Just now getting around to writing about this, so you may or may not have heard the latest news coming out of Sparta aka Covington Ga. It is finally on the way and they have named it “Re-Heat 2014 Tour”. Tourism director Jenny McDonald announced last week on the facebook fan page that the tour is going to be a reality. In May 2014 fans of the show are going to be treated with the introduction of the ReHeat Tour, which will launch into what I am calling “Fandemonium”. This will be on my list of things to make a point of attending. I know all the folks are working real hard to bring back the tour that was abandoned when the show was cancelled almost 20 years ago. Back then the tour featured some of the prominent filming location that the show used including the old McGuffy Hotel. But now that site is abandoned as well but even though the ReHeat Tour is shaping up to be something every Heat fan should see. According to Ms. McDonald this inaugural tour is slated to be on May 18th 2014 and will be hosted by Maureen Dowdell, aka Tracy Boggs (Bubba’s Girlfriend) and Jessica Lowery who runs the Mystic Falls Tours for the show “Vampire Diaries”. The plan is to have one guided tour a month and increase the tours as the fans increase. This is awesome news as I am also planing to place information as to the dates and time of the tours for the fans, so you can plan your trip to experience the dedication that Covington still has for all us fans.
I mean it’s been nearly 20 years, and the younger generations don’t remember sitting down and watching this on a weekly basis. I remember as a kid, visiting my grandparents who were also fans of the show and watching “Bubba” as my grandfather would call it. I remember watching the show and how I would love to see Sparta for myself. Though I never did get to visit as a kid, I did make it a point to visit as an adult in 2012. I would have paid to take this tour instead of trying to find things on my own. Now we have something to look forward to in the future, I wish it was a remake of the show but I will take the next best thing by seeing it for my self. I felt like Marty McFly going back in time minus the flying Delorian, during my visit.
Back to the subject at hand, the pricing and exact details are still in development stage and hopefully will be announced in the near future. “McDonald said, but officials got some help identifying sites from Grady Spradley, who was the double for actor Carroll O’Conner and also provided lots of memorabilia from the show, and Ray Witt, who used to bring buses of tourists from South Carolina to travel around Georgia to see film location highlights. Spradley provided some of the behind-the-scenes details and memories that make an in-person, guided tour unique.” An excerpt from covnews.com reported.
If this tour grows as I would hope that it would, we may see the likes of other stars from the show like Randall Franks, David Hart, Alan Autry and others. This would be dandy in my book, I can see the growth potential there into a “Heat-Fest”. It may be far in the future but that could make the ultimate fan experience for a show that will long be remembered.
Don’t forget that Seasons 2, 3, 6 & 7 are due to be released March 11th. So until my next post, keep watching Heat Fans.