Guided Walking Tours of Athens Historic District Offered Each Saturday in April

Athens, Ala. (March 23, 2015) –Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association proudly announces the return of free, guided walking tours beginning each Saturday only in the month of April. Residents and visitors are invited to take part in a casual stroll through historic Athens and/or Mooresville and learn about their history and heritage.

The one-hour walking tours are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on April 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th at the Athens’ Visitor Center meeting room. In Mooresville the walks will begin at 9:30 and will meet at the Post Office each Saturday. Teresa Todd, President of the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association said, “Athens was ranked number 3 in attendances last year and we hope to have the largest attendance this year.”  Knowledgeable guides escort participants through historic neighborhoods and landmarks where they will share the history of the city and amusing accounts of the city’s storied past. They will share the history of the local businesses, architectural styles of the homes, and acrimonious accounts of the Sacking of Athens by Col. Turchin during the Civil War.

The Athens tours features four different routes each week, each with a different theme.
Mooresville is the oldest town in the State of Alabama with the oldest continuous working post office. You can tour the six streets of homes and the famous 1818 Farm during your tour. The entire town of Mooresville is on the historical registry.

The four areas of tours in Athens are:
Historic Beaty District
Historic Houston District
Old Athens Cemetery
Historic Downtown Square

Reservations are not required and tours are held rain or shine.

Athens and Mooresville’s guided walking tours are part of the April Walking Tours coordinated by the Alabama Tourism Department. Athens and Mooresville are two of 26 towns across the state participating in the annual event.

For more information, call the Athens-Limestone County Tourism & Visitor Center at 256-232-5411


About The Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association, Inc.
The Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization promoting tourism and economic growth in Limestone County.  For information on special events and attractions in Limestone County, contacts the Visitor Center located at 100 N. Beaty Street, at 256-232-5411 or visit our website at www.VisitAthensAL.com

Guided Walking Tours of Athens Historic Districts Offered Each Saturday in April

Guided Walking Tours of Athens Historic Districts Offered Each Saturday in April

The Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association announces the return of free, guided walking tours each Saturday in the month of April. Residents and visitors are invited to take part in a casual stroll through the 'Beaty' and 'Houston' Historic District and learn about the architecture and history of these charming neighborhoods.

Scheduled for April 5, 12, 19, and 26, the one-hour walking tour begins at 10 a.m. at the meeting room of the Athens Visitor Center at Big Springs Memorial Park. Knowledgeable guides will escort participants through one of four tours each Saturday. Enjoy each tour by selecting a different tour every week. The tour areas are the Old Athens City Cemetery, the Historic Neighborhoods of the Beaty District or the Houston District or the Historic Downtown Square. The guides will share the history of the local businesses, the architectural styles of the homes of which some date back to the late 1800s, and acrimonious accounts of the Sacking of Athens by Col. Turchin during the Civil War. Reservations are not required and tours are free and held rain or shine. The tour features four routes, themes, and tour guides each Saturday.

Experience the culture and history of Athens by taking one of these walks each week.
Tour 1: The Historic Downtown Athens Square led by Tour Guide Buzz Estes
Tour 2: Beaty Historic District, Washington Street and Old Town Cemetery led by Tour Guide Bill Ward
Tour 3 – City Cemetery led by tour guide Jimmy Hill
Tour 4 – Houston Historic District led by tour guide Jerry Daniel
Richard Martin and William Pepper who are also experienced and knowledgeable tour guides will fill in for our regular guides when necessary.

The Athens’ guided walking tours are part of the “April Walking Tours” coordinated by the Alabama Tourism Department. Athens is one of 33 towns across the state participating in the annual event. Alabama is the only state in the nation to hold statewide, simultaneous walking tours. These walking tours are a great way to get out and enjoy the spring weather and find out the history of our state and communities. “We have held more than 1,800 walking tours since the beginning of the program and they keep increasing in popularity every year,” said Teresa Todd, President of the Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association. Walkers may choose one of 4 different walks each Saturday and groups are welcomed. The local residents serving as guides will also share personal remembrances and tall tales from the old days as well as the history of their respective walk.

As these walking tours end, Athens will celebrate 2014 as being the “Year of Alabama Parks.” This Alabama Tourism Department celebration will extend state wide throughout the 2014 year. It also serves as the kick-off for National Travel and Tourism Month, which gets underway May 1. Stop in the Ardmore Welcome Center as we will celebrate Tourism Day on Friday May 30^th with an all-day reception for south bound travelers on I-65.


