CORBIN, Ky. – Cumberland Falls State Resort Park is hosting a reunion for a group of people who left their mark on Kentucky and the rest of the country during the Great Depression.
The 2007 national reunion of the Civilian Conservation Corps will be Sept. 28-30. The CCC was a work relief program established in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt to combat poverty and unemployment. The young men who made up the CCC constructed buildings and trails at local, state and federal parks, worked on conservation and flood control projects, planted trees and fought forest fires.
CCC crews built a lodge at Cumberland Falls (that later burned down) along with cottages, shelters, trails and a fire tower. There are CCC buildings and projects still in use today at several Kentucky State Parks.
About 80,000 Kentuckians served in the CCC and nearly 100 camps were built across the Commonwealth. For more information on the Civilian Conservation Corps visit http://www.cccalumni.org/
The 2007 National Civilian Conservation Corps Alumni reunion will include speakers on the history of the CCC and authors of books about the CCC. There will also be a Kentucky Chautauqua presentation by Angela Bartley, who portrays Pulaski County native Rose Will Monroe -- “Rosie the Riveter.”
On Saturday, guests will ride “The Big South Fork Scenic Railroad” to a restored coal mining community in McCreary County. A Banquet with a Bluegrass band will close out the weekend on Saturday night.
The cost of the event is $65 per person, which includes all entertainment, guest speakers, the train ride, lunch on Saturday and banquet on Saturday evening.
Cumberland Falls is described as the "The Niagara of the South" plunging 65 feet – nearly seven stories -- into a boulder strewn gorge. The park includes historic DuPont Lodge (built in 1941 by the Works Progress Administration), cottages, Riverview Restaurant, gift shop and visitor center, campground, hiking trails and fishing. Every month, the unique “moonbow” is visable at the falls, weather permitting.
For event registration and information, contact Naturalist Bret Smitley at 1-800-325-0063 or email BretA.Smitley@ky.gov.
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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 53 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $317 million to the economy. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.parks.ky.gov