Thomas 'Bub' Edwards with his dog, Roxy, who accompanies him when he goes hunting. "She's the best hunting dog," he said. "She just loves it."


Thomas “Bub” Edwards has enjoyed the outdoors all his life: Hunting, fishing, camping, the whole nine yards. “I got a real dose of it early on, thanks to my Dad,” Edwards said.

Edwards and his father, Max—otherwise known as “Buddy”—still duck hunt together, even though the elder Edwards is 82-years-old. “Age doesn’t mean much to him. We surprised him on his 80th birthday and he cut a load of wood earlier in the day,” Edwards recalled, shaking his head.

It’s that family tradition of loving the outdoors and togetherness that Edwards is passing on to his children, Ben, 17, and Rachel, 13, both of whom also hunt and fish with their father. “They both like being outside and I’m so glad of that; a lot of kids nowadays just sit inside,” he said.

Edwards proudly described how both his children shoot with the expanding Scholastic Clay Target Program, as well as with their school teams (Ben with Henry County High School and Rachel for Inman). “Rachel just killed her first turkey and I have the first duck she shot mounted on the shelf over there,” he said. “Even before school this morning, Ben went out with his gun. They both love being outside.”

He recalled loving being outside so much when he was growing up in McKenzie, “I’d take a single barrel shotgun, my dog and hit the door running every morning,” he said. Edwards is a 1977 graduate of McKenzie High School.

Because of that background, Edwards is an especially good choice to be elected Chairman of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Commission (TWRC), the first Henry Countian to be so honored in the TWRC’s history.

Edwards is beginning his fifth year of a six-year term on the TWRC. Appointed as chairman on April 2, he will assume the post during its upcoming March 14-15 meeting in Nashville.

Prior to his appointment as chair, Edwards served as secretary and vice president. Each commissioner represents a district of the state and for Edwards, that area covers a lot of ground: Henry, Carroll, Decatur, Benton, Hardin, Henderson, and Perry counties.

Each member of the TWRC is appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to a single six-year term, which Edwards said is intended to give more people the opportunity to serve and to prevent any one commissioner from gaining too much influence and clout.

“The governor has made it a point to appoint people who actually are involved in the outdoors to the commission,” Edwards said. “That’s one of the first things he did when he was elected governor. He wanted to keep politics out of the Tennessee Wildlife group.”

Being chairman is a daunting task. It will be his job to preside over the meetings, set the meeting dates and times, approve the agendas, appoint committees, preside over rule-making hearings, sign commission documents, and serve as the commission’s official spokesperson.

With his full-time job as owner of Gleason Foundry Co., farming duties, his family responsibility and membership in other organizations, Edwards already was busy, but for the upcoming year his schedule will be even busier.

“That’s why I carry this with me,” he said, indicating his cell phone. “That’s my link to the world. Sometimes I wonder how in the world people did it without cell phones.”

Even with all his responsibilities, Edwards said, it is a job to which he is looking forward. “I enjoy being on the commission and I know I’ll enjoy being chairman,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s a great honor.”

Edwards estimates he already spends 10 days of the month on TWRC activities, “and that doesn’t count the telephone time,” he said. “The phone rings all the time. I think some people think I’m a game warden because I get a lot of calls from people wanting me to solve those kind of problems. Other people call to ask me where to buy a hunting license. I just get all kinds of calls.”

During his one-year tenure as chairman, one of Edwards’ goals will be to heavily promote the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), one of his pet projects. Edwards has been a coach for one for one of the teams for some time and is an enthusiastic supporter of the program and how much good it does for young people.

“We’ve got 108 kids involved in the local program,” he said. The program has been meeting for years at the Henry County Gun Club, but will be adding a “brand new shooting range” on Highway 79, which will be closer to the kids from Carroll, Benton, Stewart, and Houston, who also participate. “We hope that will be open in mid-May,” he said.

“I just can’t do enough for this program and these kids,” he said. “I think this program is the most important thing we can do with the TWRC. It teaches kids real responsibility, how to handle firearms safely and be a responsible, good citizen.”

In addition to serving as coach, Edwards also is a member of Ducks Unlimited, Quail Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, and Wild Turkey Federation.

As owner of Gleason Foundry Co., he divides his time between his home office, Gleason and the company’s shop in Dresden. His company builds clay shredders and crushers and, with plants all over the United States, he spends a lot of time on the road.

But one thing he saves time for is his family. His wife, the former Dian Looney, works as attendance supervisor for Paris Schools. Their son, Ben, is 17, and their daughter, Rachel is 13. “My time with my family is very important to me,” he said.

His upbringing in McKenzie was rather unconventional and may have prepared him for being able to handle his busy lifestyle today. “My mom and dad divorced and they had three of us kids. My dad remarried a lady who had three kids of her own, so we had a blended family, I guess you’d say.” His siblings consist of: Mary Ann (Edwards) Baker of Camden, Mark Mitchum of San Antonio, Texas, Carie Neal (Mitchum) Bradfield of McKenzie, Kathy (Edwards) Mayers of Goodlettsville, and Lori Lee (Mitchum) Goforth of Covington.

Edwards said his status as the youngest of all was the best. “I had it better than anybody,” he laughed. “Everybody still gets together for the holidays and it makes for a big crowd, with 11 grandkids and all these great-grandkids—I can’t even tell you how many of them there are.”

But even with all those responsibilities, Edwards said he looks forward to his year as TWRC chairman. “I just think it’s a great honor and I appreciate the chance to have an affect on something that I really enjoy. I know I’ll be extra busy this year, but I think I’ll miss it when it’s over.”