Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson has announced that the Park's Sept. 2nd 75th Anniversary Re-dedication at Newfound Gap will be attended by an impressive array of officials from North Carolina and Tennessee.

The Park has confirmed the participation of North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.   U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan from North Carolina and Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and all three Congressmen whose districts include the Park, Heath Shuler of North Carolina and John J. Duncan, Jr. and Phil Roe in Tennessee, will be part of the ceremony.

"We are overjoyed and honored to have this most distinguished group join us for this observance," Park Superintendent Ditmanson said. "We are also happy to announce that our 75th Anniversary Ambassador, Dolly Parton, will be on hand to make remarks about her love of the Smokies and to perform two of the songs which she wrote for "Sha-Kon-O-Hey!", her musical tribute to the Great Smoky Mountains."

The program will also feature musical performances by the Gatlinburg-Pittman High School and the Swain County, North Carolina High School Bands, and a special Cherokee blessing by Cherokee Elder Jerry Wolfe.

Ditmanson said, "The first round of invitations were sent out on July 31 and included a wide range of elected officials, tourism agencies, and Park partner organizations. We have also invited pre-park residents, Civilian Conservation Corps veterans and individuals who were at the original 1940 event.  As RSVPs come in, we expect that there will be space available for additional people within the 2,000-person capacity.

The RSVPs from the first invitations are due Aug. 14 and, once we get a sense of how many people plan to be there, we expect to announce a process for the public at large to request tickets on a first-come-first-served basis."

Because of the limitations of the site the Park has announced that Newfound Gap Road will be closed from 8 p.m. on Sept.1 to 6 p.m. on Sept. 2.  Plans have been made to bus all attendees from parking areas outside the Park.

"Although we will need to close Newfound Gap Road, as they did in 1940 and for the Park's 50th Anniversary in 1984," Ditmanson said, "We want people to know that the remainder of the Park will remain open as usual.

Visitors will still be able to enjoy Park destinations such as Cades Cove, Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, Cataloochee and Deep Creek as well as most of the Park's trails. All three of the Park's Visitor Centers will also be available to provide visitors with ideas about taking advantage of the some of the Park's ten outlying entrances."