Post by Graveyardbride on Feb 21, 2017 1:14:03 GMT -5
Evergreen Declares Itself ‘Bigfoot Capital of Alabama’
Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Red Eyed Devil, Yeti – it has plenty of names. But is it real? If you stop in Evergreen (population 3,800), most likely the answer is yes. “We had so many sightings of Bigfoot we decided to have fun with it,” said Mayor Pro Tem Luther Upton. So when the city council met on the night of Tuesday, February 7, they voted unanimously to make Evergreen the unofficial Bigfoot Capital of Alabama.
According to the Gulf Coast Bigfoot Research Organization, numerous residents have reported hairy beast sightings and this led Evergreen officials to invite Bigfoot researchers to the annual Collard Green Festival in January. (Evergreen is the Collard Green Capital of Alabama.) While in the area, Bigfoot hunters discovered what they believed to be evidence of Sasquatch in Conecuh County, and council members considered how best to capitalize on the attention.
Upton, who introduced the resolution to declare Evergreen the Bigfoot Capital, admitted he has never seen a Sasquatch. “But I’ve never seen God either and I believe in him,” he reasoned. “A lot of people have seen these things. They aren’t quacks. They are legitimate people who’ve seen these things.” Thus, he concludes, “There's got to be something to this.” He plans to contact State Rep. Thomas Jackson ( D-Thomasville) and ask him to submit a resolution or proclamation to the legislature making the same designation.
A local pastor, Wesley Acreman, started the Southwest Alabama Bigfoot Hunters Organization and it already boasts more than 50 members. “More and more people are coming together and telling stories and comparing notes that are identical to mine,” he related. “We have seen the eyes of this animal. The Sasquatch we saw had yellow eyes.”
Acreman is not alone. “This creature is 8 to 10 feet tall,” explained Pine Orchard resident Carl Pugh. “It has a head as big as a cow’s head. His body is brownish-black-looking, but he looks nothing like the pictures of Bigfoot. His shoulders are as wide as a Volkswagen. At times it sounds like a dozer walking by and other times it’s as loud as a cricket.”
“There are a lot of eyewitness reports of people watching it walk or run across the road,” added Monroeville resident Ashley McPhaul. “It’s really big, really tall. You can’t wrap your mind around how big it is.”
People from all walks of life are sharing similar stories about a creature they’ve seen roaming about Conecuh County. Acreman took reporters out into the woods and demonstrated the knocking sound and call that Bigfoot makes, but, unfortunately, the big fella wasn’t out and about that day and they saw no signs of the hairy creature.
“When I heard people talk about it, I didn’t believe it,” Pugh continued. “But when you look at it and see its eyes, you will believe it. If I had one wish, I wish you could see what my eyes saw.”
“If I hadn’t had some of the experiences and talked to the people I’ve talked to, I probably wouldn’t believe it either,” McPhaul admitted. What everyone wants is proof and McPhaul shared some photos and though they’re tough to make out, he indicated they revealed huge footprints.
“It’s the real deal,” Upton insisted. “There’s something out there. I think this will put Evergreen on the map as either the kookiest place in Alabama or the most interesting.”
Two other US cities promote their Sasquatch sightings: Willow Creek, Calif., bills itself as the “Bigfoot Capital of the World” and Remer, Minn., calls itself the “Home of Bigfoot.”
Sources: Judd Davis, WSFA, February 17, 2017, and Kelly Kazek, Al.com, February 9, 2017.
