| Pigeon
Forge, TN – January 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / Conservationist
John Muir and President Teddy Roosevelt – or at least solid representations
of those notable figures – are part of the 25th presentation of Wilderness
Wildlife Week, Pigeon Forge’s annual salute to Great Smoky Mountains
National Park and numerous outdoor recreation topics. Wilderness Wildlife
Week is Jan. 24-31, 2015.
Muir and Roosevelt in the
forms of actors Lee Stetson and Alan Sutterfield will present “The Tramp
and the Roughrider: An Evening at Glacier Point” on Jan. 24 (Saturday)
and “The Tramp and the Roughrider: The Last Night Camping at Bridalveil
Meadow” on Jan. 25 (Sunday). Stetson was Muir in the critically acclaimed
Ken Burns series “National Parks – America’s Best Idea.”
Their presentations reenact
a history-making 1903 camping trip in California’s Yosemite wilderness
when the two discussed the fate of our most wild places and swapped stories
about their own adventures.
“Next year marks the centennial
of the National Park Service, so this program has special significance,”
said Butch Helton, manager of special events for the Pigeon
Forge Department of Tourism, which presents Wilderness Wildlife Week.
“The Tramp and the Roughrider”
presentations are part of 400 Wilderness Wildlife Week programs spread
over eight days that include Stetson as Muir in two solo appearances on
Jan. 26 (Monday).
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The week also offers 66
hikes and excursions in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding
region.
Last year’s Wilderness Wildlife
Week had attendees from 41 states. Hawaii wasn’t represented, but Alaska
was, event organizers noted. Total program attendance was 27,800, and almost
550 hikers logged 2,588 miles.
Each year offers photography
workshops, wildlife lectures, mountain music mini-concerts, crafts classes
and special sessions for children.
More than 200 experts – nature
photographers, biologists, raptor rehabilitators, social historians, musicians
and just plain folks who grew up in the Smokies|–|donate
their time to lead the programs.
Returning for the second
year is the Southern Trout Fly Fishing Fair, a day of programs about mountain
trout, fly-fishing and fly-tying put on by Southern Trout, an online magazine.
The Southern Trout Fly Fishing Fair is Jan. 31.
The Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism organizes the week, and admission is free. Most of the events
are indoors at the LeConte Center
at Pigeon Forge, a city-owned special events facility.
Wilderness Wildlife Week,
named 10 times as a Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event, is a part of
Pigeon
Forge Winterfest, which started in November and goes through February.
Pigeon Forge completes Winterfest
with Saddle Up,
a celebration of cowboy poetry, western music and chuck wagon cooking,
Feb. 18-22.
Information about all aspects
of visiting Pigeon Forge is at www.MyPigeonForge.com
or by calling 800-251-9100.
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Media Contact:
Tom
Adkinson, APR
for Pigeon Forge Department
of Tourism
615-341-8796 |
