Page 28 - Catoosa Community Guide

Perhaps the best attraction of this area
is the natural beauty
of the ridges and valleys in Catoosa County.
Tourists can enjoy a drive through miles
TOURISM of picturesque rural communities.

For liquid refreshment, the Georgia Winery
& Vineyards off Battlefield Parkway offers
wine lovers more than 30 different blends
of wines – dry, sweet, light and full-bodied.
A pioneer in the farm winemaking
industry, the winery gives a look at the 3239 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742 | 706-866-5400
freeze fermentation of wine production, www.heritagebattlefield.com
along with wine tastings seven days a week.

Visitors can take in attractions in neighboring
Chattanooga that include the Tennessee
Aquarium, Rock City, Ruby Falls, Creative
Discovery Museum, IMAX Theater, enjoy Chickamauga Creek
a stroll along the Tennessee River and the Ben Friberg, Managing Partner Russell Friberg, Founder David Cummings, Funeral Director
Riverwalk, and explore the burgeoning
Northshore and Southside. SERVING THE NORTH GEORGIA COMMUNITY FOR 20 YEARS

FH mag.indd 1 8/18/2017 7:32:54 AM
CATOO SA
Local Talent Randall Franks
is an accomplished musician and actor.

One of Ringgold’s treasures is the creative artistry of film and TV out there,” Franks says.
actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician Randall Franks, He credits country legends
a local resident since 2000. A master fiddler also skilled in playing Bill Monroe and Roy Acuff
the mandolin, guitar and dulcimer, Franks was inducted into the for helping to open doors
Independent Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013, recognized as he could never have
a bluegrass legend by the International Bluegrass Music Museum, envisioned. If I had tried
named to the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004, and to figure out how to do it,
designated the “Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle.” I couldn’t have. I never
dreamed of being a
His musical accomplishments paved the way for a successful acting Hollywood actor, or being
career, which has included portraying Officer Randy Goode in the at the Grand Ole Opry,”
TV series, “In the Heat of the Night,” alongside Carroll O’Connor, Franks admits. “It boggles
and appearing in the 50th anniversary Hallmark Hall of Fame film, my mind the things God
“The Flamingo Rising,” with William Hurt and Elizabeth McGovern. has done for me.”
Franks also has written a number of books, including a novel, and
a screenplay. Despite prominence as an
actor and musician, he has never forgotten his local roots, being
“Both of my folks came off the farm and neither were musicians. the namesake for the Randall Franks Trophy presented annually at
There’s nothing wrong with farming, but they wanted me to have the fiddle competition at Ringgold’s 1980’s Day Jamboree, and
an education and push me toward whatever opportunities were even serving on the city council since 2009.

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