The
History of the
Lookout
Valley
Community
By
Richard
Alexander McKeel
Chapter
Six
“Arts
and Entertainment"
Much of the arts in the area have come about through the years because of
the reopening of
John
A.
Patten
Elementary School
as a community arts center.
The center is home of the “Busy Bee Quilters,” Chattanooga Wood Workers
Association, “
Tennessee
Ballet
School
,” and countless other arts
and crafts organizations.
Lookout
Valley
High School
has a marching band who has
received excellent to superior ratings at band competitions in their early
years. In addition to the band, the local high school has an award winning arts
program and excellent drama, vocal, and choir program.
Lookout
Valley
Chorus Practice singing in fall 2003 at Christmas at
the Courthouse.
Movies
that have used the scenic beauty of
Lookout
Valley
The nature beauty of
Lookout
Valley
has even brought
Hollywood
to
Lookout
Valley
. The movies The Night the
Lights went out in Georgia and Starman were filmed in parts of
Lookout
Valley
. In addition The Light in
the Forest staring Fess Parker was filmed in
Lookout
Valley
. This is unique because many
of the extras were Lookout Valley Citizens; for example Raymond
"Bubba" Fryar acted as a stand in as portraying Mohawk Native
American.
Media
in
Lookout
Valley
In 1961, WFLI Radio “Jet Fly” moved to a new location on of
O’Grady Drive
. In the station’s early
years the station played rock and roll music. Today, WFLI is still in
Lookout
Valley
and now has become a
Christian Radio Station, located on 1070 on the AM radio dial.
WFLI Radio on
O'Grady Drive
since 1961
The
Lookout Valley Community even has its own newspaper, The Lookout Valley
Informer. The paper is put together by Editor Jewell Smalley, Sam Tucker,
his wife Kim, and many people in the community have contributed to the articles
to the paper since the mid-1990s.
Lookout
Drive-In
Would you have believed there once was a drive-in located in
Lookout
Valley
? On the present site of
Lookout
Valley
Recreational
Vehicle
Park
on Old US 41 was home of the
Lookout Drive-In, one of the only five drive-ins around the city of
Chattanooga
. The other four were located
on
Twenty-Third Street
, Hixson Pike,
South Broad Street
, and the last one was found
in Red Bank. From the 1940s through the early 1960s this was a place where
families and young couples went to see movies such as Old Yeller, Rebel
without a Cause, and in countless other movies. In 1956, the drive-in was
sold and the early 1960s the Lookout Drive-In was gone.
This is not a photo
of the Drive-in that was out here but according to a reliable source this is
very similar to the one that was located in Lookout Valley
Lewis Smith
Lookout
Valley
is hometown of actor Lewis
Smith born in
January 1, 1957
, to Art and Maureen Smith
who lived here for many years in
Lookout
Valley
. Lewis was a member of the
second graduating class of
Lookout
Valley
High School
in 1974. He attended college
at the
University
of
Tennessee
at
Chattanooga
, majoring in Theatrical
Arts. Lewis Smith's first movie role was in Southern Comfort, which came
out in 1981, but this would not be his last performance. Since then Lewis has
been in countless films such as The Heavenly Kid, Toothless, In
the Line of Duty, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai , Badlands,
and the mini-series North and South Books One and Two, just to mention a
few.
Currently
Lewis Smith is a volunteer with the Donna Reed Foundation in
Los Angeles
,
California
.
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SEVEN
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Richard Alexander McKeel
___________________________________
Copyright
©
2004
mailto:richardamckeel@bellsouth.net