Dinner Bell celebrates with 4-week marathon

Release Date: 7/9/2003. Expired: 8/9/2003

For the past three years, cooks from all over Dickson County have been appearing on Dickson County Dinner Bell, the popular cooking show hosted by Ralph Easley on the Renaissance Channel (Comcast 19).

The recipes demonstrated in the studio of The Renaissance Center have included full meals, appetizers, desserts, specialty dishes and just about anything else that can be cooked up in the kitchen. From professional cooks such as JoAnn Sutton of King’s Court and Marilyn Reynolds of The Vinary to Dickson County 4-H Cook Off winners and Girl Scout recipe contest winners, the Dickson County Dinner Bell kitchen has hosted cooks of all kinds of skill levels.

Recipes have ranged from heart healthy meals to chitterlings to venison chili, from traditional meals to ethnic specialties and a variety of dishes in between.

To celebrate the taping of its 48th show, the Renaissance Channel will be broadcasting a four-week Dickson County Dinner Bell Marathon. All 48 episodes will be shown over four consecutive Saturdays beginning July 19.

“When we made the first Dinner Bell show with our first guest, Dickson County Extension Leader Janet Cluck, we never dreamed the show would become perhaps the most popular program on the Renaissance Channel,” said Easley, whose “day job” at The Renaissance Center is to be chief audio/visual engineer for the Multimedia Department and program manager of the Renaissance Channel. “We get numerous calls for recipes after every show, even after the show is rebroadcast two years later. The section of The Renaissance Center’s Web site that contains all the recipes is one of the most viewed pages of our site.”

Dickson County Dinner Bell has featured professional cooks, legendary cooks from the community, contest winners, employees of The Renaissance Center and even a special Christmas show with Santa and Mrs. Claus demonstrating their cooking skills.

Easley, who professed to have no cooking skills when the show began, has hosted each of the 48 programs, but is quick to credit a big part of the show’s success to his on- and off-camera assistance from wife Virginia.

“She has appeared on camera in many of the shows but has always been there at least off camera to keep things running smoothly,” Easley said. “And the great crew in the Multimedia Department always manages to make the taping of each show a fun and entertaining experience that we hope is evident to our viewers.”

The 48 Dickson County Dinner Bell shows will air in chronological order 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, July 19, 26, Aug. 2 and 9, during the Renaissance Channel block on the Dickson Local Cable Access Channel.

The schedule of guests appearing with Easley (and original air date) is:

Saturday, July 19

8 a.m. Janet Cluck (April 10, 2000)
8:30 a.m. Mary Pew (April 17, 2000)
9 a.m. Molly Dye (April 21, 2000)
9:30 a.m. Jann Vanderlinden (May 2, 2000)
10 a.m. Frances Etheridge (May 9, 2000)
10:30 a.m. Janet Cluck with the 4-H Club Cook Off contest winners Part I (May 9, 2000)
11 a.m. Janet Cluck with the 4-H Club Cook Off winners Part II (May 16, 2000)
11:30 a.m. Kevin Scott (May 31, 2000)
12 p.m. JoAnn Sutton (June 2, 2000)
12:30 p.m. Rebecca Smith (June 9, 2000)
1 p.m. Norma Kimbro and Maggie Jo Orgain (June 20, 2000)
1:30 p.m. Joe Webster (June 27, 2000)

Saturday, July 26

8 a.m. Nina Cathey and Leo Sochocki (July 17, 2000)
8:30 a.m. Dorothy and Liz Sanders (August 3, 2000)
9 a.m. Ralph Easley (Aug. 10, 2000)
9:30 a.m. Laural Hughes (August 15, 2000)
10 a.m. Charles Li (September 3, 2000)
10:30 a.m. Joe Webster (September 8, 2000)
11 a.m. Norma Kimbro (September 13, 2000)
11:30 a.m. Ralph Easley (Sept. 20, 2000)
12 p.m. Michelle Thornton (October 20, 2000)
12:30 p.m. Regina Betty (November 7, 2000)
1 p.m. Virginia Knox (November 14, 2000)
1:30 p.m. James “BearKiller” Lee (November 21, 2000)

Saturday, Aug. 2

8 a.m. Bell Jones (November 28, 2000)
8:30 a.m. Santa and Virginia Claus (December 13, 2000)
9 a.m. Elva Gentry (January 30, 2001)
9:30 a.m. Janet Cluck (February 2, 2001)
10 a.m. Ralph and Virginia Easley (March 1, 2001)
10:30 a.m. Marilyn Reynolds (March 14, 2001)
11 a.m. Todd Lampley (March 22, 2001)
11:30 a.m. Allison Kruse (April 3, 2001)
12 p.m. Bill Jones (April 24, 2001)
12:30 p.m. Scott Varden (May 8, 2001)
1 p.m. 2001 4-H Club Cook Off winners Part I (May 22, 2001)
1:30 p.m. 2001 4-H Club Cook Off winners Part II (May 25, 2001)

Saturday, Aug. 9

8 a.m. Janet Cluck (June 5, 2001)
8:30 a.m. Janet Cluck (June 7, 2001)
9 a.m. Barbara and Tommy Hooper with Mike Bradley (June 26, 2001)
9:30 a.m. Kim Wingo (August 6, 2001)
10 a.m. Molly Dye and Tanya Pennock (August 30, 2001)
10:30 a.m. Carmen Edwards (February 12, 2002)
11 a.m. Ralph and Virginia Easley (March 20, 2002)
11:30 a.m. Burns Webelo Scout Troop (October 16, 2002)
12 p.m. Girl Scout recipe contest winners (February 17, 2003)
12:30 p.m. Janine Langley (March 10, 2003)
1 p.m. Stacy Smith and Brandi Robinson (May 21, 2003)
1:30 p.m. Ralph and Virginia Easley (July 8, 2003)

Dickson County Dinner Bell will continue to broadcast new and encore episodes in its regular time slots of 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturdays and 9 p.m. Sundays.

“We hope that you will enjoy our Dinner Bell Marathon and tune in each week to see your friends and neighbors demonstrating their cooking skills and special recipes and just generally having a lot of fun on our show,” Easley said. “We’re also always on the look out for guest cooks who have new, different or interesting recipes to feature on our show. If you or someone you know would like to be on Dickson County Dinner Bell, just call me at 740-5529.”

For more information on Dickson County Dinner Bell recipes or other Renaissance Channel programming, call (615)740-5511. Visit the Dinner Bell web page...