| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 7 Dec 2005.
Clinton Chord Carnley obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 6 Mar 2007.
Clint's turns hobby into good eats
By: JEFF FARRELL, Staff Writer
March 06, 2007
NEW CENTER - Clint Carnley has such a good time cooking and playing music for his friends, he's decided to see if he can do it as a business.
Carnley opened Clint's Barbecue and Family Restaurant at 2234 Newport Highway late last year. His wife, Elaine, owns the real estate office next door. Carnley has run Clint's Carpet Cleaning Service in Sevier County for almost 40 years, but he's always liked to cook - and he's had lots of practice.
"I learned to cook on my back porch," he said. "I've cooked on my back porch for years now, and it got to where everybody'd come over.
"We'd have 30, 40, 50 people come to eat, and they'd say you should have your own restaurant."
He did, and now his new restaurant is becoming a popular spot in New Center. The restaurant specializes in slow-cooked, pit barbecue, and they also have blue plate specials, steaks and other items on the menu. "I do all the barbecue myself and I've got six cooks that do the rest," he said.
Carnley said he slow-cooks his meats over low heat to keep them tender and give them a smoky flavor.
Inside, the walls are lined with photos and items that recall Sevier County's history.
On Tuesday and Wednesday nights, Carnley breaks out his guitar and plays for the guests. He's not just taking advantage of the captive audience to indulge a hobby - he made a living as a musician for a few years before starting his own business.
"I want people to feel warm and comfortable and welcome," he said.
After two months in operation, he said he's happy to see that they're getting repeat customers. "I had one lady say it was like a family reunion," he said. "Every time they come in here, they see somebody they know."
Clint's is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. It is located at 2234 Newport Highway. It can be reached by calling 453-5150. The inside of the restaurant is smoke-free, although smoking is allowed on the deck.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 12 Oct 2010.
Clint: 'We will rebuild' — blaze totals restaurant
The dining room area at Clint’s BBQ and Country Cookin restaurant is consumed by fire early Tuesday morning. (Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press)
Owner Clint Carnley talks with a firefighter. (Photo courtesy Kathy Dingus)
Firefighters work the back corner of the business. (Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press)
Firefighters work the front of the business. (Submitted)
Fire and smoke billow as firefighters pour water on Clint’s BBQ and Cookin restaurant Tuesday morning. (Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press)
By DEREK HODGES
SEVIERVILLE — Clint Carnley believes it was an explosion in an electrical box that caused the Tuesday morning fire that sent flames licking through the restaurant that bears his name, leaving nothing but part of the front wall where melting signs dripped slowly onto the grass below.
Clint’s BBQ and Country Cookin restaurant was a total loss by just after sunrise, with fire officials saying the wooden structure didn’t stand a chance against the blaze. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the incident.
After four years in business, Carnley said he was finally starting to “break even” on the bills for the restaurant. As he stood watching firefighters dump hundreds of gallons of water on hot spots in the pile of rubble, Carnley vowed the barbecue eatery that became a community gathering house will return.
“We’re going to rebuild. We’re not going to let this thing lick us,” he said. “I’m not giving up. I’m planning to rebuild.”
Emergency responders were alerted to the fire at 7:38 a.m., and fire crews arrived to find the building already considerably engulfed in flames.
“The firefighters found the building to be about 30 percent involved by the time they arrived,” Jay Breeden, Sevier County Sheriff’s Department fire inspector, said. “There were a total of five county fire departments called out here and the Sevierville Fire Department provided its aerial truck. We determined it started in a basement area where there is some storage and an apartment.”
Breeden pointed out the restaurant was a gathering place for the community largely because of Carnley.
“Everybody knows Clint. He’s just a great guy,” Breeden said. “This is a very well-known establishment in Sevier County and it’s a sad day to see this happen.”
Carnley was actually in the building — which also houses his wife’s real estate business Homes “R” Us Realty and his carpet cleaning business — only moments before the fire broke out. A cook, who arrived early to meet the delivery truck that brings in food each Tuesday, alerted Carnley to the blaze after the business owner left to fill up a company van with gas.
“I had just had breakfast and taken a nap here. I walked out right by that electrical box and everything was fine,” Carnley said. “I was gone maybe five minutes before my cook called and said the building was on fire and he didn’t know what happened. He heard a big pop from the basement.”
When Carnley returned a few minutes later, he found the flames already filling the basement and saw that a garage door near the electrical boxes had already collapsed.
“It had to be some type of explosion,” Carnley said. “I’m just so thankful for all these firefighters who have come out here and battled this. I just can’t say that enough.”
Carnley was besieged by folks who came to him throughout the morning, offering him embraces and pats on the back. He gave out his own handshakes to a line of firefighters taking a break.
Known for having a big heart, Carnley promised an annual Christmas dinner he throws for children in the Salvation Army’s local programs will go on, though at a different location. And, even as he faced he loss of the business he spent years building, Carnley’s mind wasn’t on his own troubles.
