City council to ask Trail board to reconsider

FLORENCE -- City officials are expected to ask the Trail of Tears board to reconsider its decision to end its commemorative ride in McFarland Park.

"We were getting a lot of complaints that it was the city council that instigated this move from Waterloo to Florence, and that's not the case," said Florence City Council President Leland Howard.

This year, the 11-member Alabama-Tennessee Trail of Tears Corridor Association board of directors decided to drop Waterloo as the final stop on their motorcycle ride that begins in Chattanooga, Tenn.

During the commemorative event, motorcyclists travel the 230 miles that retrace the route American Indians were forced to take on foot and by wagon from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Waterloo, where they were put on boats for the final journey to reservations in Oklahoma.

Alison Stanfield, a Trial of Tears board member, said alternate locations to Florence have been informally discussed.

"There won't be negotiations with other locations until we get the final word from (Florence)," she said.

Stanfield said the city could stop the ride from coming to Florence by denying police escorts and not allowing the ride to use McFarland Park.

"We just want 100 percent approval (from Florence)," Stanfield said.

Stanfield said board members will appear before the city council in a work session Thursday. The council moved its regularly scheduled meeting from Tuesday to Thursday because of the Fourth of July holiday.

Howard said he wasn't aware of any attempts by council members to try strong-arm tactics against the ride organizers, and that the council was simply planning to ask the board to reconsider.

"We felt like we should do something to let the people in Waterloo know, and the citizens in Florence know, we didn't have anything to do with (dropping Waterloo from the ride)," Howard said.

Stanfield said the Trail of Tears ride would still promote, market and encourage riders to go to Waterloo. There just won't be an official escort.

Waterloo Mayor Jerry McIntyre said that despite the change in the ride's official route, events commemorating the Trail of Tears will take place in Waterloo.

The Native American Warrior Society will conduct a pow wow Sept. 15-17, and the Muscle Shoals-based band Slick Lizard will perform Saturday at a free concert.

McIntyre said there will be a dedication ceremony for the Trail of Tears Riverwalk on Sept. 16.

Vendors who already reserved space in Waterloo were offered refunds, but McIntyre said "everyone I've talked to says they're coming to Waterloo."

The mayor also said that even though the official ride is not coming to Waterloo, the Alabama Department of Public Safety and Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department will assist with traffic control.

Trail of Tears board members said they decided to drop Waterloo because of safety issues. One hundred thousand participants are expected this year, Stanfield said.

Also, the board provides scholarships for Native Americans through the sale of official merchandise. The sale of unofficial merchandise in Waterloo and attempts to have Waterloo officials regulate those sales were denied, according to board members.

Debbie Wilson, director of Florence-Lauderdale Tourism, said the Trail of Tears ride is the single largest weekend tourism event in the Shoals.

"We would lose about 2,000 room nights" if the ride went elsewhere, Wilson said.

"It takes eight or nine days of the W.C. Handy Festival to have the economic impact that Trail of Tears does in two days."

Todd Twilley can be reached at 740-5728 or todd.twilley@timesdaily.com.