One night Mayor Kelley called me and asked if I wanted to go steal a train. At first, I thought he must be drunk. He was serious; he wanted to go recapture the famous locomotive, The General. This was the engine captured at Big Shanty, Ga., in the Civil War that led to the “Great Locomotive Chase.’ Some of “Andrews Raiders” were the first winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Disney made “The Great Locomotive Chase” even more famous with his movie of the same name.

The General was housed all these years at Chattanooga’s Union Station. L and N restored it to take on a tour for the Civil War Centennial and promised to return it to Chattanooga. They didn’t. They gave our engine to Georgia to be housed where it was captured (now named Kennesaw). Rumors suggested that the General was used as a bribe for railroad rights of way.

The mayor, Police Commissioner “Bookie” Turner and others met the train carrying The General and stopped it with a police car across the track. Kelley had received a tip from Ed and LaVonne Jolly, that the train was headed this way. “Kelley’s Raiders” captured the train and tied it up in court for several months.

This generated amazing publicity all over the world. Nearly everyone favored Chattanooga, (many thought it was the Chattanooga Choo Choo)

It was a humorous and courageous effort, but the court ruled in favor of Georgia despite documents where L and N promised The General would forever be enshrined in Chattanooga. A replica of the General is on top of the monument honoring Andrews Raiders in the Chattanooga National Cemetery. The official Chattanooga Seal had the General on it, however, this has been changed.

GETTING PAID FOR CIVIC WORK

The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was established in 1940 by the Chattanooga Kiwanis Club. It was originally named Chattanoogan, Inc. They did a lot of things to promote Chattanooga, with a tiny budget, but were little known.

In 1970, when I became CEO, Pendall Myers (Confederama) was acting director and Tom Willett was vacating as Convention Manager. That only left Gladys Case and Roxy Vann. Gladys was the glue that held things together and Roxie was Convention Secretary. Our offices were in Memorial Auditorium.

I had been convention Chairman as a volunteer, tourist Chairman for the Jaycees, coordinated the Mayor’s tourism committee and had been promoting my home town since high school, so I had a head start. The annual budget of $45,000 for a four person staff proved that none of us were over paid. Most locals knew little to nothing about the Convention and Visitors Bureau but we had a $70 million dollar tourist industry with a vast potential for growth.

Obviously, we needed to grow the tiny budget, but even more, we needed to build civic pride, to show the potential for tourism and to involve local citizens. We immediately looked for multipliers to supplement our small staff and board of directors. We contacted numerous local and state agencies that related to tourism directly or indirectly. This gave tourism a voice and everything from Air pollution to Zoos.

Similarly we looked for multipliers in the private sector-civic clubs, schools, historical groups, etc. We organized our committee structure. Mass media played an important role in building civic pride, educating area citizens in the virtue of the tri-state area and enrolling their help in attracting conventions, sporting events and tourists. We had the help from all media. Our unique TV show, “Backyard Safari” and radio show, “Scenic Center Safari” were aired weekly. We used public announcements extensively, sparked news stories and courted politicians.

Here is an example of how you have to scrounge when you don’t have funds to advertise. At a cocktail party in Atlanta, I was talking to a New York Publisher, Joel Abels (Travel Trade, Discover America). His wife mentioned that she was shopping for a new barbeque grill. I said, “Problem solved, you must have a Chattanooga Choo Choo barbeque grill (made like a locomotive). These were manufactured in Chattanooga and retailed for about $69. My factory price was $21. This made such a hit that Joel published a picture of theirs in his magazine and entertained tourist leaders from all over the world on his Chattanooga Choo Choo barbeque grill. Later Joes entertained Bettye and I when I attended the American Society of Association Executives Convention. He took us to dinner at the famous Sardi’s Restuarant. Joel wrote Broadway reviews so we were treated royally. He could get theater tickets when others couldn’t, so Bettye truly enjoyed this convention. Joel’s daughter although living in the midst of Broadway celebrities, was fascinated with Bettye’s theater work.

When I couldn’t go on a writer’s Familiarization Tour, Joel sent Bettye and published her story on Zurich. All of this and much more was accomplished by a $69 Chattanooga Choo Choo grill. I purchased others for gifts and when they quit manufacturing them, tried to purchase the remaining inventory; but Sears beat me out. I still have my Choo Choo grill, but it is pretty sad.

Carl Gibson (Ruby Falls) was Chairman of the East Tennessee Tourist Council, a small group of tourist leaders who met twice a year. We grew that program to broaden support for tourism throughout East Tennessee and to bring in key officials from all over the country. After several years, we outgrew Pete Smith’s Watts Bar Resort and moved to Sweetwater. Some 150 public and private tourism leaders would gather each spring and fall. ETTC was an excellent multiplier that brought people together in a friendly informal way, for example, White Water Outfitters could talk man to man with top TVA officials. Tennessee Tourism leaders and politicians took full advantage of ETTC and were most helpful.

