Evergreen Ball Reaches New Heights - Friends of the Smokies

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Specialty Plates Yield More Than $730,000 in 2005 © Don McGowan (left to right) Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson, Jaycie Chitwood from Toyota, and Park Air Quality Specialist Jim Renfro were all on hand for the donation of four Toyota Prius vehicles. Each vehicle has a unique exterior image depicting various park programs and resources, including a park ranger working with schoolchildren; a river otter by a waterfall; a salamander in a streamside setting; and volunteers helping visitors. In both Tennessee and North Carolina, 2005 marked another strong year for the specialty license plate programs benefiting Friends of the Smokies. “The plate program has been an overwhelming success in both states,” said Gary R. Wade, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Friends of the Smokies. “We are very thankful for all the projects that the plate supporters make possible, and we look forward to doing even more in 2006.” Tennessee Revenue from the Tennessee specialty plate topped $552,000 in 2005. Those funds contributed to a wide number of park projects and programs, including $135,000 to support the new Twin Creeks Science and Education Center near Gatlinburg; $67,500 for education programs at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont; $47,000 to support Student Conservation Association interns; and more than $18,000 to help protect the park’s hemlock forests. The State of Tennessee offers the Smokies specialty tag through County Clerk’s Offices throughout the state. Of the extra $35 annual fee for the specialty plate, $31.24 goes to Friends of the Smokies to help support conservation, education, and other park priorities in Tennessee. North Carolina The North Carolina specialty plate brought in $181,800, making 2005 its most productive year yet. Those funds supported several different projects related to education and conservation, including $55,000 for renovations and operations at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center near Maggie Valley; $39,000 to support the 5 th year of the experimental return of elk to the Smokies; and $20,000 for the Parks as Classrooms program. Of the extra $30 annual fee for the specialty tag, $20 goes to Friends of the Smokies to support projects and programs on the North Carolina side of the park. Launched in 1999, the North Carolina Smokies license plate has now raised a grand total of $716,400. © Don McGowan © Don McGowan Proceeds from the Smokies plate program in North Carolina supported significant changes at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center near Maggie Valley. The renovated facility is expected to reopen in May 2006. Thanks to gifts of $285,000 from both Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association and $3,925,000 from the federal government, builders will soon break ground for the park’s new science center. The Twin Creeks Science and Education Center, to be located off of Cherokee Orchard Road near Gatlinburg, will greatly expand facility space for the science and conservation efforts of the park. The center will be equipped with a large flexible workspace, a conference room, a laboratory, and an equipment room. These changes will supply park scientists and outside researchers with almost five times the amount of space they have today. The building will also include a climate-controlled room for natural history collections and dedicated space for volunteer projects and education programs for both children and adults. Park officials expect construction to be completed by late Spring 2007. The building is designed to have a low impact on the environment through use of extensive daylighting, on-site rock, and sustainable materials. It is expected to be nationally certified as an environmentally friendly building under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. The center will also provide a real-world model for local building owners, designers, and contractors interested in creating their own “green” buildings. “We are very thankful to the supporters of the Smokies specialty plates in Tennessee and a very special friend, Wilma Maples, whose donation of $150,000 made our support possible,” said Jim Hart, President of Friends of the Smokies. “This new facility will have both an immediate and a long-term impact on our understanding and management of the park’s tremendous natural resources.” (sha-CON-a-gee) the place of blue smoke, the Cherokee name for the Great Smoky Mountains With Help from Friends, New Science Center is on Its Way Lord, Aeck and Sargent Architecture and Barbara Ratner Toyota Donates Four Prius Hybrid Vehicles On a sunny September morning at Clingmans Dome, Toyota announced the donation of four Prius vehicles to benefit the park’s education and visitor programs. The Toyota Prius is a gas/electric hybrid sedan that offers excellent fuel economy and is rated as an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle. The vehicles are valued at $20,763 each, for a total donation worth $83,052. The vehicles were donated to Friends of the Smokies, which immediately turned the vehicles over to the park. The donation from Toyota is one of the largest corporate donations ever received by Friends of the Smokies. Two of the vehicles will support the Smokies’ Parks as Classrooms program, a series of ranger-led, curriculum-based lessons for elementary and middle school students from Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. The other two vehicles will support the park’s Volunteer Visitor Assistance Program, whereby park volunteers patrol main roads, providing assistance for roadside disabled vehicles, picking up litter on roadsides, responding to visitor inquiries, and much more. The donation took place on National Public Lands Day, which is also sponsored by