Pigs & Swigs and new attraction – Dock Dogs get support of Tourism Bureau
 

[April 02, 2018] 

LINCOLN

At the March meeting of the Logan County Tourism Bureau, board members voted to support a new event coming to Lincoln during the annual Pigs & Swigs Festival, to be held June 1st and 2nd.

Chris Graue of the Pigs & Swigs Committee presented a funding request for the annual event, and also for a new attraction – Dock Dogs. The Dock Dogs event will take place on Friday and Saturday of the festival, making it eligible for a promotional grant from the tourism bureau.

Graue said that earlier this year, he happened across a television show featuring the Dock Dogs, and right away thought that it could be a new family friendly event for the Pigs and Swigs. He said realistically, he personally could spend hours with the people from the Up in Smoke Barbecue competition, but for many that event is a walk around, take a look, and move on. The problem is what can they move on to?

Dock Dogs will offer a new kind of entertainment that will hopefully keep people at the festival for a longer period of time, entice them to take advantage of the food offerings and maybe do some shopping around the square.

Dock Dogs is a large organization that holds events all across the United States. The premise is that trainers and ‘professional” dogs will come in to compete in a number of water activities. Graue said that the event has been held locally in Springfield, and also in Morton, and brought in big crowds of spectators.

There are about 40 dogs and trainers who run the circuit with Dock Dogs, all competing for points and chances at some national recognition.

The event will consist of the Dock Dogs organization moving in on Thursday evening and setting up a large pool of water. Beginning on Friday and lasting throughout the day, dogs will compete in ‘flights.’ Graue said there are four different competitive categories so spectators will have the option of staying for one event, then coming back for a second, third and fourth.

In addition to the professional competitions, there will be opportunities for local competitions. Anyone who has a dog that loves to swim and perhaps fetch in the water can sign up their dog to be a part of the local competition.

Graue has also presented this event to the Lincoln City Council. There, during his presentation Walt Landers with the city, and also Alderman Heidi Browne said they had both attended local Dock Dog events with their dogs. While they thought their dogs competition was more comedic than competition, both agreed it was a big, fun event that brought in a lot of spectators.

Graue was asking the tourism bureau to provide $2,500 for advertising the event. He said that this year the Pigs & Swigs committee was steering away from online advertising via media blasts and Facebook, and instead looking to advertise with cable television and radio stations.

Graue explained that the Pigs Committee is working to get the money to bring the event together. For Dock Dogs to come to Lincoln, the committee needs to pay the organization $6,500. Graue said he had commitments from two sponsors and two others were nearing making a decision, and he was hopeful the decision would be in favor of sponsorship. Once the money to bring the event to Lincoln is secured, the actual organizing of the event will be turned over to another local organization.

He also noted that Dock Dogs comes prepared to do all their own heavy lifting to get the program set up, so there won’t be a need for a lot of extra volunteers to get the show of the ground.

Gruae was asked about seating for spectators. He said the plan is to place the large pool on Broadway Street at the Heartland College end. The pool would be placed off center, fit up against the curb on the courthouse side. He said the elevation of the courthouse lawn will allow for a natural riser for spectators to see the pool and the dogs as they perform. He was asked about putting in bleachers, and he said that was not out of the question, but it hasn’t been discussed much as of yet.

With Graue asking for $5,000 for the barbecue and craft beer event, and an additional $2,500 for the Dock Dogs, Graue was asked if the advertising would be kept separate or did he plan to pool all the money together. Graue said that there would certainly be a separation of funds. He added though that to be effective, the Pigs and Swigs ads will mainly focus on that event, but would mention the Dock Dogs; and the Dock Dogs ads would focus on that event, but also mention the barbecue and craft beer event.

Graue said that he expected the event to bring in an extra 3,000 to 5,000 people to Lincoln for the weekend, many of whom will stay overnight to catch the second day of events. In addition the traveling dogs will also use local motels. Tourism board member and local motel owner Neal Patel was asked if there were pet friendly hotels in Lincoln. He said that nearly all motels now days are pet friendly. The motels add a surcharge for pets, but pet owners are prepared for that and willing to pay it.

Graue said that the Pigs & Swigs event this year is going to be a big event. Last year there was a competition conflict so the Lincoln event only drew in 32 barbecue competitors. However, this year, that conflict has gone away and the committee is looking at more than 50 competitors. In addition to the barbecue and craft beer, the Oasis Senior Center will be hosting a flea market and home based business market in Scully Park this year. There will be several barbecue food vendors stationed around the square, and of course the local stores and restaurants will have the opportunity to be open and offering special attractions that will draw folks through their doors.

The members of the Logan County Tourism Bureau include Gail Apel-Sasse, Kevin Bateman, Emily Davenport, Cindy Fleshman, Kathy Horn, Tom Mclaughlin, Steve Parrott, Neal Patel, Nila Smith, Shawn Taylor, Tracy Welch and Marilyn Wheat. On Thursday evening, Tom McLaughlin was absent for the evening, and Kevin Bateman abstained from the vote because he is a member of the Pigs and Swigs Committee. The remaining 10 members present voted unanimously to grant $5,000 for Pigs and Swigs and an additional $2,500 for Dock Dogs.

Note: On Monday April 2nd, a motion to offer financial support to the Dock Dogs will be on the voting agenda of the Lincoln City Council. Graue had attended a meeting of the council two weeks ago and asked that the city provide $4,000 in support from its share of the hotel/motel tax. The city distributes 85 percent of that tax to the tourism bureau and maintains 15 percent for use by the city for funding local events and support of local attractions.

[Nila Smith]

To learn more about Dock Dogs visit their website and this video:

Website: https://dockdogs.com/ 

2015 DockDogs Promotion Video FINAL – 10 minute 32 second video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpiRgWhWh28 

Still shots
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ 0B6Eq7hFZlPOVeVhva0hzY2dkNlU