Vulcan's 104th Birthday Bash
Birmingham; June 1
During this festive outdoor community event, the park will be filled with balloons, clowns, music, entertainment, food, fun and more in honor of Vulcan's special day. Throughout the afternoon, a variety of activities will take place for visitors of all ages to enjoy.

Will Rogers Heritage Festival
Guntersville; June 5-8
This event will take place in venues all over the city. Enjoy the Farmers Market, performances of "Will Rogers Follies" by the Whole Backstage Theatre, antiques and collectibles fair, film festival, horse whisperer, aviation fair, food vendors, beauty pageant, live entertainment, walking tours, carriage rides, museum exhibit, Western show and parade, Cherokee Pow Wow, pony rides, pooch parade and more!

ALABAMA Fan Appreciation Weekend
Fort Payne; June 6-8
Call to confirm details. Benefit concert for John Croyle's Big Oak Ranch for Children on Friday, a celebrity golf tournament and a fan appreciation concert on Saturday, autographs and photos with fan club members on Sunday.

Hank Williams Festival
Georgiana; June 6-7
Join us June 6 & 7 for the 29th Annual Hank Williams Festival in Georgiana. A fun-filled weekend of country music, arts and crafts, food and drink. Plus some good old-fashioned fun! Performances by Brad Magness & The Flying Buffaloes, Elaine Petty, Shenandoah, T.G. Shepherd, Jett Williams, Aaron Tippin and more! The Hank Williams Festival is an outdoor event, sponsored by the Hank Williams Museum. There is no reserved seating. Bring your lawn chairs. No lounge chairs, coolers, food, drinks, or pets can be taken into the park. The festival is biker friendly.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative is an interdisciplinary partnership between the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the United States Botanic Garden and a diverse group of stakeholder organizations to develop guidelines and standards for landscape sustainability.

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
 
Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm
 
Venue: Alagasco Midtown Center
20 South 20th Street, Birmingham
 
Speaker: John Wilson, Golightly Architects
 
Lunch/Program: $10 Members / $15 Non-Members
Please RSVP to Ellen Hawley by May 23, 2008 ellen@eco-ideas.com

Scenes from Beautiful Southwest Alabama. Photos by Joe Watts.

Congress responded to the enormous need for more conservation funding, better efficiencies in current working lands programs and several new options including:

• Increased funding and policy improvements for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to improve our environment;
• Increased funding and policy improvements for the Conservation Stewardship Program to reward farmers for stewardship;
• Funding for Wetland Reserve and Grassland Reserve Programs to protect our water and expand wildlife habitat;
• A new conservation loan program to leverage additional funding for agriculture conservation;
• A new cooperative conservation program to more effectively address the nation’s natural resource concerns;
• Extension of the tax credit for donated easements resulting in more land being protected for the future.

The bill also includes significant advances in supporting and expanding access to healthy and local foods, which will help address growing diet-related health concerns, food security and infrastructure needs. This bill expands the commitment to important farmers’ market programs, Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (SNACK) program, and the Community Food Security Program. Just as important, it allows schools flexibility to give preference to local farmers in supplying food for the school food programs. This should help support urban-edge farmers and ranchers across the nation.
from the American Farmland Trust

Reminder!  If you are planning to attend any of the following sessions (AICP prep course or Mobile Workshops) on May 21 in conjunction with the Alabama Chapter APA Annual Spring Conference in Birmingham, AL, please call UNA's Continuing Studies and Outreach registration office at 256-765-4862 or 800-825-5862 ext 4862.  Knowing how many will be attending these sessions will help us prepare for classroom space and transportation.  

Also, if you wish to bring a spouse or guest to any of the following, please let us know as soon as possible so that we may order food. You may call and pay by credit card, or let us know that you will be paying at the door.  See details below.  

