February 5, 2009

Plan Now For Texas BFCon ’09

It is never too early to make your vacation and travel plans for visiting Bigfoot conferences. The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy just posted the following, so now the rest is up to you.

2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference

By Daryl Colyer and Alton Higgins

The Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy (TBRC) announced…the finalized location for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference.

Over the last several years, the annual fundraising event has continued to grow in size from 150 attendees in 2001 to over 500 attendees in recent years. In 2006, the event was combined with the “Bigfoot in Texas?” exhibit in San Antonio at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Institute of Texan Cultures. This year’s event will be in Tyler, Texas at the Caldwell Auditorium and is scheduled for 26 September 2009. The all-day conference event features an impressive list of speakers who present the latest in Bigfoot sightings and research. The list of speakers will be announced at a later date.

The TBRC is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit scientific charitable organization, comprised of volunteer investigators, scientists and naturalists, pursuing education and research activities pertaining to the centuries-old “Wildman” phenomenon in North America. The TBRC proposes that the source of the phenomenon is a biological entity, probably an unlisted large primate. The organization is actively engaged in activities designed to test that hypothesis, including the onsite investigation of credible reported sightings in the Ark-La-Tex-Okla region.

The TBRC is funded by membership dues, fundraisers, and the annual Texas Bigfoot Conference, in addition to donations and grants. The TBRC desires to enhance the credibility of Bigfoot/Sasquatch research and facilitate a greater degree of acceptance by the scientific community and other segments of society of the likelihood of a biological basis behind the Sasquatch mystery.

The host hotel for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference is the Sleep Inn and Suites, located at 5555 South Donnybrook Avenue in Tyler (903-581-8646). For those planning to attend, it is recommended that hotel rooms be reserved well in advance. In order to qualify for the discounted price of $89 plus tax, the hotel needs to know that the person or group is in town for the 2009 Texas Bigfoot Conference. The Sleep Inn and Suites will provide a complimentary hot buffet breakfast and a meeting room for Conference attendees. The overflow hotels are: Comfort Suites (903-534-0999); and Holiday Inn Select (903-561-5800).

General admission to the Conference is $15, but there is a package that includes a catered fundraiser banquet with the speakers, TBRC researchers and other bigfoot researchers after the Conference on Saturday night, 26 September 2009 at the Discovery Science Place in Tyler. This also includes premium reserved seating at the Conference and lunch. This package is $60 if paid prior to the event.

Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas in the United States. The city is named for President John Tyler in recognition of his support for Texas’s admission to the United States.

Tyler has been nicknamed the “Rose Capital of America” because of its large role in the rose-growing industry; about 20% of commercial rose bushes produced in the U.S. are grown in Tyler and Smith County and more than half of the rose bushes are packaged and shipped from the area. It boasts the nation’s largest municipal rose garden and hosts the Texas Rose Festival each October, which draws more than 100,000 spectators.

Annually, the Texas Rose Festival, which celebrates the role of the rose-growing industry in the local economy, features a parade, the coronation of the Rose Queen, and other civic events. There is also a Rose Museum featuring the history of the Festival.

Tyler is home to Caldwell Zoo. The zoological park has speciality areas for local wildlife (in 1983, a 15-acre native Texas area was opened), as well as a concentration of east African animals, including African elephants, zebras, lions, cheetahs, and giraffes, and South American species. The zoo houses a “Wild Bird Walkabout” featuring over 400 parakeets and cockatiels. Bird, otter and penguin presentations have also expanded, allowing for the further education of the public.

Several local museums, Lake Palestine, Lake Tyler, and numerous golf courses and country clubs also filled the city with recreational outlets. There is also an “Azalea Trail,” which are 2 officially designated routes within the city that showcase homes or other landscaped venues adorned with azalea shrubs.

Tyler State Park is a few miles away where visitors can camp, canoe, and paddle boat on the lake. Activities include picnicking; camping; boating (motors allowed – 5 mph speed limit); boat rentals; fishing; birding; hiking; mountain biking and hiking trails; lake swimming (in unsupervised swimming area); and nature study. The Smith County Historical Society operates a museum and archives in the old Carnegie Library.

For history buffs, Tyler is the location of Camp Ford, the largest Confederate Prisoner of War Camp west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. The site of the camp is now a public park, managed by the Smith County Historical Society. The park features a kiosk with extensive graphics detailing the history of the camp, a walking trail with interpretive signage, a reconstruction of a POW cabin, and picnic facilities. It is open daily from dawn to dusk with free admission. It is located on Highway 271, 0.8 miles north of Loop 323.

How has Tyler touched Hollywood? Well, Sandy Duncan, the actress, though born in Henderson, grew up in Tyler and attended Birdwell Elementary School there. Arthur “Dooley” Wilson, the famed actor and singer most well known for playing Sam in the movie Casablanca was from Tyler.

Filed under Bigfoot, Breaking News, Conferences, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoology Conferences, Pop Culture, Public Forum, Sasquatch, Skunk Apes, Windigo