Tag: Dollywood

Tennessee Valley Boys and Girls Clubs Teaching Summer Safety

Posted by Shane Rhyne – June 3, 2011

Boys and Girls Clubs of America logo

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – (June 2, 2011) – This Friday, June 3, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (BGCTNV) is hosting its first annual “Summer Safety Day” from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Haslam Family Club University located at 407 Caswell Avenue.

Mayor of Knox County Tim Burchett, Mayor of the City of Knoxville Daniel T. Brown, representatives from Dollywood’s Splash Country and the Knoxville Fire Department, among other groups, will be in attendance to educate and discuss important safety precautions with families. Snacks, carnival games and inflatables will also be on hand. This event is free and open to the public.

The event will focus on water, fire and Internet safety. Because the summer months lend more time to swimming and boating, children being out of school and home more often and spending more time on the Internet, it is pertinent to focus on keeping families and kids safe during this season.

With the arrival of the summer months, water safety precautions are a must for families in America. As a Make a Splash local partner, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (BGCTNV) is committed to providing swimming lessons and water safety classes to the youth the organization serves, in order to break the cycle of non-swimming adults and create generations of parents-to-be who will know how to swim.

Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental injury-related death among children ages one to 14. For every child who dies from drowning, another four receives emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.

“Drowning can be prevented with education and awareness,” said Sydney Pennington, BGCTNV Aquatics Director. “It’s a little-known fact that a great number of Americans don’t know how to swim – and that’s dangerous. We’ve got to educate our youth and families on how to stay safe during the summer months.”

BGCTNV offers year-round youth safety classes, swim lessons and events partnering with the “Make a Splash” organization, which is a national child-focused water safety initiative created by the USA Swimming Foundation with the goal of teaching every child in America to swim. BGCTNV’s Haslam Family Club University is the first swim program in Knoxville to become a Make a Splash local partner.

BGCTNV has also launched a program called “im,” part of the Michael Phelps Foundation, which is designed to encourage healthy and active lifestyles for participants by offering water safety courses, recreational pool activities and swim training as well as health and wellness education. BGCTNV was provided a grant so the programming is available at no cost to the members.

Also at Summer Safety Day, Connected Tennessee’s Computers 4 Kids “Preparing Tennessee’s Next Generation for Success” program will award BGCTNV new computers. This program is a result of a $2.3 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant awarded to the C4K program in August 2010 by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). BTOP provides grants to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure, enhance and expand public computer centers and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.

Boys & Girls Clubs offer technology programs that develop members’ computer and Internet safety skills.  Developed in collaboration with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, NetSmartz teaches Internet safety skills through engaging multimedia activities and offline interaction with Club professionals. Topics include personal safety, shopping safety and ethical use of the Internet.

For more information on Make a Splash, including downloadable water safety materials, visit www.makeasplash.org.

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About Computers 4 Kids:
Preparing Tennessee’s Next Generation for Success: Connected Tennessee’s Computers 4 Kids project is helping to prepare Tennessee’s most vulnerable youth for success by providing them with connectivity. The program promotes economic, career, and educational development through the provision of computers and broadband Internet, online technology training, career training, and community awareness that highlights the benefits of technology adoption. For more information about what Connected Tennessee is doing to accelerate technology in Tennessee’s communities, visit www.connectedtennessee.org.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley

Boys & Girls Clubs currently serves more than 5,600 members, ages 5 to 17 years old throughout the Tennessee Valley region. The organization also provides 404,401 USDA hot meals and snacks annually for members free of charge. The Clubs serve a variety of members, more than 80% of whom live with a single parent, foster parent or other nontraditional guardian. There are 16 Club locations strategically placed throughout Knox, Blount, Loudon and Northern Anderson Counties. The organization employs more than 260 trained, professional, caring staff and welcomes more than 1,200 volunteers annually. It is a charter member of United Way. For more information about the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, visit www.bgctnv.org.

Media Contact
Sarah Malak
smalak@ackermannpr.com
(865) 584-0550

Well over 135,000 “passengers” have boarded the new Titanic Museum Attraction in just seven weeks

Posted by Rick Laney – June 9, 2010

Knoxville, Tenn. – The new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. has been open for just two months and already more than 135,000 “passengers” have toured the painstakingly authentic recreation of the world’s most famous ship.

Titanic Museum Attraction in Tennessee

The world’s largest Titanic Museum Attraction, which is also the newest major attraction in the popular resort area surrounding the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is exceeding its business projections in all areas and sells completely out of tickets on most days. Because of the overwhelming response to the new museum, visitors are being urged to purchase tickets in advance or to make reservations by phone.

“I came down from Ohio specifically for the Titanic Museum Attraction,” said Amy Polczynski.  “I fully expected it to be amazing – but it far exceeded all of my expectations.  From the costumed crew members who meet you outside to the exact recreations of the grand staircase and first class suite, everything is so authentic.  It literally makes you feel as though you are standing on board the Titanic.

