We have some exciting news…Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort (DMR/DW) will be hosting their First Annual Smoky Mountain Chess and Checkers Tournament on February 25-28, 2016. We’ve never done a combined tournament with Chess and it should be very interesting. DreamMore is hoping to attract both Open and Amateur Players and their families during their “off-season” and are offering some enticing prizes to draw attendees. As the Host and Sponsor of the event, DreamMore will be providing $5000 in prize monies and $5000 in resort gift certificates, Dollywood and Dixie Stampede Dinner Theater tickets. DreamMore will also provide a free playing room, discount room rates along with the prize money! DreamMore gave us their best rate $69+tax (their employee rate). Although breakfast is not included, the resort does feature a full breakfast buffet in in their Song and Hearth restaurant and pastries/muffins and breakfast sandwiches in their Pantry where fresh Starbucks coffee and specialty drinks are served. We truly need and want to support this Tournament! DMR/DW has over 400,000 active Facebook followers plus an extensive digital database that they will use to market the tournament and our respective organizations. I've posted a little under general discussion on ACF forum. ACF has agreed to direct our 11-Man National, and a GAYP/3-Move event over 3 days. We will also direct their Saturday DMR/DW youth “English” checker tournament and their "Let's Play Checkers" tournament for their vacationing family parents & guest, our ACF amateurs & kids, etc. You should plan to bring along your grandparents, wife & kids, grandkids and friends. This is a family oriented resort with bunk bed suites (9 types of rooms). All rooms have refrigerators.  If you’re flying in fly into (TYS) Knoxville McGhee Tyson, rent a car and head towards Dollywood. DreamMOre is located on the Dollywood campus (next to their Splash COunntry Water Park). Although the Parks will be closed in February, there is always lots to do in Pigeon Forge. We will have an introductory session before each of these Saturday tournaments to introduce ACF, playing rules and some basic checker strategy in winning checkers. We definitely should follow up with our checker parents in these tutorial sessions so they can start checker clubs in their children's schools. There are so many possibilities that we can pursue off this exposure and list of players. This is the best way I know to grow checkers and have access to parents who will help us do it.