University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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RESTING ON BENCHES, weary festival-goers BUDDING ARTIST |ennie McDaniel contributes enjoy the shade of the weeping willows that grow her finger-painting skills to an already colorful around Spring Park ' s duck pond. The site of an display of local talent. Large sign boards, spon- arts and crafts show as well as a musical jambo- sored by several Tuscumbia businesses, were ree. the park was one of the festival ' s main focal placed in Spring Park to provide festival-goers points. (Photo by Grant Lovett) with a creative outlet. (Photo by Patrick Hood) student Life 25 d

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In June, people from near and far travelled to Tuscumbia for the fifth annual Helen Keller Festival, an event renowned for Commemorating a Miracle. The ducks and swans who Hve in Spring Park didn ' t seem to mind all the attention they got from the thousands of people who flocked to Tuscumbia the last weekend of June. The fifth annual Helen Keller Fes- tival, held in Keller ' s hometown from lune 23-26, celebrated her llSth birth- day. She was born in Tuscumbia on lune 27, 1880. Featuring something for everyone — from athletes to history buffs to the- atre enthusiasts — this year ' s Keller festival was the best ever, according to Mike McMackin, publicity chairman of the festival committee. Sports events offered during the festival included the five-mile and one-mile Helen Keller Run and a ten- nis tournament. Hoop-skirted young ladies served as guides on the tour of historic homes and churches in the Tuscumbia area, sponsored by the Tennessee Valley His- torical Society. Daily tours of Ivy Green, Helen Keller ' s birthplace, provided a festival highlight. Each weekend from [une 17- )ulv 30. Ivy Green offered perfor- mances of William Gibson ' s drama, The Miracle Worker. Most of the Miracle Worker cast was comprised of university students. Freedom Hills, a popular musi- cal comedy by local playwright Favre Sparks, drew crowds at the Tuscumbia STROLLING UNDER THE TREES, the festival crowd browses among the paintings, pottery, crafts, and photographs displayed by artists and artisans from near and far Among the 130 ex- hibitors at the arts and crafts show in Spring Park was sculptor Rick Adams, a university art student. (Photo by Grant Lovett) Municipal Building each night of the festival. The Tennessee Valley Art As- sociation sponsored the production. The TVAA also sponsored the arts and crafts show and musical entertain- ment in Spring Park. Over 130 artists and craftsmen took part in the week- end show. The Art Center, visited by 650 people during the festival, housed a needlework exhibit. Famed Alabama storyteller Kath- ryn Tucker Windham returned to the Keller Festival this year by popular de- mand. Windham held 770 people spell- bound at four sessions in which she spun tales of ghosts, witches, and Southern folk superstitions. According to leanie McNees, ex- ecutive director of the Helen Keller birthplace, 858 people toured Ivy Green during the festival weekend. In addition, 1,052 spectators at- tended the three festival weekend per- formances of The Miracle Worker. CAPTIVATING A CROWD of children and adults at Spring Park with one of his famous coin tricks is magician Steve Richerson. A university stu- dent as well as a professional magician. Richer- son majors in art and theatre. (Photo by Grant Lovett) TAKING THE STAGE at Spring Park, a gospel music group prepares to sing. Keller Festival au- diences heard every kind of music imaginable at the jamboree, from gospel and rock to country western and bluegrass. (Photo by Grant Lovett) i Freedom Hills audiences totaled 1,950. The festival is growing so fast that we have to start planning it and releas- ing information earlier and earlier each year, McNees said. We plan to start publicizing the 1984 Helen Keller Fes- tival as early as [anuary. Helen Keller, who overcame blind- ness and deafness to become one of the world ' s great humanitarians, died in . 1968 after living most of her life far | away from her tiny north Alabama home-town. But she never forgot Tus- cumbia, and Tuscumbia will certainly never forget her. — Michele Savage l« fs-ii

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Sometimes the monotony of classes is enough to send students out on a sojourn to the downtown area. The more experienced students find creative forms of entertainment Within Walking Distance. For a student, walking distance is seldom farther than his or her next class. Within walking distance often depends on where you are and just how far you have to go before you can drop your load. But for some un- known reason, students are willing to walk farther when it is for entertain- ment purposes. And sometimes the boredom of classes is enough to send students out on a sojourn of the down- town area. When asked what there is to do around town, the veteran students are armed with answers: Pope ' s Tavern Museum, Wildwood Park, Trow- bridge ' s, the Chicago Subway, and maybe even the Florence Public Li- brary. But the more experienced stu- dents of boredom find even more cre- YE OLE GENERAL STORE steps back into the past with its down home country atmosphere. Store proprietors stack their selection of hats for sale. ative forms of mild recreation. Here is a list of suggested places they have found. Located a mere two blocks from campus is the Zodiac Theatre. It is a small community playhouse that pro- vides a more cultured choice of theat- rical entertainment than the six- channel choice of dorm television. For a peaceful place, the First United Methodist Church has a court- yard garden of meditation. Statuettes, shrubbery, flowers, a stone walkway, and an amphitheatre, all half sur- rounded by stained glass windows, offer a stillness from the sometimes overflowing campus. Ye Ole General Store steps back into the past with its down home country atmosphere. It holds a wide selection in bandannas, overalls, and wicker baskets, and a priceless taste of Southern hospitality. A small section of Mobile Street is known for its personality which is made out of the street lamps and the bricked-out street surface. It has claimed the name of cobble stone court. Scattered benches and large- leafed poplar trees across the way from the now closed Shoals theatre give the quaint impressions of an- other time and place. The Corner Fruit Market offers a wide variety in exotic reading among the usuals of late night junk food. It also sells an almost lost delicacy, Ap- ple Beer, and that is something that this dry county store can take pride Wilson Park provides the right nighttime atmosphere for any rendez- vous or close encounter, which can be highlighted by a multicolored foun- tain. Smokehouse Billiards, the home of the famous poolroom hamburger, is where a game of eight-ball and a chili burger are available from 4:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The characters of Paul Newman ' s Hustler come to life in this combination poolroom res- taurant. Ceiling fans, cue lined walls, hanging lights, completed with the eating bar, casually surround the still used shoe shine chair. A trend in fatigues made the War Surplus Store well-known for its olive drab supplies needed to complete the Army Look. Ranging from footwear to headgear, a nice collection of army paraphernalia can be purchased there. Even if you don ' t have the space, or can ' t afford the price of a pet, the Pet Center is a great place to go when you miss the friends that you left be- hind at home. Caged mice and kittens, and a chorus of birds provide the right escape from the human race. An add- ed attraction is a large rainbow col- ored parrot who will try to steal your heart with his ham acting tactics. Unless you are one of the willing souls in hiking boots, or would rather make your journeys in the comfort of your car, the downtown area is about as far as you would want to walk. There are other places left unmen- tioned that you may venture into and find another glimpse of the South- ern south. — Jayne Anne Miller MULLIN ' S GARDEN provides a solitary still- ness for student Jayne Miller. It is located three blocks from the sometimes overflowing cam- pus. (Photos by Patrick Hood)