• Welcome Reception on Wednesday, May 21 (6-8 pm) $15 guest fee
• Grand Reception at Vulcan Park on May 22 (6pm-until) $25 guest fee
• Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 23 (11:30 am - 1:00 pm) $25 guest fee

Be on the lookout for an article on the Alabama Scenic River Trail in The New York Times.  The Alabama Tourism Department has received advance word the story should appear in the Friday, May 16 edition of The New York Times. Look for the story on their website in the "Escapes" section.  http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/escapes/ 

The fiscal ’09 budget passed by the state legislature this week includes funding line items for several local tourism attractions and festivals across Alabama. Receiving funding in the next fiscal year beginning Oct.1 are:
 
Alabama Constitutional Village, Huntsville, $100,000; Alabama Sports Festival $300,000; Alabama Sports Foundation, Hoover, $300,000; Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Birmingham, $50,000; Alabama Travel Council, Montgomery, $50,000; Aliceville P.O.W. Museum $50,000; Belle Mont Mansion, Tuscumbia, $150,000; Birmingham Art Connection $10,000; Birmingham City Stages $50,000; Birmingham Civil Rights Institute $25,000; Birmingham Titusville Day $25,000; Buckmaster’s Expo, Montgomery, $150,000; Buffalo Soldier Memorial $50,000; Children’s Hands on Museum, Tuscaloosa, $50,000; American Village, Montevallo, $150,000; Civil Rights Foot Soldiers $15,000; Donnell House, Athens, $40,000; Fendal Hall, Eufaula, $50,000; Fort Payne Historic Depot $15,000.
 
Helen Keller’s Birthplace, Tuscumbia, $250,000; Henager Potato Festival $10,000; High Falls Park, Geraldine, $10,000; Historic Chattahoochee Commission $50,000; Historic Shirley Place, Northport $100,000; Jesse Owens Park, Danville, $50,000; Montgomery Jubilee City Fest $50,000; Nat King Cole Project, Montgomery, $75,000; Pickens County Chamber of Commerce $75,000; Pond Spring $150,000; Tennessee Valley Art Association-Ritz Theatre Project, Athens, $75,000; Tuscaloosa Veterans’ Memorial $25,000; Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center $75,000; UFO Days, Fyffe, $10,000; Voting Rights Museum, Selma, $100,000; USS Alabama Battleship Commission, Mobile, $200,000.

Free technical assistance available!
Are you trying to encourage specific smart growth techniques like transit-oriented development?  Or direct your state department of transportation investments to better support smart growth?  Are you looking to use smart growth to reach greenhouse gas reduction goals?  Do you need help analyzing guidelines for school investments that best fit your state or community?  Do you need to retrofit a commercial corridor? Or coordinate your community's smart growth design with an active aging program?

The Development, Community, and Environment Division in U.S. EPA's Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation is responding to this need by issuing a request for applications for the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance program.  Through this program, a team of multidisciplinary experts will provide free technical assistance to communities, regions, or states that want to develop in ways that meet environmental and other local or regional goals.

Applications are now being accepted in a new recognition program of the Preserve America initiative -- Preserve America Stewards -- which will honor exemplary volunteer efforts at historic resources around the country. Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady and Honorary Chair of Preserve America, announced the new program at the Preserve America Presidential Awards ceremony on May 12 at the White House.

The program will recognize stewardship programs that have demonstrated a successful use of volunteer time and commitment in order to help care for our cultural heritage. Government entities (federal, tribal, state, or local), non-profit organizations, and businesses are eligible to apply to have their programs recognized.

The application form and guidance is attached and is also available at www.preserveamerica.gov. While the quarterly schedule for submissions makes June 1st the next deadline, we encourage applicants to submit applications at any time over the summer if they are interested in being among the first programs to be designated as Preserve America Stewards.

The Intensive Economic Development Training Course is a two-week course presented by the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI), a partnership of Auburn University and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. This annual course introduces participants to all phases of economic development.

Session 1: July 14-18, 2008
Session 2: September 15-19, 2008
Course registration fee is $550.00.

Register online and learn more: www.auburn.edu/ecdi/intensive08.htm
For more info: call 334.844.3685

A historic Alabama-built rocket that led to man's first moon steps has landed on a list of the "7 Wonders of America." The historic Saturn V rocket on display at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville is being dubbed by the "Good Morning America" television show as the sixth Wonder of America, museum spokesman Al Whitaker said Wednesday.  The designation will be announced during the ABC television network show's Monday broadcast from the museum, he said. Museum officials also are planning a celebration Monday. "This is long-overdue recognition for Alabama's role in the space program," said state tourism director Lee Sentell.

