Engel Stadium is once again seeing some new faces this spring, but they won’t be in costume or worried about baseball.
The Chattanooga landmark will host the American Dream Concert on Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m., featuring the one and only Charlie Daniels.
In benefiting the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Business, the concert is in keeping with another similar one and only: Chattanooga’s Armed Forces Day Parade, which is the only annual parade of its kind in a city of Chattanooga’s size.
The performance will be Engel Stadium’s first non-baseball event in 10 years. The field was inducted into the National Register of Historic Places in December 2009.
Representatives from Friends of the Festival; the College of Business; the Engel Foundation; the Armed Forces Day Parade; and B.B. Bell, retired general in the U.S. Army; gathered yesterday morning at Engel Stadium to announce the concert details and Daniels’ appearance.
Daniels, a country and Southern rock musician who has been active in the music industry since the 1950s, is best known for the 1979 Grammy Award-winning song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in January 2008.
The Veterans Entrepreneurship Program is a component of the College of Business tailored specifically to members of the Armed Forces entering or re-entering higher education. The curriculum involves entrepreneurship and small business management and is formatted in a series of training modules.
UTC collaborated with the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State to build and maintain the VEP. Tuition is waived for qualified veterans who earn a spot in the program.
The VEP class of 2012 included more than 10 veterans.
Tickets for the American Dream Concert will be available for $20 at more than 50 Kangaroo locations. Tickets go on sale April 1.
Updated @ 1:55 p.m. on 3/15/13 to add the date that tickets will become available.
