Good morning, Cookeville.

Thursday, May 7. Mother's Day weekend starts today.

Saturday is stacked. The first-ever Oreo Festival opens at Walter L. Bilbrey Park. Free admission, free parking, 10 AM to 4 PM. The Green Market is running Saturday morning at its new address on Rotary Centennial Drive. And Sunday is Mother's Day, with brunch at Crawdaddy's, a free tumbler at Drake's, and a good excuse to let the weekend move at its own pace.

In today's Cookeville Scoop:

Let's get to it.
-- The Cookeville Scoop Team

Hands-On Pasta Making & 3-Course Dinner: Friday, May 8, 5:30–7:30 PM at the Cookeville Community Center Building. Make fresh pasta from scratch (yours to take home), then sit down for a chef-prepared three-course dinner. Tickets are $62.87 on Eventbrite and the listing is already marked "going fast." If this is your kind of Friday night, grab a spot sooner rather than later.

Crawdaddy's is open for Sunday brunch from 10:30 AM to 2 PM, and Mother's Day is exactly the kind of Sunday it was built for. Their menu runs New Orleans-influenced Southern: eggs benedict served on fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, the kind of food that makes Sunday feel worth slowing down for. They're at 53 W Broad St in downtown Cookeville. If you're bringing a group, call ahead at (931) 526-4660.

Drake's is giving moms a free tumbler with dine-in on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10) while supplies last. Their regular menu and happy hour (3–6 PM) are both on. It's a small touch that makes the choice a little easier if you're still figuring out where to take mom. They're at 1010 S Walnut Ave.

Father Tom's Pub has happy hour running all weekend: $1 off house wine and well drinks, $2 off 16 oz draft beer, and $8 select appetizers from 3 to 6 PM daily. There's also a late Secret Happy Hour from 9 to 10:30 PM. A good option for Friday or Saturday evening before the Mother's Day Sunday rush. 32 N Cedar Ave.

Someone had the idea to throw a whole festival around Oreos. This Saturday, that idea becomes real.

The first annual Oreo Festival opens at Walter L. Bilbrey Memorial Park on Fourth Ave this Saturday, May 9, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Free admission, free parking, all day.

The full lineup of activities isn't something we've been able to pin down ahead of the weekend. What we know is this: it's a full day of Oreo-themed fun at an outdoor park, it costs nothing to show up, and it's the first of its kind in Cookeville. That's a good enough reason to go find out what it is.

Here's what we love about a first annual event: nobody's going because they've heard it's great. They're going because they want to find out. The organizers are putting it together for the first time. The crowd is showing up on curiosity and good faith. There's an energy to that, especially when the concept is something as genuinely fun as a whole festival built around a cookie.

Walter L. Bilbrey Memorial Park sits off Fourth Ave near the Algood Ballpark. It's a wide-open outdoor space with room to spread out, which makes it an easy Saturday with kids. Bring a chair, give yourself the afternoon, and see what Cookeville came up with.

The first one of anything is worth showing up for. Cookeville has a good track record of turning a single idea into a community event people look forward to every year. This one starts Saturday. Ten years from now, some of those kids will remember going to the first Oreo Festival.

The Oreo Festival is Saturday, May 9, 10 AM to 4 PM at Walter L. Bilbrey Memorial Park (125-159 Fourth Ave, Cookeville). Free admission, free parking, no tickets needed. Just show up!

Cookeville Green Market has a new location. After Jig Head Brewing closed earlier this year, the market moved to the Custom Fitness Solutions parking lot at 220 Rotary Centennial Drive. Every Saturday, 8 AM to noon. Locally grown produce, meats, honey, and crafts from Upper Cumberland vendors. Free to attend. Get there early for the best picks.

History Hike at the Cookeville Depot Museum and History Museum: Saturday, May 9, 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Walk between the two museums along Broad Street, see some downtown history, and complete the route to enter a prize drawing. Start at either museum anytime during that window. Free, no registration needed.

Dungeons & Dragons at the Putnam County Library: Two sessions this Saturday, May 9. An adult game runs 10 AM to noon; a tween and teen session runs 12:30 to 2:30 PM (players 16 and under should bring a guardian). Collaborative storytelling and dice at the Cookeville branch. Free. No experience necessary, just show up.

Read, Play, Grow at the Putnam County Library: Friday, May 8, 10 to 11 AM at the Cookeville branch. Story time and intentional play for children birth through age 3. A gentle Friday morning option to start the Mother's Day weekend with the littlest ones. Free, no registration required.

Cookeville Farmers Market is open every day this weekend from 6 AM to 6 PM at 201 Mahler Ave in downtown Cookeville. Fresh produce, baked goods, locally raised meats, and crafts from local vendors. A consistent option any day of the holiday weekend. Free to browse and shop.

If you make it to the Oreo Festival this Saturday, reply and let us know what you found. We love hearing from readers who checked out something new. And if you know about a Cookeville event, business opening, or local story we should cover next week, send it our way. Know a friend who'd enjoy this newsletter? Forward it along and help us grow the community.

Thanks for being part of the Cookeville Scoop community. Wishing you a wonderful Mother's Day weekend full of good food and good people. See you next week. 🧡

-- The Cookeville Scoop Team