Susie Greengold, a 71-year-old lifelong Gatlinburg resident, embodies the town's rich heritage and evolution. Her family's roots in the area date back to the 1700s, with ancestors like William Ogle and Jane Husky Ogle among Gatlinburg's earliest settlers. This deep connection is reflected in Susie's education, which included attending Gatlinburg Pittman High School and PI Beta Phi, a unique K-12 school funded by a sorority from Monmouth College, Illinois. The Greengold family has played a significant role in Gatlinburg's development. Susie's great-great-grandfather owned the land where the Ober Mountain Tramway now stands. This tramway, built about 50 years ago, was instrumental in transforming Gatlinburg into a year-round destination by introducing winter activities and expanding its appeal beyond the traditional summer and fall seasons. Today, Susie continues her family's entrepreneurial legacy through two main businesses. She operates The Maples' Tree store on Gatlinburg's main street, offering handmade quilts, custom T-shirts designed by her daughter Carrie, and engraved items. Additionally, Susie manages Far Horizon's Lodge, a unique rental property featuring two restored cabins from the national park, preserving a piece of local history. Susie's experiences provide valuable insights into Gatlinburg's transformation from a small, seasonal tourist town to a vibrant year-round destination. Her perspective encompasses changes in local entertainment, wildlife conservation efforts, and the delicate balance between modernization and preserving cultural heritage. Through her businesses and community involvement, Susie Greengold continues to shape Gatlinburg's identity, offering visitors authentic experiences that honor the town's rich history while embracing its future.

[0:07] Speaker A (Tom): Welcome to for the Love of Gatlinburg, the podcast where we celebrate the charm, the history, and the vibrant community of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I'm your host, Tom Goodwin, and I hope you'll join me each week as I bring you stories that connect the past with the present as we explore the people that make Gatlinburg a beloved destination and where every story is a piece of our mountain heritage. I'm excited today to introduce you to Suzy Gringold, a lifelong resident of Gatlinburg. In fact, her family legacy goes back to the 1700s. You're going to hear some amazing stories, so let's dive into the heart of Gatlinburg together. Well, I am thrilled today to introduce you to Suzy Greengold. And when we think of the heritage and the legacy of Gatlinburg, your family predates the origination of Gatlinburg in 1946. [1:05] Speaker B (Susie Greengold): Yes. [1:06] Speaker A: Way before that. And so you actually are able to trace your family to the very first settlers in the area. Tell us about that story. [1:15] Speaker B: The original settlers came over here, a lot of them from South Carolina. And one of the first ones was, I believe it was William Ogle, who was married to a Jane Husky Ogle, who was still living back in South Carolina. So he came over, established himself in Gatlinburg, and I believe he was down in the town, but I may be wrong about that. But he went back, trying to get everything settled over in South Carolina with his family, and before he was able to take them back with him, he got sick and passed away. So Jane Huskey just loaded up all the kids. She had several sons and daughters, and came over the mountain herself, and she went to where he had homesteaded, basically for them, and she set up the town over here and got it mostly started. And from that point on, the settlers started settling in the Sugarland areas, which goes over to Cherokee. They settled in the Fighting Creek area, which goes over to Kate's Cove and to Townsend. And it just blossomed from there. Other families started coming in. There were Maples and Ogles, Reagan, Whaley's Bohannons. I can't even name all of them. There's so many of the earlier settlers came into town and just loved it. And they all set up their homes here. [2:30] Speaker A: And that's your kin? [2:31] Speaker B: That's my kin. [2:32] Speaker A: That's your kin. Every one of those names, there's a street, at least in Gatlinburg, a business and establishment. Those are household names. That's right. Gatlinburg. And so maybe Green Gold will become a new household name as well. What a legacy and what an incredible story. So when did you first move to Gatlinburg? [2:51] Speaker B: I was born not in Gatlinburg, but I believe either in Sevierville or Knoxville. I don't remember. But you don't remember where you were born? I'm sure I was home a day or two after that and they made my home in Gatlinburg from then on. [3:05] Speaker A: So your entire life you've been in Gatlinburg? [3:08] Speaker B: Yes. [3:09] Speaker A: That is, that is fascinating. That is amazing. And did you attend gp? [3:13] Speaker B: Yes, Gatlinburg, Pittman High School and PI Beta Phi. PI Beta Phi at one time was all the grace, kindergarten through the 12th grade. And then I think I was the. My sister was the first group of the students in Gatlinburg Pittman. That went all four years and I came in four years after her. So we both went to Gatlinburg Pittman for four years. [3:38] Speaker A: And have you ever moved away from Gatlinburg? [3:40] Speaker B: Never. [3:41] Speaker A: You've been here since day one? [3:43] Speaker B: Yes. [3:43] Speaker A: And do you mind me asking how many years that is? [3:46] Speaker B: I was 71 yesterday. [3:48] Speaker A: Well, happy birthday. 