HazzardNet 
It’s December! Time to start thinking about Christmas. And what better way to make Christmas memorable than to go to Cooter’s and meet Luke Duke?! Tom Wopat will be meeting fans and signing items at Cooter’s in Sperryville, VA on Dec 12th from 10am-3pm and on Dec 13th from 10am-12pm. Click here for more information.
Can’t make it to Cooter’s this Christmas? Shop the Cooter’s Place store.
Cooter’s Sperryville
12167 Lee Highway
Sperryville, TN 22740
Phone:540-987-8844
As many of you know, Warner Brothers declined to renew any licenses to produce General Lee models and diecasts this year due to the controversy over the confederate flag. The current licenses expire by the end of this year. If you don’t already have a General Lee, you’d better get one now before they’re sold out. Perhaps the best way to show Warner Brothers that they made a bad decision is to make sure they know there’s a demand for The Dukes of Hazzard and fans WANT to buy dvds, posters, toys, and more featuring our beloved General Lee.
It’s been a while since HazzardNet has had a fan of the month, but this month’s winner more than deserves the honor. Mark B. has been a member for a while, but has recently come back with a vengeance, filling us all in on his Dukes of Hazzard projects. He’s a model maker and an amazing one at that. Just take a look in our forums and you’ll see what I mean. Here’s a little about Mark in his own words:
I grew up with Dukes (I was 10 when the show premiered), but being a child of the 70s, was primarly a Star Wars and sci-fi guy. This has been the story ever since, but Dukes has always been a comfortable place to come back to. My Dukes fandom was rekindled a few years ago after years of visting Cooter’s Place in Gatlinburg and becoming more enamored of the ‘Deep South’ and its culture.
As an adult I couldn’t put my finger on what it was I like about the show until I ready Ben Jones’ book ‘Redneck Boy in the Promised Land’. It was pretty simple really: fun, family values, and fast cars. It may not have been Emmy-winning TV, but it was just good and didn’t need deeper analysis. I think my blood pressure actually comes down when I have the show on!
Model building (and related skills) is my profession as well as my hobby. Although I had a love of model cars in middle and high school, I’ve always chosen to build sci-fi subjects for myself. That was until I got the itch to build something ‘Dukes’. I had been inspired by the models of TJ Belthard at Cooter’s Place in Gatlinburg and had wanted to expand on his vision. The Hazzard Garage was the perfect subject for a model with a nice level of detail, weathering, and a logical setting for any of theDukes car models. The model project has of course led me down the road of owning all the DVDs and connecting with other fans through Hazzardnet and other internet forums.
Connecting with other fans on HN is a particular pleasure. Its a great community that really continues the warm feelings of home that DOH portrayed between the car chases. To borrow a phrase from Ben Jones’ book, its like ‘coming home to a place you’ve never been’.
Congrats, Mark, on being HazzardNet’s Fan of the Month! Join us in congratulating him on the forums!
The Daily Herald is reporting that the Volo Auto Museum’s director, Brian Grams, has been trying to contact Bubba Watson to make an offer on LEE1. Watson has stated he will paint over the confederate flag on the roof with an American flag. The museum, which already owns General Lee #8, has no interest in political debate over the flag, but does have a keen interest in preserving the car, flag and all, as a piece of television history. If successful in their bid to obtain LEE1, the museum plans to display it along side Lee #8, with a description of the significance of the two cars. Let’s hope they’re successful in their plans!
Bubba Watson has announced on Twitter that he’ll be painting over the confederate flag on the roof of the General Lee with an American flag. Watson purchased LEE1 in 2012 for $110,000. He didn’t seem to have a problem with the flag back then.
The reaction from fans has been swift and mostly negative, with many remarking that it just isn’t the General Lee without the confederate flag and that he isn’t worthy to own the car if he doesn’t preserve it as the piece of television history that it is. Several also mentioned they would gladly take the General Lee off his hands as-is.
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