Spring is here! From PLA Media client spotlights to April history, music trivia, movie facts, recipes and more!
Spring has arrived, and April brings a fresh mix of history, music, movies, seasonal food, and fun trivia. From legendary birthdays to a refreshing cocktail and surprising facts, here’s your quick guide to everything April.
Important Dates in April
April 1 – April Fools’ Day. A day dedicated to pranks and harmless jokes.
April 3, 2026 – Pam Lewis Book Signing: Green Room (346 Main St, Franklin, TN 37064) during Main Street Art Crawl (starts at 6pm).
April 3, 1948 – Country Music Milestone. The legendary radio show Louisiana Hayride debuted in Shreveport and helped launch the careers of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. (Trivia: Garth Brooks mother, Colleen Carroll, a fledgling chanteuse, performed on the Louisiana Hayride).
April 4, 1968 – Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis.
April 4, 2026 – Two Rivers Mansion Easter Egg Hunt (10AM-1PM) at 3130 McGavock Pike, Nashville TN 37214
April 5 – Easter
April 5 – National Bell Bottom Day
April 6 – National Tomato Day
April 8 – Don Cusic Lecture at RCA Studio B – “The Legend Minnie Pearl” (6:30pm – 8:00pm – $10 Tickets, details here)
April 9 – Winston Churchill Day
April 12, 1961 – Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space.
April 14 – Pecan day
April 19, 2026 – Nashville Sites City Hall & Public Square Tour Launch Event – Nashville City Hall (Starts at 1PM)
April 22 – Earth Day,
April 24 – National Picnic Day
April 30 – International Jazz Day
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
— Winston Churchill
In honor of National Tomato Day, here’s a vintage bit from George Carlin on the odd nature of tomatoes:
Check Out Clerk Makes Everyone Feel Important
Just outside of Atlanta at a Publix store in Acworth, Georgia, people line up specifically at the register when Michael Masterangelo is working. Sometimes, they even wait 30 to 40 minutes just to check out in his line.
Michael genuinely cares about the people in his community, and it shows in the way he interacts with every customer. He makes each person feel important when they come through his checkout lane.
It’s no surprise that he is loved by the entire community.
Where Did April Fool’s Day Come From?
One theory traces it to 16th-century France when the country switched calendars and the new year moved from April to January. People who still celebrated in April were jokingly called “April fools,” and the tradition spread across Europe.
Happy Easter!
Easter is a holiday not only celebrated by those who practice the Christian Faith, but a general celebration of family and the beginnings of spring. While Easter itself is on a Sunday, the Easter Holiday is normally observed from the Friday before, known as Good Friday, until the end of the day on Easter Sunday.
Easter is a celebration of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Christian Messiah, and this year it will be on April 17th, 2022. Traditionally, after a family attends an Easter Service at church, they return home for a huge lunch that is made together and eaten together as the afternoon progresses. In the Christian Calendar Easter is considered the end of Lent, a period of 40 days where Christians are meant to fast or give up something in their lives to be closer to God. The Easter Bunny (a symbol of fertility) originated from German Lutheran folklore in the Middle Ages with the earliest mention in 1682. The tradition spread throughout Europe and immigrants brought it to the new world. Known as Osterhase, this mythical creature judged whether children were bad leaving colored eggs for well behaved kids.
Whether you attend service in the morning or stay home whipping an Easter feast for the family, we hope that you have a wonderful day celebrating the beginning of Spring.
Celebrating Passover
Passover — also known as Pesach or the Festival of Unleavened Bread — is one of the most important holidays in Judaism. It commemorates the liberation of the Hebrew people from Egyptian slavery and the “passing over” of the angel of death, who spared the firstborn of the Israelites as told in the Book of Exodus.
