Over the course of the day’s events, visitors took hikes, pausing to look at wildflowers or spot birds along with the general trekking. They learned about bluebirds, backpacking and many other things. Dozens of enthusiastic volunteers helped set up and take down equipment for the event, which was sponsored by the Friends of Dunbar Cave, the Warioto Audubon Chapter, Tennessee Trails Association and TN Wildlife Resources Agency.

Save Our Raptors is a yearly treat at spring fling. Having the opportunity to see these birds of prey up close up is a thrill for everyone who attends. While teaching the crowd about Raptors they flew them back and forth over the crowd’s heads. One gentleman even received a gentle pat on the top of his head by the wing of a Casey the Vulture.

A guest gets a gentle tap on the top of his head from Casey the Vulture

When they asked for volunteers a young woman got the chance of a life time. “Carrie, Do you know your blood type?” they asked. They had her put on “a road kill” apron and lay on the ground pretending to be a vultures favorite treat, it was only a joke. After cluing her in, she allowed Casey to land on her hand after a he finished a flight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can learn more about SOAR at their web site.

The Reptiliacs Sherry Howell

After SOAR finished entertaining the crowd it was the turn of the Reptiliacs. Donny and Sherry Howell shared stories about their love of snakes and reptiles, all but hypnotizing their audience. “Don’t be so anxious to kill snakes,” Sherry told us, as she explained that they eat many kinds of pests like mice and rats. They help us more than they hurt us; our fear of them is unfounded. Even when she was bitten by one of her snakes while feeding it, she understood that it was her fault, she says.

Due to high water conditions the annual canoeing on the lake was canceled this year.

The Friends of Dunbar Cave would like to extend their thanks to the Park staff, all those who volunteered, the participants, and the public  for their continued support.

Here are images of the 2009 Spring Fling by Beth Britton, Debbie Boen, and Bill Larson,

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Ranger Adam Neblett and Park staff Michael Fulbright was on hand to greet and thank the volunteers for their generous contribution of time, muscles and good cheer.

I hope we continue to get this much support form our local community in the future. – Adam Neblett

Many scout groups took advantage of this outdoor conservation effort.  Because of the overwhelming help, the normally three hour job got done in only an hour and a half.

Tatyana Finks, Jennifer Murray, and Caitlin Williams of girl scout troop 2559

“What a turnout!  It was a wonderful effort and so great to see so many people show up and show their support for this park,” said Friends of Dunbar Cave President, David Boen.  Friends member, Meredith Gildrie took the promotion of this project under her wings and was on hand to greet volunteers as they arrived.  She also provided water to the hard workers.

The Friends of Dunbar Cave’s Spring Fling is coming up on May 9th.  From early morning until 4:30 p.m. take guided trail tours, see reptile and birds of prey demonstrations and a full day of interesting talks and demonstrations.  This event is free to the public and your donations are appreciated.  Food and tee shirts will be on sale.

Photo Gallery

Images in this gallery were contributed by Debbie Boen and Adam Neblett

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David Boen designed the new Kiosk and here is making its frame in the lobby of the Dunbar Cave Visitor Center.

Friends President David Boen led the search for a push button information Kiosk that would be able to play short informative films. Mr. Boen looked at Kiosks in use at APSU, the State Museum at TPAC, a museum in Paducah,  and along with Sally Schiller and Debbie Boen, several parks in the Nashville area. He also researched what would be needed to construct an in-wall Kiosk. He then conferred with David Britton about getting started on the task.

David Boen took a day off work and with David Britton prepared a wall in the Visitor Center lobby for the new Kiosk. They received enthusiastic help from Park Ranger Adam Neblett, and Seasonal Interpreter Michael Fulbright.

The results are wonderful; when visitors enter the lobby the new Kiosk is there to show the newly released Clean Cut Productions film along with a few other informative films.  This is one effort of several underway aimed at preserving and protecting the the beauty and integrety of the State Natural Area.

