On Cosby Festival for 2008 at the Moonshine Capital of the World

The 11th annual On Cosby festival is being held from October 17th to the 19th in the Moonshine capital of the world: Cosby in Tennessee's Cocke County.

The temperature is perfect and the leaves in the trees are bursting forth with showy fall colors and the best value in family friendly Smoky Mountain entertainment is going to take place against beautiful backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains at the Cosby visitor's center on 321.

With so much to see and do all for the price of parking - which goes to the local fire department the On Cosby Festival is a must for anyone in the Smokies this weekend.

Exhibitors and vendors were setting up today and hopefully the weather will hold out tomorrow as the school kids will flood the festival playing games, watching demonstration and musical entertainment.

Friday October 17th 2008 On Cosby festival schedule

• 11:00 Pottery with Sandy learn the basics
• 11:30 Native American musical instruments with Karen Lancaster
• 11:00 Native American resources (stage)
• 12:00 Walking sticks with the wood wizard Learn to carve one using a spoon and choreboy
• 12:00 Cosby show choir (stage)
• 12:30 Native American musical instruments with Karen Lancaster
• 12:30 Corn meal grinding - farm machinery
• 1:00 pottery with Sandy
• 1:00 David Salyers presents Uncle Sam
• 1:30 Spinning with Jan Harris
• 1:30 Meth lab demonstration (stage)
• 2:00 Walking sticks with the wood wizard
• 2:30 Rug hooking with Jan Harris How to make your own design
• 3:00 Pottery with sandy
• 3:00 Lap looms with Jan Harris
• 4:00 Walking sticks with the wood wizard
• 5:00 Cinnamon girls (stage)
• 5:00-5:30 talent show registration $5
• 6:00 talent show

Saturday October 18th 2008 On Cosby festival schedule

• 10:00-10:30 Jane Smith
• 10:30-11:00 Dietra Green
• 11:00-11:30 Stoney Creek cloggers
• 11:30-12:00 Roy Poore and Penny Grooms
• 12:00-1:00 Steve Brown and Hurricane Ridge
• 1:00-1:30 Tennessee pride cloggers
• 1:30-2:00 Macedonia Baptist church choir
• 2:00-2:30 Dean Haney and Big Creek Gospel Bluegrass
• 2:30-3:00 Wanda Todd
• 3:00-3:30 Wild West dance club
• 3:30-4:00 Crystal Lee
• 4:00-4:30 Marcie Wilds McMahan
• 4:30-5:00 Candice Keller
• 5:00-6:00 Mountain Edge
• 6:00 sharing stories of the past

Sunday October 19th 2008 On Cosby festival schedule

• 11:00-12:00 Feed my sheep church service
• 12:00-12:30 Sheree Ramsey
• 12:30-1:00 Laurel Dunn
• 1:00-2:00 Longshot - A new brand of country "Southern Rock"
• 2:00-2:30 Margie Lee
• 2:30-3:00 Randall Reece
• 3:30-4:00 Missy Ellis
• 4:00-4:30 Hannah Rowland
• 4:30-5:00 Acoustigals - Tracie Howerton and Mary Beale

See you there at the On Cosby Festival!

Weather Damaged Smoky Mountain Plants

Easter weekend unseasonable cold weather in the Smoky Mountains especially in the higher altitudes of North Carolina has damaged plants and crops but will they recover?

The answer for most part is yes although some food crops will have a diminished if any crop this year as a result of the unseasonable late deep freeze for no less than 3 nights in a row.

The severity of the damage is dependent on the species, as well as the extreme in temperate, durations and the preexisting health of the plants. For example the trees in the Smoky Mountains such as poplar and gum will replace damaged foliage rather quickly possibly this season whereas oak and hickories will take as long as a year to replace leaves damaged in the freeze.

Weather damage to foliage can be identified by the condition of the leaves for example if the leaves are purple or blacked they are most likely dead from ice crystals forming inside the leaves that have punctured cell membranes in the leaf. This will cause the leaf to lose its natural turgidity (stiffness) and lead to the leafs eventual demise.

Plants that are affected in this manner with enough leaves that die become stressed which is exacerbated id the plant attempts to re-flush (grow) new foliage as to do so the plant will have to draw upon already depleted starch reserves. If there any significant additional stresses to the plant during this growing season such as drought, insects or diseases there is a high probability the plant will die.

Less detrimental to the plants of the Smoky Mountains who weathered the last strong frost this year are those that exhibit is a rolled or drooping appearance to the leaves called "epinasty" which is caused by the loss of hydration in the leaves.

Gradual warming and plenty or rain are the best cures for both conditions. Today's snow in the Smoky Mountains is helping with the rehydration the plants require, but the cold weather may be producing further damages especially ion the colder higher elevations. If we are lucky tomorrow warming temperatures and rain will help.

If plants in your Smokies garden were damaged by the heavy freezes the best course of action is a heavy soaking twice a weekend refrain from fertilizing this calendar year.

A Smoky Mountain Riddle about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

What do Restaurants in the Smoky Mountains, The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the North Carolina and Tennessee department of motor vehicles, and the Friends of the Smokies organization all have in common? Biodiesel.

Thanks to the generous support of drivers of NC and TN who were kind enough to purchase the beautiful Friends of the Smokies specialty license plates as well as a Clean Fuel Advanced Technology grant The Smoky Mountains National Park will soon be able to fuel their diesel fleet of almost 2 dozen vehicles on the North Carolina side with a biodiesel blended fuel.

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum diesel and is produced domestically from renewable sources such as used cooking oils, soybeans, corn and various other organic oil sources. Since it is produced domestically, it reduces our dependence on foreign petroleum and production of biodiesel creates virtually no polluting byproducts.

Biodiesel in its purest form is from 100% "organic" sources but is often blended with petroleum diesel. The National Park service will be using B-50 which means it is a 50 - 50 mixture. Regardless of the blend as long as the "bio" part f the blend is clean and pure, diesel engines usually don't require any modifications. While 100% bio is preferred this is a huge step in the right direction.

According to Dale Ditmanson the Park Superintendent "This biodiesel refueling project will help us achieve our long-term goal of stabilizing or improving air quality in the park...We also see it as a great opportunity to lead by example as we host local school groups and millions of visitors from all across the country and world."

Just having the Great Smoky Mountains National Park committed to using Biodiesel is not enough. Two distribution centers are going to be set up on the North Carolina side of the national park. The first larger Biodiesel station will be a 4,000-gallon tank at the Oconaluftee Maintenance Yard in Swain County, and the second smaller 1,000 gallon tank will be located to fill park vehicles in Cataloochee Valley. Combined these distribution points will dispense and estimated 12,000 gallons a year reducing the national parks annual consumption of petroleum diesel by 6,000 gallons a year.

In order the finance this incredible project, the Friends of the Smokies is donating more than $8,000 which was raised from the sales of specialty license plates in NC and TN. $20 of the $30 charged for these special plates ends up with Friends of the Smokies.

The Friends of the Smokies also secured grant that exceeded $33,000 from the Clean Fuel Advanced Technology Project, which is managed in North Carolina by the North Carolina Solar Center and NC State University. Help from the project was also received from the NC Department of Transportation, the State Energy Office of the NC Department of Administration, and the NC Division of Air Quality.

If you don't have a Friends of the Smokies license plate to help support the Great Smoky Mountains National Park order your Friends of the Smokies plate on your next Tennessee or North Carolina license plate on your next renewal!