Celebrated for eight days, Passover this year runs from Wednesday, April 1st through Thursday, April 9th. The holiday begins with the Seder — meaning “order” in Hebrew — a ceremonial meal guided by a book called the Haggadah (“the telling”), which walks participants through the story of the Exodus. At the heart of the Seder table is the Seder plate, whose foods each carry deep symbolic meaning: maror, or bitter herbs, representing the bitterness of slavery; charoset, a sweet paste of fruits and nuts symbolizing the mortar used by enslaved Hebrews; a shankbone recalling the Passover sacrifice; and karpas, a vegetable dipped in saltwater to represent tears.
One of the most well-known aspects of the holiday is its strict dietary tradition. Observant Jews avoid all chametz — leavened products made from wheat, barley, oats, rye, or spelt — in remembrance of the Israelites who fled Egypt in such haste that their bread had no time to rise. In its place, matzah, a simple unleavened flatbread, takes center stage throughout the eight days, hence the holiday’s other name, the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
Passover is an extraordinarily significant holiday, rich with history, ritual, and meaning. If you have anyone in your life who celebrates it, wish them a “Chag Pesach Sameach” — Happy Passover!
The Foods of Passover:
Classic Passover Dishes
- Soups & Appetizers: Matzo ball soup (kneidlach), gefilte fish with horseradish, chopped liver.
- Main Courses: Braised brisket, roast chicken, lemon-herb roasted turkey, salmon.
- Sides: Potato kugel, tzimmes (sweet carrot/fruit stew), roasted vegetables, matzo stuffing.
- Matzo-Based: Matzo brei (fried matzo/eggs), matzo farfel, Passover popovers.
- Desserts: Coconut macaroons, flourless chocolate nut cake, almond cake, chocolate-covered matzo.
Seder Plate Essentials
- Matzo: Unleavened bread.
- Maror & Chazeret: Bitter herbs (usually horseradish and romaine lettuce).
- Charoset: A mixture of nuts, fruits, and wine/spices.
- Karpas: Parsley dipped in salt water.
- Zeroa: Roasted shank bone.
- Beitzah: Roasted egg.
PLA Media Client Spotlight
Don Cusic and Mary Ellen Pethel were honored at the Tennesssee State History Museum with the Tennessee History Book Award for 2025 for their book Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story. Congrats, y’all!
Nashville Sites launched two new tours, one at the Nashville’s Historical Court House & Public Square, and one at Centennial Park. Check out the recent WSMV story of the Centennial Park tour in the video below! click here for more information on Nashville Sites!
Sugar Land, TX native Wes McClelland is set to begin his radio tour in across the state of Texas in support of his just-released single “What I Know Now.” The song is already charting on the music row chart. (Watch the lyric video HERE.)
Montreal-based Indie-pop singer/songwriter Anour has released her single “I Am” to radio outlets. She’s set to release her next single in May. Look for more news about Anour soon from PLA Media. (Watch the music video HERE.)
Andy Cooney‘s “Everybody’s Irish (You Know the Way)” has been featured on multiple video channels and was recently featured on Fox & Friends and the War Room podcast. (Watch the fun music video HERE.)
Iconic rocker Jim Messina (Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Loggins & Messina) heads to California and Arizona starting in May. He just played to a enthralled audience at Nashville’s City Winery. HERE is a recent feature for his recent show in Cleveland, Ohio. Click HERE for Jim’s other upcoming tour dates!
Two Rivers Mansion is hosting several events including an Easter Egg hunt this Saturday! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for their Music at the Mansion series set fo in June, August and September!
The West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville, TN hosts the Exit 56 Blues Fest on May 22 – May 24. The event kicks off on Friday, May 22nd at 5pm with a special evening of music at the Uptown Alley in downtown Brownsville. Saturday and Sunday will be held at Exit 56 (off of Interstate 40) at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, starting at 10am both days. Full details and lineup HERE!
Pam Lewis Delivers TEDx Talk in Franklin, TN
Our very own Pam Lewis stepped out of her comfort zone to deliver a TEDx Talk at TEDxFranklin on the power of community to a packed crowd on the beautiful campus of Columbia State College on March 28, 2026. Pam wishes to send special thanks to Dan Ryan, Mindy Tate, Cathie Moore, Louis Upkins, and the rest of the stellar team.
