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

Sequoyah Caverns and Ellis Homestead by John Dersham

By now most of you have heard that Sequoyah Caverns will be closing on September 3^rd. If you have not visited Sequoyah Caverns and Ellis Homestead now is the time to do it and if you have been it is a good time to visit again before they close.

This location, the cave, the land and the entire setting is, one of a kind. Nestled in the valley and running up Sand Mountain is this picture perfect location. With 1,000 acres or so you will get an uninterrupted scenic view as you approach Sequoyah Caverns from highway 11 north of Hammondville and South of Sulfur Springs. The owners John and Roy Jones have been long term leaders in promoting tourism in our area. They have been members of North Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association and of Dekalb Tourism. Roy has been President of our DeKalb Tourism Board twice in the six years I have been Executive Director. I credit Roy as the reason I was able to get an interview for this job. When I applied for the position I responded to an ad in the paper. I was to send my resume to one of our email addresses that is generic with no person’s name. Since I did not have a hospitality and tourism background I feared my resume would be ignored. The ad asked for 5 years of experience in the industry of which I did not have but I had a 30 year management background with Eastman Kodak and almost all the remaining criteria in the ad seemed to fit perfectly. I started calling friends around town to find who was on the tourism board so I could call and introduce myself. After a couple of phone calls the name Roy Jones came up. My friend volunteered to give Roy a call and give me an introduction and find out if I could give him a call. I called Roy later that day and I explained how I felt my background at Kodak and my passion for our area fit what they were looking for. I told Roy that after 30 years of Kodak moving us to various locations around the country my wife Kyle and I selected this area on our own because we had been coming here on vacation and loved the area. I mailed Roy my resume with a cover letter and he later arranged for me to interview with himself and the entire tourism board. The board agreed to make me an offer and the rest is history.

In addition to the cave the Jones have Jones Farm which produces some of the best and most naturally grown strawberries you will ever taste. The farm and the production of vegetables will continue.

The history of Sequoyah Caverns and Ellis Homestead is a wonderful story. They have made a valuable contribution to the history of DeKalb County and have left an indelible mark on the history of tourism to our entire region. The cave and property have been in the Jones family since 1841 with the cave having opened to the public in 1964. Prior to that the cave was visited by private groups or individuals on a requested basis. It used to require climbing a ladder to get into the cave until the current entrance was built prior to the public opening in 1964. For more information about Sequoyah Caverns, its hours of operation and history visit www.sequoyahcaverns.com

Lookout Mountain Scenic Parkway by John Dersham

We have one of the most beautiful and fun drives to be found anywhere, right here at home. Lookout Mountain Parkway which runs on top of Lookout Mountain from Noccalula Falls at the south end to Ruby Falls on the north. The parkway is comprised of 93 miles of scenic beauty and visitor attractions… all along the route. Reader’s Digest named the Parkway as one of America’s top Scenic Drives. The Parkway is one of 11 Alabama Scenic Byways and can be viewed on state and national maps as a scenic route. For us it makes a fantastic Daycation and is host to many tourists visiting our area and it is the site of our areas largest annual event, the World’s Longest Yard Sale.  I know many of you use parts of the parkway on a fairly regular basis to go to local attractions like Little River Canyon N.P., DeSoto State Park or Mentone. Maybe some of you live along the route or drive on it to get home. Right now I am not talking about the parkway in those terms but instead as a fun family day trip or weekend trip.

In an era of time starvation and high gas prices a fun trip close to home is just the remedy to fulfill that need we have to get out there and enjoy a mini vacation.