Teresa A. Todd, President
Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association
100 N. Beaty Street
Athens, Alabama 35611
Teresa@VisitAthensAl.com
256-232-5411
www.VisitAthensAL.com
April 1^st 2014

Athens State University Host St. Patrick's Day Concert

For Further Information
Guy McClure
256-233-8296
Guy.McClure@athens.edu






For immediate release
March 7, 2014
www.athens.edu

Athens State Hosting Henri’s Notions for St. Patrick’s Day Concert

Henri's Notion

ATHENS, Ala. – The Livingston Concert Lecture Series at Athens State University is sponsoring a free concert by Henri’s Notions, regarded as the South’s premier Celtic band. The concert will be held on Monday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Sandridge Student Center. The event is free and open to the public, no reservations are required.


From soft fingerpicked ballads to hard-driving jigs and reels, Henri's Notions creates a musical mix of traditional Celtic and American music as well as their own compositions that have a rhythm and voice reflective of their Southern heritage, which lends a pleasing familiarity to the music. The Notions draw from a broad palette of melodious sounds: the ardent sounds of fiddle, lilting flute, keen tin whistles, all played over the resonant tones and drive of the rhythm section, consisting of acoustic guitars, percussion, and bass.


Lead voices dance through the intricate embellishments that bring to life the old ballads and songs and all members lend voices frequently creating close, rich, well-balanced harmonies. The group makes a point to provide backgrounds on the songs and instruments used during their performance and this has allowed Henri's Notions to connect with, educate and inspire audiences for over twenty years!


Henri's Notions has toured extensively in the Southern and Eastern United Stated from West Palm Beach, Florida and Dallas, Texas to New York City. The group has worked countless festivals and concerts and has appeared with such folk icons as Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, The Kingston Trio, David Grisman Quintet and top Celtic acts such as The Tannahill Weavers, Patrick Street, Paddy O'Brien, Brian McNeill and others.


Henri’s Notions performs year-round in concerts, festivals, special events, and school programs. As a touring member of the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Southern Arts Federation, grants are often available to eligible presenters.


For more information call 256-233-8296. This free event is sponsored by the Livingston Concert Lecture Series at Athens State University.

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Athens State to Host Folklife Expert for Black History Month

For Further Information
Guy McClure
256-233-8296
Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release
January 24, 2014
www.athens.edu

Athens State to Host Folklife Expert for Black History Month

ATHENS, Ala. - In celebration of Black History Month, Athens State University will host a lecture by Joyce Cauthen, Director Emeritus of the Alabama Folklife Association. Cauthen will speak Tuesday, February 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 104 of the Classroom Building. The Classroom Building is located across from the Library on Pryor Street on the north side of campus.

Cauthen’s presentation, entitled Fiddlers, Banjo Players and Strawbeaters: Alabama’s First Pop Musicians, will discuss the pivotal role played by African Americans in developing the music at the roots of today’s bluegrass and country music. She and her husband Jim Cauthen will demonstrate use of the banjo, “straws” (a technique in which broom straws or knitting needles were beat on the strings as the fiddler played) and guitar in backing up the fiddle. The audience will hear musical styles and tunes that are seldom heard today—and will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their perceptions of the differences in this music and the modern country music that are based upon it.

“This topic focuses on the history of African American achievement in the development of an unexpected genre of music, and with Athens State’s history as the host of the Tennessee Valley Old Time Fiddlers Convention I feel it will have a broad appeal,” states Sarah McAbee, Athens State’s Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services. “Ms. Cauthen will be an excellent and informative speaker for our students, faculty, and for the community.”

In 2011, Cauthen was honored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts with a Governor's Arts Award. The Cauthens live in Birmingham, Alabama. In their spare time they play in two old-time string bands, Red Mountain and Flying Jenny.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by The Alabama Humanities Foundation’s Road Scholar Speakers Bureau. The Road Scholars Speakers Bureau provides public presentations and lectures on a variety of humanities topics. Designed to educate and entertain, the programs are presented by Alabama’s most enlightening university and independent scholars.

For more information, call 256-233-8296.