It’s been a dream of the Friends of Dunbar Cave to have an Interpretive Center at the Dunbar Cave State Natural Area. They have been hosting fund raisers and events for many years towards this goal. This center will educate people on the history and geology of Dunbar Cave, and will help raise visitors’ appreciation of the park and its rich history.

As a step in that direction the Friends group contracted the help of Clean Cut Productions at Austin Peay State University (APSU) to make a short introductory film for the Park.  This film, which was recently released, consists of three main parts:

• How the cave was formed
• The cultural history of the Park
• The Park’s  function as a Natural area

While the movie was being made the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation supported Dunbar Cave State Natural Area in creating a fully functional Audio Visual room and remodeling the entrance to that room in order to help contain the sound from the rest of the building.  Carpeting and furniture was replaced, the security of the Visitor Center was improved, and the building was painted.

Special thanks go out to the Friends of Dunbar Cave, David Boen, Ronnie Hunter, David Britton and to all of the Park staff for their part in making this happen.

David Britton of Port Royal gets enthusiastic help from Ranger Adam Neblett and Seasonal Interpreter Michael Fulbright.

Randall Boen with his 1st place award

Randall Boen and his mother, Debbie Boen, both brought home awards, with Randall’s being a 1st place award.

The Open Exhibition is an opportunity for all artists over 18 years of age to exhibit and sell their work and help raise money for college art scholarships.  To date thirteen art majors at APSU have received the US Bank Scholarship. 

Debbie Boen uses art to make a political statement and encourage people to think about issues, in this case, "PTSD."

Debbie Boen, whose popular work has a decidely political bent, described her son’s work as “birds in distance at top and tree tops at bottom.  It is serene and very cool.  He made the frame.”  After he won, she said, “I hugged him and in his calm and quiet voice he said, “I beat you.”  She considers that bit of humor priceless.

Debbie took second place, amateur division, with a unique and thought provoking work titled “PTSD.”

“Besides the weird head on this soldier, he is sitting on a barbeque; the barbeque tools have American flag colors around the handles and he has a passport.  The tiny pictures inside the passport are all about Iraq and the painful images taken there of civilians and soldiers.  There is also some print taken from a recent story the (newspaper) did about soldier suicide.  Some professionals seem to think the soldiers can “think positive” their way out of PTSD.

“Even though we live in a ticking time bomb of PTSD around us, it’s not talked about.  When I first brought the piece in, two people asked me what PTSD is and why is he sitting on a barbeque?  I made this 3D and life size to be right in people’s faces (try to ignore this!).  I worried about whether I would “get away” with showing this.  This isn’t lovely, beautiful or fine art and it’s controversial.  — Debbie Boen

Boen’s wish was that “everyone would get an award or even just hear the awesome comments that people give their art.  Art is such a personal statement that we put out to the public.  It is personal and so vulnerable. ”

SDS: "Youth are not Cannon fodder"

As a global audience tuned in on the second presidential debate, held at Belmont University in Nashville, all the action was happening on the streets surrounding the campus. Political commentators and pundits agreed that the town hall debate format simply didn’t work, that the hoped for verbal battles failed to detonate any real excitement. Outside, it was another story.

I opted out of specific local debate coverage, and with CO writer Debbie Boen instead headed to Nashville to make our own voices heard. Debbie, founder of the FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties, and I (a devout member) headed for 21st and Blakemore, two blocks from the Debate Hall, center of the Nashville Peace Coalition et al rally and press conference. The Coalition the night before sponsored “an alternative debate” featuring the other candidates in the running for the US presidency. The ones without the political machine and the super-sized budgets.

Nearing Nashville on I-24 we were greeted with traffic signs directing debate trackers to the proper exits, so naturally, we made a wrong turn, got slightly misdirected and ended up exactly where we needed to be. Serendipity can be wonderful.

As we navigated Nashville, we were amazed at the sheer volume of Obama and issue-oriented activism; the streets were overflowing with energized people, male, female, old, young, diverse economic backgrounds. All motivated and more than ready to have their voices heard. At 4 p.m., the streets had already been layered with activists for hours. At 5 p.m., the press conference and public statements that had lured us to Nashville began.

