Jamboree Addresses Vendor Dispute

July 9, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A local family in the business of selling CBD oils and hemp products is upset with leaders of the Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree and Crafts Festival

David, Daniel, and Christy Lunsford of Smithville Hemp Dispensary believe they have been the victims of discrimination and may seek a legal remedy.

According to the Lunsford’s, the Jamboree Committee agreed on Friday to allow them to rent space as a vendor downtown during the Jamboree to display their CBD products but hours later the Lunsford’s rental was cancelled and their money refunded after Jamboree leaders objected to some of the products the lunsfords had on display.

In a telephone interview with WJLE Monday, Christy Lunsford gave her version of what transpired.

“My father-in-law, David Lunsford owns the Smithville Hemp Dispensary and my husband Daniel and I run it for him,” said Christy.

“I got in touch with the crafts director at the Jamboree on Friday and asked if we could set up a booth. She asked me what I would be selling and I told her edibles, topicals, smokables, oils, and anything I had in my store. She told me that every Jamboree board member would have to approve it because of the type of business we have. Twenty five minutes after I got off the phone with her I received a phone call saying that every board member at the Jamboree approved us. My booth fee was $135 cash. That is all I had to do and I got a booth. I went to the store, packed together all my stuff, and here we went to the Jamboree. While we were setting up the crafts director came up, took our money, and gave me a receipt but I had already put some of our products on the table,” said Christy.

“About 9:30 p.m. that night (Friday) while I was sitting there with my 3 month old baby and 11 year old daughter, three Jamboree board members and two police officers came up to my booth and asked me to leave. They told me it was because of the products we had. They called it “paraphernalia” but it’s not considered “paraphernalia” if it’s not used for drugs and hemp is 100% legal. They had problems with my flowers and my (smoking) pipes so I offered to put all that up and just sell my CBD products, my oils, salves, and edibles but I was still told I would have to leave,” Christy continued.

“I asked for my money back but was told I would have to come back in the morning to get it. I called my husband and father-in-law to tell them what had happened and that I needed help packing up. They showed up but decided they wanted to hear it directly from the Jamboree board members themselves. The board members were contacted and returned to our booth Friday night and told my husband and father-in-law the same thing they had told me but they added that our tee shirts were also offensive. Our shirts say Smithville Hemp Dispensary on them. The shirts have images of three hemp leaves and underneath the leaves it says calming, beneficial, and drug free CBD. I didn’t realize the Jamboree had a dress code. My husband then asked for our money back and said he would not leave without it. The guy (Jamboree official) pulled out a big ole wad of money and handed Daniel his money back. As he was handing him his money back, he said how about we trade? He said I want your receipt back that we wrote you for the booth. Daniel refused to give it to him because then we would have no proof that we had a booth there. We then packed our stuff up and left,” said Christy.

“I was embarrassed and humiliated in front of my customers which was really uncalled for. Five grown men came to ask me, a 98 pound woman, to leave. Was that necessary? There wasn’t even a female in their group. It was all men. It was like they were there to intimidate me,” she added.

Meanwhile the Jamboree Board has released its own statement as to what occurred. In the following statement, Jamboree officials said their concern was not about the CBD oils but the paraphernalia on display at the Lunsford’s booth.

“The Smithville Fiddlers’ Jamboree Board would like to address the recent accusation of disallowing a local business from participating as a booth vendor during the two-day festival. The board stated that, ‘Although the festival makes every attempt to include any handmade crafts, or family-friendly retail business that goes through our annual registration process, this situation was an unusual one.’

“At approximately 1:30 PM on Friday during the event, the vendor in question contacted our crafts director to purchase a booth. This was well past our vendor deadlines, but she agreed to consider an exception for hospitality’s sake,” said President and Coordinator Sam Stout. “With that said, the crafts director gathered the board for an impromptu vote, and said that a local business was wanting to sell CBD oils at a booth. The board voted to allow the oils to be sold. Hours later, it was reported to me that paraphernalia was being sold at a vendor booth. I took a board member and a city police officer to assess the situation. Upon seeing the booth, it was clear to all of us that there were items that we would not allow to be sold at our festival. This has absolutely nothing to do with the selling of CBD oil, it is actually quite the opposite considering that the oil is the only thing our board had approved for them to sell. In addition, we had other pre-approved booth vendors selling CBD oil as well. Due to the paraphernalia at their booth, we requested the vendor to leave. They refused to leave without a full explanation of why they were receiving a refund, so I came back with Chief Mark Collins and Officer Ball as a witness, along with two Jamboree committee members. After talking with the vendors, they asked if they could remove the paraphernalia and go back to selling the CBD oil. After breaking the original agreement, we were uncomfortable with that arrangement and told them that it would be in the best interest of everyone if they accepted their refund and left. A cash refund was given, a picture of the receipt was taken for our records, and no combative behavior or harsh words were spoken by either party.“

Per the official Jamboree Craft Vendor Rules it states under article (6) ‘that you may be asked to leave if you have items not approved by the craft committee’, and article (21) ‘the Jamboree officials have the final say.’

The Jamboree Board would like the community to know that it is always their goal to work with local businesses and local non-profits to provide a profitable platform for business growth, along with fund-raising efforts. We strive to do everything we can to keep the Jamboree a clean, family-friendly event, and will continue to provide a safe weekend for everyone,” the statement concluded.

July 8, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Cookeville attorney Wesley Bray has been appointed by Governor Bill Lee to succeed David Patterson as criminal court judge in the 13th Judicial District

Patterson retired from the bench June 30th. 

“Wesley brings extensive experience to this role and will serve the 13^th district with integrity,” said Lee. “We welcome him to this role and appreciate his willingness to serve.”

Bray has been a solo practitioner for 14 years with experience in criminal and civil proceedings. Additionally, he is a Rule 31 family mediator with a focus on divorce and family law issues. Bray is a graduate of Nashville School of Law and Tennessee Tech University.

He resides in Cookeville with his wife of 17 years, Ashley, and their three children.

Bray is one of four people who initially applied with the Trial Court Vacancy Commission to be recommended for the appointment along with Rebecca Brady and J. Michael Shipman of Cookeville, and Jeffrey A. Vires of Crossville. The commission recently interviewed the candidates and submitted to the Governor the names of Brady, Bray, and Shipman for consideration.

Bray will serve until a special election in 2020. The winner of that election will serve the remaining years of Patterson’s unexpired term which ends on August 31, 2022.

In 2014, Bray sought the Republican nomination for Criminal Court Judge, Part I but lost to Gary McKenzie in the May Primary by a final count of 7,819 to 6,883. Bray carried six of the seven counties in the 13^th judicial district but lost to McKenzie in Cumberland County. McKenzie went on to defeat his Democratic opponent William Fred Roberson in the 2014 August General Election. McKenzie succeeded veteran Democratic Judge Leon Burns, Jr. who decided not to seek re-election.

July 8, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

Fiddlers Jamboree Director of Crafts Dana Scott Saturday presented the “Best Craft Display” Award to Misty Archer of Sassy South Art of Oxford, Alabama.

“We do door hangars and front door décor. We personalize on site. Everything is handmade and hand painted. We offer everything from every day decor to fall, seasonal etc. Everything throughout the year,” said Archer.

IMG_8106 from dwayne page on Vimeo.

To learn more visit www.sassysouthart.com

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