THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9406210155
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
DATELINE: 940622 LENGTH: Long
Well, guess what? It's working.
{REST} All you have to do is spend a weekend afternoon in Smithfield or the surrounding area and you are automatically a believer.
Watch the folks walking Main Street with their little yellow brochures in hand. Talk to them, and interestingly enough, discover that many of these folks are from not that far away. They come from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach.
Who wouldn't want to leave Virginia Beach for an afternoon? For a lifetime for that matter? But enough ragging on city life.
It's obvious that more folks are definitely being drawn to the country. In fact, Florine Moore, immediate past president of the Isle of Wight Tourism Bureau and current secretary of the organization, said tourism in this county has increased already this year by 100 percent over last year.
And that is just according to the people who have signed in at the old courthouse on Main, headquarters for the Tourism Bureau.
``For the first half of the month of June, we've seen 100 percent more people in town than for the full month of June last year,'' Moore said. ``And those are just the people who have actually come into the visitor's center.''
It makes sense that if they are coming into town they also are visiting nearby attractions like St. Luke's and Bacon's Castle in Surry. You can easily make a full day in the quiet of the country. Little traffic, no congestion, friendly people.
The Tourism Bureau has come a long way in the couple of years it's been in existence, said Moore at the annual meeting and dinner held recently at Four Square Plantation.
The area has hosted the Parade of Homes that brought thousands of people to Isle of Wight for the first time. The bureau has produced a new brochure that is about ready to be reprinted again. It is available in major attractions now throughout Hampton Roads.
There was the New Year's Eve ghost walk, tour, concert and fireworks display, Christmas in Smithfield, Olden Days, a calendar of events, bus tours, the chocolate tasting in February. The Tourism Bureau played an important part in all of the happenings, sponsoring several of them.
And the bureau, Moore said, is about to get accreditation from the State Department of Economic Development's Tourism Division. That means that Isle of Wight will be listed as a place where folks know what they are doing, Moore said.
``Our brochure has not only been approved, it has been shown off around the state,'' Moore said.
The annual dinner was planned to add one more spark of interest to the potential for tourism in the county. It was held at the old plantation, recently opened as a bed and breakfast. And it was held on one of the hottest days this spring.
But wouldn't you know it? Just as the 6 p.m. time rolled around clouds drifted in and and a cool breeze stirred through the huge trees surrounding party headquarters.
A thunderstorm threatened but never materialized. The breeze continued through the meal and through Moore's after-dinner speech about the accomplishments of the bureau and what is in the future.
And what is that? Well, a driving tour through the county. (It had better include a warning not to try it at night. Some of these back roads are endless.)
Also planned is a children's activities brochure that will cause the little ones to actually look for and identify places and things of interest. Moore said they hope for the brochure to be a learning experience.
Next, look for tour packages for specific groups, like bikers, for example.
Moore gave a lot of credit for many of the bright ideas and new projects to tourism director Diane Howard.
``I'm sure Diane is going to come up with some more ideas,'' she said.
Certainly, Howard has a way of pulling things off. I'm sure she had something to do with the weather the night of the dinner, something to do with holding off the thunderclouds until after dinner.
Moore said the primary reason she decided to make a speech that night was to thank everybody for everything they've done to make tourism in this county a success.
The thanks go out to everybody from the government officials who have helped fund the effort to locals and business people who help make visitors feel welcome.
Meanwhile, the bureau is searching frantically for ways to pull in the rest of the county, with the exception of the back roads with all their loss potential. Ask me sometime about the night I headed home from Franklin on a shortcut.
Ask my eldest daughter about the 11:30 p.m. phone call from Wakefield asking her to pick up her brother from a friend's house. She wanted to know what I was doing in Wakefield. So did I.
Anyway, if you have any input, any new ideas, I'm sure the new officers would be glad to hear them. And they are: Lynn Harris, president; Dick Austin, vice president; Florine Moore, secretary; and Diana Beale, treasurer.
by CNB