After a break that was brought on by the pandemic, the Pendleton County Tourism Council is raring to go in 2021.
“We didn’t want to be the cause of an outbreak,” explains Melanie Hartzel, the director of the tourism council.
Now, the council sees 2021 as time to rebrand. Their central questions as they do this are: 1) What is our purpose? and 2) How do we get people involved?
While the committee plans to do some of the well-known and expected activities such as the Ewenique Art Walk and the Pendleton County Outdoor Palooza, they seek new blood to make these events more inviting and more well-publicized to the masses.
“We are looking for new people. We really like new bodies, new blood, and new skill sets because we need them.”
Those skill sets fall under the categories of graphic designers and social media, among others. These people will not need to be at every meeting. They can be contacted when they are needed or with the information that they would need to accomplish a goal; but anyone who wishes to attend may do so and is more than welcome. New ideas of any sort are welcome.
In order to encourage new membership, Hartzel says the group is looking at the bylaws. When the committee was set up, membership dues were charged because they needed a source of income. Now, that is not the case thanks to the art walk’s success. The monies raised from it, while limited, is enough to waive membership dues. The hope is that waiving the dues will encourage more people to join the committee.
And Hartzel hopes that new membership will help promote the summer’s main event, the Pendleton
County Palooza.
“We do POP because people do not know what is here,” Hartzel explains. We want to promote the unique things that we have here. We will have staples like Thaxton’s Canoe, Camp Northward’s zipline and facilities, KRT and trails and other activities around the county as well as new businesses such as the Millstone and Creekview.
The main goal of the committee as they move forward, though, is finding ways to get outsiders to come in--and to stay.
“Our questions are how do we use resources to get people in? What kinds of accommodations could we offer? The Pettits have an AirBnB on their farm. Who else could offer something like that? Could we form a Hip Camp? With the ark and wedding venues popping up all over the county and around its borders, could we offer a weekend package to stay in Pendleton? How could we utilize the airport to make this happen?”
No matter when or why new members join, though, the most important thing, according to Hartzel, is to find ways to get people into the county, to promote events, to spread the word more regionally. The committee can use community calendars and contact others they may know.
But the biggest promotion, Hartzel says, is still the most basic and well-known method: word-of-mouth.
“Our biggest promotion will be to get people to talk about what they have seen and experienced in the county.”
And the key to this happening, to making exciting things even more exciting, is just as basic: involvement.
“When people work together to make things happen, money returns to the city.
“We want to take what we already have and use what is available. Teamwork is the key to everything.”
Upcoming events sponsored by
Pendleton County Tourism Council
Pendleton County Outdoor Palooza
Saturday, June 19 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
throughout Pendleton County
Fourth of July Parade
Saturday, July 3 time TBD
Ewenique Art Walk
Saturday, September 11 4 -9 p.m.
Shelby Street, Falmouth
Pendleton County Christmas Activities
Date TBD
Several locations throughout Falmouth
Meetings are held on the third Monday of each month. Other county events are shared at pendletoncountytourism.com.