Press Releases

The latest press releases from the City of Athens, Department of Tourism and our tourism partners are available on this page. Click the titles of each press release to be taken to the full article.

Pass the Black-eyed Peas, Please

January 2012: If you’re superstitious or Texan (or Southern), the odds are good that black-eyed peas serve as part of your New Year’s Day menu every year. If you possess both traits, it’s a given that you are among the true believers who eat black-eyed peas on January 1, because doing so is supposed to bring good luck and prosperity the rest of the year.

The Great Hamburger Debate

October 2011: Just which investigative organization’s jurisdiction the debate falls under is unclear, but it is high time somebody gets on the ball and once and for all sets this culinary issue to rest. The public has the right to know just who gave this country one of its greatest, most time-honored backyard-cookout and fast-food-chain traditions. (As reprinted from American Airlines magazine)

Divers Splash into Underwater World at Scuba Park

September 25, 2011: Scuba divers splash into the silent underwater world and commence exploring sunken objects in a Caribbean-blue lake at an unlikely site inside this East Texas town's business district.

A Zip Through Athens

August 2011: Athens is 75 miles southeast of Dallas in the post oak savannah, a region of Texas originally characterized by tall hardwood trees and bunch grasses, creeks and bogs.

Local Swimmers to Have Opportunity to Learn from Olympians

July 6, 2011: The Athens Cain Center and its swim team, Swim Athens are pleased to announce that they will host a Mutual of Omaha Breakout! Swim Clinic on Monday, August 15 from 4p – 7p at the Athens Cain Center Pool. They invite all East Texas area youth athletes to take advantage of a unique opportunity to experience competitive swimming and enhance their swimming skills by working with 2 Olympic Swimming Champions Josh Davis and Kim Vandenberg.

Farm and Ranch Tour Tuesday

May 12, 2011: The caravan pulls out Tuesday morning for the 48th annual Henderson County Farm and Ranch Tour.

The tour originated back in 1963 with pioneers like Jay Benson, Wyndel Tackett, J.D. Lewis, Woodrow Walker, Buford McLaughlin, Hub Moon and John Corley creating an opportunity for citizens to see some of the county’s leading agricultural operations first-hand.

New Record Bass for Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center’s Lake Zebco

March 16, 2011: Spring break 2011 will long be remembered as special by Chris McCaskill, 18, of Lewisville.

About noon March 15 McCaskill was fishing in TFFC’s 1.5-acre casting pond when he caught a 10.72-pound largemouth bass, a new water body record. McCaskill was targeting blue and channel catfish or rainbow trout with a night crawler when the big bass bit.

Free Rainbow Trout Harvest at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

March 15, 2011: Visitors to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) are invited to harvest rainbow trout at no charge from now through the end of the season in late April.

Athens Facility Offers Gardens, Botanical Classes and Farmhouse Museum

February 27, 2011: Down a narrow country road and almost out of sight is a place of beauty that Bobby Hill describes as "a hidden jewel in East Texas."

First Signs of Spring Arrive at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

February 23, 2011: The first signs of spring have arrived at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, and they are not what you might expect. The redbuds are not blooming. The purple martin scouts are not circling the birdhouses around the casting pond. The bass are not spawning. But a harbinger of the changing seasons just as reliable landed in Zoe Ann Stinchcomb’s mailbox this week: the first batch of entries in the Texas division of the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest.

National Travel and Tourism Week

February 22, 2011: Annual Salute to Travel and Tourism in America

Fly Fish Texas: You're One Day Away from a Lifetime of Fun

February 22, 2011: Tie a fly. Cast a fly. Catch a fish. That’s all there is to fly-fishing, and Fly Fish Texas is the place to learn it.

Falcon, O.H. Ivie Singing Toyota ShareLunker Duet

February 21, 2011: Toyota ShareLunker program manager David Campbell might well be putting new words to the song “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” before the current season ends.

Artists and Exhibitors Sought for National Art Expo in East Texas

February 7, 2011: The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center and Wildlife Forever need artists and exhibitors to participate in the 13^th annual National State-Fish Art Contest Expo to be held concurrently with the 2^nd annual Art’s Better Outside event on Saturday, June 25, 2011, at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens.

City of Athens, TX embraces social web, custom CMS at athens.tx.org

January 31, 2011: The City of Athens, Texas has launched a cutting edge website aimed at showcasing all Athens has to offer with a mission to drive tourism to the City at www.athenstx.org. Speaking at the launch Director of Tourism Darlene Forshage explained her vision for building a website that provided a meaningful service to visitors as well as a giving City Hall a modern and effective way to market Athens.

Splash returns to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

January 24, 2011: It's often said that fame is fleeting, but that does not apply to Splash, the former world record blue catfish caught from Lake Texoma January 16, 2004, by Cody Mullennix of Howe.

This week the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) unveiled a new Splash display featuring a full-size fiberglass replica of the fish and her complete skeleton, which was assembled and prepared for display by personnel at the University of Texas at Austin's Texas Natural History Collections at the J.J. Pickle Research Center.

New Venue Honors Duct Tape Messiah Blaze Foley

December 15, 2010: Marsha Weldon’s sprawling, not-yet-finished barbecue restaurant and music venue near downtown Athens is a tribute to her brother, who wrote some great songs, was usually homeless and often drunk, somewhat belligerent but with a big heart, and was murdered before he began to become the legend he always hoped he would be.

Dallas Morning News: Big Green Egg - Odd ceramic grill has a cultlike following

December 07, 2010: An Eggfest comes to Athens, Texas on Friday April 15. You could divide outdoor cooks into two camps: grillers and smokers – but that would overlook the Eggheads, a rather zealous subgroup. Egghead is a nickname for fans of the Big Green Egg, a ceramic, egg-shaped smoker-grill with a cultlike following.

Lone Star Western Wear ready for massive store expansion

November 23, 2010: Joe Masso has been a fixture in Athens for more than 30 years. In 1977, he opened his first western store in town, Cowtown Western Wear. He later opened Lone Star Western Wear on East Tyler Street.