Now is the time to begin entering your events for the printed “2009 Alabama Calendar of Events.” You have until June 30th to submit your events for the 2009 booklet. If your event has already occurred for this year and you simply want to update your previous listing with new dates, you may e-mail those dates to kory.ward@tourism.alabama.gov. If your event has not occurred for this year or you have other events to post for 2009, you must submit them directly to our website at http://www.alabama.travel/things-to-do/events/submit.cfm.   If you have questions, please feel free to contact Kory Ward at 334-242-4645 or Marilyn Stamps at 334-242-4544; marilyn.stamps@tourism.alabama.gov. Don’t forget that 2009 is the Year of Alabama History, so please remember to check the designation on the form for any history-related events.

“We came to Alabama to serve, and found ourselves being served,” said JacQuetta Clayton, president of the national MOM Squad organization. “When I found out we were going to Alabama, I didn't know what to expect" said Clayton, whose son is Baltimore Raven player Mark Clayton. "I am glad I came. Gadsden is a wonderful city and has really shown their love for us,” she added.
 
The MOM Squad, an organization formed to benefit at-risk youth, was in Gadsden May 2nd & 3rd to further their mission and to celebrate the Year of Alabama Sports. While all of the M.O.M (Mothers on a Mission) Squad members are mothers of national celebrities, many of them are mothers of athletes. The Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts, directed by Bobby Welch, partnered with the Alabama Tourism Department, the City of Gadsden schools, the Mayor’s Office and local businesses, restaurants and organizations to promote the Year of Alabama Sports through the “Art of Competition” exhibit and to help further the mission of the MOM Squad. Year of Sports Coordinator Marilyn Jones Stamps attended the event and welcomed the group to Alabama.
          
While in Gadsden, the MOM Squad visited elementary and middle schools, as part of their literacy campaign, to read with children and to provide encouragement. On Saturday, the youth and parents who participate in Gadsden City School’s 21st Century after school program had a fun day at Imagination Place Children’s Museum and met Carnell “Cadillac” Williams, whose mother Sherry was the host MOM for the event. Williams, a native of Gadsden, is an NFL running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Auburn Tigers running back.
          
In addition to visiting the local schools, the MOM Squad was honored at Downtown Gadsden's First Friday events. On Saturday afternoon, Imagination Place offered special activities for visitors based the NCAA's "Stay In Bounds" character building program. Many of the activities were led by the MOM Squad. Also, in celebration of the Year of Alabama Sports, Cadillac Williams signed autographs. A total of 21 MOMs attended the event, including Carolyn Smith, mother of actor and Oscar nominee Will Smith. The Center for Cultural Arts will host the “Art of Competition-Year of Alabama Sports” exhibit through 2008. Find out more at www.culturalarts.org
 

Join us for ‘Stream Restoration Construction’ workshop held in Jasper, Alabama May 29, 2008. Time: 9 a.m -4 p.m. Registration will begin at 8:30.The workshop will center on Town Creek Tributary, an urban stream in the City of Jasper bordering Maddox Middle School. This workshop will be conducted during construction of an urban stream restoration project at the School. Participants will learn about plan sheet development, construction specifications, permitting, and construction oversight while observing channel grading and structure installation. The workshop will be split between classroom and extensive field work. Instructors will emphasize urban stream conditions specific to the southeastern U.S. Workshop instructors have experience working on more than 40 stream assessments and restoration projects throughout the Southeast. Learn more or register online now at the CAWACO website! www.cawaco.org
 

The Alabama Communities of Excellence (ACE) Program is a comprehensive three-phase approach to economic and community development for cities with populations between 2,000 and 12,000. With the mission of helping Alabama’s smaller communities to plan, grow and prosper, ACE partners from the private sector, governmental agencies, and universities work with each community to successfully achieve the vision and goals created during the ACE program.  The ACE Program will hold its 2008 Graduation Ceremony on Monday, May 19 during the Alabama League of Municipalities Annual Convention in Birmingham, Alabama.  The ceremony will announce the 2008 communities that have completed the ACE Program’s three phase approach to obtain the prestigious title as an Alabama Community of Excellence.  For more information regarding the ACE Program, visit www.alabamacommunitiesofexcellence.org.