“We have seen what Nashville looks like during a small gas crisis — tempers flaring, people irate — long lines. What would happen if it lasted a week? A month? A year? If the power shut down? How about if the food ran out in the grocery stores? If nobody removed your trash? How would people react? We’ve seen a taste of things to come in New Orleans? Welcome to the next Miramax movie.”

Then cam a quoted from a 9.8.08 Army Times article, barely a blip on the media radar, that reported:

“The 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat team that has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping to restore essential services and escorting supply convoys has now been ordered to come home and be under the command of the US Army North, an on-call federal response force for natural disasters or manmade emergencies including terrorist attacks.

“The 1st BCT’s soldiers will learn how to use ‘the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded’” states 1st BCT Commander Col. Roger Cloutier — referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and non lethal weapon designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.”

As this voice boomed through the crowd and across Nashville streets, listeners were reminded of  how these weapons were used most recently at protests during the Republican national Convention. Pepper spray, tazers, assault weapons and sound grenades used by police in tandem with federal officials and task force. The result? Dissenting opinions were silenced. News commentator Amy Goodman and her news crew were arrested.

“Iraq is the practice grounds for what is coming to America.” That statement summed up part one of this presentation.

One perspective on the Iraq War...

When I took the microphone, I recounted my feelings at seeing a fairly recent film, Across the Universe, which is one of the better anti-war films I’ve seen. Advertising as “the new Beatles music movie,” it begins with the Camelot/Kennedy era innocence, until the scene, circa 1965 or so — frames two soldiers speaking to a mother who crumples to the stoop, having learned her son was killed in Vietnam. Scene shift: young women in little black dresses, white gloves, pearls, standard mourning garb.  I had that dress, those pearls, the pristine gloves. In 1965. ‘66. ‘67. ‘68. ‘69. And ‘70. More than once in some years. I protested the war then. Same peace symbol. Same songs. Same handmade signs. I watched this film with a sinking feeling of memory in my gut, a “deja vu” across the decades to now.

New recruits carry Lady Liberty across napalm'd fields of Vietnam in "Across the Universe"

I told my listeners how I grew up outside a major northeastern Air Force Base. Years later I became complacent, and moved through midlife and yes, through that earlier Gulf War, taking care of family, work, and all the mundane things.

“When I moved to Tennessee in 2004, I found myself outside another major military base, with another war raging, and suddenly the same symbols, signs, songs and outrage surged. I never thought I’d be doing this again. Not at 58. Forty years, and apparently we haven’t learned too much. This time, though, we’ve added economic disaster to the mix.”

Members of the SDS speak out against war

I watched as the new incarnation of the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society – and yes, there is an SDS group at APSU too) stepped up to the microphone, calling for young voters to be a “catalyst for change.”  Joey King of Veterans for Peace spoke, followed by Liz Barger of the Code Pink ladies. Senate Candidate Chris Lugo. Eric Schechter. Brian Moore, Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. Roger Clark of the Nader/Gonzalez presidential ticket. Green Party Senate candidate John Migllietta.

‘Debate Ralph Nader’ signs were everywhere. As were “Christians for Planned Parenthood.” And “‘Forecloz’ Wall Street.”

The song “I Miss America” was sung to the melody of God Bless America, substituting civil liberties losses among other losses American citizens have endured.

The line may have seemed thin at times, but it was "never-ending"...

Across the street, a steady line of Obama supporters marched toward Debate Central. A French documentary filmmaker filmed and interviewed our group, among others. The C-Span, CNN and NEA buses passed by, the latter scrolling statements of what Iraq war funding could buy for Americans on the home front. The NEA bus was, for me, the “best of show.” Police presence was everywhere, but thankfully not in an aggressive stance. We haven’t apparently reached a  point requiring RNC response tactics — yet.

Cars passing by waved, honked their horns, gave the “V” for victory sign. The rain held off. The crowds remained steady, heavy and true.

