Tour will Take You 'Back to Hazzard'

More than 27 years ago, the famous General Lee roared across the Georgia countryside for the first time.

We're not talkin' about the Civil War military leader — this General was the hot orange 1969 Dodge Charger whose Dixie horn signaled the start of the long-running action-adventure TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard."

And now, the Hazzard County Car Club aims to take you down "The Roads Back to Hazzard" with a special tour of the original filming sites of CBS' primetime hit show, which aired from January 1979 to August 1985 and filmed its first five episodes in the Covington, Conyers and Oxford areas of Georgia.

The Roads Back to Hazzard tour on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5 will span 87 miles of the Rockdale County and Newton County areas and will feature dozens of sites where cousins Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke and their Uncle Jesse first fled the crooked, bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Boss J.D. Hogg. The historic town square in Covington, for instance, was used as the town setting for Hazzard in the initial episodes, while the original building used for the Boar's Nest still sits on Flat Rock Road off Highway 142.

"We have had people asking all the time about all the sites from the first five episodes filmed in Georgia," says Jon Holland of Williamsburg, Va., avid "Dukes" historian and president of the Hazzard County Car Club."We had enough interest in this tour, so for the past two years it had been a 'work in progress.' "

Holland explains more about the event: "On Saturday, this tour will include the Dukes farmhouse, bridge sites, roadside scenes, Boar's Nest, town square, all three General Lee jump sites, both police-car jump sites, the famous junkyard, the Hazzard County ophan's home, and if people are interested in driving to Atlanta, we'll give directions to the building used for the Starr Recording studios from the second episode, 'Daisy's Song.' On Sunday, come to Norcross, Ga. and meet and greet the car production crew that built all of the first 49 vehicles used in the first five episodes, at their original shops."

Holland, who was featured on Country Music Television's 2005 "Inside Fame" special on "The Dukes" and who has built his own General Lees using information from the show's mechanics, has organized the Roads Back to Hazzard tour to benefit the Rainbow Ministries Charity of Covington.

"Rainbow Ministries is a charity that basically helps people down on their luck, or who just have no other place to go," Holland says. "Children that people no longer want are just dropped off on their doorstep. Rainbow Ministries provides food, shelter and clothing. They also help people get back up on their feet and find jobs."

The tour will begin at the Holiday Inn Conyers, 1351 Dogwood Drive, where the "Dukes" cast and crew stayed during the Georgia filming. At 8 a.m. Saturday in the hotel's lobby conference room, event tickets will be sold at $35 a person, $15 for children 12 and under. Attendees will receive a detailed map of all the filming sites and then will organize into groups of 10 or less to do the tour. At 7 p.m., back at the Holiday Inn, there will be prize drawings and a special viewing of a 1979 tape of the first two "Dukes" episodes, with the vintage commercials.

There'll be raffles and auctions, as well, for merchandise such as photos signed by the show's stars and authentic car doors from a General Lee and a sheriff's car used in the show. Metro Atlanta author Billie Rae Bates, whose reference book on the show, "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!" was just released in January, will be on hand to sign copies.

On Sunday, a trip to the H & H Body Shop will highlight some of the cool techniques used by the show's original mechanics.

The first 200 tour tickets sold, Holland says, will include a booklet featuring exclusive information and photos from the original Georgia filming.

The Holiday Inn is offering a special overnight rate for tour guests on Saturday: $65. For reservations, call (770) 483-3220.

Holland wouldn't mind a bit if this event could become a yearly "Dukes" fan gathering, much like the wildly popular DukesFests hosted by Ben Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on the show.

"We hope this will be a great turnout and very helpful for our charity," Holland says. "If this does turn out great, we would like, in the near future, to get Covington, Ga., in with our club to have an 'Annual Hazzard Homecoming.' We think a lot of people will love seeing how all this came to play. Hope to see everyone there!"

For more information on the Roads Back to Hazzard tour or the Hazzard County Car Club, visit http://www.dukesofhazzard01.com or email webmaster@jonhollandakaboduke.com.

###