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Alabama Tourism News

11-10-2007

 
-- Memorial a tribute to sacrifice                                     
-- Harper Lee receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
-- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute selected for national honor
--  Governor’s Mansion celebrates centennial
-- Denver Post praises RTJ golf trail
-- Mobile Bay feature in Washington Post
-- Photo exhibit on Alabama farms opens
-- Young artists exhibit at Fendall Hall
-- 1st Annual Smith Lake Fine Arts Festival this weekend
 
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Memorial a tribute to sacrifice                                     
Alabama, filled with memorials to soldiers who died in wars long past, dedicated a memorial to those who have died in the current one during a ceremony filled with pride and loss. Speeches, applause and tear-stained faces accompanied Tuesday's ceremony as the wall containing the names of the 92 Alabama service members who have died in the Middle Eastern conflict was dedicated. The memorial is eight feet tall and 10 feet wide and displays the names and pictures of the service members killed in action during the past six years.
 
Gov. Bob Riley worked with the Department of Tourism and Travel to create the memorial, which will be permanently displayed in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Capitol. "When you look at the memorial here today you will see the faces of a new generation of American heroes," Riley said during the ceremony at the Capitol. "Their legacy will carry on. We must do what we can to ... be worthy of their sacrifice." – from the article by Jenn Rowell in the Montgomery Advertiser http://montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071107/NEWS/711070356/1001
 
 
Harper Lee receives Presidential Medal of Freedom
Alabama native Harper Lee received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House ceremony earlier this week. Lee was honored for her beloved novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 
 
“One reason ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ succeeded is the wise and kind heart of the author, which comes through on every page. This daughter of Monroeville, Alabama, had something to say about honor, and tolerance, and most of all, love -- and it still resonates. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ has influenced the character of our country for the better. It’s been a gift to the entire world. As a model of good writing and humane sensibility, this book will be read and studied forever.” – President George W. Bush    http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/11/images/20071105-1_d-0243-3-515h.html
 
 
 
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute selected for national honor
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute has been named one of 10 recipients of the 2007 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for community service provided by museums and libraries. The annual award, made by the Institute of Museum and Library Services since 1994, recognizes institutions for outstanding social, educational, environmental, or economic contributions to their communities.  http://www.bcri.org/news/news/current_press_release.htm
 
 
Governor’s Mansion celebrates centennial
The Alabama Governor’s Mansion will celebrate its 100th birthday on Thursday, November 15th from 6-8 p.m. Free tickets are available at the Mansion Gift Ship (located across Finley Avenue from the mansion) upon arrival. Volunteers at the event will be collecting donations of new blankets for the First Lady’s Blankets with a Blessing project, which provides blankets for homeless shelters within Alabama. http://www.800alabama.com/things-to-do/alabama-attractions/details.cfm?id=376
 
 
 
Denver Post praises RTJ golf trail
When you think of first-class golf, your first thoughts are likely to be to make a beeline for such lofty locales as Pebble Beach and Orlando, or maybe Myrtle Beach/Hilton Head. Definitely Scottsdale. Probably Palm Springs. And then when you think of world-class accommodations, it's probably New York, Miami. San Francisco? Chicago? Or London or Paris. Tokyo.
 
But if you wanted both in the same place, there's one place that could come to mind: Alabama. Yes, Alabama. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is a mecca that has been favored by golfers from around the world. Now the trail has top-shelf hotels to match the 468 holes of golf at 11 courses scattered throughout the state.
 
Three of the state's four-diamond hotels rated by AAA are owned by the trail. The Retirement Systems of Alabama, a pension plan for state employees, owns the courses and has a working agreement with Marriott hotels for accommodations for the trail courses. – from the article “Swing home, Alabama” by Greg Henry in the Denver Post  http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7292451 
 
 
Mobile Bay feature in Washington Post
The Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau (MBCVB) brought Washington Post writer Gary Lee into town last Mardi Gras to experience the Mobile Bay area. Along with the cooperation and hospitality of several of their local partners, the MBCVB spent a long weekend showing him all the Mobile Bay area has to offer. The result of this collaboration was a feature article on Mobile in this past Sunday’s edition of the Washington Post on the Travel section’s front page. The Washington Post has a circulation of 929,921. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110200988.html?tid=informbox
 
 
 
Photo exhibit on Alabama farms opens
Robert Schaefer, Jr.: A Portrait of An Alabama Farm is on exhibit as part of the Alabama Imagery series at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts from November 10, 2007 through January 6, 2008. This group of photographs was inspired by the life of Joe Culpepper, a cattle farmer photographer Schaefer grew up with in Cullman.
 
In celebration of the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel’s Year of Alabama Arts, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts arranged this Alabama Imagery series of photography exhibitions focusing on Alabama people, places, and events.  http://www.fineartsmuseum.com/home.cfm