As Debbie and I left Nashville, the streets were still alive with people carrying signs and banners, with the dozens and dozens of young Green Power group toting pristine white windmills from their designated protest site through downtown.

What was refreshing was the eclectic of mix of people, and more importantly, the energized young people blasted out of complacency by war and economics to take action and stand up to have their voices heard. In them, I saw pieces of myself from forty years ago. It was an honor to share the streets of Nashville not just with those who have done this before, but with those who are finding their political voice for the first time.

The lackluster debate may have meandered over old territory, but it was a brave new world beyond that forum.

All Photos by Debbie Boen. “Across the Universe” frame from Revolution Studios/Sony Pictures.

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Saturday afternoon saw “Clarksville for Obama” execute their community event in participation with the nation-wide June 28th community event for the “Obama for President” campaign.

Senator Barack Obama’s approach to presidential campaigning is predicated on having small citizen groups form within their own communities and build support bases from the community level up to the national organization through social networking.

Speaking for “Clarksville for Obama,” Tyrone Taylor said:

“This grassroots organizing is at the heart of the Obama campaign. These small groups are being empowered to conduct and be responsible for the growth of this process.”

This phenomenon was in evidence Saturday as some 50 people gathered and gave voice to their reasons for joining the “Obama for President” campaign. “Clarksville for Obama” utilized social networking tactics to contact friends, associates and potentially interested persons to invite them to attend the rally event. Emails, phone calls, text messaging, postings to MySpace and Facebook were all tactics employed to make contact and encourage people to come out. By the size of the crowd, they were quite successful in their efforts.

Event spokesperson Terry McMoore told the group that the Obama campaign” is a digital campaign!” Senator Obama intends to utilize modern technology as never before, with text messaging and MySpace postings as two of the tools by which this campaign will distinguish itself from past campaigns and him from other candidates.

Despite this embracing of new technology, there are still some vestiges of more traditional campaigning. The team expects to have a central headquarters from which to conduct its concerted efforts for the November election.

JoAnn Latz, another “Clarksville for Obama” member, said with that development, volunteers are needed for phone bank calls, organizing more neighborhood gatherings, and canvassing and voter registration efforts, all of which are slated to become part of the push to November and a victory for Senator Obama. Clarksville for Obama has been recognized by the national campaign as the ‘formal’ Obama campaign organization for Clarksville and Montgomery County.

Volunteers willing to host house parties were solicited. Names were given for volunteer campaign advancement activities like staffing the soon-to-be open campaign headquarters, making phonecalls to potential supporters, local fundraising, writing articles and letters to the local media, debunking smear attempts, and just talking with co-workers and neighbors to urge their support for the Obama campaign as well.

The group watched a video of Senator Obama as part of the synchronized nation-wide rally event. Several people spoke of their reasons for supporting the Obama campaign. There was an agreed upon sentiment that, upon hearing him speak, people became convinced of his sincerity and true compassion for the concerns of everyone he encounters.

“Senator Obama is a statesman,” noted David Shelton, “He is there to represent every single man, woman and child. It doesn’t matter if you’re Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, rich or poor, middle class, working class, straight, gay, young or old. He represents for everyone.”

Jim Robertson said he came to support Senator Obama because of his concerns with health care. His wife has muscular dystrophy and when the new Medicare Prescription Bill took effect, her prescription costs shot way-y-y up. He himself has arthritis and is unable to get health insurance. He was facing a medical procedure and had sought insurance only to learn that the insurance rate quoted him was twice the cost the medical procedure itself.

Charles Moreland spoke of ‘The Unity Project,’ and the “Prayer Warriors for Obama,” which seeks to garner the power of the ‘prayer warriors’ of the Democratic Party flock, and have them pray for Senator Obama’s success in becoming president. He said “People need to realize that Christians are Democrats too, and that we also pray.” He showed the template of a brochure which will be available within a week for distribution by individuals or groups.

