Tourism hosts annual awards breakfast

[April 13, 2011]  Tuesday morning the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County hosted a breakfast meeting to honor those who in the past year have gone above and beyond to promote tourism in Logan County.

The annual meeting has in the past been in the evening, but this year tourism director Geoff Ladd and his staff decided to try something new, and it paid off as the buffet breakfast event at Rusty's Clubhouse in Lincoln was well attended.

Before folks began filling their plates, Peggy Lee and Gillette Ransom of the tourism board handed out a page of trivia questions that gave guests an opportunity to show how much, or perhaps how little, they know about tourism in Logan County.

Later in the morning they revealed the answers to the questions:

• How many people visit the Lincoln Heritage Museum annually? 4,000

• Which Lincoln restaurant was so popular they ran out of food during the basketball tournament in 2010 and had to go to neighboring chains for supplies? Culver's

• Visitors from how many countries have written their names in the guest book at Elkhart's Horsefeathers shop? 29

• Approximately how many tourists visit the world's largest covered wagon in Lincoln during peak season? 1,500 per month

• Mount Pulaski is having their anniversary this year and expects 5,000 attendees over the course of their celebrations. Local hotels have set aside 300 rooms for an average three-night stay for their Fourth of July celebration. Which anniversary are they celebrating? 175

• How tall is Atlanta's Bunyon statue? 19 feet

• The Lincoln/Logan County Sports Commission was formed in...? 2011

• How many communities are represented on the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County board? 7

• What is the average dollar amount spent by an individual tourist for an overnight and day stay in Logan County? $200

Ransom and Lee shared that of the nine questions, the high score came from Darlene Begolka, who correctly answered six questions.

Begolka received a gift certificate from Culver's in Lincoln. Additional winners were JoAnne Marlin, who received a gift certificate from the Horsefeathers shop in Elkhart, and Keith Snyder, who won a one-night stay at the Lincoln Hampton Inn.

After the fun and games, Ladd got down to business, recognizing his staff members and board members. He asked everyone to stand, then mentioned specifically his staff members, Misty Bell and Nancy Saul.

Ladd also recognized Heather Wilkins from the Central Illinois Tourism Development Office.

He introduced Lincoln Mayor Keith Snyder and Emden Mayor Ivan Rademaker and acknowledged several others in the room: Andi Hake of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce; Joel Smiley of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership; Wanda Lee Rohlfs and Roger Matson of Main Street Lincoln; Jan Schumacher and JoAnne Marlin, representing the county; Billie Cheek of the Atlanta Town Council; Mary Kelley, Logan County circuit clerk; and Vicki Dugan, Logan County treasurer.

Ladd then turned to presenting this year's awards.

Business of the Year awards

He began by saying the first award was going to a local business, and in his opinion it was long overdue. He introduced the owners of the Horsefeathers shop and Wild Hare Café in Elkhart.

The owners of the combined business are Peter and Andreas Niehaus. Peter said he was very appreciative of the award. Horsefeathers opened as an antique and gift shop in 2004 and added the café in 2007. Niehaus said, "We try very hard to make it comfortable, a place where you can feel at home, and eat the food your mothers and grandmothers made."

Next up was a business award for the Palms Grill in Atlanta. The award was accepted by Bill Thomas and Billie Cheek. Thomas spoke briefly, saying, "I won't make a long speech. I'll just say the food speaks for itself at the grill, so come on up and try it."

Ladd concluded, "Both of these iconic restaurants are integral to tourism and very popular stops on each end of the county around Route 66."

Friend of Tourism awards

The first of two awards in this category went to the Civil War Statue Committee. Ladd said the committee did yeoman's work in getting the statue back in place by the time of the 150th anniversary of the first shots fired in the Civil War.

The award was accepted by Paul Gleason, co-chair of the committee. He said the two-year effort had been a labor of love for the whole committee. He also noted the group has one last goal: to put lighting around the statue so it will show well at night.

The second Friend of Tourism Award went to the Railsplitter Festival committee.

The award was accepted by Darlene Begolka, the group's president, and several other members of the committee. Begolka spoke briefly, expressing appreciation for the recognition from the tourism bureau, then asked long-standing committee member Daris Knauer to say a few words.

