Fyffe UFO Day

12^th Annual Fyffe UFO Days
Saturday August 27, 2016
Fyffe Town Park @ Graves Street
Fyffe, Alabama
On Feb. 11, 1989, several people reported seeing UFOs over Fyffe. The sightings would become a national story. The first call was made to the Fyffe Police Department. A woman reported seeing a strange object in the sky. By the end of Feb. 12, more than 50 residents had reported seeing the strange objects, including the town's police chief and his assistant. Due to the interest and publicity that surrounded this event more than 4,000 visitors showed up the next day to see the UFO but sad to say there were no further sighting.
Since this event had become known nationwide, community leaders 12 years ago decided to create a local festival themed on the UFO sightings.
You will enjoy all the fun, fellowship with friends and great offerings for food and entertainment. Please come spend the day and bring the whole family. There is something fun for all ages.
Here is the line up including the 5K run.
You can register on-line at racesonline.com or print out a form and mail a check to Fyffe Spirit Club, PO Box 11, Fyffe, AL 35971. Great prizes. Great dry fit shirts!
5:30 p.m. Registration begins
6:30 p.m. 5K starts
Kids Fun Run: $20.00
Kids are now able to get involved in the 5K fun with a kids fun run. Fun run is one mile and will be held at the conclusion of the 5k. Winner receives a prize and a medal. Fun run for ages 10 and under.
rqqe5K: $25.00 pre-registration
$30.00 Registration day of Race.
$20.00 group rate (ten or more and must have matching shirts)
2016 UFO Days Entertainment Line-Up
Tentative Schedule -Subject to Change
9:00 a.m. Gates open for festival (music, food, vendors, and more)
10:00 a.m. Deborah Peek
10:45 a.m. Dennis George
11:30 a.m. Welcome speech from the Mayor
12:15 p.m. The Sharp’s
1:00 p.m. The LST Band
1:45p.m. Jack Martin and Forever Country
2:30 p.m. Danny Lee
3:15 p.m. Jeff Martin & Caleb Chisenhall
4:00 p.m. Still Kickin’
4:45 p.m. Backwoods Revival
6:15 p.m. Notorious
7:00 p.m. Willie Underwood
7:45 p.m. Country Case
8:30 p.m. Jamie O’Neal ( She’s Somebody’s Hero, There is no Arizona, When I think about Angels, Trying to find Atlantis)

BALLOON RIDE INFORMATION
Contact: Jeff Maddox- 256-461-8612 or email rides@ballooningAL.com.
- Rides cost $200 per person.

Fort Payne Third Saturday Sunset

Third Saturday Sunset Cruise In is constantly improving; more entertainment, more classic cars, more food, more people and more fun. It has been fantastic each of the four times we have had it this year. Fort Payne Main Street hosts the Main Street Block Party each Third Saturday at the DeKalb Theater Courtyard, which now has a roof over it and is getting a great new façade. At the block party we will have a photo booth with dress up costumes and some live music with Justin Coonce. There will be pop corn, beer and wine sales and a lot of tables and chairs to sit and enjoy your friends and all the fun taking place at the Main Street Courtyard event. This is a really fun way to spend a Saturday evening. Gault Avenue is closed to traffic and downtown from 1^st Street to 5^th Street becomes a big walkway to stroll and enjoy an evening of entertainment, food, shopping, games for the kids and 200 classic cars, or more. It is here you will see many of your friends that you have not seen for awhile. Along the way you will hear great local entertainers. They are spaced at just the right distance apart so when you start getting too far away to hear one, you begin hearing another. This means at almost all locations along your walk through downtown you can hear music. As you walk you will find a large collection of classic cars provided by local collectors and car enthusiasts. Gault Avenue will be lined with cars, one after another, on both sides of the street. Amelia Landstreet, who heads up the Third Saturday planning committee, tells us there are often as many as 250 classic cars.  In addition to Amelia Landstreet, the other dedicated planners on the Third Saturday committee are Terry Locklear, Johnny Eberhart, Randall Ham, Steve Westmoreland and Chris Roberts. Third Saturday Sunset is held from April through October. The hours are 4-8 PM. At sunset on a nice evening the sunlight sets shining its sparkle across our beautiful historic downtown and lights up the side of Lookout Mountain with a beautiful warm glow. We are truly blessed with a very appealing downtown with our historic Boom Days architecture of the late 1880’s to the perfectly maintained City Parks all clustered in our historic district close to  the original, recently restored Coal & Iron/Opera Block.  Just down the road is the Depot Museum, Alabama Walking Park and our new Rotary Pavilion amphitheater. The whole time you are walking around downtown Lookout Mountain is standing there beside you, majestic and peaceful. There is a sense of being nestled at the foot of the mountain that gives Fort Payne another attribute to its already strong visual appeal as an all American downtown…quaint, friendly and steeped in good will, strong values and a strong sense of community that is exhibited everywhere you look and to everyone you speak.

Many thanks to the Mayor and City Council and to the Third Saturday planning committee along with Fort Payne Main Street and the downtown merchants who have done a great job hosting this event. The crowd estimated at 2,500 to 3,000 made for a very successful event. Also thanks to our Parks and Recreation Department for keeping our parks “picture perfect” and to the police and fire departments who protect our people and our assets. 

Summer Vacation is Over by John Dersham

The World’s Longest Yard Sale (WLYS) has ended, school has begun and our official end to summer vacation has arrived. The WLYS is our largest single weekend event for tourism each year and in recent years school has started on or shortly after the WLYS. The beginning of school typically marks the end of our summer tourism season. This does not mean we will not continue to have vacationers since many of our leisure travelers are Baby Boomers with grown kids and they do not have to adhere to the school calendar. Our numbers prove, however, that August suddenly becomes a quieter month after the yard sale ends. 

Our next major spike in tourism will happen in the fall. October and November have become nearly equal to June and July for us. People living in the coastal plains of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana and north Florida find us an easy to get to destination, with stellar fall color, pleasing temperatures and a very relaxing low cost get a way. Typically, our fall tourism season begins to pick up in middle to late September with our Boom Days Heritage Celebration the third weekend in September each year. From that point we have a continuing increase in visitors through October and November. We find visitors are renting cabins for Thanksgiving family events and we continue to see visitors coming to our parks, camping and renting cabins through early December. As Christmas approaches it will get a lot quieter here until March when people begin venturing out for weekend trips as spring approaches.

Cloudmont Ski Resort provides some winter visitors and we get a fair amount of travelers staying in our hotels during the Christmas travel season. We should have a good year for Christmas travel, provided gas prices stay fairly low.

In the case of our pre fall tourism, Fyffe UFO day is August 27, Ider Mule Day is coming on Labor Day (Sept 5),  then Boom Days Heritage Festival and Third Saturday Sunset Cruise In (Sept. 16 &17) and the DeKalb VFW Agricultural Fair (Sept. 26 thru Oct. 1). There is always plenty to do in our area. To prove it, visit our website (www.tourdekalb.com/calendar) calendar of events and you will find plenty of things to attend year around.