Nantahala Outdoor Center plans Guest Appreciation Festival Sept. 23-25

GATLINBURG - Nantahala Outdoor Center is making plans for its Guest Appreciation Festival that's sure to offer plenty of family fun and special deals for guests. GAF offers free, fun and exciting events and shows as a big thank you to their guests and supporters. Here are some of the new events for 2011:

Watch professional BMX athletes perform airbone and ground-based stunts.
Enjoy a Live Raptor Show, an exciting hands-on demonstration of some of the region's most impressive birds.
Listen to storyteller Tim Hall from The Storytelling Center of the Southern Appalachians whose historically-accurate characters come to life on stage.
Enjoy arts and craft exhibitions including an interactive demonstration from our friends at Pincu Pottry.

And look for paddler-friendly events like the GAF Gates Race and the GAF Hometown Throwdown.

Other activities will include a used gear sale, gear marketplace, deep deals on new gear, rafting and paddling and live music at the Pourover, including reggae, bluegrass, old-time music and urban.

For more information visit the NOC website.

Old Time Smoky Mountain Music CD captures real music of the Smokies

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS - A historic CD called Old Time Smoky Mountain Music, containing 34 1930s-era recordings of music performed by Smoky Mountain musicians, has been released by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains Association, the Park's nonprofit educational organization. Linguist and folklorist Joseph Hall made historical recordings of 1930s music and folklore.

Linguist and folklorist Joseph Hall made historical recordings of 1930s music and folklore.

In 1939, linguist and folklorist Joe Hall collected these recordings with the encouragement of administrators of the new national park, who asked him to collect speech, folklore, and music from people who had been or were soon to be relocated to land outside park boundaries.

He carried early recording equipment around the Great Smoky Mountains with the purpose of capturing the real music of the Smokies before it was changed forever.

It was a tumultuous time when hundreds of families were leaving or had left their mountain farms to make way for the creation of the new national park.

Fortunately, he was able to capture an amazing variety of music: ballads from the British Isles, American ballads, gospel, folk, country, and blues.

Available to the public for the first time, these 34 recordings include My Home is in the Smoky Mountain, Sourwood Mountain, John Henry, Don't Forget Me Little Darling, On Top of Old Smoky, Mule Skinner Blues, Ground Hog, Up On Big Pigeon, and many more. Also included is a 40-page booklet with all song lyrics, historic photos, and authoritative essays on the history of mountain music.

The CD is available exclusively from Great Smoky Mountains Association. If you call and ask that it be mailed First Class USPS you might save on shipping. First class shipping and handling for $2.95 is available. Call your order in toll free at 1-888-898-9102 x 226 to get this rate. Their toll-free line is answered Monday-Friday from 8:00-4:30 EST.

Hall’s recordings of community musicians are a treasury of the music played and enjoyed in nearby areas in North Carolina and Tennessee in the early days of country music and before the coming of bluegrass.

Below is a list of the names of the performers and their residences at the time of the recordings:

OLD-TIME MUSIC CD--

John Hannah, Little Cataloochee community, Haywood County, North Carolina
Bessie Rabb, Allens Creek, Haywood County, North Carolina
Mrs. Myrtle Conner, Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Jack Johnson, Tuckaleechee Cove, Blount County, Tennessee
Cataloochee Trio (Wayne Wright, Slick Wilson, David Proffitt), Cataloochee, Haywood County, North Carolina
Bill Moore and Vic Peterson, Waynesville, North Carolina
John Davis and Shorty Smith, Cataloochee CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp, Cataloochee community, North Carolina
Bill Moore's Quartet, Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina
Carl Messer, Cove Creek, Haywood County, North Carolina
The Leatherman Brothers, Bryson City, North Carolina
Bill Moore, Paul Buchanan, Hardy Crisp, Haywood County, North Carolina
Clarence Sutton, Del Rio, Cocke County, Tennessee
Herman Smith and David Proffitt, Cataloochee CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp, Cataloochee, North Carolina
Jim Sutton, Cataloochee, Haywood County, North Carolina
Helen Gunter, Mt. Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina
Willis and Dexter Bumgarner, Allens Creek, Haywood County, North Carolina
Zeb and Winfred Hannah, Cove Creek, Tennessee
Chub Karns, Francis Lum, Cataloochee CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) Camp, Cataloochee, North Carolina
Boyd Strickland, Joe, Madison County, North Carolina
Robert Ray, Jefferson County, Tennessee
Betty Messer, White Oak, Cove Creek, North Carolina