Last year the Railsplitter Festival celebrated 40 years in Lincoln. Knauer has been a part of the Railsplitter since the beginning and recounted stories of mentions of the contest on Paul Harvey's syndicated radio broadcast and a visit from President Gerald Ford in 1976 that re-enacted the Lincoln christening off the back of a train, much to the displeasure of his Secret Service staff.

Lifetime Friend of Tourism awards

For the first of two lifetime awards, Ladd asked Dan Tackett of The Courier to address the audience.

Tackett said: "I appreciate you inviting me to present this award. This person is pretty special to me; I worked with her for many, many years. Through her work at The Courier, she promoted tourism very well as part of her job, and she always did it with great enthusiasm and excitement and turned out a pretty darn good story too."

Speaking to Saul directly, he finished by saying: "It is really nice to say you were a great co-worker, but you've always been a good friend."

Saul spoke briefly, saying: "Sending me on a tourism assignment was like throwing Brer Rabbit into the briar patch: 'Oh, I have to go to the fair? Oh, you mean I need to go to the balloon festival?' So, I need to thank you for all the wonderful events you have provided over the years that gave a great deal of enjoyment to everyone in the community, including me."

Saul is now retired from The Courier but recently joined the staff of the tourism bureau.

Ladd said: "From the tourism bureau perspective, we are so lucky we were able to talk Nancy into coming to work for us. It was like instant employee: just add water; no training needed."

The second Lifetime Friend of Tourism Award was given to Mark McDonald, host of the local PBS series "Illinois Stories."

McDonald began his broadcasting career with News Channel 20 in Springfield, spent a period of time as the official spokesman for the Illinois State Police, then moved on to doing his "Illinois Stories."

When McDonald accepted the award, he said it was the first time he has ever received an award from a tourism board and he was very honored.

Exceptional Service Award

"Every year," Ladd said, "we honor one of our own for their exceptional service, and this is certainly the year for Peggy Lee."

Lee as a tourism board member has worked hard with the Elkhart Historical Society, put a huge effort into helping develop an Elkhart destination initiative and contributed a great deal to the bureau's strategic five-year plan.

Lee accepted her award by saying: "I'm very honored. But an award like this can't go to just one person; it has to go to a lot of people. There are so many people involved on the board and every day are involved in tourism in this county. I've got to thank everyone ... and thank you for honoring me too."

Others who spoke briefly during the morning included Stacy Wachtel, representing Heritage In Flight at the Logan County Airport. She reminded everyone Airport Daze is coming up Memorial Day weekend, and the committee is working hard to offer an event all visitors will enjoy.

Ron Keller, museum director at the Lincoln College Heritage Museum, spoke about the upcoming move from the museum's current location to a new facility at the Lincoln Center.

He said the move is expected to be completed by the early part of 2013. He also noted the theme of the museum will be "The Illinois Story" and will focus more on Abraham Lincoln prior to becoming president.

Gillette Ransom talked briefly about the Elkhart Hill tour and walking events coming up in the near future.

Rebecca Drake of Mount Pulaski also offered a few words about all the work and planning that is going on for the 175th anniversary of Mount Pulaski.

McDonald was the guest speaker for the morning. He shared an eight-minute video slice from his popular PBS series, "Illinois Stories." He spoke about the production of the show and the places and people he has been to and met in his seven years of doing the show.

He said that in that time, he has done 5,000 interviews and over 700 programs.

During Q-and-A, McDonald was asked if "Illinois Stories" was his own concept, and he said actually it was. He began working with WSEC on a contractual basis, developing the series of shows. He said WSEC producers liked the concept and were buying into every story McDonald could come up with, and they soon realized it would be better to put him on staff than on contract.

At the end of the day, Ladd commented: "If ever there was an example of why we need public television and public radio, this man is a one-man show."

Ladd finished by thanking Rusty's for the food, all the guests who attended and expressed appreciation for all the work his board members do.

He concluded: "Tourism is always a work in progress, which is why we're doing things like our sports commission and taking on new initiatives, and working with all our partners, our hotels, regional offices and other organizations."

[By NILA SMITH]