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Some Familiar Faces
We had more than 100 attendees for *Sunday in the Park with Luke*. He performed a medley of Gospel,Show Tunes and Mountain Ballads. Pictured from the left are Iliff McMahan Jr., Kandee Veridal, Sherry Butler, David Veridal, Luke Grooms, Lonnie Jones, Eddie Lennon, Linda Lewanski, Duay O'Neil at Liberty Church, where the concert actually took place due to inclement weather.
Tourism Director Linda Lewanski does her best to wheedle the "Secret Recipe" out of the famous "Duke", spokesdog for Bush Brothers Beans.
Linda, We went whitewater rafting this weekend with two friends from out of town (both enjoy hiking and rock climbing, but amazingly had never been rafting). We used Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited and had a GREAT experience. We packed a LOT of activities in this weekend (they are considering moving to Knoxville, so I tried to show them everything) and the rafting was the highlight for them. They can't wait to do it again. I had been rafting before, but this operation was so smooth, not a lot of wasted waiting around time, felt completely safe and that the guides were beyond competent, loved that the water was a comfortable temperature...just seemed so organized and well managed (Tom, one of the guides would be a good interview - he used to run a dog sled in Alaska before he did river rafting, been with them about 4 or 5 years) On the rafting trip, I met three women up from Atlanta on a girl friend's weekend getaway. They stayed Thursday through Sunday at the Buckhorn Inn, Gatlinburg, and they ate at It's 5 O'clock Somewhere (which they did not recommend) and had stopped in a few of the Arts and Crafts loop stores, they went rafting with us, and their plans included shopping at the outlets, but nothing else definite. I asked if they had checked into any spas in the area... their response was that they could do that better in Atlanta (duh!) So, to me that meant for TN, a girlfriend's getaway was an adventurous one (almost what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but in this case it's more of a rush/exhileration adventure in nature). The rafting was their favorite activity so far and they talked of other trips where they had done some sort of outdoorsy activity. They liked coming here because it was only 5 hours and easy for an extended weekend. These three were all single, professionals who lived on the north side of Atlanta and were in their mid-30s. I didn't realize Cocke County had all those rafting companies - we really do need to sit down and meet and tour, etc. Anyway, I just had to tell you about my great experience. Molly Gilbert, Director Middle East Tennessee Tourism Council

Cocke County Director of Tourism Linda Lewanski (left) and Tourism Council member Marie Bittinger attend an informational luncheon hosted by WBIR television in Knoxville where they got to speak with Bill Landry, the host of the TV show *Heartland Series*.
Eston Williams, RC&D Coordinator takes a break near the beautiful Allen Branch Pond. He and Tourism Director were taking a tour of the area.
Local artist, Pat Troutman works on her quilting	Anne Stafford wraps rocks for her hand made jewelry.	Cocke County Archivist, Wilda "Bill" Parrott takes a break from handing out heritage tour brochures.
	Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (center) visits with Cocke County Tourism Director Linda Lewanski and Cocke County United Way Executive Director Karl Lewanski.
County Executive Iliff McMahan Jr. (left), Marketing Director Kyle Duvall, and County Tourism Director Linda Lewanski share a happy moment.
Doug & Marie Bittinger of Smoky Mountain Woodworks and Andrea & Andrea Ludden (think of them as Jr. & Sr.) jewlery makers and curators of the Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum participate in a Tourism Dept. function at The Cub restaurant.
Chief Loveheart regales some visitors with tales of the Cherokee People.

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