“I’ve got 23 employees here and they’re all just like family to me,” he said. “I’m going to try my best to help each one of them find jobs while we’re closed. When we reopen, hopefully in about eight or nine months, I hope they’ll come back.”
From the sound of things, they’ll be back just like the customers. Several folks from both those groups gathered in huddles on Newport Highway, which was closed throughout the morning to allow room for the emergency vehicles. They shared memories of the place and hopes that everything would be back to normal there soon.
“I’ve eaten here enough to own stock in the place,” Parkway Church of God Pastor Phillip Morris said with a laugh. “This is a place that’s going to be tough to replace. I hope he can rebuild it. This was really a gathering ground for the people of Sevier County. I think the reason everybody is so emotional about it is it felt like home to be here.”
Morris said he joked with Carnley that the police who shut off the area might have to return in riot gear if he should decide not rebuild the restaurant. He also offered a little friendly advice to the man who always greeted him, like everyone else, with the line, “Hey kids.”
“I told him they’re just going to have to take it one day at a time for now,” Morris said. “They’re just going to have to start from scratch on both their businesses.”
Just down the road from Morris, John and Diane Crow watched as the flames claimed the place they regularly dined and where John Crow played his upright bass twice a week with Carnley. They stood watching the flames, seemingly transfixed, joined by daughter Diane Crow who was a waitress at Clint’s.
John Crow said it was some of his daughter’s co-workers he was most worried about Tuesday. Among them are single mothers who depended on the paycheck the restaurant provided and others for whom losing the restaurant meant real struggles ahead for their families.
“It’s just devastating. There are no words to describe it,” Crow said. “We’re just out here trying to process it all. It’s really going to hurt some of these folks.”
Still, Crow said he believes the business will be back up and running, agreeing Carnley, who has battled a host of struggles and health ailments, won’t let the fire beat him.
“He is the best person you could ever be around,” Crow said. “He would do anything he could for anybody. I’ve never heard him say a bad word about anybody. He’s just a good man. You can’t keep him down.”
dhodges@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 Nov 2010.
Show of support: Community comes out to help restaurant owner
by JEFF FARRELL The Mountain Press
Clint Carnely, owner of Clint’s BBQ and Country Cookin, is surrounded by well wishers during a rally to raise funds for the rebuilding of his restaurant.
Employees from the restaurant came to help out and to give attendees one of their few tastes of Clint’s food since the restaurant burned.
SEVIERVILLE — Clint Carnley built a community restaurant, and Saturday the community came together to help him rebuild it.
Clint’s BBQ and Country Cookin was one of the only restaurants in the New Center neighborhood and was popular throughout the county. When it burned to the ground earlier this year, Carnley vowed to rebuild.
Judging by the throngs of people who came by Saturday for a fund-raising rally at the convention center in River Plantation RV Park, his friends and frequent diners can’t wait for that to happen.
“I hoped we’d have a good turnout, but I never imagined the turnout we’ve had,” Carnley said in between giving bear hugs to his well wishers.
“This just shows we may have 10 or 11 million come through here a year, but we’re still a small community.”
The event lasted throughout the day and featured an auction of donated items, music and food — Clint’s own burgers, hot dogs and, of course, his barbecue. They started smoking the pork the day before, he said.
It was the first opportunity most of the people had to enjoy Clint’s food since the fire. Many said that alone was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“We really do miss it,” said Juile Kennedy, who was there with her husband, Jim. They would make the trip from Wears Valley to Clint’s regularly; they were glad to have the chance to have a little sample to tide them over until he reopens.
“It was so good,” she said “It was just like the restaurant.”
That was true right down to the servers. Some of Clint’s employees have had to move on to other jobs, of course, but many of his staff members were there Saturday to dish out food and help out with the cooking.
Lots of people were sharing their stories about how they found the place for the first time. Steve and Linda Lindeen learned about it while they were searching for a house before they moved here from Illinois.
“We’d go to Clint’s every time we were down to look for a house, no matter where we were staying,” Linda Lindeen said.
It was clearly more than just a place to eat; there were people complaining that they’d lost the place they took tour groups, or had meetings; one young girl missed clogging at the restaurant when Clint would take out his guitar.
For Carnley, that all came down to one thing in common: “Everybody here ate in my restaurant and felt comfortable.”
Lots of people signed up as volunteers to help with rebuilding, and Carnley said some suppliers have donated materials for construction. He is hoping to start work as soon as this week, and to be open in March or April.
In the meantime, he asked to relay one message: “We miss everybody.”
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
- [S131] Divorce Record.
Husband's Name Wife's First Name Wife's Maiden Name County Court Date of Divorce File #
CARNLEY WILLIAM C FELECIA P [NOT GIVEN] SEVIER CHANCERY 07-11-1989 15471
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