The festival that almost didn’t happen: Maple Lane Farms gears up for Strawberry Jam Festival

By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff

This time last year, bluegrass godfather Dr. Ralph Stanley and star country outfit Exile were both on their way to Greenback to perform at the Strawberry Jam Festival at Maple Lane Farms.

This time last year, Maple Lane owner Bob Schmidt was focused on two things — putting on the festival, and pushing the strawberries that filled his fields like rubies.

This time last year, Schmidt and his family didn’t have to worry about a lawsuit that threatens to curtail any future festivals at the farm.

What a difference a year makes.

In February, Greenback resident Velda J. Shore filed a lawsuit to prohibit Schmidt from holding concerts at the farm. It claims that the Maple Lane Farms property is not zoned for any use outside agricultural, and that the “commercial and tourist activities” that have gone on there have “brought increased traffic, loud noise and congestion to a peaceful residential area that is neither designed for nor zoned for these commercial and tourist activities. Moreover, the increased volume of traffic and activity in the area has resulted in trash being littered along the streets of nearby subdivisions, including that of the plaintiff (Shore).”

The suit — for which a trial date has yet to be set — grew out of a complaint Shore made to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which ruled in January that Schmidt could hold only one concert a year at the farm. Based on the suit, Shore and her attorney, Michael Menefee, sought an injunction earlier this month against Schmidt holding the Strawberry Jam Festival. When Blount County Chancellor Telford Forgety denied Shore’s injunction request, Schmidt shifted into high gear to plan for this weekend’s event, but the damage was already done.

“We’ve had to really think twice about planning certain things,” Schmidt said earlier this week. “This year, the fireworks show is not going to happen because we had to have our money and the permits issued 30 days prior to the event. I’ve had certain vendors who have been with me for years, but because of the uncertainty of the event, they’ve committed to somewhere else this weekend.

“I don’t blame them; business is business, and I understand that. Thankfully, we’ve had some artists who have said, ‘We’ll book you and just hold the date open; you let us know what happens.’ That’s an extremely rare thing, and I’m grateful for it, especially since the lawsuit has been very hard on my family — financially, mentally and physically. There’s days that’s all you think about, and you don’t feel like doing anything else — it’s just kind of there.”

It’s a toll that’s affected the Strawberry Jam Festival more than Schmidt cares to admit — from the lack of marquee names like Stanley and Exile, who must be booked months in advance and paid before they ever get off the tour bus, to the noticeable lack of publicity for the event until the last minute. Even the festival’s Web site — www.berryjamfestival.com — hasn’t been updated to reflect this weekend’s activities.

The farm will feature similar activities as in years past — strawberry picking (“from a bumper crop,” Schmidt added), face painting, children’s inflatables, a rock-climbing wall courtesy of the Army National Guard, craft vendors and food vendors. Festival-goers can still camp overnight, and the music will take place tonight and all day Saturday. But there’s a general atmosphere of deflation that Schmidt senses among those who may have been looking forward to the event since last year’s.

“Here’s my worry — that in the short period of time I’ve had to put this little gig on, people are going to think there’s a shadow over the whole thing,” he said. “I feel like they’re going to get their money’s worth — I don’t think they’ll be slighted in any way — it’s just not Ralph Stanley and fireworks and that big stuff. It’s more of a smaller, county fair type of atmosphere, where you can bring the kids, throw down the blankets and have a good time.

“I’m very proud to have the talent that we do have, and there is some very good local talent we’re going to showcase this weekend. And when the lawsuit is heard this summer on its merits, we’ll circle the wagons and rebuild this thing the best we can.”

It’s a maddening thing for a Southern farmer, a man of independence who built everything he has from nothing when he first bought the farm in 1985, to have to keep one eye on the horizon, casting a worried eye at those metaphorical storm clouds that may mean the end of the way he’s used to doing things. It’s a troubling thing, having to hope for the best and expect the worst and put up the good fight and run a business and plan for a festival. But Schmidt perseveres, because he genuinely wants to give back to the community.

That’s not the party line of a business man hoping to win favor with his neighbors — it’s his personal philosophy, and you can hear the sincerity it in his voice when he explains why he chose to go ahead with the Strawberry Jam Festival, in spite of the legal headaches.

“I could have folded the tents and said to heck with it; I know that we don’t have to do it,” he said. “Believe me, when you go through this lawsuit process, you think of everything, and there was a point where my friends told me, ‘Bob — just sell the farm! Go live in the Bahamas the rest of your life, because you work too hard anyway.’ But then I’ll see someone in Food City, and they’ll ask me how it’s going and tell me how their family has been coming to our farm for 10 years to pick strawberries and pumpkins.

“So many people have told me what a great time they have here. I feel blessed to be able to provide a place that they can come to for these opportunities, and I can’t let them down. Having started this farm from scratch, it seems like time and time again that I’m faced with situations where things may not be in my favor, but I’m a guy who loves to persevere and get the job done. I’ve been knocked on my fanny many times, but you’ve got to get up and fight the fight.

“To me and my family, it’s a very worthwhile project,” he added. “I feel very blessed for the things that have happened in my life, to have what I have, and I feel like I should share it with the surrounding communities.”

In spite of the negativity generated by the suit, supporters have poured from the woodwork to offer Schmidt their backing. Whether it’s an encouraging comment from acquaintances who stop by the family’s table during dinner to the leaders of various farm organizations, people have come forward to offer their support. And that, he added, is worth so much more than whatever profit he might pocket from the Strawberry Jam Festival, or his autumn corn maze, or the sales of any amount of produce.

“We sure aren’t going to pay off the mortgage doing this thing — it’s a lot of effort and hard work, but we get a lot of joy out of it, and the community does as well,” he said. “It’s a family tradition, and too many people love it to let it go. In the end, we just think that this, too, shall pass, and if we can put up with all of it and come out on the other end, we’ll be stronger for it.”