71 years young. What an incredible legacy. And so when we talk about for the love of Gatlinburg, we're talking to someone today who has, since she was born, only known Gatlinburg. [4:02] Speaker B: That's right. [4:02] Speaker A: We want to hear some of those stories about Gatlinburg 70 years ago or 60 years ago or 50 years ago that might surprise some of our listeners. I know a lot of our listeners are repeat guests to Gatlinburg. They're loyal followers and they love coming to Gatlinburg if not once a year, multiple times a year. There's many listeners that are thinking, what is Gatlinburg all about? So let's give them a little bit of a history lesson. And from your story from Susie's side and what do you remember as a child doing in Gatlinburg that maybe visitors today would be surprised to hear? [4:40] Speaker B: Well, I lived right on the main street and all my relatives lived up and down the main street. And a lot of us had motels, a lot of us had little restaurants, had gift shops. So everyone set up know they're living right there on the street. And up Airport Road. Of course, those are the two main streets in town. And before I was born, when my mother was living, there was only one little town, little road in town. And it was on River Road. And so we got a big four lane highway when Franklin Roosevelt decided to come in here and dedicate the part in 1945. So that was quite a thing back then when he got to town. But my mother, all of her relatives lived up and down the street and they would go. The main things to do in Gatlinburg back when she was young was go up in the park and go swimming, go hiking, go to. We had one, she had one movie theater here in Gatlinburg, and they would go that every weekend out to the theater. And when I got born and was a little older, we just. We played up and down on the streets and we played with the people in the other motels. We had swimming pools galore to go to. And we did a lot of horseback riding. We did a lot of camping. We did a lot of trail walking, too. Sounds like heaven, honey. I wouldn't live anywhere else. [6:01] Speaker A: That is so great. And that's why so many people come here. It's a little bit different today. Yes, for sure. [6:07] Speaker B: Oh, wow. Yes, it is. [6:08] Speaker A: So when you think about tourists and people visiting Gatlinburg, what, what was the seasonality of Gatlinburg? Was there ever a time that it shut down where guests didn't come, or was it a year round attraction? [6:22] Speaker B: It started out mainly as small motor courts or small people. The people would come to your home and stay in your home and you would feed them, do the meals and stuff for them. And that was a very, very short season. That was probably just the summer seasons. But the people who came back then would come and stay a month or two. It wasn't like now. They come and stay so many days or a week at a time. But back then it was. They would come in from the Midwest and stay for long periods of time. And then right when this town got started was when the lumber mills were in Elkmont. And then one of our relatives came into town. Well, he came in and married one of my. My family relative. It was Andy Huff. And he married Martha Whaley, who was my great, great grandfather's daughter. So we go way back to that far, to the lumber company, even before the town was completely there. But after the small motor courts and the small homes finished, when I was young, we lived in the motel. Everybody who had these motels lived in them. So our season was middle of June through Labor Day. And then we would have a really good October because of the leaves. And then we would have a Christmas season, a little bit Thanksgiving, but mostly Christmas season. Otherwise everybody's just shut down. And from that point, from January on, we were Shut down again until May of that year. [7:50] Speaker A: Great. Wow. So that provided some fun after school playing around downtown when there were no tourists, there were no guests coming, and it was just your backyard. [8:02] Speaker B: That's right. [8:03] Speaker A: Now where was your home located? [8:05] Speaker B: My home was located smack dab in the middle of the tramway downtown terminal. [8:09] Speaker A: Okay. How did your family come upon that property? [8:12] Speaker B: It belonged to my great, great great grandfather, Ee ogle. [8:21] Speaker A: Ee Ogle. And so how long. When. When did things change? Because obviously your home is not located there where the Over Gatlinburg or the Gatlinburg Obergatlinburg tram is. Right. Or Over Mountain tram. [8:34] Speaker B: The Tramway changed in 50 years ago. They had their anniversary last year of 50 years on that property. And