If it’s safe to say that any good morning starts with a mimosa, then I was secured success at 9:30 am last Saturday. On a perfect spring morning I made my way south towards Columbia, TN, for Mule Day, arriving just before the roads closed for the Mule Day Parade, the peak of the four day festival of everything mules.
Mule Day has been a Tennessee tradition since 1840, an attraction that draws more than 200,000 people each year. Columbia is the “Mule Capital” of the world; and for those of you who don’t know, mules are a cross between a female horse and a male donkey, which results in an almost always infertile hybrid that is most often used for labor. The festival is famous for its various mule competitions, square dances, and of course political appearances.
Election buzz in the air, any Republican gubernatorial candidate worth his salt was present. I caught a glimpse of US Congressman Zach Wamp and Lt Gov Ron Ramsey, both trekking the parade alongside mule teams and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, riding a dapple grey horse and donning a pretty sweet suede vest monogrammed “Haslam for Governor” (I guess with $3 million plus in the campaign bank he can afford to upgrade from the basic Haynes T-shirt).
I wrapped-up the day at former TN State Representative Tommy DuBois’s annual party, this year a muted version of the usually rollicking mule party. Tommy’s party received media attention last year as a result of some under-aged drinkers who were snapped up by police after leaving the DuBois house.
Last year Tommy was up for re-election and it is rumored that his opposition’s (Ty Cobb) camp put a sting on the party last year to derail Tommy’s campaign. As it was, Tommy lost his seat in a surprise upset against firefighter and bible boy Ty Cobb.
In an effort to avoid any such negative press this year the party was invitation only and staffed by three police officers. No alcohol was served, but that’s not to say that the vast majority of those people of legal drinking age weren’t drinking, they certainly were (it ain’t mule day if you’re not a little under the influence)—just doing so out of red Solo cups (good luck finding one, they were a elusive commodity) —quite the contrary of last year’s five keg debacle.
Though the party wasn’t the hell-raising good time seen in past years, there was still a fine time had by all, maybe just a little more by the kids in the moonwalk than the adults this year. The important thing is people were still partying, because as any Maury Countian will tell you, Mule Day isn’t about the mules, it’s about the parties.
The idea that a political candidate would send a group of teenagers to an opponent’s house, order them to get drunk, then tell them to go out and drive erratically, just to get pulled over by the police, all to make a political point is laughable at best and says something terribly sad about the rumor-spreaders at worst.
The writer of this post sounds like a member of the “anti- one world currency” caucus. Please try coming up with a better conspiracy theory.
The writer of this post would like to clarify that she is not the creator of such rumors, only an ear to and never proclaimed proponent. The chain of events Mr. Paine has painted is not implied in such said rumor; this “conspiracy theory” is a creation of his imagination. Even a simpleton like the Nashville Minx can gather that it is far-fetched any teenagers would have to be forced to drink beers on Mule Day, and even more so that they would submit themselves to arrest in the name of thier political guru. If so, that’s real dedication to the given cause. Bravo!
Also, not really sure where the writer has aligned herself with any such “‘anti-one world currency’ caucus,” but it does have a nice jingle to it,; perhaps Mr. Paine should be writing posts on such pressing world events so that the Nashville Minx can be better informed.
Wish I could have been with you minx!
xo
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