“Stone Soup” is a folk tale that teaches about when people in a community contribute a little, together it can go a long way. Martin’s Grassroots Soybean Festival is Martin, Tennessee’s version of that story, continuing an important community tradition by having each person chip in a little to make it possible.

On May 21, the Tennessee Soybean Festival Committee announced that the Tennessee Soybean Festival was canceled due to financial challenges, time constraints and the amount of manpower required to plan the event.

For over 30 years, historic downtown Martin has been filled with food and street fair vendors, rides, live music and more, all in celebration of the soybean, Tennessee’s top agricultural commodity.

After the cancellation was announced, John Sellers, the owner of Martin’s Coffee and Bakery, wasted no time bringing the event back to life.

“We immediately started calling people that were like-minded, which is being community-minded,” said Sellers. “We quickly put a team together that wanted to preserve the tradition of us gathering together and celebrating what makes Martin so special.”

Sellers met with the original Tennessee Soybean Festival committee to see if they could adapt the existing festival structure to be smaller and grassroots-focused. Without the 501(c)(3) nonprofit designation, Sellers and his team started from scratch with a new structure.

Sellers made a post on the Martin’s Coffee and Bakery social media pages and proposed a plan to still hold a festival of some sort. A board of directors was formed, consisting of seven members: Shelby Hatchel, Tamara Kelso, Keithon Currie, Alex Gallien, Matt Lampley, Chad Brewer and Sellers. The group began to fundraise and created a plan to make the vision a reality. Going into festival week, over $100,000 had been raised for the new Martin’s Grassroots Soybean Festival.

“The reason why we were able to fundraise so much is because people love this festival and see value in this festival, and we want to honor that,” Sellers said. “The way that we can honor that is by being collaborative and being diplomatic and letting ego go.”

The team secured multiple large sponsorships, including $30,000 from the City of Martin and $25,000 from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Tosh Farms and Martin Stockyards provided over 1,000 meals for the Community Cookout during the Faith and Family Night on Thursday, Sept. 10. In addition, 15 free bounce houses were open Thursday, Sept. 10 through Saturday, Sept. 12.

After all expenses are paid, remaining funds will be donated to the city fire department through the Friend of a Firefighter campaign, which supports the goal of purchasing 24 self-contained breathing apparatuses.

The festival has taken many hours of work to become a reality. Sellers said he worked 10 hours a day for the past 60 days.

“I put everything else on pause,” Sellers said. “It’s just so worth it.”

The hard work proved worth it for many community members, including Martin resident Sherry Miller. Miller, originally from Ohio, moved to Martin seven years ago. During her time in Martin, Miller and her family have enjoyed attending the Soybean Festival. Miller was disturbed when she heard the news that the festival was canceled in May.

Miller had her booth, Fabulous Finds, set up on Wednesday, Sept. 16 for Martin Market Day. This was Miller’s first year selling her handmade beaded jewelry and other gifts at the festival.

“I’m glad it’s back. I’m glad they’re doing something,” said Miller. “I know it’s not as big and bad as it was years previously, but I see the heart and the heart of the people, and that touched my heart.”

Students are also relieved to know the tradition is continuing. Madilyn Rigsby, a sophomore majoring in elementary education and dance education at the University of Tennessee at Martin, worked the Baptist Collegiate Ministry booth at the Faith and Family Night. Rigsby enjoyed the festival last year and was glad to hear the community was still gathering to have a celebration.

“I was really excited because I feel like that was the one exciting thing that we as Martin have that’s unique to us,” Rigsby said. “So I was really excited to hear that it was back and that we are still honoring the tradition.”

As community members walked through the festival, it is evident that it has required effort from many to make the event possible. All of the community members’ contributions added up to make a great “soup.”

Sellers plans to remain transparent about how the festival was planned and funded in hopes that the Tennessee Soybean Festival will grow back to its original structure next year.