we moved across the river to another house over there, just very, very close to where the motel was. And the tramway is actually started a winter season here because they wanted something to go. The townspeople wanted something to go up there on the mountain and have a little ski lodge. So the townspeople got together and built the Gatlinburg Ski Lodge. And then the gentleman came in with the tramway several years later. And I don't remember exact amount of time that was. He came in and put a ski resort up on the top of the mountain and had a ski resort. He had a sightseeing gondola that went up along with the skiing people taking right up on the gondola. And he had an ice skating rink up there. Then they. They built of course a big. A big ski lodge up there. So they had dining going on and then there was. Have music up there sometimes. And that was like I said, About 50 years ago, all of this was happening. [9:39] Speaker A: And that attraction really began extending the attraction of Gatlinburg to more of a year round. [9:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it started being that we would go from December through March with good business for the skiing because it was a lot colder here back then than it is these days. But that extended our season quite a bit. [10:02] Speaker A: That's great. And what did your parents do? Do they own the motel and that was their livelihood. [10:06] Speaker B: We own a motel and they ran the motel. [10:08] Speaker A: That's great. And you graduated from gp yes. And then what. What happened in your life? [10:13] Speaker B: Well, I actually graduated from Sevierville. That's another story. But a GP I went to for three years. [10:20] Speaker A: Okay. So was Sevierville a new high school? Sevierville County High School. [10:24] Speaker B: Sevier County High School had been there probably about as long as GP Maybe or longer. I don't remember how long. [10:31] Speaker A: Great. And so. But you still lived in Gatlinburg. Yes. [10:33] Speaker B: And I love Gatlinburg. Pittman. [10:35] Speaker A: Yeah. There is an interesting arrangement in this county, Sevier county, is that families can choose various schools to attend. [10:43] Speaker B: That's right. [10:44] Speaker A: They have to be able to get their children to those schools. So if you do live in Sevierville and you want to attend Gallup or Pittman, you can. [10:51] Speaker B: Right. [10:51] Speaker A: And vice versa. [10:52] Speaker B: I like that, too, having that offered to everybody. [10:56] Speaker A: And Gatlinburg Hoopman is smaller. Sevier County High School is much larger. [11:00] Speaker B: Huge. [11:01] Speaker A: Yeah, huge. But we still like the small quaintness of the Gatlinburg High School. And there's been a lot of development over the years. So GP or PI Beta Phi that you attended used to go K through. [11:13] Speaker B: K through K through 12, eventually. And it was started actually by the PI Beta Phi sorority. [11:20] Speaker A: And that was their philanthropy. [11:22] Speaker B: Yes. [11:22] Speaker A: So these women would graduate from college, Monmouth College in Illinois, where PI Beta Phi was founded. And they were education majors. [11:30] Speaker B: Yes. [11:30] Speaker A: And they came down kind of as missionaries to educate the people in Gatlinburg. [11:36] Speaker B: That's right. [11:36] Speaker A: So you were a beneficiary of that. [11:38] Speaker B: Yes. And they also started the arts and crafts in the town, I believe. And, you know, got the Aramount. Yes. Got the people into doing that and selling it for a living. So that's how the arts and crafts got started was through the Pythons. [11:51] Speaker A: What a great legacy that organization has in their commitment, and it's still lasting here in Gatlinburg. I know we will be speaking to some members of the arts and crafts community, and we'll get more of that story as well. Well, as you think about Gatlinburg over the last 50, 60, 70 years of your life, what has changed? [12:12] Speaker B: Okay. When I was young, I could go up and down the main street, you know, play in the street, go roller skating, biking and everything. And that lasted quite a long time, of course, because I could ride my bike to school. But I always loved catching the bus because all my friends were on the bus. [12:28] Speaker A: That's great. There wasn't a trolley. [12:30] Speaker B: There was no trolley. No trolley. [12:32] Speaker A: That would be fun in high school, going out to school on the trolley, which would be great. [12:37] Speaker B: And pretty much a lot of the change was when they got a lot of the business built, then the kids had summer jobs. You know, they could work in the summer, help raise money for themselves, for their families and stuff. And so that became a different thing. A lot of things I liked that came to town was the music. Hunter Hills started and the theater. Hunter Hills was owned by My grandfather's brother, Rel Maples, and they started Hunter Hills and they would bring up groups from University of Tennessee for the summer. And they would live on bunks in the old. In the Gatlinburg Pippen