August Already???

I looked up and found August prominently displayed on my calendar this week. How did that happen?? Maybe I was lulled into a false sense of a never-ending summer by the extreme heat and humidity we've experienced this year. Oh, well.........ready-or-not it's here. August is quite a busy month around here. It starts off with the occasion of our 39th anniversary this week. It winds up with the occasion of my mother's birthday. And is packed with festival preparations in between.
The deadline for campers to get the balance of their reservation & advance ticket money in is 8/15. I was reminded of that deadline when our phone began to be the center of attention with all the ringing yesterday. It was certainly bluegrass Monday. It is always great to hear from all you festivarians and also from the folks who are discovering Dumplin Valley for the first time.
The exciting lineup has generated quite a bit of interest and we are always happy to talk to anyone about it. We are happy to be able to bring some new-to-Dumplin Valley bands as well as many of your favorite groups.
2011 promises to be an eventful year for us with the upcoming birth of our first grandchild! We are excited to be entering this phase of life. The gender of the baby has been kept secret so it will be a great surprise for all of us when it finally makes its grand entrance into the world.
Another big event for me has been the release of my first book on July 25.........Lost Attractions of Sevier County....can be found wherever the Arcadia Images of America are sold in our area in addition to Amazon.com, etc. Author Tim Hollis convinced me to take a chance and co-author this book filled with photos of some of this area's attractions that only exist in the memories of all the lucky tourists who enjoyed them. I hope you will pick one up at a bookstore while you are in town for the festival. the Autographed copies will be on hand for those who want to purchase them here at the festival.
We hope to see you here in September and hope that the rest of your summer is enjoyable and cool. m