The Town That Wouldn’t Drown

Old Butler Days To Pay Tribute To Flooded Town

BUTLER, Tenn. – Strike up the band. The 2008 Old Butler Days event, to be held Aug. 8-9, marks the 60th anniversary of the closing of the floodgates that created Watauga Lake. It also will be the 20th anniversary of Old Butler Days.
“The Town That Wouldn’t Drown” annually celebrates its continued existence on the banks of Watauga Lake with entertainment, contests, food and crafts. One might never suspect there are grocery stores, churches and sidewalks buried deep beneath the lake’s crystal clear waters, so it’s good to have these periodic reminders.
Anna Dugger was a resident of the former town and is now one of the Ruritans running the festival. She also runs the Old Butler Museum, a showcase of artifacts commemorating in pictures and displays Butler’s move to higher ground. In 1948, the Tennessee Valley Authority built the world’s largest earth dam (a mile thick at its base) and relocated hundreds of houses.
Rather than dwelling on the past – as has been done for the last 19 years – Dugger said this year festival organizers are looking to the future.
“This year, we’re going to have a first,” she said. “We’re going to do a green parade. Absolutely no motorized anything. Everybody is going to walk, or ride a horse or wagon. We’re trying to look after our ozone, and we’re going to have people dressed like trees and stuff like that.”
The Saturday morning parade is embedded at the center of two days of activities, when former residents of the long-vanished community return for school and family reunions, and the old-timers reminisce to reconstruct that old town, brick by brick, from memory.
In particular, they remember what people used to like to do for fun.
“We’ll have plenty of music and a lot of games and things for children,” Dugger said. “We’ll be doing several contests.”
One of those will be the Dog Bite Contest. “We’ll take hot dogs and have them stuck in mustard, mayonnaise or ketchup. And with the kids’ hands behind their backs, they try to see who can get the biggest bite,” she said.
The musical rockers contest will be a minor variation on musical chairs, with the winner taking home a rocking chair.
A little train rides the kids all around the festival – motorized, but with a relatively small motor – and there will be a smorgasbord of crafts and food.
“I think they’re going to have a cake baking contest and also a cobbler contest,” Dugger said. 
Shuttles will run to the classic car show at Cove Ridge Marina, and the raffles always generate a lot of enthusiasm.
“This year, we will be raffling off a 20-inch Snapper lawn mower,” Dugger said. “And then, we’re going to have a gas leaf blower and a weed eater. Tickets are $3.50 each or two for $5, and we’re also going to be raffling off a stainless steel grill. Those are the big prizes this year.”
The festival is held on the grounds of the Old Butler Museum. Conducted museum tours run through recreations of the Blue Bird Tea Room, T.R. Burgie’s General Store, F.P. Curtis & Sons (clothiers), the post office, the barber shop and the church.
The festival also affords an opportunity to get as close as possible to the real thing. Captain Wally Bender will take to the lake, touring the area that once was Old Butler in his 23-foot pontoon boat, “Toy Box.”
Here’s a rare chance to sit at the intersection of Main and Spring streets. On most days, the sky is blue, the lake is even bluer and just as the town residents have always claimed, it really is one of the nicest spots on the planet.
Directions: Take 19E to Hampton and turn left on Highway 67. After crossing Watauga Lake, take the first left onto Piercetown Road into the town of Butler, and make an immediate right onto McQueen. For more information, call (423) 768-3880.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS - AUG. 8
2-7 p.m.: Pontoon rides with Captain Wally Bender
5 p.m.: Eddie Shelton
6 p.m.: Next Big Thing
6:30 p.m.: Hatfield
7 p.m.: Line dancers from Unicoi
7:45 p.m.: Musical rockers contest
8 p.m.: Phyllis and Mack’s Dance Group
8:30 p.m.: Old Jonas, storyteller
9:15 p.m.: Tisha Pruit
10 p.m.: 50/50 giveaway (you win half the pot if your ticket is drawn)

AUG. 9
10 a.m.: Green Parade
11 a.m.: Car show opens at Cove Ridge Marina. Shuttle service available.
11:30 a.m.: Hula hoop contest
Noon: Next Big Thing
12:45 p.m.: Watermelon seed spitting contest
1 p.m.: Next Big Thing and a cobbler contest, winners announced at 1:30 p.m.
2:45 p.m.: Children’s musical rockers contest
3 p.m.: Family Ties, bluegrass
3:30 p.m.: Old Jonas, storyteller
4:15 p.m.: Mr. Bill and Bodie (music, balloons, magic, games and a piano-playing dog)
5 p.m.: Dog Bite Contest
5:30 p.m.: Line dancers from Unicoi
6:15 p.m.: Shady Grove Band
7:15 p.m.: Johnson County Choral Group
8 p.m.: Tisha Pruit
9 p.m.: Elvis, aka Brian Keener
10 p.m.: Raffle drawing, Snapper mower, Stihl weedeater and a stainless steel gas grill

Lois Carol Wheatley is a freelance writer. Contact her at .