High School, and that's where they were quartered. And the Hunter Hills was just across the road basically from that. [13:23] Speaker A: And so was an outdoor pavilion. [13:25] Speaker B: Yes. [13:25] Speaker A: Where they did live musicals and theater. I know R.L. maples and Wilma loved that. [13:31] Speaker B: Yes. [13:32] Speaker A: They made a large contribution to University of Tennessee to allow for that. [13:37] Speaker B: They did. And I love that. We actually had two groups in town. One, I believe, was at the old auditorium, Gatlinburg Auditorium, that would come up and do some stuff in the summer. But the Hunter Hills was just so unique because it was outside and it was just really a lovely venue to go to and have fun. [13:54] Speaker A: When you think of the deep, rich stories of your family and this community, are there any that stand out to you as being incredibly significant and meaningful? [14:07] Speaker B: Yes. My great grandfather was the local mailman, and he would run. He lived on Fighting Creek. This was before the park opened. He stayed the mailman, but he lived on Fighting Creek. When he started, he would come all the way down in town to get his mail. Then he would go Uproaring Fork. Then he would go up the park into what is called the Sugar Lands and deliver every house up there. So he knew everybody, you know, what was going on, whose baby was just born, things like that. And then from that point, he would go over to Elkmont. He would cross the mountain to Elkmont. Then he would come back down to his house in Fighting Greek. And he did this on horseback. For years and years and years he did this. And the funniest thing my mother told me about it was he had a horse named Prince. And every time he got a horse, he named it Prince. So he always had Prince. But it was a great time. My mother had the most wonderful time, as I did growing up with her friends, her family and everything in the park. It's just a fabulous place to grow up. [15:09] Speaker A: And before it was the national park commissioned, and the land was reserved for that. Families had to move. A lot of your family had to move. [15:18] Speaker B: Yes. [15:19] Speaker A: Tell me about that. [15:20] Speaker B: They came in with a price, you know, to buy everybody out in the park. Everybody had to go. You were allowed to stay there, though, as long as you never fixed up your property. You might have been able to fix it up inside, but outside could not change and it wasn't feasible for people to stay in the park. So they moved down in town, and a lot of the ones on the main street was the ones, I would say that EE Ogle had a lot of land for his family. So they would come down there and get parcels from him. He'll buy parcels from him. And the same thing with some of the other families that lived here. They would come down and their families would, you know, join in the properties there. And that's how we got our land in Gatlinburg. [16:07] Speaker A: That's fascinating. So your land, your immediate family's land, was where the over mountain tram is currently. Tell us about that story. [16:19] Speaker B: Okay. He actually was one of the ones who owned from just a little bit further down from his home and went all the way to park headquarters, which was all the way, a good mile or more, mile or two drive up to park headquarters. So he had to sell his land in the park, but he kept every bit of that he had in Gatlinburg. And that's where my family got a lot of their property off of and by. Let's see, my great grandfather bought some property from his neighbor. As you could went up and down the street. It was the different family names. And he bought some property from his neighbor, Steve Whaley. And at the time, there was nothing on the land, of course, and now today, it's where the skylift is and where the skylift goes up the mountain. And my mama laughs every time she tells me that her grandfather, whom she lived with, was really upset he had to buy all that mountain going up the mountain or Steve Whaley wouldn't sell it to him. So now he has the sky lift. [17:20] Speaker A: Up there, as fortune would have it. [17:24] Speaker B: Yes. [17:24] Speaker A: So Crockett Mountain. Crockett Mountain came with the entire mountain. That's right. Anyone today would think, of course, that's a amazing acquisition, but you just really wanted the land at the bottom. [17:38] Speaker B: Yes, that's what he wanted. He wanted to build something there. They bought him a little. It was a small. Well, he bought a house to do like the little courts, motels, like that. And they lived in your house and you fed the tourists and everything. [17:50] Speaker A: And the Gatlinburg Inn is right there as well. [17:53] Speaker B: Yes, it's Gatlinburg Inn right next door. Yes. [17:54] Speaker A: So from what I've been told, sitting with Wilma in the Gatlinburg Inn many, many years ago, was that they leased the land or the air space over the Gatlinburg Inn. Is that legendary or is that true? [18:08] Speaker B: Yeah, they leased the. For the. For the skylift. And that was the Airspace. [18:13] Speaker A: And were you around when