The Pigeon Forge Hospitality Association Sept. 10, 2015 Meeting and Luncheon will feature Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association CEO Greg Adkins and a tribute & presentation of plaques to the Pigeon Forge Police and Fire Departments. Kevin Wilson will sing the National Anthem and 13-year-old violinist Tristan LeLonde will perform. “This is a chance for the hospitality and tourism community ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park invites all 4th grade students to visit the park as part of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program. The park offers a variety of activities that fourth graders and their family can enjoy, including guided discovery hikes, educational programs, and self-guided junior ranger activities. Special events, like the upcoming Mountain Life ...

As wildfires continue to burn across much of the western United States, employees with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry are among those on the front lines of the firefight. A total of 35 employees have been deployed so far this summer to assist in the firefighting efforts. Fourteen are currently working in Utah, Oregon, Washington and Montana, ...

Ripken Baseball recently announced Mike Kremblas, coach of the Knoxville Stars 9u baseball team, as the recipient of the 2015 Ripken Baseball Youth Coach of the Year Award. Together, Ripken Baseball and Baseball America set out on a mission in early July to celebrate youth coaches who represent “The Ripken Way” pillars – character, commitment, community, family, fun, integrity, passion ...

Two City of Sevierville Fire Department firefighters recently graduated from paramedic school at Walters State Community College. Firefighters Tony Hardin (left) and Britt Turner (right) successfully completed approximately 1,800 classroom and clinical hours of advanced emergency training to attain their paramedic certification. “I am very proud of the commitment these two firefighters have made, not only to our department, but ...

Tennessee-based nonprofit Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park raised $53,000 Sunday through its 2nd annual Gran Fondo Asheville cycling event presented by BorgWarner and Duke Energy. Money raised from Gran Fondo Asheville helps fund more than $850,000 of Park needs this year to protect black bears, educate school children, and preserve historic buildings in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Duke ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park invites visitors to join the park’s Artist-in-Residence, DJ Berard, throughout September for Paint Your Park! interactive painting programs. Visitors can observe and interact with the award-winning painter at work in inspiring setting of including Oconaluftee, Clingmans Dome, Sugarlands and Cades Cove. All programs are free and open to the public. Program attendees can create a ...

The Comedy Barn Theater® in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. will be hosting the third annual Kickin’ Chicken 5K Run and Fun Walk on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 8 a.m. All of the net proceeds will benefit The Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center that provides comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate services to victims of child abuse. The race will be a single loop ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers remind visitors that graffiti not only detracts from the natural beauty of the park, but can also permanently damage irreplaceable resources. Park resources including one of the best collections of log buildings in the eastern United States, backcountry hiking shelters, live trees, stone walls, bridges, and tunnels have all suffered from a range of ...

Sevier Solid Waste is planning to build a biomass gasification plant, its second major project this year in an effort to become a zero waste facility. Sevier Solid Waste has hired PHG Energy to build a new biomass gasification plant capable of cleanly converting more than 30 tons of composted material daily into thermal energy while producing a valuable high-carbon biochar. ...