Ider Mule Day by John Dersham

This Monday the town of Ider will celebrate its 27^th annual Mule Day. This fantastic event has suffered from downpours over the last two years which is unusual for the Labor Day event which is typically a sunnier dryer time of year.

My family and I try to go every year. Mule Day is one of our favorite family days together each year. We always get there in time for the parade that begins at 9:30 AM. This parade is filled with rural Americans finest visual attractions such as horseback riders, ponies, hay wagons, horse drawn carriages, mules, tractors, antique automobiles, elected officials, fire departments, police departments, local school marching  bands and all the other colorful things that are working their way to the park for a great day of wonderful family oriented events.

Our family loves the look and feel of rural America. I guess that is why we city folk moved to the top of Lookout Mountain on a farm. We love all the animals at Mule Day and the events that go with it like the Mule Pull and Draft Horse Pull. It is amazing to witness the strength and drive of these very large animals. There will be a big crowd at the horse arena cheering for their favorite horse and mule. As you walk around the park you will see people brushing and washing their horses, ponies and mules. There are competitions for each category. You can hitch a ride on a horse pulled carriage and enjoy a ride more similar to 100 years ago. For the kids there are pony rides, miniature train rides,  inflatable’s for jumping or getting lost in brightly colored plastic balls. This event has something for everyone in the family. You will find antique cars and tractors, arts and crafts, live music and food and drink all taking place in Ider City Park. This is an event you will not want to miss and it makes a fantastic way to spend you Labor Day holiday.

Drive-Ins…An American Tradition by Kayla Worthey

Drive-ins have been described as “the essence of American Culture”, “part of an American tradition”, “a great way to spend time with family”, and “a real piece of history”. There is nothing quite like the experience of a drive-in.  Unfortunately, for many that experience is being threatened by the movie industries switch from film to digital projectors. At the end of 2013, 35mm movie reels will no longer be available to theaters and only digital files will be distributed. 
There are currently 368 Drive-ins left in the United States. The majority of them still need to make the change to digital. They are facing the largest challenge that Drive-ins have ever had to face and that is converting to digital projection. Theaters that don’t have a digital projector by the end of the year, like Henagar Drive-In, will no longer be able to show movies, thus forcing them the majority of them to close. It costs an average of somewhere around $75,000 to make the upgrade to digital or face going dark.

Honda “wants to preserve this iconic part of American car culture” and is helping drive-ins like Henagar Drive-In, by donating 5 digital projectors to be given away by Project Drive-In.  Out of the sixty drive-ins that were chosen by Honda and Project Drive-In from all over the United States, Henagar Drive-In Theater is the ONLY theater in the State of Alabama. Your vote decides where the 5 projectors go and Henagar Drive-In needs your help. They are asking Alabama to vote and help keep them open.

This is a partnership between Honda, Drive-ins across America and you! You can help in a number of ways by doing any or all of the following:

HELP spread the word. Share information about Henagar Drive-In and Project Drive-In with your friends by word of mouth, email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

CONTRIBUTE to help all drive-ins across America by making a donation directly to Project Drive-In where all proceeds go to help purchase more projectors.

PLEDGE to visit a drive-in located near you to help keep this American tradition alive.

VOTE for Henagar Drive-In Theater online at projectdrivein.com/vote_46 and again by texting Vote46 to 444999. You can vote both ways every day until September 9, 2013.

To learn more about Project Drive-In, visit ProjectDriveIn.com