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“If I can make you
smile, I can make you happy.”
Malcom
Gladwell,
The Tipping Point
The last two weeks of
January and first week of February are typically slow news weeks for us.
It seems that most people take this time to recover from Christmas and
New Year’s, and try to avoid the weather.
I enjoy this
annual slow time, as we, here on staff, need this time to recover as
well. We get a chance to rest a little, while planning and plotting
projects and events yet to come. A typically gray time as well, we try
to work in a little bit of color and fun.
This year, for color and
fun, we have created the Calhoun Chronicle Kissing Contest. Yes, it’s
silly, even a little corny, but I have an idea that the contest and
bright red coloring brightened your day a little bit, and thus it’s
worth the while.
I must share
with our readers the process of getting the lip prints in the first
place--and the laughter which came along with it. First, I went to the
dollar store and got some cheap lipsticks in “Toasted Berry.” I knew the
women would have their own, but what about the men? I also knew this was
not a time of year to share. Then, I basically approached folks in the
courthouse, asking, “Would you mind putting on lipstick and kissing an
index card for me?”
Responses
included, “I don’t think so,” “Say that again?” and just plain old,
“What?!” The ladies were easy to convince, although some went through
three or more index cards practicing. The men, however . . . well, that
was not so easy.
The first
man took little convincing. The second hid in the bathroom with his
lipstick and card, washing off the cosmetic before anyone could see.
Another tried making lip prints with chocolate instead of lip color, but
finally forfeited the sweet candy for the Toasted Berry lip wear.
I laughed a
lot that day. It was a good day at work.
In the end,
Bill
Bailey
and I are betting that no one gets all the answers right. The easiest,
in fact, should be the mystery lips. But, don’t worry. If there are no
100 percent correct entries, we’ll still draw winners for our Valentine
prizes from all the entries submitted. Don’t be daunted by the seemingly
impossible task, it’s not about getting the answers right, it’s about
having a little fun.
We encourage
you to take your entries to the courthouse, and approach those with
names listed for comparison--just to be ornery.
So, the
Kissing Contest is a little bit of fun for all of us. The other project
we have in the production pot is more serious, and it is special. Please
read my shameless pitch below.
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This spring,
The Calhoun Chronicle staff will release a new publication piece
promoting tourism and recreation in
Calhoun
County.
The title of this magazine-type piece is “Encounter
Calhoun
County,”
and I can’t even tell you how excited I am about it.
Encounter
Calhoun
County
will be the first publication of its kind for our community. We’re going
to print 5,000 copies and use this piece to let other people know what
great things
Calhoun
County
has to offer. We’re sending it to the Division of Tourism, and placing
it in Visitor’s centers along the interstates. We’re sending it to our
elected officials, and to those who pass along our winding roads. We’re
going to offer it to our neighbors in surrounding counties.
Travel
spending by all overnight and day visitors in
West Virginia
was over $3.4 billion in the 2004 calendar year. This is equivalent to
$9.3 million per day. During that year, local and state revenues
generated by travel spending were $536 million. Visitor spending in the
state directly supported about 41,000 jobs with an earnings of $766
million.
Encounter
Calhoun
County
is going to help us get our piece of that tourism pie. Look at those
statistics. People come to
West Virginia
to camp, rest, hear music, eat good food--all the time.
Calhoun
is rarely included in the Division of Tourism brochure and magazines,
and travelers have no way to even know we are here. Isn’t it about time
someone let them know about
Calhoun
County’s
great festivals, parks and community events?
So, first
off, this piece is written to appeal to travelers--but it will also
serve all those who live here--in more ways than one.
When I talk
about recreation in
Calhoun
County,
very often Calhouners will ask with a scoff, “What is there in
Calhoun
for that?” Our publication plan started with 12 pages, but in gathering
information on Calhoun
features, we have grown to 20. Obviously, there is more to enjoy in
Calhoun
County
than we realize.
Yes, if we share our
recreational secrets with others, we can begin a new path to build on
the economics of tourism. I will also be glad to share these secrets
with those who live here. While people search for special places like
ours, we aren’t even aware of what’s around us.
Calhoun
has so much to offer. We should be proud of what we have, and enjoy it.
Encounter
Calhoun
County
is a big deal. It’s a big project to serve the community in many ways.
And we’re going to spread it like sunshine at no cost to our readers. I
want it to be spectacular. I want it to be special.
Which brings
me to my pitch.
Calhoun
County Commission, Grantsville Town Council, Calhoun County Committee on
Aging, Little Kanawha Area Development Corp.,
Calhoun
Banks
and others have made a commitment to financially support this
publication with their advertising. I am so grateful, and am working to
make sure they get a bang for their advertising buck. We are approaching
other businesses and organizations in the county to help us fund and
produce the piece, but there are only a few of us though, and so many of
you. Don’t hesitate to call if you’re interested.
We have
planned a piece with a nice white cover with black and green and
single-color newsprint pages inside. That’s what we’re planning for now.
But I want more. I want to have a full-color cover so badly I can taste
it--and it’s going to cost me.
I am hoping
to shift our economic outlook, produce an effective marketing tool for
the whole county, and get it to all the right people. I am offering the
theory that this will draw visitors and build community pride and
appreciation. On top of all that, I am asking for financial investments
in this theory, with a broad and unspecified promise of any immediate
return to the investor.
If you are a
business or organization, see what you’ve got in your budget. We’ll be
happy to sell you an affordable ad. If you just want to support my
theory, maybe you would be interested in helping me get my full-color
cover. I can see it in my mind you know--the headline, the tag line, the
photo that will make people reach to read more. I’m saving space on the
inside of the front cover to list the names of those who help me add
this special polish to our publication.
If you are interested,
mail your investment to
P.O. Box 400,
Grantsville,
WV
26147.
Sigh. I should be
ashamed of myself. This is an open attempt to pull money to something on
my own agenda.
Encounter
Calhoun
County
is going to be fabulous--it must be to truly show how wonderful
Calhoun
County
is.
I want to represent us
well, and there’s no shame in that.
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