the skylift was put in? Initially. [18:19] Speaker B: Yes. I remember when I was young because the people who were running it for Rel and them had a daughter close to my age, so I'd be down there visiting with her all the time. And of course, I'd go down the inn and visit with Will and Rel. I love going in down there. [18:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. That's wonderful. I love that they have kept the original structure, the original rooms. It has so much history. It's tucked back in there. And it's a fascinating story as well. [18:45] Speaker B: Obama said that one day Rel came to his daddy and said, pap, I'm going to build my hotel here. And he was going to build it out back on Pap's garden. And that was my great grandfather. Wow. [18:56] Speaker A: Wow. So for guests that come to Gatlinburg, tourists that come multiple times a year and have been coming for 20, 30 years, many come. What is something you would like them to know and appreciate about Gatlinburg? [19:14] Speaker B: Everything. Everybody is just really friendly here. And we made so many friends through these people coming every year that had the same week coming. They would. I grew up with their children. Some of them still come back to Gallatinburg. They call us and have kept up with us. So they had a little less to do back then than we do now, of course. But everything was just an outdoor function, fun thing to do. And there was just, you know, mostly what you did here was outdoors. There were very. There were gift shops. There were shops and restaurants, but there wasn't a lot of things built like they are built now. [19:48] Speaker A: Yes, yes. There's a lot of attractions. [19:51] Speaker B: Yes. [19:51] Speaker A: Interests have changed. There's a lot of A shorter attention spans, less time outside needing to entertain people. But we don't want them to miss the beauty and the legacy of this community that's just nestled in and tucked right next to the national park. Which used to be your backyard. [20:10] Speaker B: That's right. [20:10] Speaker A: That was your playground. And now it's a gift to every American, as in the national park. So as we think of those families leaving, I know you have a story of two cabins that were in the national park that were relocated in the arts and crafts community. Can you tell us a little bit about that story? [20:31] Speaker B: The story about my mother's house? [20:33] Speaker A: Yes. [20:36] Speaker B: The two cabins were two identical cabins. They were square. Each was square. And they came out of the park when a lot of the. They wanted every building torn down except the ones they were building up themselves. The park service did so These two buildings were brought into town and, you know, saved for years and years. But the gentleman who had the house before my mother did put them together. Not together, but side by side. Then built an area in the middle to have a huge living room. And we were just super lucky to get it because the gentleman decided to become the school superintendent and work down there at that area or work for the school superintendent. River, I guess. So he had to sell up and we had the 30 acres next to him. So we got his acres. But the house is just gorgeous. And my mother is now living with me and we are renting it. [21:30] Speaker A: It's an overnight rental and it's called Far Horizon Sledge. [21:34] Speaker B: Yes. [21:34] Speaker A: And it has an incredible history, not only for your family, but for other people that come to Gatlinburg that they can enjoy. Two original cabins from the national park. Park relocated, completely renovated. You can still see the chink and the wood and all the original structure to it. So it's got so much beauty, but sitting on large amounts of acres right out in the arts and crafts area, which is just so quiet and quaint and serene. [22:04] Speaker B: Yes. [22:05] Speaker A: The view is just fantastic. What is your favorite view of the national park? [22:10] Speaker B: Mount leconte, an outland range where Mount leconte is. Mount leconte has a lodge built up there and it was built years and years ago by Jack Huff. And he would go up there and stay for weeks at a time and then come back down to his family. And that's how they worked it out for years and years and years. And eventually his, I think was his nephew or great nephew maybe was running it, Jimmy Huff. And it has continued there for years and years. And it's the only lodging in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. And it's up on Mount Le. [22:46] Speaker A: And you have to make a booking one year in advance at least. [22:50] Speaker B: They open the bookings in in the early spring, I believe, and it's hard. [22:54] Speaker A: To get through on the phone line. [22:55] Speaker B: It is. And then by the time, you know, very soon, all the bookings are gone. [23:00] Speaker A: Yeah. I've been able to enjoy a hike up there with my father in law when he was still living for his 70th birthday and enjoyed the pot roast at night and the pancakes in the morning and the view. Interesting backstory to that is Ralph Egley, my