1. Every October the Foothills Fall Festival was the place to be!
The streets of Downtown Maryville turned into a world filled with fair food and local handmade crafts. With that came the concerts. Musical talent from all walks of life put on a show for festival goers. Camping out all night in your lawn chairs to get a good seat for the next night’s concerts? Yes, I have done that a time or two. Front row for Reba! In the early days of the festival though, getting into the concerts without a wristband was a piece of cake. Festivals of every kind try to live up to it every year, but since the end of the Foothills, nothing has ever come close.
2. Never mind if the carnival rides set up in the mall parking lot are really sketchy–we have carnival rides set up in the mall parking lot!
A big attraction every time it comes to town, the “mall carnival” it has been dubbed is a big ordeal and tends to draw big crowds annually. So what if the rides squeak and squeal and you see a random bolt fly off the swings? We’re having fun!
3. The Smoky Mountain Classic Softball Tournament.
For one weekend the best of the best in slow pitch softball come to our hometown showcasing their talent. One of the biggest and most sought-out tournaments in the nation, the Smoky has a history of bringing lots of fun and good softball to both Everett and Sandy Springs parks. Arguably the most exciting event of the weekend is always the home run derby. Watching the hometown boys battle it out and then seeing national payers take the batter’s box, it is the kick-off event for the whole weekend and aside from the championship game on Sunday always draws the biggest crowds.
5. A day of tubing followed by a visit to the Burger Master.
Sure, Dollywood’s Splash Country is 40 minutes up the road, but nothing is better than packing up the tubes and heading to Townsend to float down the river. Hot summer day got you down? Call your friends and meet up at the wye. Get out at the Burgermaster, grab an ice cream cone, then hop back in and float some more. The best, and cheapest way to cool off during the dog days.
5. As a kid, what was better than bowling, arcade games, and go-carts? Absolutely nothing!
Thunderworld was king and having your birthday party there enabled you to be the coolest kid in 3rd grade for about two weeks. Even in middle school some of us got the honor to go on field trips there. The older you got the better it became! Maryville has not been the same, neither have birthday parties, since Thunderworld shut down.
6. The Foothills Parkway.
This is a perfect mini getaway when you want to just clear your mind. Many family picnics, some post-date star gazing, and very helpful school extra credit trips to watch meteor showers have happened there. We definitely have an advantage when it comes to living in beautiful places.
7. School districts and the City vs. County argument.
You are either a city or county school kid, and during football season you leave no question unanswered of which one you are. No matter what school you attended though, you have a choice to make when deciding which school to pull for. Maryville or Alcoa in the annual Battle of Pistol Creek or Heritage or William Blount for the Battle of the Bell.