Debbie Boen attended wearing her “Republicans for Obama” pin. She started the group, Clarksville Freethinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties in late 2004. She said that for her it is not about what party you belong to and that Democrats, like Republicans, have to remember that we’re all in this together. She is dismayed with the smear-style tactics (like Obama/Osama) being practiced by Republicans because the tactic only makes people look stupid. She said it’s just not a basis for a good argument. These tactics are harmful to Republicans because people have come to distrust them and all those who engage in these tactics. She believes there are plenty of serious issues that demand our attention:  the environment, escalating gas and oil prices, natural resources and how we use them and “the war, the war, the war, the war.”

Disgruntled voters from all walks of our political process were urged to consider the candidacy of Senator Obama. “Clarksville” said that theirs is an outreach open to independents, Blue Dog Democrats, Reagan Democrats, compassionate conservatives disillusioned by the Republican Party and this administration, GOP faithful not in sync with their party’s positions, and anyone who has been looking for change, for the betterment of our society and our nation and has found themselves not satisfied. Voters seeking a change for a better time in America should find themselves moving to the Obama team, according to “Clarksville for Obama.”

Clarksville for Obama announced their new website will be launched within a week or ten days. For more information on the current level of activity and full color story, visit: http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/06/23/join-the-unite-for-change-unite-for-change-campaign

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This New Orleans celebration of two performances of the award winning Vagina Monologues will feature Salma Hayek, Oprah Winfrey, Faith Hill, Jane Fonda, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Hudson, Glenn Close, Julia Stiles, Ali Larter, Sally Field, Marisa Tomei, Calpernia Addams, Rosario Dawson, Kerry Washington, and musicians Common, Eve, and Charmaine Neville. See details and get tickets at: http://v10.vday.org/

Ensler has a big picture for vaginas. V-Day is a vision to see a world where women live safely and freely. The monologues speak openly about vagina stories that were collected from women. Ending violence against women is the driving force behind the production. Women don’t talk about their own sexuality; they don’t talk about what pleases them, and when raped, they don’t talk about that either. Most of the time, they think it was their fault that they were attacked and they walk around with the hidden fear and shame of it.

Being a victim of rape by a parent, Eve knows how difficult it is to come to terms with that kind of violation and the work it takes to feel safe in your own body again. Being silent about our own sexuality has not been helping women to avoid violence.

Ensler, who has traveled to Africa and all parts of the world to hear issues of female genital mutilation and violence, says, It’s not enough to keep helping every crisis that happens. We need to have a revolution and change the source of the problem. We need men to get behind it because women can’t pull it off just by themselves. We need to realize that every single culture gives permission to violence against women.

International Statistics: Violence against women and girls is widespread – one woman in three will experience violence during her lifetime, most often at the hands of someone she knows. (United Nations Population Fund, Sept. 2000 and summary).

The number of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation is estimated at between 100 and 140 million. It is estimated that each year, an additional 2 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM. (World Health Organization, Fact Sheet No. 241, June 2000)

Internationally, 2 million girls between ages 5 and 15 are introduced into the commercial sex market each year. (United Nations Population Fund, Sept. 2000 and summary)

According to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, a woman is raped every two hours in Pakistan, and in Punjab, a woman is raped every six hours and gang-raped every four days. (San Francisco Chronicle, July 2002) National Statistics: Approximately 1.9 million women are assaulted physically annually in the United States. That’s one woman every 15 seconds. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 200) One of every seven victims of sexual assault reported to the participating law enforcement agencies were under age 6. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1996) Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 90 seconds. (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2000)

On average, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the U.S. every day. (Bureau of Justice Report, “Intimate Partner Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99,” Oct. 2001) Pregnancy or recently pregnant women are more likely to be the victims of homicide than to die of any other cause. (Journal of the American Medical Association, March 2001)

In this country, MTV continually flashes us images of females in ideal male sexual fantasy roles. Clarksville On Line publisher, Bill Larson, was able to obtain a copy and permission to post the controversial film trailer to Dreamworlds III here. This film shows women always wanting sex, not meaning it when they say no, not having real minds or feelings, they are lost without men and they are just bodies. This is the trailer that MTV does not want you to see. The context is shocking and not recommended for children.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Vagina Monologues, which is part of an organized response against violence toward women, are performed at Universities and institutions across the world, with permission from Eve Ensler and with the agreement that monies raised go to groups that help battered women.

