Stories about oddball roadside attractions, marching bands, budding scientists and sports bars delivered pops of humanity and joy this year.
There were, admittedly, plenty of heartbreaking headlines. But stories like these help us weather the challenges. And you may be happy to hear it was actually pretty hard to narrow down this list to just a couple dozen selections.
If you’re a returning joy seeker, you know WPLN loves a pattern. So below you’ll find our top 24 joyful stories of 2024.
— Rachel Iacovone, Director of Multiplatform Publishing
Alexis Marshall WPLN News
Campers huddle up before breaking into teams for a game of capture the flag.
How this camp for kids who stutter builds confidence and connections
The first rule of Camp TALKS: Everyone gets as much time as they need to speak. (Alexis Marshall, June 10)
Rachel Iacovone WPLN News
Don Srisuryo (center) wanted to take on the challenge of becoming a temporary monk. It’s considered a rite of passage for young men in Thailand, but it largely has not carried over to Thai communities in the U.S. In a key part of the ceremony, he is led around the temple by his mother, Ann, and one of the monks, as his childhood friend, Alex, covers him with an umbrella.
Why a Thai American man from Murfreesboro spent a week as a Buddhist monk
Becoming a temporary monk is considered a rite of passage for young men in Thailand, but this tradition largely has not carried over to Thai communities in the U.S. But for Don Srisuryo, 26, it was worth it to take on the challenge. (Char Daston, April 30)
Marianna Bacallao WPLN News
A man incarcerated at the Downtown Detention Center in Nashville, Tennessee votes for the first time on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024.
‘We want people to hear our voices’: Election Day inside a Nashville jail
Election Day is one week away for the majority of Nashvillians. But for people incarcerated in Davidson County’s jails in-person voting happens one week earlier, on Tuesday, Oct. 29. (Marianna Bacallao, Oct. 29)
House of Ebony
Leadership of the Nashville chapter of the Legendary Iconic House of Ebony
A ballroom scene has been quietly growing in Nashville. And it’s about to have its coming out party.
The Legendary Iconic House of Ebony has put on several smaller balls in the city in recent years, but the one they brought to the National Museum of African American Music was their most visible display to date. (Jewly Hight, June 20)
Corrine Elise of Nashville Launch Pad mans a booth representing the organization at Nashville’s first LGBTQ-centered blood drive.
‘Just the beginning:’ Nashville holds first blood drive for newly-eligible LGBTQ donors
Last year, the FDA ended a 40-year rule that prohibited gay and bisexual men from giving blood. On Friday, one Nashville man gave for the first time. “I kind of feel validated, because my blood was not good enough all these years.” (Marianna Bacallao, Jan. 19)
Tasha A.F. Lemley
A mix of grief and gratitude: Anita Smith gets emotional as she enters her new room in a Nashville boarding house.
‘I don’t need to go any further’: One woman finds herself home
Homelessness is often the result of a culmination of several events in a person’s life. As we have heard throughout This Is Nashville’s housing series, “In My Place,” people can quickly struggle to maintain stable housing when a financial, medical or personal crisis hits. (Tasha A.F. Lemley, July 9)
Char Daston WPLN
A group of singers from Nashville in Harmony prepares for a concert at Nashville Pride. The LGBT choir celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024.
How this Nashville LGBTQ choir celebrates 20 years of harmony
When Nashville in Harmony was founded in 2004, many of its members had to be discreet. Twenty years later, it is known both locally and nationally. (Char Daston, June 21)
Caroline Eggers WPLN News
Moth enthusiasts searched for various species in Bells Bend Park on July 27, 2024.
Moth enthusiasts track nocturnal fliers at Bells Bend Park
Connecting to the diverse world of moths — like at Moth Watch at Bells Bend Park — could help people see past common perceptions. (Caroline Eggers, July 31)
Rose Gilbert WPLN News
Nesreen Simsek and two of her students pose with a santur and dev drums at the Kurdish Culture and Music Association.
A new wave of Kurds fleeing Turkey bring their own sound to Music City
Nashville has the largest Kurdish population of any city in the U.S., and most are from the Iraqi region of Kurdistan, also known as Bashur. They arrived in waves starting in the 1970s, with the largest influx prompted by Saddam Hussein’s genocidal campaigns in the late 1980s and early ’90s. (Rose Gilbert, June 24)
On average, more than two Tennesseans die each week from pregnancy-related causes. Nashville Strong Babies is a support program that aims to improve maternal and infant health while battling racial health disparities. It is expanding to all of Davidson County.
Nashville program for new babies and moms expands to cover all of Davidson County
Metro’s health department has spent five years on a pilot program called Nashville Strong Babies. Its goal is to improve infant and maternal outcomes, while addressing racial health disparities. Now, the program is expanding. (Catherine Sweeney, July 13)
Marianna Bacallao WPLN News
The Lipstick Lounge’s newest addition will give fans of women’s sports somewhere to watch in Nashville.
Women’s sports bars are on the rise. Nashville’s will be a first for the South.
Nashville’s Chapstick is poised to become the first in the South to join a growing trend of sports bars dedicated to women’s leagues. (Marianna Bacallao, July 2)
Magnolia McKay WPLN
Lords and ladies in waiting rest while they wait for their queen to finish tea.
Listen: Mermaids, mushroom fairies and royalty joust and jest at the Tennessee Renaissance Festival
The Tennessee Renaissance Festival runs each weekend in May at Williamson County’s Castle Park. (Magnolia McKay, May 17)
Cynthia Abrams WPLN News
A young resident of Germantown Commons walks along the courtyard path.
