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(Great Smoky Mountains) – Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will be celebrating 40 years of connecting people and nature on September 20th, 2009 with their 4th Annual Homecoming dinner. The dinner will take place on Tremont’s campus from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. and include dinner, entertainment, and hands-on activities with Tremont staff. The cost for this fundraising event is $50 per ticket, and pre-registration is required.
Before dinner guests can get a drink (as alcohol will be served, Tremont requests that children be left at home) and mingle while listening to traditional mountain music from local artists The Woodpickers. They can also get up close and personal with some of the inhabitants of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Guests can visit exhibits such as “Butterfly Flutter,” where they’ll see a butterfly enclosure and learn about methods for identifying these colorful creatures. Other exhibits will include “Salamanders Face to Face,” featuring salamander species from the Walker Valley area, and “Look Into My (Compound) Eyes,” where guests will have an opportunity to view aquatic insects from the Little River under a microscope and learn more about them from a Tremont teacher/naturalist. Homecoming attendees can also test their knowledge of area plants at the “Aliens Among Us,” exhibit, featuring plants native to the Smokies – and some which are not.
A silent auction will also take place during this time, where guests can bid on items such as UT Football tickets, fly fishing lessons, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 75th Anniversary items and more.
Once the dinner bell rings, guests will head to the buffet to enjoy a tasty barbecue dinner courtesy of Miss Lily’s Café & Catering. After dinner, people from Tremont’s past will share their stories and memories while guests enjoy coffee and dessert. Representatives from all stages of the institute’s history, from Girl Scouts who attended Camp Margaret Townsend to interns who just finished a summer at Tremont, will talk about the life-changing experiences they had living and learning inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Seating for this fundraising dinner is limited. Learn more by calling (865)448-6709 or visiting www.gsmit.org/homecoming.
This homecoming was made possible by the Legacy of Tremont, a group of volunteers who help heighten public awareness and support Tremont in the community-at-large by creating and managing a variety of activities, including friend raising, to assist Tremont with accomplishing its mission of connecting people and nature in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Special thanks to the following supporters: WBIR-TV, The Knoxville News Sentinel, Maryville College, Alcoa, the Great Smoky Mountains Association, Miss Lily’s Café & Catering in Townsend, The Trust Company, and other private donors for their sponsorship and support of this event.
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is a private 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that provides in-depth experiences through education programs that celebrate ecological and cultural diversity, foster stewardship, and nurture appreciation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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