The Highlander Center

The view of the Smoky Mountains from The Highlander Center

Following the ceremony, please join us for a casual reception at The Highlander Center in New Market, TN. Located about 25 miles east of the Laurel Theater, Highlander is on a 106-acre farm in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Okay, so it's a little out of the way-but we couldn't think of a more beautiful spot to kick back and celebrate with our family and friends.

We expect the reception to get into full swing around 5:30pm. We'll provide an outdoor buffet dinner, old time music by Evan Carawan and friends, and a spectacular view of the Smokies. (Keep your fingers crossed for a clear day!) For the night owls, we'll light a bonfire as the sun goes down (after 8pm) and bring out the hot dogs and marshmallows.

Feel free to bring the kids. If you'd like to relax with the adults for a while, we'll have a sitter, toys, and a Disney movie or two to occupy them in Highlander's childcare room.

Directions to Highlander

We will provide maps and directions to Highlander at the ceremony. If you'd like to have them in advance, here you go:

From the Laurel Theater:

• From Downtown Knoxville, take I-40 (toward Asheville) to exit 398 (Strawberry Plains).
• Turn left (north) at the end of the exit ramp and proceed for 3.1 miles to the stop sign. Be cautious of traffic here.
• Turn right onto Hwy. 25W-70, and proceed for 9.2 miles to Russell Gap Road. (About halfway, you will pass the Handy Dandy convenience store; about 2 miles down the road, there will be a long white fence on your left-following it, Russell Gap is the 2nd road on the left. Across from the turn is a sign on the right that reads Holiway Farms.)
• Turn left onto Russell Gap Road and proceed for l.4 miles along a road with 3 deep curves. You will see a blue pole with the Highlander sign on your right. Take the paved road up the hill. The Administrative Building is on your right. You'll see other buildings and a tent further up the hill. Signs will be there to direct you to parking.

About the Highlander Center

Martin Luther King, Pete Seeger, Charis Horton, Rosa Parks, & Ralph Abernathy in front of the Highlander Library, Monteagle, TN.

The Highlander Center was founded in 1932 to serve as an adult education center for community workers involved in social and economic justice movements. The goal of Highlander was and is to provide education and support to poor and working people fighting economic injustice, poverty, prejudice, and environmental destruction. Highlander sponsors educational programs and research into community problems, as well as a residential Workshop Center for social change organizations and workers active in the South and internationally. Generations of activists have come to Highlander to learn, teach, and prepare to participate in struggles for justice.

Over the course of its history, Highlander has played important roles in many major political movements, including the Southern labor movements of the 1930s, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s-60s, and the Appalachian people's movements of the 1970s-80s. For more information about Highlander's history and current work, visit www.hrec.org.