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Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
RC Cola – MoonPie Festival celebrates 30 years in Bell Buckle
BELL BUCKLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The tiny town of Bell Buckle is celebrating a milestone for its favorite sweet-and-soda treat. The annual RC Cola – MoonPie Festival is celebrating 30 years in Bell Buckle on Saturday, June 21. Each summer the town of about 400 residents explodes as people from around the country come to celebrate the iconic snack duo of a MoonPie with a cold RC Cola. Neighborhood News: Stories impacting your community | Read More The festival kicks off with a 5K and 10-mile race. The 10-mile is a certified run for aspiring competitive runners, according to festival officials. The races kick off a 7 a.m. and when they're complete, the annual parade starts making its way through the streets of Bell Buckle. 'The parade is definitely small-town, fun, kitschy—you never know what's going to happen or who's going to show up to that,' Heather Williams, President of the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce said. 'We always have a lot of fun with the parade.' After the parade concludes, there is plenty more RC Cola and MoonPie fun to be had – there are games and contests and plenty of family-friendly activities to participate in, all with plenty of sodas and MoonPies to go around. One of the competitions is the MoonPie toss. The game is exactly how it sounds, according to Williams: contestants see who can throw a MoonPie the farthest. Per Williams, competitors take the competition seriously, with plenty of in-good-fun spirit. News 2 On Tour | Explore the communities that shape Middle Tennessee Because this year also celebrates the 30th year of the festival, Williams said there will also be a special new game in line with the theme. In addition to all the festivities, attendees will also be able to snag a piece of the World's Largest MoonPie, which is made every year specifically for the festival by the MoonPie bakery. 'Chattanooga Bakery literally shuts down production momentarily for us so that they can make the largest MoonPie that will fit through their tunnel. Once that goes out the tunnel and dressed, it's about 38 inches,' Williams said. And while there are larger MoonPies that are assembled, this one is the only in-tact MoonPie created by the original baker of the MoonPie. 'It is fantastic. It's the best MoonPie you will ever eat,' Williams said. Each year, the largest MoonPie baked has a different flavor in line with the festival's overall celebration theme. Last year's theme was all about Elvis, so the MoonPie was peanut butter and banana flavored. This year's specialty flavor is being kept under wraps until the day of the festival, so those who want a piece of the pie will need to head down to Bell Buckle to check it out in person. For more information about Bell Buckle and the RC Cola-MoonPie Festival, visit the Bell Buckle Chamber of Commerce website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Epoch Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
On-Screen Caped Crusader Is a Real-Life Canine Crusader
Actor Burt Ward was just 19 when he landed the role of Robin, the short-caped protégé of Adam West's Batman in the original 'Batman' series that launched in 1966. The 'Dynamic Duo' of Batman and Robin—aka Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson—were crime-fighting superheroes protecting Gotham City from a rotating cast of nefarious villains in the beloved, campy show. In 1990, when Ward married actress Tracy Posner, the daughter of Victor Posner, a prominent businessman with notable investments in RC Cola and Arby's, the former Robin found himself part of a real-life dynamic duo. Together, the pet-loving couple embarked on a quest to save abandoned dogs from what could often be a tragic end. 'We created a rescue, and anything my wife and I do, we end up doing in a big way,' said Ward in an interview with The Epoch Times. 'We've become the world's largest giant breed dog rescue.' This off-screen superhero couple has found forever homes for more than 15,500 dogs through their nonprofit, Gentle Giants Rescue and Adoption, in Norco, California. The rescue covers 15,000 square feet and offers a safe space for approximately 50 dogs, with many others ready for adoption. 'We've gone to the dogs,' laughed Ward about their combined living and rescue spaces. As their time with the dogs grew, they became aware of the shorter lifespans of large-breed dogs. Through their own experiences, they began to realize what kept the dogs healthy. Related Stories 4/4/2025 1/11/2025 'We have dedicated ourselves to helping them live longer and healthier because a dog is still man's best friend,' said Ward. 'We love these animals. And people love them.' To share what they learned, the couple launched Gentle Giant Products, an all-natural, non-GMO pet food business. 'We vowed that if there was a way that we could help them live longer, we would,' said Ward. The couple's goal is to keep costs as low as they can so that as many pet-loving owners as possible can provide Gentle Giants pet food to their animals. They take no salary for running the pet food business. Burt Ward as Robin 20th Century Fox Studios Between the rescue and the pet food business, Ward's days can be quite busy. 'We get about 1,100 people a week who contact us,' Ward said. 'I'm so glad we're talking earlier in the day because if we had set this appointment around 5 p.m. I'd be down to a whisper. Every single day people call—[and] not just phone calls, emails, text messages, Facebook messages, all kinds of contact.' His hard work has not gone unnoticed. Last July, the couple was honored with a President's Lifetime Achievement Award and a United Nations Association of the United States of America Humanitarian Award, recognizing their efforts in animal rescue. Ward also received a President's Volunteer Service Award. Burt Ward receives the President's Lifetime Achievement Award and the United Nations Humanitarian Award in July 2024. Courtesy of Sheri Determann Although animal rescue has been a priority for the past 30 years, Ward, who received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Jan. 9, 2020, keeps one foot in the entertainment business. At this moment, he and Posner, who together used to own a visual effects company, Boy Wonder Visual Effects, are putting together their own production house. 'Wonderful family entertainment for all ages' is how Ward describes the TV series and films they hope to create and produce. 'Everything we're doing, we're doing ourselves. We have our own equipment. We have our own beautiful animation studio to do all the stuff we want to do. We have our own recording studio. We have our own sound stage,' he said. Ward, who turns 80 in July, does not sound like a man who is slowing down. 'The first hundred years are the hardest,' he said with a laugh. 'My mother, until she passed away, was right at 102, and I had to stop her from doing those somersaults. I said, 'No more somersaults.'' Like his mother, Ward has been athletic his whole life, earning the moniker 'world's youngest professional ice skater' at just 2 years old when he performed in his father's traveling ice show. 'Athletics was something that I enjoyed throughout school and afterwards,' he said. 'My wife and I are very health-oriented. We have never taken any drugs. We don't even drink. We don't smoke. We try to eat healthy. We don't want to do anything to reduce the ability to focus and be sharp on our surroundings and life.' Of course, Ward has no choice but to stay sharp, given all the things he still wants to accomplish. There are dogs to save and entertainment projects to get off the ground. 'There's an old saying: 'Abuse it and lose it,'' Ward said. 'So we've tried to do our best to stay healthy, and it's encouraged us because what we've done with these animals actually changed our own lives.'
