September
10, 2007
ABCDE
– Better Together
Greetings!
This is the eighty second edition of the Monday Messenger.
Its purpose is to bring you current information about the ABCDE
project and area. ABCDE consists of local residents from
Atlanta
, Burden,
Cambridge
, Dexter and
Eastern
Cowley
County
working together for community development. If you have
anything to submit for the newsletter, please send it to shannonthom@hotmail.com.
ABCDE
Monthly Meeting
The
next ABCDE meeting will be held on September 10th at
7:00 p.m. in Burden at Melissa’s building.
Janet Siebert will present a short program on the PRIDE
Program. Jeremy Nelson will also be there to answer
questions. We will
also discuss the upcoming Celebration Dinner on October 20th.
A
Celebration Committee meeting will be held tonight at 6:30.
QUAD
Meeting
The
next monthly QUAD meeting will be held on September 13th
in Howard.
Flint
Hills tourism workshop offered
Winfield
,
Kan.
– Tourism is growing in the Kansas
Flint Hills and many current and potential agritourism providers
are looking for ways to reap the benefits of the increasing number
of visitors.
Tuesday,
September 18 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 700
Gary
in Winfield’s
Baden Square
banquet room.
To
help these current and potential agritourism providers work more
effectively together, the Center for Business and Economic
Development (CBED) of the Emporia State University School of
Business will hold a workshop on Tuesday September 18, entitled
“Packaging Agritourism Events: You can do it! We can
help!” featuring Jan Jantzen, who has successfully developed and
managed such events in the Kansas Flint Hills.
“This
workshop will explain an actual package which attracted guests
from as far as
New York
and
California
last spring. We hope that a similar package involving workshop
participants will come out of this workshop,” said Jan Jantzen,
owner of Flint Hills Adventures, LLC, and agritourism consultant.
This
workshop is for current or prospective business owners who wish to
provide visitors with such things as lodging, food, entertainment,
hunting, trail riding, music, or Kansas Flint Hills products.
Visitors to the region have shown a willingness to pay to
experience the Kansas Flint Hills and Tallgrass Prairie region.
The
workshop – developed in partnership with the Flint Hills Tourism
Coalition, the Flint Hills Resource Conservation and Development
AgriTourism Initiative, and the
ESU
School
of
Business
Small
Business
Development
Center
– is part of a series of monthly workshops designed to enhance
tourism in the Flint Hills. The July workshop in
Emporia
featured a panel of website developers discussing how better use
of your website can dramatically increase revenue. More topics for
future workshops will be announced at a later date.
For
more information, or to register for a workshop, contact Dr. Smith
at (620) 341-5345 or by email at wsmith@emporia.edu, or visit the
program’s website at www.emporia.edu/business/cbedworkshops.php.
There will be a $10 fee charged at the door to all participants.
Burden
Celebration
Highlights
for the Burden Celebration are;
Fri
eve.(21) BBQ cook off begins.
First round of the First Annual Burden Idol will
be held at 6PM. (to see prizes for this contest
out the web page http://www.ecccok.com/eastcowley/BurdenBirthdays/burden128birthday.htm
Sat
AM(22) Beautiful baby contest at 10:30
Childs
Beauty pagent at 11:30
Second round of Idol contest 1:00PM
Fun and games all day.
Parade at 4:00PM
BBQ awards at 5:00PM
followed by the BBQ feed
Final round Idol at 6:00PM
B&B
Workshop
A
Bed & Breakfast/Rooming House Workshop will be held on October
2 at 6:30 pm. Place will be announced.
It is organized by Jeremy Nelson of the K-State Extension Service
with Linda Forte presenting information. Linda is the President of
the Kansas B&B Association and owns a B&B in Liberal.
The workshop is for anyone with spare rooms or empty houses
who are interested in finding out more about having paying guests.
There is no charge for the workshop.
Flint
Hills Tourism Coalition
The
next meeting of the Flint Hills Tourism Coalition will be Sept 21,
2007 at
El Dorado
.
Scarecrow
Decorating Contest
The
Gathering Place
, Stone Barn Mercantile and
Dexter
Mini-mall
are sponsoring a Scarecrow Decorating Contest in Dexter during the
Fall Festival, the first weekend in November.
Simply sign up and decorate a Scarecrow.
A secret judge from Winfield will drive around and chose
the top three best decorated scarecrow.
Prizes will come from the sponsors. Sign
up at each of the businesses.
2007
Kansas
Tourism Annual Conference
It’s
that time of year. Another conference that you might be
interested in attending is the 2007 Kansas Tourism Annual
Conference. It will be held on September 30 – October 2 in
Topeka
. For more information visit www.tiak.org.
Kansas
Downtown Development Association’s Conference
Plan
to attend the Kansas Downtown Symposium October 10-12th
in
Hutchinson
. Presented by the KDDA, this symposium will feature
Downtown Success Stories, Streetscape Development, How
Attractions, Art and Tourism Work for Downtowns. Watch for
more information in the Monday Messenger.
Flint
Hills Heritage Conference
The
first ever Flint Hills Heritage Conference will be held on Friday,
October 19 in
Cottonwood Falls
,
Kansas
. A registration flyer is attached. The ABCDE project
participates in the Kansas Flint Hills Tourism Coalition, the
sponsor of the conference. The cost is $35.00 per person.
There will be discussion on applying for National Heritage Area
designation.
Mark
Your Calendars
A
celebration dinner will be held for the end of the ABCDE
Governor’s Pilot Project on Saturday, October 20th.
The dinner will feature products made in
Cowley
County
and will hold much fun and surprises!! Watch for more
information in the Monday Messenger. The Fall Farm and Ranch
Tour will also be held that day along with the Dexter Country
Music Opry.
Do
you have an idea for a business?
Jack
has assisted 20 businesses in
Eastern
Cowley
County
since ABCDE joined QUAD.
Through
2007, business owners and those with business ideas have access to
a Professional Business Coach. His name is Jack Newcomb and
he is available for free, confidential advice and he will even
come to you. Through the ABCDE program, we have joined the
QUAD EF project and have access to their business coach.
Many local banks, businesses and Cowley First assisted to pay the
QUAD membership fee through December of 2007. For more
information contact Jack at (620) 249-2108.
Small
Town
and Rural Retailers’
Summit
This
workshop will be held November 5th in
Junction City
. Please see the
attached flyer.
ABCDE
Website
Don’t
forget to visit www.cowleynet.com
for information about the ABCDE project.
Upcoming
Activities/Events
September
10
ABCDE Monthly Meeting, 7:00, Burden
September
18
Flint Hills Agritourism Packaging Workshop
September
22
Burden Celebration
September
28-30 Blackdog
Festival, Dexter
To
submit information for the newsletter, send an e-mail to Shannon
Thom Martin at shannonthom@hotmail.com.