Good morning, Cookeville.

After years of wishing, the signs are literally up. We've got a hometown name running around the World Cup, a stadium and a shopping center both racing to the finish line, and a Saturday with three festivals fighting for your attention.

Let's get into it.

It's real. You can stop wishing.

The sign pole went up at the Willows on South Willow Avenue at I-40, and both the Target and Home Depot logos are now hanging on it for everyone heading down the interstate to see. For a town that has been saying "we just want a Target" for more than a decade, a sign on a pole hits different.

The Willows is a 40-acre development at the corner of South Willow and I-40, anchored by the two big-box stores with restaurants and other shops planned around them. City and county leaders spent years chasing this one, and Target and Home Depot have consistently topped the list of retailers locals asked for. The center is on track to open this fall.

Translation: your "quick run to Target" no longer requires a trip to Murfreesboro or Mount Juliet. Start planning the haul.

A Golden Eagle is at the World Cup. Brooke Mayo, a Tennessee Tech grad and former Golden Eagle soccer player, made history on June 18 in Atlanta as part of the first all-American, all-woman officiating crew at a men's World Cup, working the Czechia versus South Africa match. The crew drew another assignment over the weekend in Miami for Uruguay versus Cape Verde, with Mayo serving as the assistant. Not bad for someone who started reffing at 13 to make pocket money.

Cookeville softball is getting its own house. Cookeville High is building a new indoor hitting facility and locker room for its softball team, with completion expected in August. Head coach Jordan Webb said the district recognized that its girls deserved the same caliber of facilities the boys' programs, baseball in particular, have had for years. For the first time in his 15 years coaching there, the team will have dedicated space to change and get indoor reps without hauling players across town. The roof is on, siding and electrical are underway.

The city passed its budget, and your taxes are staying put. The City Council approved a 244 million dollar budget last week with no property tax increase. City Manager James Mills called it a deliberately cautious plan given economic uncertainty, with the money aimed at infrastructure, employee pay, and getting ahead of all this growth. It also gives every full-time city employee a 2,000 dollar raise plus merit bumps. The state sets the certified tax rate in July.

Sparta hit pause on data centers. Just down the road, the Sparta board approved a moratorium, a temporary pause rather than a ban, on new data centers. It joins a wave of Middle Tennessee and Upper Cumberland towns including McMinnville and Coffee County hitting the brakes to study the power, water, and noise demands of these big AI facilities before letting them in. A new state law taking effect in July will require the largest data centers to pay for their own power upgrades so the rest of us don't see it on our bills.

A drone company moved in. Mayor Randy Porter announced that Valinor Dispatch, a high-tech drone company working in defense and government technology, has set up on Brown's Mill Road and is already hiring Tennessee Tech engineering grads and students. More good-paying jobs as they grow.

The stadium is almost done. Tennessee Tech's new Tucker Stadium west side, a 57 million dollar rebuild with club seats and suites, is set to open this fall, just in time for the Golden Eagles' first season in the Southern Conference and a home opener against Monmouth.

Heads up downtown: South Walnut between West Broad and West Spring is closed from Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon for waterline work. Plan your coffee run accordingly.

Here's a thing most people don't know until they miss the window. The paddle to the base of Burgess Falls is on a clock.

Center Hill Lake is a man-controlled lake, and the water starts dropping toward winter pool around mid to late June. Right now is about the last stretch of the season where you can paddle straight to the bottom of the falls before it turns into a hike across slippery rocks. Launch from Cane Hollow Recreation Area for a roughly four mile round trip, or book a guided trip with a local outfitter if you'd rather someone else handle the gear. One heads up for this year: the Army Corps is replacing flood gates, so levels may sit a little lower than a full summer pool, and you might have to hop out for the last few feet.

Want something with a swim at the end? Cummins Falls sits nine miles north of town, a 75 foot drop that lands in one of the best swimming holes in the state. Reaching the base of the gorge requires a free access permit, so grab one before you go. And if you just want an easy afternoon close to home, Cane Creek Park rents kayaks, canoes, and paddleboats by the hour right here in town.

Bring water, wear shoes you can get wet, and go early.

Tennessee Banana Festival. Putnam County Fairgrounds, 10 AM to 4 PM. Three dollars to get in, free for kids under 12, with free parking, petting zoo, and bounce house. Expect 125 plus vendors, 10 plus food trucks, live music all day, banana eating contests, and banana everything. Gloriously weird and very fun.

Cookeville Takes Flight Hot Air Balloon Festival. Two ways to do it. The sunrise balloon launch goes up at 6 AM (a full flight runs 300 dollars), or come back for tethered rides from 3 to 9 PM for 25 dollars, sold on site. Balloons over the Upper Cumberland either way.

Boot-Scoot and BBQ with Kelly Parkison. Dogwood Park, starting at 4 PM. Live music and barbecue to close out the day once the festivals wind down.

And if Saturday wears you out, The Putnam Room has a Sunday Social on June 28 from 4 to 8 PM. Wine and tapas, 50 dollars per person for food, plus 35 dollars for all you can drink wine and sangria. Reservations at theputnamroom.com.

That's your week.

Signs on a pole we waited a decade for, a Golden Eagle on the world stage, and a waterfall that won't wait much longer.

Whatever you get into, make it a good one.

See you back here next Monday.