John CoffeltEditor

Old Timers Day 2023, held on the square Oct. 6-7 was about as perfect an event as any of its organizers could have hoped for.

According to organizer Roger Steele, the day had great weather, great crowds and a wonderful turnout by the community.

“We added about 30 more vendors this year,” Steele said. “We have a wonderful crowd. We did really well.”

The parade had about 75 entries, some with multiple cars. The first place for best float went to Save Our Old Stone Fort Bridge group who created a scale rendering of the historic truss bridge.

Second place went to a Big Green Egg float by Clearwater Pools and third place was a classic truck entered by David Hickerson.

Local singer songwriter Macy Tabor was the grand marshal of the parade. She has been performing at Old Timers Day since she was 8 years old.

Tabor said that she was honored to be asked to be the grand marshal.

“It was fun,” Tabor said. “A lot of people were a part of making the float possible.”

Tabor, a regular performer at Nashville venues, said that playing for her home town was a lot different from playing for a crowd she doesn’t know.

“It’s good to see all the hometown supporters who have been there from the beginning,” she said.

One of the more popular vendors at this Old Timers Day event was the Red Raider Booster Club who were selling Chick-fil-A sandwiches to support the team.

“We are just trying to raise money for the kids to give them a better high school experience,” Booster member Josh Schuster said.

He said that the proceeds helps with weight room equipment and warmup gear purchases.

“The school can’t afford that, so we try to give them a little extra,” he said.

“These kind of events we get to raise money,” Schuster said.

Without them, we don’t have that opportunity. We’d be going around door to door. This gives us a platform to make a little money,” he said.

Old Timers Day has been presented by the non-profit organization since the Bring Back Old Timers day did just that in 2012.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.