December 2005 Archives

Since 1980 the Gatlinburg trolley has ferried visitors and locals alike all throughout the city streets. With a fleet of 20 trolleys, six routes and high gas prices, the cost to ride will increase beginning January 4, 2006.

Only four of the six routes will be affected by the price increase. They are:

This weekend, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg will host the 10th annual Xtreme Winter youth conferences, which include more than 1,200 church youth groups from all over the South. Xtreme Winter is a high energy camp for teenagers, where they can come together, hear powerful messages and rock out at live concerts performed by top Christian bands.

The Grand Convention Center in Pigeon Forge will host a conference December 29th through the 31st; from December 30th to January 1st another conference will be held in the Gatlinburg Convention Center.

Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg have spectacular New Year's celebrations going on this year. Don't miss the fun as the ball drops on 2006 in the Smokies!

In Pigeon Forge, herald the New Year with a bunch of bears at the Countdown to New Year Kids Party with the Bears in Boyds Bear Country! For more information call 1-888-654-6215.

The Country Tonite Theater in Pigeon Forge is throwing a lively New Year's celebration from 10 p.m. to midnight. The show is sure to dazzle all who come! Call 800-792-4308 or 865-453-2003 for more details.

But that is not all...

This Christmas, with so much going on and such a strong presence of benevolence and Christmas spirit around the town, Pigeon Forge is the perfect place to spend your holidays in style and comfort!

Visit the Pigeon Forge Accommodations page to plan your Christmas or New Years getaway today. Local resorts, hotels, condominiums, cabins, inns, motels and bed and breakfast establishments have doors wide open, ready to entertain and pamper you and your family this holiday season.

And, for extra savings during the holidays, be sure to browse the coupons offered on the Pigeon Forge Coupon Page. Local businesses have posted wonderful money-saving offers to help you celebrate the holidays with fun, without denting the checkbook terribly!

The Smoky Mountain Car Museum is selling six signature attraction cars at a January 2006 auction at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Pheonix, Arizona. Among the six to be auctioned are the famous 1964 Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in "Thunderball" and the 1928 Cadillac built for Al Capone.

The museum expects to bring in at least six figures on the James Bond DB5, which will be used to revamp the museum. With Pigeon Forge tourism on the rise, the Smoky Mountain Car Museum plans to attract a younger crowd with new cars that capture the interests of a new generation of car enthusiasts.

This Christmas, with so much going on and such a strong presence of benevolence and Christmas spirit around the town, Pigeon Forge is the perfect place to spend your holidays in style and comfort!

Visit the Pigeon Forge Accommodations page to plan your Christmas or New Years getaway today. Local resorts, hotels, condominiums, cabins, inns, motels and bed and breakfast establishments have
doors wide open, ready to entertain and pamper you and your family this holiday season.

Christmas in the Smokies can take many different tones, depending on your taste. From charming, quaint mountain shops, intimate church services, grand dinner feasts, moving choral performances, intricate seasonal décor and lights, sprawling outlet malls to serene mountain trails and historic chapels, anyone can find their Christmas niche in the Pigeon Forge area this year!

Here are some great upcoming Smoky Mountain Christmas festivities:

"Thanks for the memories!"

Louise Mandrell moved to Sevier County to raise her daughter Nicole. Now, after eight years performing at the Louise Mandrell Theater in Pigeon Forge; after endless leadership and giving to the community, after years of memories, laugher and tears; after finding that Pigeon Forge truly feels like "HOME", Louise must bid Sevier County farewell.

She is returning to middle Tennessee to care for her husband, John, who suffers from the rare reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) disease. Mandrell prayed for a long time before deciding to leave; she did not want to leave an empty theater. God answered her prayers when Fee Headrick Entertainment asked general manager Sande Weiss if Mandrell would be interested in selling the theater. Fee Headrick agreed to employ as many current staff as possible, keep most of the existing contracts and allow Louise one final New Year's Eve performance. Louise remarked that she is "most proud of our theater's success over the past eight years."

Do you miss the experience of rambling through the forest with your family, looking for the perfect Christmas tree to place in your home? Yes, the tree that is just right- it smells heavily of fresh pine, the branches are nice and full, the size would grace your living room beautifully, and when you see it, you just know it is the "one".

Well, you are in luck because Hicks Christmas Tree Farm near Cosby, Tennessee offers that experience to all who visit. The farm has been in operation since 1980, growing fresh, healthy Concolor firs, blue spruce and Canaan firs.

Be sure to call to make an appointment or check the hours of operation before making the trip to Cosby. You can contact Hicks at 423-487-2056 or 423-487-4001.

Dollywood's Intermational Sounds of Christmas concert series is free with Dollywood admission. This weekend, don't miss the extraordinary Vinok Worldance, December 15-18. The production features Canada's foremost professional dance company, performing intricate footwork with world dance and folk music and adorable, colorful costumes. The concert celebrates Christmas traditions around the world and is very entertaining.

Visitors and locals alike can now enjoy hitting the slopes of Ober Gatlinburg! The Smoky Mountain ski resort opened last weekend with about 15 to 20 inches of fresh powder for skiers and snowboarders to fly down. Last weekend Castle Run, Cub Way and Ski School slopes were open, and the advanced slopes should be ready for this weekend.

With improved snow-making equipment, Ober expects to enhance the skiing experience this year with greater amounts of high-quality snow. Ober offers ski lessons for children and adults of all levels and the slopes are open to snowboarders as well. Adult lift tickets cost $28 during the week and $43 on weekends. From 6-10 p.m. during the week you can get a special $15 ski pass.

The 4th Annual Music in the Trees gala affair will be held in the Gatlinburg Convention Center on Tuesday, December 13. Be ready for a night full of dancing among beautifully decorated, lit up Christmas trees, a lovely reception and cocktail party, delightful hors d'ouvres including a beef carving station, a sinful dessert bar along with a cash bar to carry you well into the evening.

On November 29, Sevier County's Winterfest was honored with the Tourism Excellence award at the annual Tourism Recognition Awards Ceremony for the Middle East Tennessee Region at the Museum of Appalachia in Noris, Tennessee. Entries were judged in terms of design, innovation and thoroughness of entry presentation and application; creativity in project design, development, implementation, message delivery and originality; efficient use of materials, manpower, resources and budget. Pigeon Forge's very own Winterfest wowed the tourism board in all categories and has been named excellent!

This weekend Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Seveirville and the Smoky Mountain foothills area is a bustle with amazing events! From a live Nativity scene, a journey back in time to before the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, an art gallery open house and guitar concert to a Smoky Mountain Christmas Celebration, your weekend in the Smokies will be full of adventure, entertainment and enrichment.

Read on for the schedule of exciting Smoky Mountain events:

The origin of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be traced back to 1923 when Mrs. Willis P. Davis of Knoxville, Tennessee traveled to the American West and was taken by the beauty of the national parks out there. Living near the Smoky Mountain foothills, Davis knew that the Great Smoky Mountains needed to be preserved as well, thus she began the Park Movement.

The movement was slow going at first. Local and national politics served to delay progress. Disputes over whether the land should become a National Forest or a National Park, exactly what land to use, as well as lack of federal funding stood in the way of creating the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With the construction of a better road between Knoxville, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina, the Park Movement gained more support.