father in law put in the toilets up there. [23:17] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [23:18] Speaker A: So he hiked up there and put in that system so we could enjoy toilets up there. [23:23] Speaker B: Yes. [23:23] Speaker A: Now, which I'm sure many people who visit Mount McCau do appreciate. [23:26] Speaker B: Oh, I bet. Well, they have all their. A lot of their supplies airlifted in by helicopter now and have been since I was a kid. The helicopter would load up and you could see them hauling these huge loads of food type things and gas for the heaters and things like that. And they didn't have heating except for wood fires and gas, you know, they use for cooking up there. But they would do that every year. And now they use llamas and have been for several years to go to mountain. They load them up with a lot of the stuff they need during the summer when they are open, they. They take the essentials up there, some of the food, things like that up there. [24:04] Speaker A: Did you ever hike mountain as a child? [24:07] Speaker B: Yes, I rode it. I rode up on a horse one time and I walked back off the mountain. You go up through this area when you took the horse trail that was called Adam Cape Bluff. And it was hard, like rock and slate and it was very slippery for horses. And that trail is just straight up. And so I decided I think I can walk down easier. [24:31] Speaker A: I've hiked that. I can't imagine being on a horse or a donkey or a llama going up. That would be very interesting. This episode of for the Love of Gatlinburg is sponsored by Mountain Laurel Chalets, the family owned company of choice for your cabin rentals in the smoky Mountains. Since 1972, Mountain Laurel Chalets has served thousands of visitors to the Smokies with excellent accommodations. They love treating you like family and they look forward to hosting your next trip to Gatlinburg. Okay, Susie, so I want to get this straight with your family. Where your mother grew up was where the Gatlinburg Skylift is. [25:13] Speaker B: That's correct. [25:14] Speaker A: And where you grew up is where Over Mountain Tram is currently located? [25:19] Speaker B: That's right. [25:20] Speaker A: Well, those are two pretty penultimate locations in Gatlinburg and you just hopped between both of them. But would love to hear a little bit more of the story of your mother and Crockett Mountain and how all of that came to be. Because there used to be a home there right next to RL and Maples. Gatlinburg Inn. And that's where your mother grew up? [25:40] Speaker B: Yes. [25:41] Speaker A: So how did that become the sky park and the sky Lift? [25:45] Speaker B: Okay. My mother lived there from when she was about 5 years old until she was grown up. It was her grandfather's and grandmother's home. And so she was raised up in a little. It's not a motor court. It's just, you know, it's a house they built especially for visitors and tourists to come there. They would come out like from the Midwest, a lot on the Midwest. And they would stay there for a couple of months in the summer, sometimes a month or sometimes two months. And they were giving, giving food, you know, breakfast, dinner, things like that. And then they stayed in the family home basically for all that time. And after that happened, my grandfather's son, or my Uncle Ralph, my great Uncle Rail, he came in and told his daddy he was gonna put a hotel on his property on his garden outback. So he built the Gatlinburg Inn then. [26:39] Speaker A: Around all the rose bushes. [26:40] Speaker B: Yes, oh, yes, yes. The railroads bushes. And after that, though, there's a big new adventure area came in called the Gatlinburg. It was the Gatlinburg Skylift first, and then now they are the Gatlinburg Skype Park. And they have done outdoor entertainment. Once you get up on the mountain, they have a huge. [27:02] Speaker A: The longest suspension. [27:05] Speaker B: Suspension bridge. Sorry, the longest suspension bridge in the country. And they also are starting outdoor adventure things up there to go up there and do. So I don't know what all else they've got planned right now, but it's going to be a bigger, big area. They have a huge mountain next door to the Skylift that they now have control of. And it's going to be great. [27:27] Speaker A: Well, I think I don't want to pass this moment without saying thank you to your family and the heritage that you've given so much to the community, because this is your mother's home. Your home was where the Ober Mountain tram is. And there's sacrifice involved in that of selling those and giving those away and never having a homestead to go to. [27:51] Speaker B: Right. [27:51] Speaker A: But now you've created a space where millions of people can come and enjoy the beauties of Gatlinburg. So we realize that even with the national park, so much of your family and the heritage of your family was in the national park. They had to leave for our benefit. And there's sacrifice that comes with that. And so we acknowledge that. But then also appreciate your love and appreciation for those different attractions and what they