Town of Thorsby Historical Preservation Committee update
The Thorsby Historical Preservation Committee is working with the Chilton County Soil & Water Conservation District and NRCS to begin the first steps in restoring the historic Thorsby Elementary School Building. Larry McRay of the NRCS will be providing technical expertise for the project. Committee members met with Butch Grimes of Grimes Architects on April 8, to discuss the process of restoring the historical structure. The school will be restored according to Alabama Historical Committee guidelines.   A work day was held at the school on April 27, and donated yard sale items that were not sold were taken to a senior center for resale.  Volunteers removed particle board from the detached lunchroom building, and secured the windows. The Thorsby Historical Preservation Committee meets on the third Monday of each month at 6:30pm at Thorsby United Methodist Church on Iowa Avenue. The public is invited to attend.
 
City of Pinson update
The City of Pinson kicked off their Community Planning Assistance Grant project on April 24, 2008, at its monthly Planning Commission meeting.  Steve Ostaseski and Yvonne Murray of the RPC met with the Planning Commission and Mayor Hoyt Sanders to discuss the process of creating the City's Master Plan (also known as "comprehensive plan"), Zoning Ordinance, and Subdivision Regulations.  A project website will be linked to the RPC and City of Pinson websites soon.  RPC's community planning team expects to hold a public meeting in order to conduct a visual preference survey for the City at the end of May or beginning of June.  For more information, please contact Yvonne Murray, YMurray@RPCGB.org or (205) 251-8139.

May is National Bike Month!  The League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week from May 12-16 and Bike-to-Work Day on Friday, May 16.  On Friday, May 16 at 7:00 a.m., a bicycle commuter convoy will depart from the fountain at Five Points South (Birmingham’s Southside). The group will ride a 7-mile route throughout Birmingham’s City Center to tour ongoing and future downtown revitalization projects and to raise cycling awareness. The ride will terminate between 7:45 and 8:00 a.m. at the Center for Regional Planning and Design, 1735 1st Avenue North, where there will be a photo opportunity, news media, cold drinks, and distribution of giveaway items for all participants.  For complete route information visit the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization’s website: www.bhammpo.org  The event is sponsored by the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham with the support of the Birmingham Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Birmingham Bicycle Club, GC Cycling, Vulcan Triatheletes, Jefferson County Department of Health, and CommuteSmart.  Citizens throughout many American cities and towns participate in this annual initiative by conducting “group rides” to highlight the benefits of cycling as a viable mode of transportation and means of regular exercise.  Bicycling is one of the most popular activities in the United States, and it’s healthy too! Bicycling can help in weight loss, reduce stress and improves cardio-vascular function. Taking your bike to work instead of the car also improves regional air quality by reducing vehicular emissions. Biking to work can be an efficient, safe and fun way to get the exercise you need while also providing a broader public health benefit. For many bicycle commuters across the country, biking to work makes for good use of commute time and reduces costly fuel consumption. For metro Birmingham it makes more sense than ever! The League has set up an event website providing information on events all across the nation at www.bikemonth.com.

Across the United States, heritage tourism is on the rise.  To promote Alabama’s unique blend of Civil Rights history and cultural traditions, Auburn University and the Alabama Department of Tourism are teaming up to develop a Civil Rights Heritage Trail in Alabama.  The project aims to provide tourists with a rich travel experience by allowing access to Alabama’s Civil Rights sites through easy-to-follow routes and the inclusion of unique local restaurants, lodging and cultural amenities.  

The guide will go beyond well-known Civil Rights museums to include many additional sites significant in the struggle for racial equality.  Auburn University staff will work closely with the Alabama Department of Tourism to build on the Department’s current Civil Rights publication.  