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Author Robert Antoni to speak at Athens State University

For Further Information

Guy McClure

256-233-8296

Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release
November 1, 2013
www.athens.edu

Author Robert Antoni to speak at Athens State University

    ATHENS, Ala. - Acclaimed author Robert Antoni will speak at Athens State University on November 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Founders Hall.  The free event is sponsored by Athens State’s chapter of Sigma Tau Delta and the Livingston Concert Lecture Series.  It is open to the public.

    New Yorker Antoni is the author of five books:  Divina Trace, Blessed is the Fruit, My

Author Robert Antoni

Grandmother’s Erotic Folktales, Carnival, and As Flies to Whatless Boys.  His fictional world is the British West Indies—the region’s characters, atmosphere, history, folklore, and above all its vernacular languages; it is informed by a pan-Caribbean consciousness of race, gender, religion, and class. 

    Antoni’s books have been widely translated, and have been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, Commonwealth Writers Prize, and an NEA grant. His short fiction was selected as an Editor’s Choice, included in The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, and chosen for the Aga Kahn Prize by the Paris      Review. Antoni recently received the NALIS Lifetime Literary Award from the Trinidad and Tobago National Library.

    Antoni holds an MA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD from the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He lives in Manhattan and teaches in the graduate writing program at The New School University.
     For more information call 256-233-8296.

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Athens State Community Chorus Performing Thursday Night

For Further Information

Guy McClure

256-233-8296

Guy.McClure@athens.edu

For immediate release

May 6, 2013

www.athens.edu

Athens State Community Chorus Performing Thursday Night

                ATHENS, Ala. - The Center for Lifelong Learning will host the Athens State Community Chorus in an evening performance on Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 pm.  The concert will be held at the Athens Limestone Senior Center located at 912 West Pryor Street, in Athens, Alabama.

                This is the third performance of the Community Chorus.  The Community Chorus was revitalized in October 2011 after a long absence.  “After meeting with focus groups, music seemed to be a good place for the Center for Lifelong Learning to get started in the community,” said Wanda Campbell, Assistant Director of CLL.

                Campbell met with Dr. John L. Buttler in June of 2011 in hopes of establishing the first choral “class.”  Buttler came highly recommended and has already grown the Chorus vocally and musically.  “We feel very appreciative to have Dr. Buttler who drives two hours each week to conduct our chorus,” says Dr. Diane Sauers, director of the CLL.

                The Community Chorus meets every Thursday night in the fall from October to December calumniating in a Christmas concert.  They also meet from February to May with a Spring concert.  The practices are held in Chasteen Hall, which is part of the Athens State University campus.

                The Community Chorus sings some traditional sacred music, but also enjoys singing show tunes, such as "You Never Walk Alone", by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The "Alleluia", by Randall Thompson, is one of the group favorites.  This piece is rich in its highs and lows as only one word "Alleluia" is sung by a four part chorus. 

                Most of the people within the chorus have not done this type of music since high school.  Dr. Buttler states that, "music is a lifetime activity, and that the voice is easy to carry along with you".  The purpose of the Community Chorus is to build a "core sound to the group" and work to improve the vocal skills of the chorus, while having fun in the process.

                As a long term goal, Dr. Buttler would like to ultimately have a 50 person chorus, so that they can one day perform at Carnegie Hall located in New York City.

                For more information please contact the Athens State University Center for Lifelong Learning at 256-233-8620.

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Athens State Exhibiting Student Work in Microphotography

For Further Information

Guy McClure

256-233-8296

Guy.McClure@athens.edu

 

For immediate release

April 15, 2013

www.athens.edu

Athens State Exhibiting Student Work in Microphotography

ATHENS, Ala. – Athens State University’s interdisciplinary course Digital Microphotography and Image Analysis will be hosting a morning reception for student artwork on Tuesday April 16th at 10:00 a.m. on the first floor of Waters Hall, on the main campus of Athens State University. The course is taught by professors George Williams, Pamela Keller and Gail Bergeron.  The event is free and open to the public.

Large, colorful and detailed photographs will be on display from students who are majoring in art or biology. This course is designed to enable the student to produce works of scientific specimens in digital photography through the use of various photomicrographic techniques.  These will include ordinary light, phase contrast, electron microscopy, and digital image analysis.  The student’s final projects are a creative effort.

The course is unique in its team-taught approach. The instructors originated the purse and recently delivered a paper on its success at the Alabama Academy of Science meeting in Birmingham.

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Attached picture:  Microphotography image of a neuron cell body.