It's here! GSMA members should receive their complimentary copy of the new magazine in 2-3 weeks.

This first issue contains great stories, beautifully illustrated. There's one about Cumberland Jack, K-9 King of Mt. Le Conte. Jack is a four-legged creature whose exploits have become the stuff of legend.

We reveal the secret recipe for Le Conte Lodge hot chocolate.

You'll enjoy learning about the Rebirth of the Cherokee Language -- The Eastern Band's battle to save themselves.

Camera buffs will especially like the story about James E. Thompson, Photographer. The article wonders if the park would exist if not for the photos of Jim Thompson.

The Night the Mountain Fell starts our like all good suspense stories: "It was a dark and stormy night. Then all hell broke loose."

People who enjoy crafts will love A Quilt Historian Gets Her Wish -- A day with the Walker Sisters' Collection.
And anyone who is fascinated by the Smokies black bears will get a kick out of the story entitled "So, ranger, how many bears you got in this park, anyway?" It's not as easy to count bears as you might think.

GSMA's own Lisa Horstman and Steve Kemp will be signing their best-selling books at Sugarlands Visitor Center on Thursday, October 25 from 10:00 am - 12:30 pm.

Lisa will sign her wonderful books for young people: Great Smoky Mountains Salamander Ball, Great Smoky Mountains Wee Ones, The Troublesome Cub, Great Smoky Mountains Coloring Book, the four new Junior Ranger books, and The Smokies Yukky Book.

Steve will sign his terrific books: Who Pooped in the Park?; Trees of the Smokies; Great Smoky Mountains Simply Beautiful; Great Smoky Mountains Natural Wonder, National Park; Great Smoky Mountains Impressions; and the premier issue of Smokies Life Magazine.

On Friday, October 26, Rose Houk and Steve Kemp will sign more mega-bestsellers at Sugarlands Visitor Center from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm.

Rose will sign her mega-hits: Cades Cove: Dream of the Smokies, The Walker Sisters of Little Greenbrier, GSM: The Range of Life, Exploring the Smokies, and Food & Recipes of the Smokies.

A limited number of these jackets are being offered exclusively through this newsletter!

A super cozy and extra-durable fleece jacket that proclaims your support for the park!

Warm gray fleece is reinforced in the shoulders, wrist, and waist with sturdy black nylon. Your hands will stay warm in two exterior pockets that will zip for extra security.

A third zipping pocket in the upper right chest provides extra storage and the charming GSMA logo on the upper left chest shows the world that you are cool, as well as caring.

In the fall in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you can come see molasses being made the old-fashioned way with mule-powered cane mills and stone furnaces.

But if you want to taste the rich sweetness of this authentic mountain fare, you'll have to order this sorghum molasses from us!

Especially made so we can share this piece of Southern mountain history with you. Delicious on biscuits and in recipes.

This pretty boxed set of notecards features 20 cards with envelopes (4 each of 5 images).

The beautiful photographs feature the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River, sunset on a frost covered Mt. Le Conte, Meigs Falls, a white-tailed deer in Cades Cove, and the Noah "Bud" Ogle cabin in snow.

These cards are printed on super high quality heavy card stock. They are a tremendous value for the price.

Bull elk are bugling right now in Cataloochee Valley. It's a good time to watch bulls spar and defend their harems.

It's a busy time for the Elk Bugle Corps, too — volunteers who patrol the valley weekday afternoons and all day on weekends answering questions and giving informal "elk talks" to interested and curious visitors.

The volunteers carry an "Elk Education Trunk" that was donated to the park from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The trunk has elk antlers, animal skins, skulls, scat, and other tools that allow visitors a hands-on approach to learning more about elk and other wildlife.

The elk population is growing and the survival rate of elk calves is way up, too (from 30% to as high as 85 %)!