evoke in people, which is awesome. Thinking of attractions. You know, Gatlinburg today is a lot different than it was when you were a child roller skating down River Road, you know, enjoying lack of tourism even in the winter months, building snowmen probably, or sledding down the road without any worry of cars or other people. There's a lot of people that are listening that may have Never been to Gatlinburg. And they might be listening, thinking, hey, honey, do you want to take the kids to Gatlinburg? Never been there before. What is this place all about? What is it that you hope that they experience when they come to Gatlinburg for the first time? [29:01] Speaker B: Well, for them, they still have the park, the beautiful park, and can do everything. We did the hiking, the fishing, swimming in the park is great still. Then we have a lot of new attractions that are outdoor attractions. One is called Anake stuff, which is they took over this mountain and they have a skylift going up to the mountain. But once you get up there, you have things to do like ziplining. They have special lighted trails at night that you can go out through and see they have climbed climbing walls. Anything that would be an outdoor adventure to you, they're starting to put it in up there, and they have a huge area to keep going with that and the like. We were talking before about the sky park. It also has. Is going to have a lot of these adventures for outside and outdoors. We have a lot of new or a couple of new really big music venues, country music venues. Jason Aldean is in here with a big restaurant, a music venue where he brings in people to sing and everything. And then they have Blake Shelton, who was the first one who came in here and did a lot of stuff that people have really old reds. Yes, old reds. Really love coming here to see. To do that. And then a lot of the local people used to be our music. They would. We would have them, like at the old Gatlinburg Inn. They would come and play, you know, friends of the people who. My family that owned the Gatlinburg Inn. They would come play on the porch and a lot of places did that through town. We used to have a music venue in the winter called Homespun Valley. And it had exhibits of the old houses, top houses of the machines and things that they use, the ones that aren't electric these days and things like that. And they would bring in a music group or couples during the summer months. So we had other venues to go to that were just not a normal thing to do. But some of our families would just come out on the streets and sit along the streets and play banjo and guitar and sing. You know, we had a lot of that a long time ago, but we have. Most of the venues now are inside. [31:04] Speaker A: Well, I love that. So much of that origin story of Gatlinburg, outdoors music. The folklore of Gatlinburg is still present. So Even with your encouragement for new guests coming, the things that you recommended they would do would be be outside. [31:22] Speaker B: Right. [31:23] Speaker A: Enjoy, you know, the nature and the beauty and the views in Anakeest and of course, Skypark. Offer those. The national park is the penultimate. We always tell our guests that. Stay with us. Please make sure you go to the national park when you come visit. It's a great, amazing attraction. There's so much to discover. I also love that you mentioned the music because we have tunes and tales now that is in the summer and the month of October in Gatlinburg and kind of bringing back that original folklore of playing the banjo and the harmonica on the front porch of the Gatlinburg Inn and just enjoying the good old local music, which I love that we still have those opportunities. Now, I wanted to ask you, you also have another business in town, and I would love for you to let our listeners know about that other business. [32:12] Speaker B: Okay. We have a store called the Maplestree after our family name. And we started out in the Maplestree as being a quilt company. And we would. We had a lady who lived in Kentucky who started out by making them in her small little factory near her house. And then she would do piece work on these quilts, get people in the area of Kentucky to take them to their homes and finish the quilts for her. She designed everything herself. Her name was Donna Sharp and she was our first quilts that we made. And then it got so big she did move them over to China, but she still designed them by hand. They were still stitched by hand. They were not manufactured like a machine in China. They did the same thing over there that she did. She would take the pieces to the ladies who were gentlemen, worked on them to their homes to give them a job and do business. But then she kept all the designing and everything of everything for herself. And they were just wonderful quilts and the heirlooms, they were so great. And so we now we still carry quilts and we have a lot of local stuff that we do. My daughter is actually designing all of our T shirts. Every T shirt we have is designed by my daughter. Her name is Carrie. And we do a lot of things that other people don't have