A relaxing rendezvous at Rivershack Farm

A view of the Holston River and rolling farmland made for a great setting for a Knox Heritage “Summer Supper.”

Knox Heritage scaled back the number of its popular fundraising “Summer Suppers” this year due to COVID-19 considerations, even making a couple of them virtual. But the ones they did have in person — generally in outdoor locations — continued to be the crowd pleasers they always were.

Case in point: the one titled “Rendezvous at Rivershack Farm” which was held on a beautiful piece of property on the Holston River owned by Deanna and Tim Hill. Tim Hill had an affection for the place recalling fishing there as a boy, and the couple bought it and built a fabulous farmhouse there. Located just eight minutes from downtown Knoxville, it was the perfect location for a Knox Heritage event.

The party for 75 people quickly sold out at a cost of $175 per person. And, considering the delicious food and restful nature of the evening, it was worth every penny!

The Knox Heritage mission is to preserve structures and places of historic or cultural significance for our community.

Approaching Rivershack Farm from the field where we were instructed to park. The property, developed in 2016, contains the farmhouse, three barns, a fishing shack and a boat dock. A great location for a party!

Members of the host committee, John Bradley and Mary Pom Claiborne, were staffing the check-in table.

Another committee member, Michael Combs, was an enthusiastic greeter.

Host committee members Sandy Martin, left, and Lisa Thomas offered appetizers: tomato tarts and deviled eggs.

Hosts Julia and Gary Bentley: She made those deviled eggs – a LOT of them!

Pimento cheese corn muffins with pepper jelly were amazing, too. The pinot grigio was a perfect accompaniment!

These good host committee members were staffing the bar: Rick Blackburn and Laura Barroso.

Rivershack Farm owner Tim Hill, left, chats with guests Dan and Mary Holbrook.

Sharon Sullivan, left, and Cathy Hill are sisters-in-law. We shared a table with them.

City Council Member Janet Testerman and her husband, Joey Creswell, joined our table, as well.

From left, Jamie and City Council Member Tommy Smith, City Council Member Andrew Roberto and Jack Vaughan.

Host committee members David Martin and City Council Member Lauren Rider.

Carolyn and Chad Boetger.

Bobby Brown, left, and Todd Richesin.

Scott Taylor and Andrea Bailey.

I thought this was an interesting take on a firepit!

During cocktail hour, we got to meet some horses. (This is as close as I got, as I am afraid of horses!) On the horse on the right is Deanna Hill.

You can’t beat good bluegrass music at a barbecue! The Evie Andrus Bluegrass Band provided it!

Soon, it was time to go through the buffet. Barbara Apking, left, and Melissa Tindell were putting the finishing touches on it.

Dinner. Yum.

It was no trouble at all getting folks to settle in for dinner.

We wondered what Mary Pam Claiborne was doing way out in the field! Turns out she was bringing dinner to the guys who would shoot off fireworks later! How thoughtful is that??

From left, John and Linda Haynes with Tina Gillespie.

From left, Archer Bagley, Amie Cohorst, Anthony Wilson and Tyler Janow. Bagley’s Archers BBQ generously donated the barbecue, baked beans and potato salad on the buffet.

After dinner, we were invited to tour the farmhouse as we waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks.

The river-facing side of the farmhouse.

On the porch is this fabulous bed swing! How fun!

The farmhouse contains four bedrooms. Here’s the master, located on the main level.

Living room.

A children’s room.

Awww.

The kitchen was bustling with folks preparing dessert!

My favorite things about the house are the little farmhouse touches like this sweet sign.

Adorbs!

Cute!

Here’s the dessert they were working on: peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. My cobbler-loving husband was in heaven!

Knox Heritage’s executive director, Todd Morgan, right, and his husband, Steven Hinkle. Unfortunately for us, Morgan has announced his plans to leave Knox Heritage in order to move to Chattanooga to be with Hinkle, who is with the school system there. He has done a terrific job at Knox Heritage and will be very hard to replace.

One of the barns.

And, finally, the fireworks. (That’s the head of our friend Sam Maynard in some of the shots!)

I thought you might want to hear some of that bluegrass:

video
play-sharp-fill

 

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5 Responses to A relaxing rendezvous at Rivershack Farm

  1. Susan, on October 11th, 2021 at 4:35 pm said:

    Hi Cynthia,
    I always enjoy the Bluestreak! It feels like you are telling a story rather than just writing an article about events. You have a great job! As I always say, FUN is my favorite “F” word.
    Thanks for sharing your fun!

  2. Monique Anderson, on October 11th, 2021 at 6:14 pm said:

    Looks like a very nice event.

  3. Cynthia Moxley, on October 11th, 2021 at 8:26 pm said:

    Susan: Thanks! Love your favorite F word!

    Monique: It was so much fun.

  4. Amy Fay Chandler, on October 15th, 2021 at 12:21 pm said:

    Thank you so much for the wonderful photos and account of the Knox Heritage Summer Supper. What a joy and pleasure it was to read!

  5. Cynthia Moxley, on October 15th, 2021 at 12:58 pm said:

    Amy: It was a ton of fun, for sure!

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