Good morning, Cookeville.

I have a folding chair by the door like I am leaving any minute. I am not. FunFest starts Friday. Until then, Thursday stacks a ribbon cutting, soccer under the lights, and a rooftop date, then dares you to pick.

In today's Cookeville Scoop:

Let's get into it!

Catch Algood Diner's food-truck ribbon cutting this afternoon. The diner at 433 W Main Street cuts the ribbon at 2 PM, after the breakfast-and-lunch window. Friday and Saturday the truck's first festival dates are Fall FunFest on the square. I still do not have a posted truck menu. Show up today if you want the scissors, or look for them downtown this weekend. See the diner.

Tech women's soccer hosts Murray State tonight. Kickoff is 7 PM at Tech Soccer Field. The Golden Eagles are 2-3-2 after a 1-0 loss at Lipscomb on Sunday. This is the Thursday night option if FunFest is still a day away and you want a home match. See the Tech soccer page.

Get Saturday's Tech tickets for Samford. Tennessee Tech hosts Samford at 6 PM at Tucker Stadium for Family Weekend and Legends Weekend. The Golden Eagles are 2-0 after beating Chattanooga 24-9. Individual tickets start at $25. Ages 3 and up need a ticket. Students get in free with an Eagle Card. Tailgate reservations already closed Wednesday. The Family Weekend tailgate is still 4 to 6 PM, complimentary meal while supplies last. Buy tickets or call 931-372-3940.

Algood Diner is taking the kitchen on the road. Thursday is the ribbon cutting. Friday and Saturday the truck's first festival stop is FunFest on the Historic Courthouse Square. The diner itself is breakfast and lunch. See the diner.

Crawdaddy's at 53 W Broad Street has $5 bourbons today from 11 AM to 10 PM. Friday is Blue's pink flamingo. Saturday is made-to-order Long Island teas. Sunday brunch drinks start at 10:30 AM (mimosas, bellinis, Zing Zang Bloody Marys), with Moscato sangria in the evening. See the current specials.

Tuesday I told you the square was the plan. It still is. The new fact is the sky.

Fall FunFest is CityScape's 29th annual Main Street Festival, Friday from 5 to 10 PM and Saturday from 10 AM to 10 PM around the Historic Courthouse Square. It is free. Live music, arts and crafts, food trucks, and a kids' area.

Friday is Tennessee Tech Night. Tech Boulevard is open 5 to 10. Bounce houses run 5 to 9. Opening ceremony is 5:45. Blue Mother Tupelo plays at 6. O.N.E. The Duo is at 8.

Saturday is the all-day version. WCTE's Stations of Imagination and Safety Lane run 10 AM to 5 PM. Bounce houses stay open until 8. The Backroads Band is at 4. BoomTown Saints is at 6. The Frontmen close it at 8: Richie McDonald (formerly of Lonestar), Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, and Tim Rushlow (formerly of Little Texas).

If you have been waiting for a downtown weekend that does not require a wristband, this is still the one! Volunteer if you want to help: 931-528-4612.

Friday also has Movies on the Quad on campus, so pick a lawn. Saturday's Tech kickoff is at 6 and The Frontmen are at 8, which is a choose-one unless you like a brisk walk from Tucker Stadium to the square.

Bring a chair you can fold. See the FunFest schedule.

The Tennessean listed Cookeville's O'Charley's at 1401 Interstate Drive among locations set to close Wednesday night. Employees at several Tennessee restaurants told reporters they were shutting down at 8 PM. The company had not put out a public statement. Herald-Citizen got the same runaround from the Cookeville shop (call the home office). If you drove past this morning and the lights were off, that is why.

Interstate Drive just lost its O.

Thursday

Teddy Bear Sleepover pickup – Pick up overnight stuffies at the Cookeville library beginning at 10 AM

Imagine Foundry on the Go – Free making session at the Algood library, 3:30 PM

Friends of the Monterey Branch Open House – Silent auction and membership drive, 4 to 6 PM

Dungeons & Dragons – Free tabletop at the Cookeville library, beginners welcome, 5 to 7:45 PM

Friday

Train Tales – Preschool train stories at the Depot Museum, 10:30 AM

Read, Play, Grow – Birth-to-age-3 story time at the Cookeville library, 10 AM

Fall FunFest – Free Main Street festival on the square, 5 to 10 PM

Movies on the Quad – Free Parent Trap on campus; pre-party 6 PM, movie 7:15

Saturday

History Hikes – Free Broad Street walk between the Depot and History Museum, 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM

Becoming America: Voices of 1776 – Last day at the History Museum, 10 AM to 4 PM

Fall FunFest – All-day version on the square, 10 AM to 10 PM, Frontmen at 8

Sunday

Tech vs Middle Tennessee – Women's soccer at Tech Soccer Field, 5 PM

Movies on the Quad is Friday at Tennessee Tech. Pre-party at 6 PM with a student band, lawn games, and food trucks. The Parent Trap starts at 7:15. Free. Parking is behind TJ Farr and Henderson Hall. No outside food. FunFest is the other Friday lawn. See Movies on the Quad.

Thursday

37 Cedar – Dan Allen Crawley, 8 PM. Listing

Friday

Fall FunFest – Blue Mother Tupelo, 6 PM. Schedule

Fall FunFest – O.N.E. The Duo, 8 PM. Schedule

Saturday

Fall FunFest – The Backroads Band, 4 PM. Schedule

Fall FunFest – BoomTown Saints, 6 PM. Schedule

Fall FunFest – The Frontmen, 8 PM. Schedule

Fire & Vine is the rooftop date if you want a table above WestSide before the square fills up. 115 W 1st Street. Thursday is 4 to 9 PM. Friday and Saturday run 10:30 AM to 10 PM, with brunch in the mix. Sunday is 10:30 AM to 9 PM. The rooftop is year-round (louvered roof, so a Thursday storm is not an automatic indoor sentence). Stone-fired cooking downstairs and up. Call 931-559-8463 if you want a reservation instead of a walk-up. See Fire & Vine.

Thursday 90 / 66 | 58% rain

Friday 87 / 61 | 24% rain

Saturday 89 / 64 | 17% rain

If this issue settled the weekend, forward it to the friend still deciding between the square and Tucker Stadium. Have a local opening or a closure we should verify next week? Reply and send the source. I will check it before it goes in.

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Thanks for reading on a stormy-looking Thursday. I'm glad you're here with our Cookeville community. I hope Friday finds you on the square or on the Quad. See you next time! 🧡

-- Travis