Presenters at ChristyFest™ 2008
 Basket Artisan |
 Musician and Craftsman |
 Eyes Unto the Hills |
 Guide |
 Shine! |
 Less Travelled |
 nor Everbronze |
 Christy Property Tour |
 Author and Friend |
An avid hiker and writer - a self described "mountain poet," Bill Alexander has traveled extensively through the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. With an eye for beauty and art, Bill has written wonderful, inspired poetry about his experiences and revelations. Bill is also a specialist at creating 'Mountain Berry Baskets' - a traditional form of basket making from all natural materials. Bill is an advocate of cultural preservation and strives to work with others to help keep such traditions alive. A member of many cultural preservation societies, as well as craft guilds, Bill is widely known throughout the area for his ready smile and talent.
Mike Clemmer's extensive background in working with and repairing stringed instruments came to the fore when he realized, with his wife Connie, his dream of making mountain dulcimers. Owner of Wood-N-strings Dulcimer shop, Mike is an authority on Mountain Dulcimers and possesses a vast repertoire of authentic mountain music. With his infectious, friendly manner and amazing playing skills, Mike can entertain and educate a crowd on the beauty of this traditional music form. Helping to enrich and preserve a rich musical tradition, Mike hosts a weekly music session at his shop where folks from all over can hear different aspects of area music.
A former History Teacher, Kathy has been a Guide in the Smoky Mountains for the past nine years. As a young girl, she started reading books on the people and culture of the Appalachian Mountains and continued to do so until moving here in 1999. For three years she led Historic Walking Tours of Gatlinburg and was featured daily on Gatlinburg’s Visitor Information Channel. She is a popular speaker for the Wilderness Wildlife Week held annually in Pigeon Forge and has led hikes for the Week and several Country Inns in the area.
Barbara League is a seminar trainer, workshop leader and consultant in the field of addiction recovery and other life-controlling problems. She has worked with numerous churches and residential recovery programs. Barbara is also a long-time writer, her efforts culminating in the award-winning non-fiction book Letters to Lori which focuses on the story of Opal Corn Myers. Hailing from Iowa, she now resides in northern Kentucky where she enjoys spending time with family and concentrating on ministry work with her husband, Manly. She is also a mother and grandmother.
Bill Leistner's diverse personal history only adds to his character. Previously a member of the Coast Guard, a search and rescue operative, he's a well known speaker on the subject of moonshine - unexpectedly, as he got a still many years ago as payback for a favor. Bill has a great appreciation for the beauty of the mountains and this love, as well as his interest and knowledge of moonshine only adds flavor to an already unique man. Bill lives in Tennessee with his wife, Sally.
Dwight McCarter is chock full of unique experiences and true tales. A Townsend boy by birth and upbringing, he carries in his heart a great love for the Smoky Mountains. With the Park Services for around 30 years, Dwight has explored vast tracts of the Smoky Mountains. He has been involved with search and rescue, tracking, as well as documenting and exploring hard-to-reach areas of the wilderness. Now retired, Dwight pursues many of his other life long interests such as Native American history and early settler stories. He's delighted to be at ChristyFest™ to share his stories and to tell others of the glories - and dangers - of the majestic Smoky Mountains he calls home.
Marilyn Mitchem lives in Bettendorf, Iowa, where she owns and operates a private piano teaching studio. She has been active in the Christy Internet Community since the summer of 1995, when the CBS series was in its second season. Marilyn first attended ChristyFest™ in 2000 and was a planning team member during 2004-2006.
Marilyn visited the Christy Mission in 2000 and met its owner, Larry Myers. When his home burned in September 2002, the third such fire on the property, she realized that the few remaining onsite records of Ebenezer Mission had been destroyed. The situation was urgent: Marilyn knew that if someone did not soon collect Ebenezer Mission's history, it would be lost forever. That "still, small voice" whispered in Marilyn's ear, saying,"Why don't you write a book about Ebenezer Mission?"
Thanks to the generosity and research assistance of people across the United States, Marilyn is delighted to bring Ebenezer Mission's history to light and life at this, her sixth ChristyFest™ presentation.
Larry will be our host on our visit to Del Rio and Christy Mission. He is the grandson of Arter and Flora Corn who were the inspiration for the characters of Jeb and Fairlight Spencer. His mother, Opal Corn Meyers, purchased the mission property when the mission was closed in 1928. Larry remembers when Catherine Marshall visited the property during her research for Christy. Catherine used Larry in the prologue giving him the name of "Toe". Larry and his wife, Karen, maintain and live on the property now known as the Christy Mission and carry on Opal’s legacy of mountain hospitality and generosity.
During the 1960s Elizabeth Sherrill worked with Catherine Marshall to help shape Christy. Additionally, Elizabeth and her husband John [also an author] founded Chosen Books with their good friends and business associates, Leonard and Catherine Marshall LeSourd. Her decades-long career has spanned such achievements as this, as well as many more personal and private successes. Elizabeth Sherrill is an accomplished writer, workshop leader, and world traveler. She has been affiliated with Guideposts Magazine as a writer and editor for 56 years.
Elizabeth has published some 1500 articles and authored more than 30 books. Her works, many co-written with John, include among them The Hiding Place, The Cross and the Switchblade, and God's Smuggler. Her most recent book, All the Way to Heaven, recounts for the first time her own journey from atheism to profound commitment.
Always the travelers and explorers, the Sherrills primarily reside in New York and have three children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
To learn more about Elizabeth Sherrill, please visit her website at: www.elizabethsherrill.com.