As demand for housing rises and loneliness rates spike, some Nashvillians are looking to innovative living situations. One such arrangement is “co-housing.” (Cynthia Abrams, Nov. 11)
Alexis Marshall WPLN News
A camper races a counselor down the zip line at Camp Forget-Me-Not.
This Tennessee camp creates space for grief — and joy — for children who have lost a loved one
Each year, Alive Hospice holds Camp Forget-Me-Not to support children through their grief. It offers an environment where kids can have fun, make new friends, and share freely about their loss with other kids. (Alexis Marshall, Aug. 23)
Rachel Iacovone WPLN News
A crowd begins to form at the re-opening of The Horn for night service during Ramadan.
We are now more than three weeks into Ramadan, the holiest month on the Islamic calendar. During it, Muslims fast from sun-up to sundown, and here in Nashville, the place to eat and gather with loved ones in the dark has been, perhaps surprisingly, a coffeeshop. (Rachel Iacovone, April 5)
Magnolia McKay WPLN
WPLN’s Jewly Hight and producer Magnolia McKay pose with their road trip mascot, Willie, in front of Flagg Grove School at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, Tennessee.
Anatomy of the perfect Tennessee road trip
When WPLN senior music writer Jewly Hight pitched This Is Nashville producer Magnolia McKay the idea for an episode about roadside attractions, McKay was quick to say yes. But she was not prepared for the deep knowledge Hight had on the plethora of fun and quirky stops within Tennessee state lines. Luckily, she was an eager student and a good sport. (March 21)
Courtesy East Tennessee State University
The brass section of ETSU’s Marching Bucs plays on their home field. Less than 10 years after the band was started, it will perform in the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
A Tennessee marching band’s journey from nonexistence to the Macy’s Day Parade
Ten years after forming, the ETSU Marching Bucs performed in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The band director says the band’s success took dedication and creativity. (Char Daston, Nov. 26)
Rachel Iacovone WPLN News
A cicada waves atop the not-at-all shaky hand of WNXP’s Carly Butler. She picked up the bug on Nashville Public Radio’s back patio as part of her personal “exposure therapy.”
Listen: Peak cicada? First-timers share their appreciation and grievances about the brood
It’s hard to remember a time before the cicadas. Their daily screaming has become the soundtrack to life in Nashville, and the pieces of their dead litter seemingly every surface. WPLN has been checking in with the newsroom’s cicada first-timers to see how they’re feeling throughout Brood XIX’s emergence. (Rachel Iacovone, May 7 and 24)
Heritage Foundation of Williamson County
A semi-truck unloads the Lee-Buckner School, a historic Rosenwald school, at its new location in downtown Franklin. The school will be restored and opened as a historic site.
‘To teach the next generation’: A former schoolhouse for Black children finds a new home in Franklin
A historic schoolhouse for Black children was relocated from its original site in the tiny rural community of Duplex, Tenn. It now sits in the middle of downtown Franklin. It’s part of an effort by the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County to restore the school. (Char Daston, Feb. 23)
Evan Zimmerman Murphy Made
Julia Nicole Hunter, Rainier “Rainey” Trevino, Georgie and Christopher Swan in the North American tour of “Annie.”
‘Annie’ brings sunshine and the return of a hometown actress to TPAC
The story of orphan Annie has captured hearts for generations, and the version at TPAC is a homecoming of sorts for one of the featured actors: Julia Nicole Hunter, who plays Grace Farrell. (LaTonya Turner, March 26)
Char Daston WPLN News
Artist Ember Tharpe, second from left, shows her piece, “Nest,” to a group of friends and fans. Tharpe was one of over 50 artists included in the 2024 expansion of the Metro Arts Lending Library.
Nashvillians can now borrow art from seven local libraries
The Lending Library began in 2021 to support Nashville artists who lost work during COVID. This summer, the program doubled its collection and expanded to five more library branches. (Char Daston, July 25)
Marianna Bacallao WPLN News
Kids at the Z. Alexander Looby Center play hockey with the Nashville Predators mascot, Gnash.
Listen: After neo-Nazis target Black children, Nashville comes out to support them
To celebrate national United Against Hate Day of Action, kids got a special visit from Nashville’s major sports leagues. (Marianna Bacallao, Sept. 30)
Morning Pointe Senior Living
Belinda French, 76, performs her flag baton routine at Morning Pointe Foundation’s annual Seniors Got Talent event.
This Middle Tennessee talent show proves that age is just a number
On a Tuesday night last October, the Franklin Theater was sold out for a talent show that is quickly becoming an annual tradition. For the past five years, the Morning Pointe Foundation has hosted the Seniors Got Talent event in Williamson County — a live talent show for contestants ages 60 or older. (Magnolia McKay, Jan. 31)
Char Daston WPLN
Chetan Yenigalla visits WPLN’s studio. The Ravenwood High School Senior is a semifinalist in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a worldwide science communication competition.
This Brentwood teen’s science video landed a spot in a worldwide competition
Chetan Yenigalla is a semifinalist in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, which invites teens from around the world to make two-minute videos about science.
Still itching for more fun? Check out our past years of joy story roundups — from 2023, 2022 and 2021. Plus, every Friday, our NashVillager newsletter runs its “Out, About” section, where I bring you suggestions like where to go dancing, apple picking, or even curling (yes, the icy Olympic sport). You can subscribe here for more joy in your inbox every weekday morning.