To illustrate the informality of our meetings, once we borrowed a cow from Mayfield Dairies; when anyone wanted cream in their coffee, we would say, “Get your own”. We had a camera set up to photograph all the city boys trying to milk a cow. I couldn’t get a drop. Pictures were posted on the bulletin board and then given to participants to take home. We had a variety of talks, films, panels, etc. but kept them short and fast moving. The most important accomplishment of ETTC was the one on one sessions at the coffee breaks and cocktail parties. Of all the tourism meetings I attended, ETTC was the most practical, most helpful and most fun---and least costly. I was disappointed that these meetings died out after Carl and I retired. Our last meeting turned out to be a “Roast” for Carl and me.

While I was CEO for the Bureau, we pushed to involve civic leaders that were not directly benefited by tourism; bankers like Arnold Chambers and Franklin Davis, yarn broker, Hubert Fry, TVA engineer Jack Anderson who had to take annual leave for all our meetings) and Financial Advisor Mike Ledford. These volunteer leaders portrayed the importance of tourism for every citizen.

I attended a TVA constituency meeting. One of the speakers, Harold Sharp was with the Bass Angler’s Sports Society. He extolled the benefits of sponsoring fishing tournaments and offered to meet with anyone interested. I was the only one to take him up on his offer. He was a native son of Chattanooga and presented an interesting concept. A few days later I called Bert Seniard of the Chattanooga Bass Club and offered to help if he would go after the next Bass Tournament. The club would have to put up $5,000 to $10,000 dollars. Bert called back the next day and said they would do the tournament and cover their costs by selling ads. The success of this tournament opened the door to many major, regional and national fishing tournaments in the Chattanooga area.

For the Bass Masters’ Classic we had to put up $200,000. I called on Rhody Davenport (CEO of Krystal); he volunteered $10,000 and gave me names of other prominent Bass enthusiasts such as Jack Lupton. We booked the tournament and got national publicity and attracted people like former president, Jimmy Carter, and Chuck Yeager, the ace flyer who broke the sound barrier.

One week we had two tournaments with prizes of more than a half million dollars. More importantly, these tournaments attracted the top fishermen and untold favorable publicity on their own TV shows. Special TV programs were broadcasts nation wide on various cable networks from three to twelve times (30 minute to two hour programs). I wish we could calculate the dollar value of all this publicity.

I had hoped that the momentum we had and the upcoming completion of the Tennessee Aquarium, and the vision Bob Caldwell had that Chattanooga could become the focal point for Bass fishing and outdoor recreation. The Bureau was promoting Chattanooga as “Nextdoor to Outdoors”, saying that if your sport did not require an ocean, you could do it around Chattanooga.

Before I went to work for the C and VB, I was a VIP guests on the big Coast Guard boat to go through the locks at Chickamauga Dam and the old Hale’s Bar Dam site. This turned out to be a typical Hubert Fry project (He was known for impromptu ideas). None of us knew what was going on and we nearly starved. We could smell the coffee and food, but the Coast Guard said that it was against regulations to serve us. This was my introduction to Hubert’s idea of a Fall Color Cruise. At Hale’s Bar, we met with 100-200 mostly boaters and finally had a bite to eat and some “pickin’ and grinnin’”. Some of us “jumped ship” (caught a ride home) rather than return to the Coast Guard Base on such a slow boat.

The idea of the Fall Color Cruise was intriguing. Hubert and I met with the Potentate of Al Hambra Shrine in South Pittsburg and offered them the concessions if they would provide the stage, power, sound, etc. for future cruises. They agreed. We billed Dr. Nat Winston as the “World’s Champion Five String Banjo Picking Psychiatrist”. He brought us “Grandpa” Jones, Ronnie Stoneman, the Stoneman Family and others from Nashville. We named him Honorary Entertainment Chairman. Nat was Tennessee’s Commissioner for Mental Health. Every year the Fall Color Cruise grew. In 1989 the last one that I coordinated, we had hundreds of crafters, hundreds of boats, continuous entertainment on four stages and attracted more than 150,000 people at Shellbound Recreation Area.

We had no budget for the Fall Color Cruise but obtained tremendous publicity, attracted visitors from all over the world and played a major part in extending the tourist season past Labor Day. We had film crews from Germany and England and travel writers from all over.

The Fall Color Cruise reminded local citizens of the blessings of fall foliage here and the beauty of the Grand Canyon of the Tennessee River. What a blessing today that Chattanooga has a beautiful river front, river boats, party boats, and the Tennessee Aquarium’s Catamaran to enjoy the “gorgeous gorge”. What a shame that Hubert Fry’s Fall Color Cruise is no more. The Bureau dropped participation when I retired. The Shriner’s tried it alone for several years but gave it up. Hale’s Bar Marina promotes The Fall Color Cruise now and the Southern Belle Riverboat has “Color Cruises” in the fall.

In 1979 the C and V B moved from Memorial Auditorium to the new Civic Forum. We shared fancy meeting rooms with the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association and the Safety Council. It was a showplace for a while and very convenient. Tourism continued to flourish, even in brief recessions and even with gas shortages. We tried to make lemonade out of such lemons by promoting “This Year Vacation Here”.

