Evergreen Ball Reaches New Heights - Friends of the Smokies

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!
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the Newsletter of Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Vol 11. No 1