“Well, I didn’t faint and I wasn’t pelted! Thank you for the opportunity and the encouragement!” Says Pam Lewis, “Always good to get out of your comfort zone! I’d love to do some more talks if anyone will have me. Let me know!”
Music Trivia (5 Fun Facts)
- The biggest-selling album of all time is Thriller by Michael Jackson (70 million).
- The longest-running No.1 single in the Billboard Hot 100 is “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus.
- The first commercial compact disc released was 52nd Street by Billy Joel.
- The famous riff in “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones was originally recorded as a demo.
- Radio DJ Alan Freed helped popularize the term “rock and roll” in the 1950s.
Movie Trivia (5 Fun Facts)
- The first modern summer blockbuster was Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg in 1978.
- Project Hail Mary has already become the most viewed original story (non sequel) film in Box Office history for Amazon MGM after just two weeks! One of Matt Bjorke‘s favorite films this year so far!
- 1997’s blockbuster Titanic directed by James Cameron won 11 Academy Awards.
- The line “Here’s looking at you, kid” comes from 1942’s Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart. The film was also filmed in California, mostly on the Warner Bros. movie studio lot.
- Avatar remains the highest-grossing film worldwide making over $2.9 billion since 2009.
- The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland was originally considered a box office disappointment, not turning a profit until MGM re-released the film in 1949, a decade after the original release. It became a classic largely thanks to broadcasts on television.
Recipes
4 Ingredient Lemon Bread
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice + 2 tsp lemon zest (1 medium lemon)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 can (14 oz) full fat sweetened condensed milk
- 1 1/4 cups self-rising flour
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Add lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, and milk in a large bowl and whisk unti the eggs are fully incorporated and the batter is uniform. Add in flour and whisk until flour is fully incorporated.
- Pour batter into a prepared pan and bake for about 35-45 minutes until the bread is done.
- Let bread fully cool in pan before removing.
For the Lemon Drizzle on Top:
- Whisk together 1 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tbsp of lemon juice.
- Add milk as needed to thin the drizzle to its desired consistency.
Pam’s Easy Tomato Pie – In honor of Tomato Day
Ingredients:
- Pre-made pie crust or make from scratch, add to greased pie pan (glass preferred)
- Mix 1 – 1.5 cups of mayonnaise (Hellmann’s or Duke’s Preferable)
- 1 liberal cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2-3 tablespoons dried basil or 1/2 cup finely-chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 cup finely-chopped onion
- 1 beaten large egg
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (you may have enough for two pies!).
- Mix all ingredients well, layer filling with sliced tomatoes and top with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
- Sprinkle with paprika and freshly chopped or dried parsley.
- Bake for one hour or until browned and bubbly.
Note from Pam:
This is a great use of fresh garden tomatoes, perfect for a main meal, appetizer or side. Good warm or room temperature and it freezes well.
Franklin Tennessee’s Hiram Masonic Lodge
Hiram Masonic Lodge No. 7, located on South 2nd Avenue in Franklin, Tennessee, is a historic Gothic Revival structure with deep roots in the community. Built in 1823, this important Tennessee landmark’s facade was just refurbished and features new landscaping. It stands as the oldest public building in Franklin and is was the first three story building in the state.
The hall holds national significance as the site of negotiations with Andrew Jackson that led to the Treaty of Franklin—the first Indian removal treaty established following the passage of the 1830 Indian Removal Act. I5 was also used a Union barracks and one of 44 field hospitals during the Civil War and hosted first meetings for serveral early Franklin churches.
In recognition of its historical importance, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Today, it remains in active use by the local Masonic lodge and the community at large. Extensive restoration of the interior is still needed. If interested call, (615) 790-4451 or (615) 249-8045.
Final Thoughts
April brings longer days, blooming flowers, and a quiet reminder to embrace what makes life enjoyable — music, good food, great films, and maybe the occasional well-timed prank.