For the seventh year running, the Vagina Monologues were performed in Clarksville on Feb 26th and 27th at APSU, and despite snow fall both nights, over 200 people came to see the performance.

Dr. Eichhorn teaches the Vagina Monologues class and she is passionate about women’s studies education. Shocking, funny, and empowering are the monologues, because they talk about a subject that is taboo, the vagina and women’s sexuality.

Proceeds from the Vday event went to the following non-profit organizations:

• Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee (931) 552-6656
• Rape and Sexual Abuse Center (931) 647-3632, Crisis hotline: 1-800-879-1999
• Safe House (931) 648-9100 and (931) 552-6900

In this year’s production at APSU: Director Carrye Beth Murray, Director Holly Lanham, Coordinator Carly Hatcher, Rebecca Hubbel, Rukiya Richmond, Bess Bedell, Ellie Renderos, Sienna Finney, Laura Boudrequx, Marcy Austin, Tinesha Lott, Jessica Axley, Tiffany Davis, Amanda Abbott, Alisa Lewis, Jessica Axley, Amber Gaulden, Nicolette Tomaszewski, Jamila Weaver, Erin McNealy, Liza Kurtz, Coordinator Debbie Boen, Shannon Woodward, Amanda Hudson, Danielle Beck, Optimum Robinson, Samantha Chew, Tonika Bell, Samantha Pearson

Clarksville artist Debbie Boen has been living a ‘wild life’ with such creatures for the past 21 months as she created and recently completed drawing the pictures for panels to be installed at Burgess Falls State Park in Tennessee. This artistic project required the rendering of three panels representing a woodland, lake and stream bank areas. Altogether, the panels illustrate 15 specific trees, 37 plants and flowers, 41 insects and 65 mammals, birds, fish and amphibians.

The Lake Habitat

In January, 2006, Dan Webber, Exhibits Program Administrator for Tennessee State Parks, said to the Friends of Dunbar Cave that he needed an artist for this project, his brainchild. Webber met Boen, and a month after meetings with John Froeshauer and Bill Summers, he gave her pencil sketches of the idea and what creatures he needed and left it up to her to make a final design. Asked about it now, he says he would have never thought to do this project the way that she did it.

Boen researched each animal, amphibian, bird (Red Shouldered Hawk at left), insect and plant, drew and painted them in large size, and then shrunk and cut them out to go on the panels. She said she did it that way because she could get the exact detail and colors that are true for each creature. Since she is not a naturalist, she would create the flexibility to change the size, shape, location or color at any time before gluing it down.

John Froeschauer, Regional Interpretive Specialist for Tennessee State Parks, evaluated the accuracy of the drawings. He was concerned with things like what season was being depicted and whether the plants and flowers illustrate that. Some flowers, dogwood, for example, bloom early in the season, so the summer dogwood tree does not have flowers. The spotted sandpiper Boen drew had to have spots added to its chest, as sandpipers have spots in the summer.

While John was most concerned about scientific accuracy, Boen was interested in the art of it. She explained

“I wanted each picture to draw you in and each creature to talk to you personally. I want you to walk away with a new interest in and relationship with nature.

The Woodland Panel

“I have been drawing for a long time. I like to use ink dots for lines and shading. I had never used water colors before and Dan Webber recommended a great brand of water colors. I was really impressed by how all the frogs turned out. Some of the fish and the whirligig beetle turned out well. The female mallard was one of my favorite birds along with the great blue heron. I designed the background after I knew what I had to put on it. The lake scene was going to feature the dam, but most of the creatures were in the swamp, so I switched viewpoints and now the dam is way off on the horizon. But it took me a long time time figure out the design.

“I can’t draw anything out of my head, I have to have a picture, so I ran into problems when I didn’t have a picture. Working long hours to draw so many creatures was fun. Figuring out colors ,and where to place things and arranging them on the picture, was fun. Not knowing what logs look like under water was torture. The accuracy for me was too important to make up something. I found out that fishing books have the best underwater pictures”.