Appalachia’s gateway communities—towns that border publicly owned lands such as national and state parks and forests—often struggle to balance the need for economic growth with the desire to protect their natural ecosystems, landscapes, and cultural heritage.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) have partnered to develop the Appalachian Gateway Communities Initiative: Natural and Cultural Heritage Tourism Development (Gateway Initiative). The Gateway Initiative will provide training and technical assistance for natural and cultural heritage tourism development activities to Appalachian gateway communities. Assistance will be provided by The Conservation Fund (TCF) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). In addition to enhancing a community’s natural and/or historic assets, the Gateway Initiative will also include the role of the arts in the development of a comprehensive natural and cultural heritage tourism development strategy.

Application receipt deadline date: June 6, 2008. To be eligible, applicants (or the gateway community) must be located in an ARC distressed, transitional or transitional/at-risk county.  For a list of the ARC counties and their economic status, please see pages 22  -25 of the attached RFP. ARCNEAGatewayRFP.pdf

Tony Tighe, Coordinator, Federal Partnerships
Office of Government Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts

The nomination deadline for the 2008 Alabama Tourism awards is next Friday- May 9. The nomination form is available on-line on the Alabama Tourism Department website. Twelve different categories comprise the Alabama Tourism Awards. These awards, first presented in 1998, annually honor outstanding achievements in Alabama’s tourism industry.   http://www.800alabama.com/about-alabama/news/press/awardsform.cfm

The May issue of Southern Living has a feature on places to stop along I-65.  Some of those mentioned are the Ardmore Welcome Center, Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, American Village in Montevallo, Peach Park in Clanton, Lek's in Montgomery, Priester's Pecans in Fort Deposit, Bates House of Turkey in Greenville, Hank Williams's Boyhood Home & Museum in Georgiana, David's Catfish in Atmore and Wintzell's Oyster House in Saraland.

Update: The 2008 workshop is full. If you are still interested in applying, contact Martha Whitson via e-mail (martha@yourtownalabama.org) to be put on a waiting list.

The 2008 workshop is quickly filling. Single occupancy rooms are no longer available other than by wait list. If you wish to attend, please register now! Learn more at http://www.yourtownalabama.org/form.htm.

Hemmed in by the Chattahoochee River and Georgia on the west and bisected vertically across the middle by truck-heavy U.S. Highway 431, Eufaula is now revising its 20-year-old land-use policy as required under the Eufaula 2020 Plan. 

Mayor Jay Jaxon and city planner Tim Milner consider it "very fortunate" to have expert help from the Audubon Partnership for Sustainability in the process, especially since the toughest issues include development along the proposed seven-mile alternate route through the city's western outskirts.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/

from the Smart Growth Network. www.smartgrowth.org

Alabama’s Lake Guntersville State Park was spotlighted last week in the USA TODAY feature travel article “Companies looking for meeting spots just park it.” The lodge completed a $25 million renovation in January and has 14,000 square feet of meeting space.

From the article in USA TODAY by Gary Stoller:

"States are trying to boost revenue by upgrading and expanding their meeting facilities, and corporate meeting planners say they're savings thousands of dollars by booking them instead of hotels or conference centers. Facilities range from a one-room schoolhouse at Utah's Camp Floyd/Stagecoach Inn State Park to mansions and full-service lodges like the one at Alabama's Lake Guntersville State Park.

Tim Wishum, the operations director for Alabama State Parks, says state parks are "not Las Vegas or the Miami beachfront." But "you can rent space for a fraction of the cost" of a big city, and their setting helps companies focus on the reason for the meeting — building business, learning more about their jobs and solving issues. A convention at Lake Guntersville costs about $15,000, compared with $40,000 at a big-city hotel or convention facility, he says.

Many meeting planners "probably haven't considered state parks as areas for conventions, because they still see them as isolated places where people only hike and fish," Wishum says. But that's changing, he says, now that state parks have amenities such as large meeting rooms, wireless Internet access and small rooms for breakout sessions.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-04-14-business-meetings-state-parks_N.htm

A series of CNBC segments by Mike Hegedus featuring different aspects of Alabama business continued this week with a story titled “Sweet Home Alabama.” The story focuses on how the Alabama economy has held up well, despite the nationwide downturn and features an interview with Gov. Bob Riley.

For video see: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=719096575.   Previous stories on the Alabama economy focused on David Bronner and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and Wellborn Cabinet makers in Ashland.