NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Another famous Nashville name is stepping in to help in the middle of this harsh winter weather. Edley's Bar-B-Que is offering free pork sandwiches to people who are without power and the linemen working to restore it. The sandwiches are available at middle Tennessee Edley's locations until power is fully restored in the area.
The Edley's story starts with a family resemblance.
"When I'm in McMinnville, Tennessee, I get stopped by old timers," said Edley's owner and founder Will Newman. "Apparently, I'm his spitting image. 'You must be Edley Newman's grandson.'"
When Newman founded his restaurant, he named it after his grandfather. There are eleven locations now. Since that 2011 launch, Newman's seen some hard days in Nashville.
The tornadoes of March 2020 devastated many areas including East Nashville. The Edley's location there was damaged and closed for a long time. Watching how people pulled together, Newman wanted to do something.
"For roughly ten days, we set up a tent, and we gave out free to neighbors, the linesmen," Newman remembered. "It just felt like the right thing to do."
We are in hard days in Nashville again.
"A lot of our neighbors are without power," Newman nodded. "Y'know, they're suffering. This is a really hard, challenging time to be this cold for this long a period of time."
Among the people without power is the Hinz family.
"We lost power Saturday afternoon, so we had to find an Airbnb," said dad Peter Hinz, sitting at Edley's with his wife and two children.
The Edley's in 12 South has become something of a warm refuge for the Hinz family.
Hinz looked over at his son drawing on a piece of paper.
"Can you draw a powerline?" he laughed.
"Decided we're going to do something good," Newman said. "We're going to give free pork sandwiches to all those without power and to the linesmen. We're going to do it until all the power's back on. Yesterday, we gave out 2,000 pork sandwiches."
"I think it's wonderful," Hinz said. "They were nice enough to do a free sandwich, just to help everybody. We came by just to get warm and get our bellies full, get a taste of home, of normalcy, I guess."
I never did say why Edley Newman was a prominent name in his time. It's pretty relevant to today with so many people waiting on their power. Edley Newman ran an electric company.
"He brought power to people for the first time, many times, in their lives back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s," Newman said. "We named Edley's after him and the legacy he made giving back to his community. It was a great opportunity to live out the legacy Edley Newman did in McMinnville."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