in town, which are engraving. It's a company called Pea Graham done. We can engrave on anything. The main thing was wood and metal. You know, like if you wanted your name put on a really nice piece to give or give for Christmas or, you know, some family and stuff, we do a lot of that. And we just Have a large variety of tourist things, but those are the main things that we do now. And my daughter is the one who has started most of that, and her husband works with us in the business now. [33:57] Speaker A: It's a lovely store. It has a lot of. Lot of wonderful items and household items and decorative items. And you have the laser printer that she said customizes a lot of those things. Where can we find your store? Where. Where is it located? [34:11] Speaker B: We're in the middle of town. It's in a building all by itself. So it's not in, like, a little mall or anything. It's right on the main street. [34:17] Speaker A: The maples tree. Yes. That's wonderful. Well, we're excited that you have continued that legacy in Gatlinburg and that you added so much value and story to the wonderful history of Gatlinburg, which is phenomenal. One thing you had mentioned you wanted to talk about and tell some stories was about the bears. [34:38] Speaker B: Yes. [34:39] Speaker A: You know, we've had a very active bear season this last year. We're learning a lot, continuing to learn how to respect bears and how to protect the bears. But there's been a long legacy and a long history of bears visiting Gatlinburg. Do you have any fun stories? [34:56] Speaker B: Yes. I can remember when I was young, we would after dinner, our thing was to ride up on the mountain up to, like, the Sugarlands area, and there'd be bears everywhere along the road, and people would be out. They would act like these bears are little fluffy animals, and they would hand them food, they would hand them bottles of drink to drink and everything. I mean, you're seeing this. Would see this everywhere when I was growing up. But now the bears are still coming down into town. They have broken into the old smoky candy kitchen. They knocked through a big head, heavy glass door, and they scared the people coming in the next morning because, no, they didn't know anything was in there. So they came around the corner and there this bear confronted them. [35:38] Speaker A: I wonder how much they ate overnight. [35:40] Speaker B: I don't know. They haven't mentioned that to me. But there was one time I saw there was a bear down on the island right near where the new aquarium is, and it was sitting there with the pumpkin nearly bigger than this bear's body, and was clawing at it, trying to get the pulp out of it, the pumpkin pulp. And it sat there and it would roll away from him out into the street, and he'd go back and get it, and then finally it rolled way away from him, and he just walked away from it. He sat there for probably 20 or 30 minutes trying to eat that big pumpkin. [36:13] Speaker A: Well, those are really fun stories and I know that we have made some changes to protect the bears. We're not having real live pumpkins out for decoration anymore. They're incredibly real. They look real, but they're not real because we don't want to entice the bears and give them a false sense of being provided for. And so we're looking for ways that we can always be bear wise within our community and protect the bears. But they sure are such a wonderful addition to the Gatlinburg community. They have been for many, many years. I know. I've seen photos of people feeding the bears in the national park and thankfully we don't do that anymore. The bears have plenty to eat in the national park if we allow them to do that, but it's amazing how much of a icon they have been for our community. When we think about icons for the community, Suzy, you do definitely go down as one and we are so great to have spent this time with you. I'm so glad that so many get to hear your family's story. And when we think about the maples or the ogles or the huskies or the aunt. You said so many different names on and on and we'll know that some way, somehow, you're related to one of them. And I love that you include us as a part of your family too. And the millions that come to visit Gatlinburg now can understand and appreciate these deep, rich stories. So thanks for joining us, Suzy. We're so glad you could be with us. [37:43] Speaker B: Love enjoyed it. Thank you for having me. [37:46] Speaker A: Thank you for joining me on this episode of for the Love of Gatlinburg. I hope you enjoyed exploring the stories that weave together the rich tapestry of our mountain town. Whether you're reminiscing about past visits or dreaming of your next adventure, remember that every corner of Gatlin has a story waiting to be discovered. If you loved what you heard today, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and review our podcast. Your support helps us share the charm and history of Gatlinburg with even more listeners. And don't forget to connect with us on social media. Until next time, keep the spirit of Gatlinburg alive in your hearts. Safe travels and see you soon.