operations-BioMimetics          

November 8^th                    Asad Hamid, Director, R&D Mars, Regional Innovation Center

November 15^th                  Jim Wright, Chairman & CEO, Tractor Supply

Mr. Cowart is a recognized authority in advising senior management regarding policy, regulatory and business issues related to health care. He serves as strategic counsel to health care companies (both for profit and not-for-profit) and counsels providers on business, policy and governance issues, with an emphasis on business transactions.

Mr. Cowart is a nationally known speaker and writer on health care issues. He was the national columnist for Medical News, Inc. for 18 years and is the health business columnist for The Tennessean.

For sixty-three years now, cowboys and cowgirls have stampeded to Franklin, Tennessee in early May to participate in what is billed as the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi. The Franklin Rodeo is a project of the Franklin Noon Rotary Club, which has now celebrated over six decades of excitement since its beginnings.

The Franklin Noon Rotary Club was chartered January 13, 1948 with 14 members. Judge Jim Warren served as the club’s first president. Despite its humble beginnings, today the club has almost 150 members representing a large cross section of business backgrounds in one of Middle Tennessee’s favorite places to live.

For most members of the newly formed Franklin Rotary Club, this truly was their first rodeo

Soon after its creation, the newly formed club began looking for a fundraising project. Long-time Franklin Rotarian Jim Hayes remembers hearing about it. “Someone hit on the idea of having a rodeo, but there was a small problem. We had one man, Dr. Harry Guffee, who had actually seen a rodeo and a couple of other people who had migrated up from Texas,” Hayes relates. “Dr. Guffee, along with transplanted Texans John and Preston Fowlkes and Bob Corley were principals in carrying the torch,” according to Hayes. “Another significant person was Ed Moody, who managed the rodeo from the 1950’s until 1984.”

The first rodeo was planned for Saturday, May 6, 1950 with a parade leading up to it and was a rousing success. It was led by then Tennessee Governor Gordon Browning, local Rotarians and visiting cowboys. Bands from Franklin High School and the Columbia Military Academy also participated.  About 1,000 4-H kids and their parents were in town and they joined in too. Many county residents rode their horses to town for the event so they also joined the parade. That started a tradition that goes on to this day.

Hayes said the rodeo’s first years were tenuous. “There were several times during the early history of the rodeo when the Rotary Club toyed with canceling it. They’d have one year where they’d make money and one where they’d have bad weather and lose money.” But the event went on, and Hayes attributes that to the character of Rotarians. “There were some strong beliefs among some members of the club that the rodeo would be a good long term event.”

During the past six decades, the rodeo has produced over two million “bucks”

Over the past 62 years, over $2 million has been raised for community causes, including everything from college scholarships to medical care. Hayes said, “In the ‘60’s, there was a shortage of physicians, dentists, and trained nurses in our county. For many years the Franklin Noon Rotary Club gave scholarships to medical, dental and nursing schools. That financial aid produced a number of good doctors, dentists, and nurses.”  Funds often also went to buy band uniforms and library books for the public schools. Following the 1950 rodeo, the Review Appeal newspaper printed, “Not only will the reader have the time of his life (at the rodeo), but he is assured that his 60 cents (admission) will be spent wisely – adequate uniforms for the FHS band.”

Hayes believes the rodeo is part of the fabric of the community. “We were an agrarian community—we were farm oriented, and for rodeo week, it became the main thing we did and the biggest event to happen in Franklin year round.”

 Hayes added that even though the population of Williamson County has grown exponentially and has shifted away from agriculture, the rodeo is still woven into the fabric of the community.

Today’s rodeo looks a lot different than the first one held in 1950. The event spans three nights, is held inside an air conditioned arena and attendance exceeds the entire 1950 population of Franklin.  And the sixty-cent admission of that first rodeo won’t even buy a soft drink today.

But two things do remain the same—fans still have a good time and the community still benefits from the work of the Franklin, Tennessee Noon Rotary Club.

The 2012 Rodeo is scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday May 17, 18, & 19 at the Williamson County Ag/Expo Park.

To learn more about the Franklin Rotary Club at Noon Rodeo or purchase tickets, please visit www.franklinrodeo.com.