To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016 and to encourage the public to Find Your Park, the Friends of Moccasin Bend announce the 11th Annual Fall Lecture Series. This year’s lecture series takes place at The Camp House on Monday evening at 6:30 pm, and its first speaker will be a former director and first female director of the NPS, Fran Mainella. The lecture is entitled, “The 100th Birthday of America’s Best Idea from the Perspective of the First Woman Director of the NPS.”
Dr. Stephen Miller, a Sewanee music Professor presents, The Sounds of Music in Cades Cove: Nature, National Parks, and Shape-note singing on Oct. 3, and then local historian, Sam D. Elliot presents, “Ten Little Known Facts About the Civil War in Chattanooga” on Nov. 14.
Moccasin Bend was added to the National Park Service in 2003, and the Centennial of the service presents an opportunity to connect with and create the next generation of park visitors, stewards, and advocates from the Chattanooga community and surrounding region.
Michael Wurzel, executive director of the Friends, says, “Chattanooga is fortunate to have such a strong National Park Service presence in our community. Most people don’t even know Chattanooga is surrounded by National Park lands, so come out to the lecture series and learn more about why these places are nationally significant and why they deserve the gold standard for preservation by the best possible entity, the National Park Service.”