“In addition to the interior and exterior of the museum, the hundreds of actual Titanic artifacts that are on display are simply breathtaking.  To stand there and look at the actual master key that opened all of the first class suites, and the handwritten letters from those on board the ship, it just transports you back to 1912 – you feel like you are literally there.”

The Titanic Museum Attraction opened in April with a star-studded weekend-long Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin.  The event also featured numerous descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and included a christening of the ship by Captain Edward J. Smith.

Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck recreation of the Titanic.  The museum houses 20 galleries to display nearly 400 authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

The Isidor and Ida Straus Suite at Titanic Museum Attraction

Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size recreations (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase.  The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which is dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who co-owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

“What we have created is special in so many ways,” said John Joslyn, co-owner of the Titanic Museum Attraction.  “It is truly a museum – with hundreds of priceless artifacts from the Titanic, but it is also an overall experience for our guests.  They get to talk to crew members and maids who know the detailed story of the ship and her passengers.  Visitors are able to touch an iceberg and feel the 28-degree water exactly as it was on that fateful night.

“While you’re visiting the Titanic Museum Attraction, you truly become a passenger on board the Titanic.  It’s a complete experience that honors and respects the ship and its passengers by keeping their stories alive.  It’s a one-of-a-kind place that you have to experience to fully understand.”

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults.  The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two-hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

  • Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
  • Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
  • Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
  • Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
  • Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
  • Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
  • Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
  • Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
  • Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
  • Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
  • Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

The Titanic Museum Attraction – which is conveniently located to all areas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville – is now open every day from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. ET.  Tickets are available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com and visitors are strongly urged to purchase tickets in advance or make reservations by calling 1-800-381-7670.

Cedar Bay Entertainment, which owns and operates Titanic Museum Attraction, is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,200,000 guests.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

WBIR will broadcast three-hour special “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Posted by Rick Laney – March 17, 2010

Beth Haynes, WBIR, Titanic Museum Attraction

Beth Haynes and the priceless life vest worn by Madeleine Astor, wife of Colonel John Jacob Astor (one of the wealthiest men in the world at the time) when she escaped the Titanic into a lifeboat. She wore the life vest 24-hours a day for three days and removed it only after reaching New York.

Knoxville, Tenn. — This Saturday evening Knoxville’s WBIR will broadcast three hours of Titanic programming beginning at 8 p.m.  The special, called “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” starts with a two-hour documentary produced by John Joslyn, owner of the new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge.  Joslyn organized the $6 million expedition in 1987 that brought the world its first images of the Titanic in her final resting place two and a half miles beneath the surface of the ocean.  The documentary follows Joslyn and his crew as they spend 45 days at sea and make 32 dives to the Titanic to capture riveting video.

Following the documentary, at 10 p.m., Beth Haynes has produced and will host an hour-long behind-the-scenes look at the new Titanic Museum Attraction called “Titanic: The East Tennessee Experience.”  Viewers will get a sneak peek at the museum, see some of its priceless artifacts, and hear interviews with the owners, workers and Jaynee the First Class Maid and spokeswoman for the Titanic Museum Attraction.

The new $25 million dollar permanent Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. will open on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 a.m. with a star-studded Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin.  The event, which is open to the public, also will be attended by descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and includes a christening of the ship.

Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck reproduction of the Titanic.  The museum houses 20 galleries to display hundreds of authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

Inside the Titanic Museum, visitors find full-size reproductions (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of a First Class suite, First Class hallways, Third Class accommodations and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase.  The First Class suite will be a tribute to Isidor and Ida Straus, owners of Macy’s Department Stores, which  was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

This key belonged to a crew member who perished when Titanic sank. Valued at $150,000, it will be one of nearly 400 artifacts displayed at the new Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge. Learn more this Saturday on WBIR at 8 p.m.

“We pay respect to Titanic by telling the story of the ship and her passengers,” said John Joslyn, owner of the new Titanic Museum Attraction.  “Visitors learn the individual stories of those onboard the ship as they are learning about the ship itself.  We have spent years researching these people – and their stories are absolutely amazing.

“In addition to an unparalleled collection of artifacts, we have built the Titanic Museum as a completely interactive attraction.  You hear the wonderful stories as you’re going through the museum, but you are also experiencing things the way they were in 1912 when Titanic sailed.  It’s one thing to hear about the men who shoveled coal into the boilers – but it comes to life for you when you pick up that shovel and feel what it means to shovel coal into a furnace.”

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Pigeon Forge is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults.  The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a two hour self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end.

Watch the promotional spot for this special Titanic Event below and tune in this Saturday evening, March 20, 2010 at 8 p.m. for “An Evening Aboard The Titanic” on WBIR.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com