News In Brief:

The Little River Round Up celebration was originally planned for the Thompson Brown House, but was moved to Maryville College in order to combine with the Air Fest scheduled activities. The Air Fest will still have remote control airplane demonstrations, bike rides, a billboard contest and tethered hot air balloon rides, weather permitting. The event is presented by the Chamber of Commerce Air Quality Improvement Committee. Committee chairman Bob Booker of Denso Manufacturing said the event is important in light of the concern for cleaner air across the region.

Applications ready for Fall Festival Arts & Crafts
Plans are under way for the award-winning Foothills Fall Festival presented by the City of Maryville. Dates for the festival are October 12, 13 & 14, 2007. Applications for the downtown Arts and Crafts Showcase sponsored by First Tennessee Bank are now available online.

"Our participants enjoy this working fall vacation in beautiful East Tennessee," said Carolyn Forster, Festival Arts and Crafts Chair. The high volume of visitors to the area during the fall season is a big part of the success of this annual show.

More than 85 artists participated in the 2006 show and festival planners will accept up to 85 applications in 2007. Artists and craftspeople interested in participating in the show must submit an application postmarked by May 1, 2007. All work must be handcrafted or hand-painted. Additional rules and regulations are included in the application.

In addition to the Arts and Crafts Showcase, Festival organizers plan to incorporate Maryville’s newly constructed Founder’s Park and Pistol Creek Station into the event. The new areas showcase the history of Maryville and will provide an excellent space for demonstrations of traditional crafts and other activities.

Admission to the Arts and Crafts Showcase and Children’s Adventure Land is free. Concerts at Theater in the Park require a ticket. The hours of operation for this year’s Arts and Crafts Showcase and Children’s Adventure Land are 12 - 6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturday. The concert lineup and schedule will be announced in May. For more information and to download an application, visit the Foothills Fall Festival website @ www.foothillsfallfestival.com.

Alcoa checks fire hydrants
The City of Alcoa Fire Department began flushing and conducting water flow tests on the City’s fire hydrants on Monday April 16, 2007. Approximately 640 hydrants will be checked over the next several weeks. Testing is done on an annual basis to ensure that hydrants are in full working order and to verify their flow capacity.

This procedure is necessary to determine the quantity of water available for firefighting at each hydrant in the system. It also ensures that each hydrant is working properly and the highest level of water quality is maintained.

Flow testing the water distribution system can cause slight discoloration of water for a brief period of time. Citizen’s who experience this problem should exercise patience as city personnel work to clear the water as soon as possible. Residents who experience discoloration can turn on their outside water faucet for approximately 10 to 20 minutes to aid in clearing the water system.

To report problems with the City of Alcoa water system, call 865-981-4156.

Farmers’ Market set to open in new location
The 2007 Market season opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 5, at Founders Square across the street from Broadway United Methodist Church. Markets will be open until noon or sell-out. The Market season will run from May until the weekend before the Foothills Fall Festival in October.

The mission of the Maryville Farmers’ Market is to promote the sale of local farm products to improve the freshness, taste, and nutritional value of produce available, to encourage more social contact between consumer and farmer, to educate the public as to the agricultural traditions of East Tennessee and to celebrate and help preserve family farms.

The Maryville Farmers’ Market is a not-for-profit organization. Oversight is controlled by a board of directors, and revenue to support the market is generated by annual memberships and sales commissions. The Maryville Farmers’ Market is a Blount County Chamber Foundation Organization. All donations are tax-exempt under the Foundation’s 501 (c)(3) status.
In the first year, 46 farming families sold produce at the Market and hundreds of families purchased their food locally. The Maryville Farmers’ Market would not have been successful without the generous support from the following donors: Kevin
and Chelly Clayton, Blackberry Farm, Ruby Tuesday, Blount Today, and WDVX.