The Streambank Panel

Boen took photos of Burgess and included what she could on the panels. An oak that lives at Burgess has a place in the oak tree drawing. A hemlock from the Burgess trail is featured. There’s a rock that has specific markings that she included. The lake and falls are formulated from pictures of the site. When she needed them, she wrote to Bill Summers, Ranger at Burgess, and he sent pictures.

Boen said:

“It was a secret dream of mine, to draw panels for a park. Our family has been to so many parks over the years and when I’ve looked at panels I’ve thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to make that?” So when Dan asked for an artist I felt like the dream was becoming a possibility.”

Polyphemus Moth

Dan and John decided not to label each creature separately but to list what is there and ask the public to interactively see if they can locate them. Boen finished the lake and river side panels in October 2007.

Dan Webber (left) is now working on the descriptions to finish them. They are expected to be on display at Burgess Falls in spring, 2008.Burgess Falls is located off exit 280 on Interstate 40, east of Nashville. Along its walking trail are three waterfalls and a lake. The panels will adorn these areas. Boen’s visits to Burgess made her fall in love with it.

“Climbing down the rocks at the third falls and feeling the mist in my face was really wonderful. It’s not a big park but it’s excellent.”

After this more than a year and a half project, Boen says that she is now free to do things like work on her neglected yard, create other art, clean her house, watch movies, rabble rouse (Debbie is founder of FreeThinkers for Peace and Civil Liberties), see more live theatre, and not feel guilty about having an unfinished project hanging over her head.

“It took a long time, much longer than any of us would have preferred, but I think that something this important merits it.”

Boen’s process included a preliminary plotting of both the landscape and it’s inhabitants. These next few photos reveals just a few steps in the development of the panels:

The Concept

Background Landscape

The first creatures added to this panel

See what haunting history lurks inside the cave through these 3 fun and informative, not scary, skits performed by young professional actors.

You’ll learn haunting facts from Ben (Hi!), the Science Guy, hear the hauntingly happy memories of the Roy Acuff and Big Band Era days and leave with haunting questions about the ancient Indian art found in caves.

These brand new skits are written and produced by Debbie Boen and acted by former stars of the Roxy Theatre, Ben McCormack, Elizabeth Hadden, Isabelle Harden, Katie Harden, Rachel Jones, Corey Klem and Logan Klem.

Critics have this to say about the skits

“Striking!” says Chicken Little of Starstruck.

“All that was missing was the popcorn!” says local patron, Eidey Lot

“Hauntingly familiar!” says I. M. Dunbar

Additional features of this event

• Exquisitely carved pumpkins in the cave by Amy Wallace
• Tiki Torch lit path to the cave
• Free hot chocolate and apple cider at the Visitor Center
• Tee shirts on sale by Friends of Dunbar Cave
• Put a bat on the bat wall for $1, also by Friends
• A cave!
• The dark (there’s no place darker than a cave)

No reservations necessary. Bring the kids (over 3—to go into the cave), bring the adults! Tours leave the visitor center every time there’s enough people gathered, so parents can switch off watching the very young ones, or the pets, to go into the cave. Everyone will get something hauntingly valuable out of this event. All actors and helpers are volunteers. They enjoy your applause and enthusiasm! And you will be supporting our valuable park at the same time!

Contact: Debbie Boen (hours 8-4:30) at Dunbar Cave State Natural Area (931) 648-5526. Interested in volunteering? Call me!

The Haunting History Hikes
are Sponsored by
the Friends of Dunbar Cave!
All proceeds go right back into the Park

There will be a reception on Thursday, July 6, from 5 pm till it’s finished.

Upon entering, you will know that you are at the right place if Lady Liberty (knife in back) by me greets you as you walk thru the door.

Besides seeing great art, being in a place with an outstanding atmosphere, you will get to meet and chit chat with Chris Lugo, the Green Party canidate running for State Senate.

Come on by, it’s safe, we promise!