Thanksgiving Traditions at the Titanic in Pigeon Forge

It's that time of year again. The leaves are turning, the air is crisp and cool and we begin to review our 2014 resolutions to make sure we have accomplished everything that we set forth to do. And, we begin planning our Thanksgiving holiday. I have heard a lot of complaints online this year about Thanksgiving. Why do we have to jump from Halloween to Christmas in the retail stores? What about Thanksgiving? Well, my friends, we don't have to conform to the ways of the retail world. We can give Thanksgiving the attention it deserves.

And at the Titanic Museum Attraction, our crew thinks it deserves a huge Thanksgiving holiday celebration. Why? We know that our Titanic Attractions exist because of people like you. People who love history and want to know more about the history of the Titanic. People who want to hear and share the stories of the passengers and crew who sailed Her over 100 years ago. We call you "Titaniacs" and we couldn't be more pleased with your enthusiasm and love for our ships.

Our crew family has a new tradition, 5 years running. We gather together with friends, relatives, co-workers, and patrons to enjoy a magnificent fireworks display over the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge. This year, it kicks off at 7pm on Thanksgiving evening, Thursday, November 27th and is followed by a REAL LIVE Snow fall off the bow of the ship. It is our way of saying Thank You. We hope you will come tour the ship, learn about the families who sailed on Titanic, and enjoy a celebration of Thanksgiving with us. We'd be honored to have you.



 Erin Wicker
Chief Purser
Titanic Museum Attraction
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Mom Bloggers enjoy Titanic's Christmas Kickoff!

Last Friday night, the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tn. hosted a special MOM BLOGGER event to help the museum kickoff the Christmas in a Winter Wonderland Celebration. Mom Bloggers from Knox News, Knox Moms, and other local Tennessee Moms with noteworthy Blogs attended this private event with their families. The Titanic Museum Attraction's owners John Joslyn and Mary Kellogg-Joslyn wanted to recognize these special women for their continued support of the new museum and wanted the moms and their families to experience this Grand Christmas celebration.

This event proved to be a huge success! I enjoyed meeting all of these amazing women and their families and was privileged to welcome each aboard our ship! All of the Mom bloggers enjoyed a private self-guided tour of the museum to see the ship adorned in Christmas decorations from the Edwardian period. Although the Titanic went down in April 1912, she had many Decembers planned and the museum decorates as a tribute to Her.

At 7:00pm, after each family enjoyed their private tour, we all met in the parking lot for the BIG event. We were joined by Rick Laney of Ackermann PR and many others from local news stations, newspapers, and magazines!  The Christmas Tree, set up in front of the fountains was magnificent. There were gifts stacked up under the bow of the tree which made for a perfect photo opportunity. The affair began with a Christmas ensemble choir, maids handing out candy, the lighting of the tree, and camels with wisemen of coarse! Then, music began to play and we all waited in anticipation for SNOW. Without delay, REAL snow began to fall from the bow of the ship produced from the same machinery that Disney World uses! Children and adults alike loved it. They danced to the music and tried to catch snow flakes on their tongues. Jaynee, our First Class Maid, waved from the BOW of the ship with a beautiful young "maid in training" Madisson and "Polar" the Titanic Bear.

As the snow began to build up on the museum's sidewalk, a fireworks display commenced, filling the sky with radiant colors. This event was done in Grand Scale just like the museum itself. I heard several guests proclaim that the fireworks display was better than anything they had seen during the 4th of July! Our Mom Bloggers and their families loved the experience. Some of their children were interviewed by the media which I believe they viewed as a huge honor.

I would like to personally thank Ali James of Knoxnews.com and Knoxmoms.com. She assisted me in reaching these wonderful moms who represent the families of Eastern Tennessee! Our ship and crew love being nestled in our new home in the Great Smoky Mountains and I would like to encourage all Moms reading my blog to visit the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tn. this holiday season. It is truly a Family Interactive Experience that you won't want to miss. Although you will not be able to see fireworks, it will snow each and every Friday and Saturday night at 7:00pm from now until January 1, 2011! Traffic is crazy on the Parkway so leave early and I strongly recommend that you pre-purchase your tickets on our website as the museum sells out very quickly each day!


Three Cheers and 1,000 Thank You's to Tennessee's very special MOM Bloggers and their familes!

Recommended Reading for Children-2 Heartwarming Stories about the Titanic

I want to tell you all about 2 wonderful childrens books that have recently been in the press and have really complimented what the Titanic Museum Attraction aims to accomplish for all children through the museums.


Titanicat is a wonderful childrens book that was written by Marty Crisp and published by Sleeping Bear Press, June 5, 2008. Titanicat is based on the true story of the ship's cat of the doomed Titanic. There was a young sailor named Jim Mulholland who befriended a cat that was traveling on the Titanic with her litter of kittens. He ends up being saved by the cat as it gets off of the ship with all but one of its kittens and then Jim decides to bring the last kitten to its mother. The young sailor learns later that because he rescued the last kitten of the litter off of the Titanic, he actually escaped his own demise.  The illustrations in this book are magnificent and perfect for any child in grades 1-4.

This book has been selected by the state of Missouri and the state of Tennessee as recommended reading for all schools. This selection is a very high honor to any book, and we are proud that it features the Titanic story in such an engaging way. You can purchase your copy today by visiting the Titanic Museum Attraction's online store at http://www.titanicbranson.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=125. 

The other book that I have to mention was written by a 4th grade student at Northview Primary School in Kodak, Tennessee. Nine year old Luke Copas visited the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tn earlier this summer with his Mom and Dad. See...Luke is an avid reader and loves reading about history; one of his favorite subjects is the Titanic. Luke knows so much information about the Titanic that he decided to write a book about it. When he visited the museum, he presented the book to Mary Kellogg-Joslyn, co-owner of the museum. She was so impressed with his writing and enthusiasm that she decided to help Luke get his book published.

Last week on September 16, 2010, in the library at  Northview Primary School, Mary Kellogg-Joslyn and 1st Class Maid Jaynee presented Luke with his very first copy of Facts For Kids About the Titanic by Luke Copas. The WBIR news story can be found at http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=134540&catid=8 ! Luke spent all day on Saturday at the museum signing copies of his new book and he has now been inspired to write a second book involving facts for adults. The Titanic Museum Attraction will have the book for sale in their store at the museum in Pigeon Forge, Tn and I hope that we can also include his book in our website store.

If you have any questions about how to get your hands on these two publications, send me a message or call our museum at 1-800-381-7670. Enjoy! I would love to hear your reviews!