With summer vacations underway, families throughout East Tennessee are spending much more time in the water. Dollywood’s Splash Country, which celebrates its 15th anniversary season in 2015, hosts Water Safety Day on Thursday, June 18 from 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Event partners LeConte Medical Center, The Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation, WATE-TV and Star 102.1 join Dollywood’s Splash Country ...

Ole Smoky® Tennessee Moonshine, the most widely distributed moonshine in the country, announced their official partnership with nonprofit Boot Campaign, where together they will help raise awareness and funds for military families. Boot Campaign is a national nonprofit that promotes patriotism by putting civilians in combat boots; educates the community about issues challenging service members during and after serving; and ...

On Saturday, June 13, 2015 the Gatlinburg Farmers Market will kick off the beginning of peak harvest season with a summer celebration highlighting health, nutrition, and sustainable living from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Covered Bridge complex in the Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community. “We’ve added several vendors to the market, for June 13th only, that focus on ...

Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park is well known for its delicious food, entertaining shows, and exhilarating roller coasters. It also has a unique partnership with the American Eagle Foundation and a special bald eagle breeding pair that resides in the park. Both Dollywood and the American Eagle Foundation celebrate their 30th anniversaries this year. Coincidentally, these disabled bald eagle parents, ...

Park rangers have found a mother and son who became lost and spent the night in the park Sunday. Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers found two missing hikers, a woman and her son from Fond Du Lac, Wis., who had been reported being lost in the park on Sunday, June 7, 2015. Christy Barns, 40, and her son, Casey, ...

A huge used book sale is planned for June 11- 13, 2015 at King Family Library in Sevierville. More than 30,000 books presently stored on the third floor of the King Family Library must be moved in the next few weeks to make way for library renovations. King Family Library Book Sale hours are: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. – ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have closed several trails and backcountry campsites in the Hazel Creek section of the park due to a bear incident occurring at approximately 10:30 p.m. on June 6, 2015. A 16-year old male from Ohio was pulled from his hammock by a bear and injured at backcountry campsite 84, which is 4.5 miles from ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials announced the completion of an enhancement and restoration project of a 4,613-foot section of Chilogatee Branch and four of its tributaries totaling 744 feet within the park. The streams had been degraded by clearing of riparian forest, channel relocations, and unrestricted livestock access prior to the property’s inclusion in the park. The project was ...

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers were presented with 15 high-performance search and rescue jackets by donors to support field rangers in inclement weather. Rangers respond to approximately 100 search and rescue incidents annually, many of which occur during hazardous weather conditions in the backcounty. Local community members in Sevier County led efforts to raise funds for the park’s search ...

Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett will speak Thursday, June 11, 2015 at a Joint Hospitality and Tourism Associations Meeting sponsored by Pigeon Forge Hospitality Association and hosted by The Holiday Inn & Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Triplett is expected to discuss his background and what inspires him as the new commissioner for tourist development. Also, he will focus ...