ATHENS, Tenn. - Tracy Sawyer, owner of Knoxville-based Tracy's Learning Center, helped wrangle her 29 field trip students through Mayfield Dairy's visitors center Tuesday morning, only a few days after the facility's re-opening following six weeks of renovations.
"We just hadn't been here in a while, so we thought we'd check it out and see what's happening today," Sawyer said.
The visitors center reopened only last Thursday after extensive interior remodeling led company officials to shut the doors and turn away guests for six weeks, starting at the end of May. In that time, public tours of the milk bottling and ice cream production facilities were also halted.
Visitors enter the Mayfield Dairy Farms Visitor Center on Tuesday following the recent re-opening of the popular Athens tour-stop.If you go
* What: Mayfield Dairy Farms ice cream giveaway* Where: 4 Mayfield Lane, Athens, Tenn.* When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, July 9 (normal business hours at www.MayfieldDairy.com).* How much: Tours of the dairy are $4.50 for adults and $3.50 for children (free scoop of ice cream included). There is no cost to enter the visitors center, where ice cream and treats are available for purchase.
The remodeling took a little longer than expected, said Donna Ballew, visitors center manager. But she said it was worth it.
"Basically, you were looking at at least 21 years without a whole lot of updates," she said.
The Athens visitors center opened in 1994 and has seen over 1 million guests - from all 50 states and from countries as far away as Japan, India and Israel - come through its doors.
And many of those guests looked at the same green wallpaper and green paint for 20 years.
Now if they come around, they'll see rustic, wood accents and decor suited for a historic, functioning dairy. And the ice cream bar is still in business, with its 30 flavors of Mayfield sweets and over 1,400 milkshake combinations.
Ballew said on Tuesday that it's not uncommon to host 300, or more, guests on any weekday. And on Fridays, that number can reach up into the 500 range. Last year alone, company officials estimate that over 70,000 people visited the Athens dairy and facilities.
"It's a lot of business," she said.
In fact, the visitor's center is celebrating its new look and re-opening on Thursday by offering guests a free scoop of ice cream.
A tour group from Tracy's Learning Center in Knoxville prepares to tour the Mayfield Dairy Farms plant Tuesday in Athens, Tenn.As of Tuesday morning, over 300 people (walk-ins not included) were penciled in for the event.
Mayfield advertises along Interstate 75 for drivers to stop in, have ice cream and take a break from the road, and the dairy also is listed in a book of things to do for snow birds driving the major north-south Interstate 75 from Canada during the cold months.
"We stay busy," said Ballew.
And locally, the dairy is a mainstay for school and church groups, who return year after year, and in some cases, who are now led by adults who visited the dairy as kids 20 years ago.
"We have the same teachers and the same schools coming back," said Ballew.
The center promotes Mayfield Dairy, a 105-year-old dairy that is one of the largest in the Southeast. Mayfield Dairy Farms serves nine Southeastern states and is owned by Dean Foods Co.
On Tuesday, waiting alongside Tracy Sawyer and her field trip group to enter the theater room at the Mayfield visitor's center, Ken and Kathy Wilson took in the new look of the place with their granddaughters, Brooke and Sydney Smith.
The Wilsons, who live in Florida, were in town visiting relatives and having visited Mayfield with their kids years ago, wanted to share the experience now with their kids' kids.
"We've been here, it's been years ago," said Ken.
"And we just wanted them to see it," said Kathy, of the couple's granddaughters.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.