 To make a daycation out of it I suggest starting at the beginning and going the whole route to the end. My suggestion is to drive I-59 to the Noccalula Falls exit and go up the mountain to Noccalula Falls. Start your daycation with a visit to Noccalula Falls Park. Here you will find the beautiful 90 ft Noccalula waterfall. Sit back and enjoy a train ride through a native animal habitat and botanical gardens. You will find hiking trails, a campground and miniature golf. When you are done at Noccalula Falls take a right onto Tabor Road to begin your drive on the Lookout Mountain Parkway. This scenic drive will take you through some beautiful mountain top farmland with fantastic vista’s and quaint towns and villages along the way like Dogtown, home of legendary Akins Furniture Store. In Dogtown I recommend you take a right on H-176 and take the alternate Parkway route which takes you along the Canyon Rim drive at Little River Canyon N.P. You can visit the Canyon Center and Little River Falls on that leg of the trip.  You will take H-35 toward Fort Payne to rejoin the regular route of the parkway. At the flashing yellow light just before heading down the mountain take a right onto the parkway and from then on follow the signs that keep you on the Lookout Mountain Parkway as it meanders through the wilderness through DeSoto State Park and Waterfalls to the quaint artisan village of Mentone . Here you will find restaurants and lots of artsy gift shops, B&B Lodges and Rental Cabins. Once finished in Mentone follow H-117 to Cloudland, GA where you will take a left onto H-157 and travel up the east side of Lookout Mountain for awhile before crossing back to the west. You will follow the Lookout Mountain Parkway wayfinder signs as you travel north toward Chattanooga. Along the way you can visit Lookout Mountain Flight Park and look out over some scenic valley vistas from the mountain. You can drop off the parkway and visit nearby Cloudland Canyon State Park before heading toward Rock City Gardens, the town of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee where you find famous Point Park from the Civil War. You can eat and shop there or ride the famous incline railroad down Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga. Don’t miss beautiful Ruby Falls at the end of your Lookout Mountain Parkway drive. From here you can drive down the mountain and head home to our area on H-11 or I-59.

Have a fun journey.

If you need more information and a map of the parkway visit us at our information center on H-35 across the street from Hardees, or call us for other options at 256-845-3957.

             

Regional magazine with a focus on tourism and economic development by John Dersham

Last Friday night Randy and Olivia Grider hosted a wonderful introduction party at Cook Castle of their new regional magazine called Lookout Alabama Magazine. It is a lifestyles magazine that will feature the beauty and culture of our area. The magazine will highlight the region’s people, history and natural beauty as well as the many cultural, educational, outdoor-adventure, dining, shopping and child-friendly attractions that make this beautiful corner of Alabama an ideal vacation and retirement destination as well as business location.

It will feature Lookout Mountain and surrounding communities and towns throughout Northeast Alabama, Northwest Georgia and the Lookout Mountain area of Tennessee. The quarterly magazine will offer a full size 9.25x11format with excellent print quality. The publication will target business and industry with above average income readers. It will be directed toward potential visitors that are most likely to come to our area for a vacation or long weekend. Distribution of the magazine is in a 250 mile radius. The magazine’s business template and demographics should attract economic development interest in our area and provide increased tax revenue through tourism. This publication should play another important role in our growth and development. The first issue comes out in June.

Last Friday evening’s event introduced the new publication in a big way. Bestselling author Homer Hickam (Rocket Boys and 13 other books) was a featured speaker at the introduction ceremony. Senator Clay Scofield, co chair of the Alabama Tourism Committee spoke about tourism in our state and the very important role it plays in the growth of our economy. He awarded Natalie Cone a first place award in the Literary Tourism writing competition hosted by the new magazine. Congratulations Natalie! Lookout Alabama Magazine promises to feature fiction tourism writing on a regular basis.  There was a host of other speakers beginning with a dinner prayer from Fort Payne Mayor, Larry Chesser. After dinner Senator Scofield spoke, then Homer Hickam, then I spoke about tourism in DeKalb County with an update on our numbers. Director of Tourism in Greater Gadsden-Etowah Tourism, Hugh Stump spoke about his area and Anne Shumaker did the same for Cherokee County. Carol Beddingfield, our Fort Payne Chamber Director spoke about the chamber and the close working relationship between the Chamber, Economic Development and Tourism here in DeKalb County. Lastly, Nisa Miranda of the University of Alabama University Center for Economic Development gave a wonderful presentation about working together as a region to develop a long term partnership that would help develop an appealing regional identity for our area that would generate a larger audience for tourism and economic development all throughout our area.

A special thanks to our host Randy and Olivia Grider who introduced our speakers and gave us a wonderful night of insight to the new magazine. Music was provided by B Sharp. They were great and the food from Nessa’s was wonderful.