On October 15, 2023, a ribbon-cutting was held for what was then called the Payne Avenue Community Garden located at 2723 Louise Avenue on property owned by Payne Avenue Missionary Baptist Church.
The ribbon-cutting was the culmination and fruition of a vision that Chris Battle had in 2018 to build a community garden that he shared with his good friend Pastor Richard S. Brown, Jr. Pastor Brown not only embraced Chris’s vision, but also offered his wholehearted endorsement and support by agreeing to have the community garden built on Payne Avenue Church property. With the Alliance’s support, 36 4’ x 8’ raised beds each with its own water spigot and a little over a cubic yard of a soil mixture of ½ loam and ½ mushroom compost, as well as a shed, state of the art compost system, and handsome fence, were installed and celebrated.
Chris Battle opened the ceremonies, thanked everyone, and noted that the garden was “an example of what a flourishing garden can look like in this community. It’s got all this beauty, all this food in a community that is plagued with gun violence, drugs, and the whole shebang. Yet we’ve got this beautiful place where people can come, garden, and find peace and serenity, as well as have fresh produce. They can grow here what they maybe can’t afford at the grocery store.”
Pastor Brown, who had been in and out of the hospital, valiantly appeared for a brief time to make a few remarks regarding how blessed the Church and all of its members were to finally have this dream of a community garden become a reality, thanked everyone, and joined Chris, Femeika Elliott, the Alliance’s Chief Operating Officer, and Caesar Stair, in cutting the ribbon to the new 36 bed garden. For many, unfortunately, this would be the last time Pastor Brown would be seen at the garden.
As Chair of the Alliance, Caesar thanked Pastor Brown and Chris Battle and all the Battlefield Farm donors, especially Nancy and Tim Kent, the Alliance donors, especially Philip Lawson and the Lawson Family Foundation, Harrison Boyd and the Boyd Charitable Foundation, The Aslan Foundation, Margaret and Bob Petrone, the Bill and Crissy Haslam Foundation, Ann and Steve Bailey, and John Osborne. In addition, he thanked Bryan Johnson and TVA for helping support the cost of the irrigation system, Reny McClain and Sammy Sweetland and the TVA Retirees Association for the two magnificent benches, Richard Consoli and Knox Works for their help in putting the beds together, and the numerous suppliers, including Volunteer Lumber Company, Hines Fine Soil, Sanders Plumbing Company, Makenzie Read with the City of Knoxville and Chad Hellwinckel at UT for the ASB compost system, Bryant Fence Company, and Scott Branson for the pad for the shed, as well as Beth Gray and the TVA Credit Union for their providing the hospitality for the ribbon-cutting. Last, but hardly least, Caesar thanked all of the 35 members of the church and community who had adopted beds in the new 36 raised bed garden.
Subsequently, Pastor Brown agreed to Chris’s request to add another 64 beds on the Church property for a total of 100 raised beds! With the Alliance’s help, those 64 beds were installed, filled with similar soil, water made available through 2 spigots, and have now all been adopted by members of the Church and the community for the 2024 growing season. This has allowed the original 36 beds to be dedicated to growing as much fresh produce as possible for the community that will be distributed through Battlefield Farm’s Fannie Lou Van.
Unfortunately, Pastor Brown died on January 13, 2024. At his Celebration of Life service, Chris Battle announced to the crowd that the Payne Avenue Community Gardens would forever more be known as the Pastor Richard S. Brown, Jr., Community Garden. The crowd erupted with a standing ovation and long and loud applause and cheering.
Please come visit and enjoy the only 100 raised bed garden in the state of Tennessee at the Pastor Richard S. Brown, Jr., Community Garden at 2723 Louise Avenue!
