Web site highlights Smokies’ anniversary activities

ASHEVILLE — The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has unveiled an interactive Web site giving viewers a virtual tour of activities planned to celebrate the park’s 75th anniversary.

The site, www.greatsmokies75th.org, invites visitors to share photos and stories of their experiences in the country’s most-visited national park.

The site also provides a history lesson on the creation of the park, which straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee line, and efforts to protect it. The park was founded June 15, 1934.

Several events are planned for next year’s anniversary. A governor’s proclamation ceremony in April will focus on the regional role that was vital to the park’s creation. A rededication
ceremony will take place Sept. 2, 2009, at Newfound Gap.

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