Toyota. As part of the event, students from Pi Beta Phi Elementary School in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Gatlinburg Girl Scout Troop 692 participated in a volunteer project at the air quality monitoring the Newsletter of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Vol 10. No 3 | Fall 2005 © Don McGowan station atop Clingmans Dome. “We are committed to protecting the environment,” said Jaycie Chitwood, Senior Strategist for Toyota’s Advanced Technologies Group. “It is this core value that has led us to donate the hybrid vehicles to help the park with its air quality issues, and, at the same time, raise awareness that the public has choices.” “We are very grateful to Toyota for making this generous gift,” said Jim Hart. “It’s great to be able to team up to help with these park programs, while also encouraging greater awareness and use of solutions to the park’s air quality problems.” Funds from the Smokies specialty plate programs in Tennessee and North Carolina also provided support for the park’s water quality monitoring program, which has provided important data for park managers since 1980. Missing a Newsletter? When we sent out our Fall 2005 newsletter last November, we found out the hard way that there was a glitch in the mailing data file that we sent to the printers. As a result, several hundred newsletters had mixed-up mailing addresses. We have done our best to work with the post office to track down these errant newsletters and get them to their proper destinations. However, if you still didn’t receive your Fall 2005 newsletter, we still have a few left and will be happy to send out additional copies until they are all gone. To ask for a replacement copy, please contact Holly Burcham at fotshb@bellsouth.net or (865) 453-2428. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continuing support! 6 the Newsletter of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Vol 11. No 1
Events and Volunteer Opportunities River Day, Saturday, April 1 Join Keep Sevier Beautiful and National Park Service volunteers for a river cleanup along “the spur” between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Meet at the Gatlinburg Welcome Center on the spur. Registration is at 9:00 a.m., and the event will go until 12 noon. Trash bags, gloves, and safety vests will be provided. Folks should dress in old clothes, dress in layers, and wear sturdy shoes. For more information, call Volunteers-in-Parks Coordinator Babette Collavo at (865) 436-1265. 56 th Annual Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, April 24-30 This year’s Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage will feature more than 180 walks and talks about wildflowers, birds, butterflies, history and culture, and much more. For information, go online to www.springwildflowerpilgrimage.org. Also, volunteers are needed to assist with on-site registration; if you can help, please call Holly Burcham with Friends of the Smokies at (865) 453-2428. 13 th Annual Run for the Park, Saturday, May 6 This 8K race will start at Tanger Five Oaks Mall in Sevierville at 8:00 a.m. on May 6 th . Registration is $12 per person until May 3 rd , and $15 after that. Participants will receive a t-shirt, goodie bag, merchant discounts, and a chance to win other prizes. All race proceeds will be donated to Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and a portion of these funds will be used to combat the hemlock woolly adelgid. For more information, please contact Holly Burcham at fotshb@bellsouth.net or (865) 453-2428. National Trails Day, Saturday, June 3 Join more than 100 other volunteers for our annual get-together to help maintain and improve the Smokies’ portion of the Appalachian Trail. For more information on this year’s event, call Holly Burcham with Friends of the Smokies at (865) 453-2428, or Phyllis Henry with the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club at (865) 577-2604. Leadership Gifts Friends of the Smokies would like to recognize the following donors for their recent and very generous contributions from October 16, 2005 to February 20, 2006: • Tennessee License Plate Supporters, $156,210 (quarterly proceeds) • North Carolina License Plate Supporters, $85,360 (two quarterly payments) • Ms. Kathryn McNeil, San Francisco, CA, $75,000+ for the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center • Crown Park Resort, Gatlinburg, TN, $35,368 for general support • Great Smoky Mountains Association, Gatlinburg, TN, $34,125, for hemlock forest protection, through sales of the Association’s “Save the Hemlocks” T-shirt • Dr. Robert Lindsay, Seymour, TN, $10,000 for Parks as Classrooms • Young, Williams, Kirk & Stone, PC, Knoxville, TN, $5,000+ in in-kind legal services • Mr. and Mrs. Gordon S. Nelson, Maryville, TN, $5,000 for Cades Cove church preservation • Lowe Family Foundation, Cincinnati, OH, $5,000 for general support • The Cobble Family Foundation, Friendsville, TN, $5,000 for the Tremont Endowment • Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Partridge, Knoxville, TN, $4,900+ for the fisheries program • Anonymous, $2,500 for the feral hog program • The Honorable and Mrs. William E. Haslam, Knoxville, TN, $2,500 for general support • Mrs. Sharon Miller, Knoxville, TN, $2,500 for general support and Tremont Endowment • Mrs. Barbara Jo Whitman, $2,500 for general support • The Henry B. Kreuzman Family Foundation, Cincinnati, OH, $1,700 for hemlock forest protection and peregrine falcon research While space does not allow us to recognize every donor and every contribution, Friends of the Smokies sincerely appreciates every gift. © Don McGowan | Spring 2006 7
Page 1 and 2: © Don McGowan January 21 st marked
Page 3 and 4: Board of Directors Gary R. Wade •
Page 5: P R O J E C T U P D A T E S Friends

Evergreen Ball Reaches New Heights - Friends of the Smokies

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