Good morning, Cookeville.

The week after Mother's Day is shaping up nicely. The weather is holding, the post-graduation lull is over, and the calendar is full again. TTU baseball closes out the regular season at Bush Stadium, and there's a charity event on Saturday you genuinely have to see to understand.

In today's Cookeville Scoop:

Let's get into it.

TTU Baseball vs. Morehead State. Tennessee Tech closes out the 2026 regular season with three home games against Morehead State this weekend. Thursday and Friday first pitch is 6:00 PM. Saturday is 2:00 PM, all at Quillen Field at Bush Stadium. Senior Day is Saturday afternoon, and the OVC standings are still in play. If you can't make it in person, all three games are on ESPN+. Saturday's 2 PM start is the most family-friendly of the three.

Business After Hours at the Cookeville Chamber. The Chamber's monthly networking event is on for Thursday, May 14. The registration page is live but wouldn't fully load when we checked, so we can't confirm host venue or exact time from here. If you've been meaning to plug into the chamber, call the Chamber office at 931-526-2211 before Thursday to get the details and RSVP.

Wet Felted Pod Workshop. Local artist Allison Weeden is teaching a hands-on wet felting class at Edison Hills (127 W Broad St) on Saturday, May 16 at 10:00 AM. You work raw wool fibers into a sculpted vessel and leave with the piece you made. It's the kind of slow Saturday morning that's hard to come by. Workshop fee applies. Check the registration page for current pricing.

Ocean and Sand Paint Bash. Friday night, May 15, 6:00 to 8:30 PM at 108 S Lowe Ave. A guided paint-splatter session with ocean and sand themes. $25 per person, casual class format, and you leave with a piece of art for the house. Good Friday-evening option if the Friday Night Market downtown isn't your scene.

Drake's Happy Hour. Drake's Cookeville runs two happy hour windows Monday through Friday: 3–6 PM and again from 9–11 PM. Food specials include $2 mini cheeseburgers (limit ten), $5 chips and queso, $6 fried pickles, and $7 half-orders. The double window is unusual and worth knowing about, especially if your week wraps up late. drakescomeplay.com

The Putnam Room Happy Hour. The Putnam Room runs happy hour from 3–5 PM daily in their downtown space at 319 E Spring St, and Saturday adds a late-night window from 8–10 PM. That Saturday hour is a nice option after the baseball game wraps up in the afternoon. Small plates, cocktails, and one of the prettiest rooms downtown. theputnamroom.com

There's a thing happening on Saturday at 17522 Dodson Branch Hwy that we haven't seen before, and we're pretty sure you haven't either.

The Dirty South Throw Down is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and it kicks off at noon with a downhill Power Wheels derby. Kids' battery-powered jeeps. A hill. That's the whole pitch, and it's a great one.

After the derby, the day rolls into a mud bog (the bigger, muddier vehicles get their turn) and live music spread through the afternoon. The whole thing is outdoors on rural Putnam County property north of town, and it has the feel of a community get-together more than a structured event.

Entry is free. Donations are encouraged, and every dollar raised goes to St. Jude.

A few practical things worth knowing before you head out. Dodson Branch Hwy is about a fifteen-minute drive north from downtown Cookeville, and the event is on private property, so look for signage when you get close. Bring cash for donations and concessions, lawn chairs if you want a comfortable spot, and shoes you don't mind getting muddy. The sun gets strong on open property in the afternoon, so a hat and sunscreen help.

If you have kids who'd love watching other kids race battery-powered jeeps down a hill (which, in our experience, is essentially every kid), this is going to be the easiest yes of the weekend. The St. Jude tie-in is real and meaningful, the format is genuinely unusual, and it's the kind of thing that only happens because someone in this community decided to put it together.

We'd love to see Cookeville turn out for this one. Event page.

Free programs at Putnam County Library, Thursday all day. Thursday, May 14 is genuinely packed across all four branches. Highlights include a Storytime Tea Party at Monterey at 10:30 AM (dress-up encouraged, all ages), Virtual Reality Career Exploration at Cookeville at 2:30 PM (ages 18+), and Dungeons & Dragons at the Cookeville branch from 5:00 to 7:45 PM (all ages, under 16 needs a guardian). Also storytime, beginner Spanish, Resistance Band Training, Imagine Foundry on the Go, and Technology Thursday for adults. Full schedule at pclibrary.org. Free.

Train Tales at the Cookeville Depot Museum. Friday, May 15 at 10:30 AM. The weekly preschool storytime built around trains, set inside the actual historic train depot at 116 W Broad St. The setting does a lot of the work. Free, drop-in, perfect for kids who can't get enough of trains.

Southern Belle Showdown spring livestock show. Friday, May 15 at 11:00 AM at 155 Fairground St. A spring livestock show with a youth showmanship clinic and age-grouped classes. Family-friendly, free to attend, and a good way to support local 4-H families if your kids have never seen a livestock ring up close. Free.

Friday Night Market in the Art District. Friday, May 15, 6:00 to 10:00 PM at The Corner Market (17 W Spring St). Local vendors, artists, food, and rotating DJs and musicians spilling onto the sidewalk. Dog and family friendly, and the Corner Market shop is open during the event. Free.

Cookeville Green Market. Saturday, May 16, 8:00 AM to noon at Jig Head Brewing Company (310 Newman Dr). A locally-grown-and-produced-only market, separate from the daily Cookeville Farmers Market over on Mahler Ave. Good source for produce, eggs, breads, and small-batch goods straight from Upper Cumberland producers. Free admission.

Plant Bingo at the Library. Saturday, May 16, noon to 1:30 PM at the Cookeville branch of the Putnam County Library. Botany-themed bingo with actual plant prizes for winners. A solid mid-Saturday stop if you're already downtown for the Green Market. Free, all are welcome.

If you know someone heading to the Dirty South Throw Down or staking out a seat for Saturday's baseball Senior Day, share this with them. Have an event, opening, or story tip for next week? Reply to this email or tag us on social. Word of mouth is how we keep growing.

Thanks for being here with us, Cookeville. The first full weekend after Mother's Day has a lot going on, and we hope you find something you love. See you next time. 🧡

-- The Cookeville Scoop Team