Freedomfest

Freedomfest was a festival that occurred on July 4, 2015, at the compound where Soured Towels, Take 2, and Slick Sheets are located. Many events coincided on this day. For starters, Ted and Ralph, owners of the Glory Shelf, scheduled their marriage, the first gay marriage to take place in Murfreesboro, during the festival. Ted, being a Civil War reenactor, planned a wedding in which he would be dressed as General Robert E. Lee, with Ralph dressed as General Ulysses S. Grant, with many of their gay reenactor friends participating. The Third Baptist Pentecostal Church of Holiness Ghost/Hurt Bird showed up at the event, many people believing they were there to protest, though they carried no signs but instead engaged in occult chanting. After the wedding, festival goers participated in the judging of much-anticipated commercials from two locals business, Mr. Leaky and Horse Gravy, both of whom had commercials running on two different Christian television stations. (The Horse Gravy advertisement featured actor and politician Fred Thompson as the voice of the horse.) Festival organizers had set up large televisions showing both commercials, with the winner to be judged by the number of viewers situated before each. However, as both commercials were nearing their climax, Ghost/Hurt Bird appeared and snatched Ted, taking him up into the sky before dropping him on some overhead lines, knocking out cable television for the broader community but, otherwise, leaving Ted unharmed.