Take a stroll in Atmore
Published 9:34 am Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Atmore is one of 27 towns across the state which will be a part of the Alabama Tourism Department’s June Walking Tours.
Beginning June 4, and continuing throughout the month, each Saturday’s tour will feature some of the outstanding and interesting points of interest throughout the city.
The June Walking Tours have been coordinated to take place at the same times throughout the state. Brian Jones, with the Alabama Tourism Department, is the coordinator.
“Alabama is the only state in the nation to hold statewide, simultaneous walking tours,” Jones said. “The beauty of the June Walking Tours is that any community, whether big or small, can do this. We have done more than 1,200 walking tours since the beginning of the program eight years ago and they keep increasing in popularity every year.”
Along with Atmore, Monroeville and Fairhope in the southwestern part of the state, will also join the walking tours this year. Each tour will begin at 10 a.m. and is approximately one hour long. Different community leaders will escort those attending through the historic district or courthouse square areas of their hometowns, sharing their personal remembrances and some tall tales from the old days. The hour-long tours will begin on June 4, and will continue on June 11, 18, and 25.
Atmore’s first walking tour will begin at Heritage Park and will cover the historic buildings in the park and the YMCA building.
Sheryl Vickery, director of the Greater Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, said she is looking forward to the tours this year.
“This is the second year that I have been involved in the walking tours,” she said. “We will begin at Heritage Park on June 4, and continue with a walk-by tour of homes on June 11. We won’t go inside the homes, but will walk by while the guide discusses who owns them, and tells something about the architecture. On June 18, we will tour downtown and focus on the park at First National Bank and Trust. The tours will end on June 25, with a tour of churches. Right now I don’t know if this will include an inside tour of any church. We are still working on the details.
“June is usually hot, but I hope this won’t turn people away from the tours,” Vickery added. “They are only an hour long and will contain a lot of information, so I urge everyone to come out and support one of the ways we get the word out about Atmore.”
For more information about the Alabama Tourism Department and the walking tours, call the Greater Atmore Chamber of Commerce at 368-3305, go online to www.alabama.travel, or call 1-800-ALABAMA.