Our see Chattanooga First Campaign originated earlier when I overheard a mechanic at a Gulf Service Station which I owned, answer a tourist’s question. The tourist asked, “what is Rock City?’ Harry answered, “It’s a @#@#$%$# pile of rocks on Lookout Mountain.” When I reminded Harry that half his pay was coming from tourists, he got the message. Consequently, the See Chattanooga First Campaign was promoted every spring to insure that those who meet the tourist the most would be friendly and positive about their community. This southern hospitality was vital. Previously we knew of specific examples where a tip from a waitress led to a new plant, here. Unfortunately we also knew of examples of where industrial prospects were dismayed with negative comments from a limousine driver.

We had no advertising budget. So another multiplier that the Bureau utilized was to entertain travel writers, tour operators and convention planners. Our member hotels, attractions and restaurants provided the hospitality so costs to the Bureau were minimal. These Familiarization Tours were vital and resulted in free publicity, many more Motor Coach Tours and a growing convention business.

The County Executive in James County came up with the idea of establishing a US 127 Highway Association from Cincinnati to Chattanooga. It was a great idea, so we pitched in to help. The most notable project is “The Longest Yard Sale”. This very successful project continues each year.

Jackie Weaver helped spark the idea of forming the “Lookout Mountain Parkway Association”. Here again, it was a good idea, so we helped. Later, we extended the Longest Yard Sale via the “Parkway” to Gadsden, Alabama. The Parkway concept hasn’t been fully exploited, but has a huge potential. Studies show tourist want scenery, history, and natural attractions. Lookout Mountain is loaded with 90 miles of all three. Tennessee brochures can’t be placed in Georgia or Alabama Welcome Centers and vice versa. “Parkway” folders, however, can be stocked in all three states. Bill Marshall is President of the Lookout Mountain Parkway Association and I wish him well.

Some of the organizations we helped establish fell by the wayside, such as the Tennessee Valley Recreation Association, an attempt to take advantage of TVA’s “Great Lakes of the south” to publicize the entire Tennessee Valley Region.

One of my embarrassing moments was after announcing Johnny Cash would entertain at the Fall Color Cruise; he didn’t show. We had published his picture with Hubert Fry and he fully intended to come. Unfortunately, he had had a recent scare in a private plane and couldn’t get here from West Texas in time on a commercial carrier.

The next year we sponsored a Burl Ives concert at the Memorial Auditorium with the U.S. Department of Interior just to have him here to perform at the Color Cruise. The bureaucrat in charge failed to tell Burl so he didn’t show. Ironically we found later that Burl had his Pepsi Cola Band to drive him around Nickajack Lake sight seeing near where we were waiting for him.

Dean Martin Country Music USA was televised nationally each week from the Chattanooga Choo Choo and we hosted many of the top country music stars. Of the other celebrities that the Bureau was involved with, Hugh O’Brien was a bit egotistical. And Leif Erickson and Pat Boone were the friendliest. We hosted the Osmond Brothers at the UTC Arena and later Bob Hope. By chance, I ended up alone with Bob for forty five minutes before his show. He had no notes and was totally relaxed. He apologized for his dog that apparently fell in love with my left foot.

The Bureau’s budget gradually grew and fortunately the tourist business grew much faster. I have boxes of files of what was done in the ’70’s and ‘80’s to promote Chattanooga’s vital tourist industry. Remember, I warned you earlier that I was shooting from the hip, from memory in writing this. Suffice it to say that local tourism is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars (and the Bureau’s budget is now more than $5,000,000).

I thoroughly enjoyed my 20 year hitch with the C and VB since it was a job, hobby and love all combined, I probably averaged working 60-70 hours a week. No one made me work that much, I wanted to. It was like getting paid for civic work.

I retired at 65 with a big Roast staged by Jack Anderson with TV anchor, David Carroll as emcee. My favorite preacher, Fred Woodward joined with the likes of Ron Littlefield, C. B. Robinson, Arvin Reingold, Roy Turley, Senator Ray Albright, Representative Jim Caldwell and Hamilton County Executive, Dalton Roberts. They “Roasted” me good with a friendly farewell.

I feel sorry for people who don’t enjoy their work. Life is too short to spend 40 hours a week doing something you don’t enjoy. Even if you have to work for less money (as I did), try to do what you like to do. You will live longer and you’ll be more productive, too.

I didn’t look forward to retirement because I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough to do. For several years, however, I did some consulting in tourism. No problem with boredom. Between family, tennis, and all my volunteer work, I wondered how I had found time for my job before.

(This is an excerpt from Bob Elmore's new book, "A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the National Cemetery." The book is $10 in softback, $20 in hardback. Copies are available at the Bicentennial Library downtown, Wally's (on McCallie), Senior Neighbors, The Racket Club and the Brainerd Trophy Shop. All proceeds, not just profits, go to the Chattanooga Area Historical Association. For more information, call 629-1366)