The link to order the CD is here at the Great Smoky Mountains Association's website, where it is available for $14.95.

Smoky Mountain Attractions

Biltmore Estate 1 Approach Rd., Asheville, NC 28803 (800) 411-3812

Cataloochee Ski Area 1080 Ski Lodge Rd., Maggie Valley, NC 28751 (828) 926-0285

Dollywood 1020 Dollywood Lane, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-9488

Dollywood's Splash Country 2146 Middle Creek Rd., Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-9488

Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway 1001 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-5423

Gatlinburg Skylift 765 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-4307

Gatlinburg Space Needle 115 Historic Nature Trail, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-4629

Ghost Town in the Sky 16 Fie Top Rd., Maggie Valley, NC 28751 (828) 926-1076

Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort 1001 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-5423

Ripley's Aquarium 88 River Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 430-8808

Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum 800 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-5096

Sam Houston Schoolhouse 3650 Old Sam Houston School Rd., Maryville, TN 37804 (865) 983-1550

Tennessee Museum of Aviation 135 Air Museum Way, Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 908-0171

Museum of the Cherokee Indian 589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee, NC 28719 (828) 497-3481

Smoky Mountain Entertainment & Amusements

American Oldies Theater 167 Wears Valley Rd., Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 453-0833

Black Bear Jamboree 119 Music Rd., Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 908-7469

Cirque De Chine 179 Collier Drive, Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 429-1601

Comedy Barn Theater 2775 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-5222

Country Tonite Theater 129 Showplace Blvd., Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 453-2003

Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience 1 Island Drive, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 429-6425

David Fee Is Magic 2775 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-5222

Earthquake The Ride 653 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-9765

Fannie Farkle Amusement Emporium 656 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-4057

Grand Majestic Theater 125 Music Mountain Drive, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 774-7777

Governor's Palace 179 Collier Drive, Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 429-1601

Harrah's Cherokee Casino 777 Casino Drive, Cherokee, NC 28719 (828) 497-7777

Make It Magic 1120 Glades Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-9531

Memories Theater 2141 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-7852

Murder Mystery Theater 2680 Teaster Lane, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (888) 641-7198

Mysterious Mansion 424 River Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-7007

Nascar Speed Park 1545 Parkway, Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 908-5500

Reel Theaters Corp. 713 Winfield Dunn Pkwy., Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 453-8600

Ripley's Haunted Adventure 908 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 430-9991

Ripley's Old McDonald's Farm 1639 Parkway, Sevierville, TN 37862 (865) 428-1699

Ripley's Moving Theater 904 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-9763

Rockin Raceway 2839 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-3392

Smith Family Dinner Theater 2330 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 429-8100

Smoky Mountain Theater 2115 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 774-5400

Speed Port 2782 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 453-0400

Star Tracks 2757 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 908-1097

Tennessee Shindig 2391 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 908-3327

Terror Ghost Shows 716 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-4636

Titanic 2134 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (800) 381-7670

Ultra Zone 3053 Parkway, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 428-2444

Wonderworks 100 Music Road, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 (865) 868-1800

World of Illusions 716 Parkway, Gatlinburg, TN 37738 (865) 436-9701

Smoky Mountain Arts & Crafts

Great Smoky Arts & Crafts Community Over 100 crafts shops, studios & galleries on an 8-mile loop about 3 miles outside of Gatlinburg starting on Glades Road

Southern Highland Craft Guild Folk Art Center 382 Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC 28805 (828) 298-7928