Friday, July 24, 2009

Smoky Mountain Fan Fest: A little "Duke" boy's dream



It pays to emulate Bo Duke, ya know. Especially if you're a young'un. Hunter Seiber, 4, of Tennessee found that out when he won a local contest -- and tickets for his family to attend this past weekend's Smoky Mountain Fan Fest. His parents submitted Halloween photos of him, depicting him dressed up like Bo Duke complete with beige shirt and blond wig, to the local newspaper. Fellow fans voted online, and Hunter took the top prize.




"He won two tickets to Fan Fest and three nights' stay at the Holiday Inn and dinner for two, for three nights," his mom, Tammy Seiber, says. "The package also included meeting the cast members. So we are very excited that he won!!!! He loves 'The Dukes of Hazzard.'"

Tammy sent BRBTV these photos of the weekend's fun, where Hunter and his family got to meet not only Catherine Bach, Sonny Shroyer, Don Pedro Colley, Byron Cherry, James Best, Ben Jones and Rick Hurst of "The Dukes," but also Butch Patrick of "The Munsters," Donna Douglas of "The Beverly Hillbillies" and Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini of "The Wizard of Oz." Crazy, classic stuff!




The family got autographs from all the "Dukes" cast members who were at the event, which was held at the Smokies Baseball Stadium in Kodak, Tennessee.

"Donna Douglas (Elly May Clampett) was also there and was sweet enough to let us snap a picture at the hotel where we stayed," Tammy says, "along with all of the cast members that were at Fan Fest (that was a treat, especially for Hunter)."



"Some of the entertainment included the Country Tonight Theater from Pigeon Forge, Cooter's Garage Band, with Cletus and Enos joining them on stage for a couple of songs (Rick Hurst was so funny)," she says, "and Catherine Bach and her two daughters (Laura and Sophia, above) sang Patsy Cline's 'Crazy,' and Janie Fricke closed the show."



"I would just have to say some moments that stand out in my mind would be Byron Cherry, he is always fun with the kids," Tammy says, "and when Catherine was told about Hunter winning a 'Dukes of Hazzard' look-alike contest, she signed all eight items we had for free. I thought that was very classy. And last, Ben asked if he could display Hunter's contest-winning photo in one of his Cooter's store museums (very touching to a proud momma). We had a very fun time."



Many thanks to Tammy and her whole family for sharing the fun with us!




Photos by Tammy Seiber

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