Band of Heathens performs Friday at Nightfall.
Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
BARRY COURTER: Lisa, if I mention Swiss heritage, what comes to your mind first: yodeling, marshmallows in hot chocolate or "The Sound of Music?" I bet it's not Gruetli-Laager, but the fact is, the little town up the road has a good deal of Swiss history, and residents celebrate it every year with a festival.
LISA DENTON: Don't forget "Heidi." You probably didn't read Johanna Spyri's book in elementary school, but it was one of my favorites.
BARRY: I did not read the book but do vaguely remember the famous "Heidi" game in 1968 (I was 5, so maybe I just heard about it later) when NBC cut out of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Joe Namath-led New York Jets to begin the movie. Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to win 43-32. Some folks were not happy.
LISA: I thought about naming my daughter Heidi, but in the South you can't call out "Heidi" without folks thinking you're saying hello.
BARRY: That's a good instinct. There would have been a lot of "Howdys" thrown back your way at the park and playground, I imagine.
Anyway, Gruetli-Lager traces its Swiss heritage back to 1869 when German-speaking Swiss immigrants set up shop there on the Cumberland Plateau, or the "'teau," as you call it. The festival is Saturday at the Stocker-Stampfli Farm Museum on Highway 399.
LISA: The festival looks like a lot of fun. One of the bands playing Saturday will be the Musik Meisters out of Nashville. They are said to be a polka band that wears Tyrolean attire - which apparently means "men in shorts," judging from their promo photo. You can also take a hayride around the barn, tour the cheese house and sample some wines.
BARRY: And, closer to home, the She Expo, produced by the Times Free Press, is Saturday and Sunday at the Chattanooga Convention Center. In addition to the vendors, health screenings, food sampling, fashion shown and health and fitness demonstrations, celebrities scheduled to be there are Leigh Anne Tuohy on Saturday, the mom who inspired "The Blind Side" movie, and Tabatha Coffey, star of "Tabatha Takes Over," on Sunday.
LISA: Also Sunday is the "Top Tomato" theme at Chattanooga Market, sponsored by Blood Assurance. One of the events is a Bloody Mary sampling.
And Band of Heathens will be at Nightfall on Friday. That's a great name for a band. They play country-tinged rock, blues and folk. Opening is High Meadows Communion, a group of young local musicians who describe their sound as an amalgamation of The Avett Brothers, Kopecky, Houndmouth and The Head and the Heart. They had me at Avett Brothers.
Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.