What can top last year's brush with fame? A visit from the bumbling sheriff of Hazzard and the show's other star, General Lee.
By JORGE SANCHEZ, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2005
The wacky Great American Cooter Festival returns to Inverness this weekend, featuring celebrity appearances, all kinds of foods, live music and midway rides.
The Cooter Festival, as much of America knows by now, celebrates the Cooter turtles that live in the lakes and rivers in Inverness and across the Southeast.
The festival seemed to take over television programs last year, as fascination over its double-entendre name led to many colorful editorials and segments on spoof news shows. City officials took it all in stride, thankful for every bit of publicity.
The festival even drew a fortunate celebrity link, its namesake actor from The Dukes of Hazzard series (1979-1985), and also enjoyed a tie-in with last year's movie remake. Ben "Cooter" Jones won't make it this year, but he sent his good buddy from the show.
Actor James Best, known for his role as the bumbling sheriff, Rosco P. Coltrane, in The Dukes of Hazzard, will drive into town today with the show's other star, the General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger. Best will be visiting with fans this evening in the Courthouse Square, where the General Lee also will be parked for pictures and autographs. There will be a concert tonight at 6 by the Simmons Brothers Band on the lawn of the old Courthouse Museum, Inverness. Best is also scheduled to attend Saturday's festival.
Best is filling in for Jones, last year's celebrity guest. Jones played Cooter, a mechanic in the Dukes series, but was unavailable this year.
He may not have a "Cooterized" name, but Best has a connection with Inverness. He was a part-time resident here in the late 1980s.
Okay, now that tradition is preserved, here's what you can expect and enjoy at Cooter Blast 2005, which gets under way at 10 a.m. Saturday at Liberty Park on N Apopka.
First: You can actually eat turtle meat, if you desire. It will be offered in two forms: deep-fried turtle nuggets and turtle chowder. The turtle meat comes from snapping turtles, which are grown and harvested for commercial consumption. No actual Cooter turtles will be served. For those who prefer other foods, there will be barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, kettle corn and desserts.
Live music begins at 10 a.m. Saturday on two alternating stages at Liberty Park. Wind of Fate performs at 10 a.m., Ghost Riders and 2 p.m. and the Simmons Brothers Band at 6 p.m.
Other activities include the Cooter Cup Races (actual cooters will be racing), pedal tractor races, carnival rides, children's games, face painting and clowns. Official Cooter Festival T-shirts ($15) and caps ($24) will be sold.
Cooterween, a Halloween festival, will be from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Liberty Park. The rides and vendors from Saturday's Cooter Festival will still be available, and a costume contest begins at 2 p.m.
Jorge Sanchez covers arts and entertainment in Citrus County. Call 860-7313 or e-mail sanchez@sptimes.com
