Local plans under way to boost tourism

Local officials and tour industry members already have plans to grow tourism here.

Mayor Lorna Marquardt and Jim Yeakey, former tourism council president, said the area already has a good start, as they gave credit to collaboration among Shawano and Menominee counties and the Stockbridge-Munsee and Menominee tribes.

“We’ve all worked together to bring tourists here, to get people’s dollars into Shawano Country one way or another,” Yeakey said.

“Shawano and Menominee counties are a great team that can and should do more,” Marquardt said. “We need to work more with the bus lines. We need to get those buses to stop not just for the destination but to stop along the way.”

County administrator Frank Pascarella talked about $400,000 in capital improvements going on at Shawano County Park and its pavilion.

“By the middle or end of June, we will have the whole (pavilion) redesigned so we can have conferences there,” Pascarella said.

Focusing on eco-tourism, Pascarella said the industry should not forget about what he called “silent tourism,” the people who come just for bird watching and such.

“They’re higher-end people. They’re the ones who will go shopping,” Pascarella said.

Kit Sorenson, tourism development specialist for the state, who was traveling with Trumble, said the state is producing regional wildlife guides and one focusing one the central part of the state will be done next.

Ron Schumacher, tourism council president, said web sites are key to promoting tourism. Tourism secretary Kelli Trumble agreed, and said pictures showing people’s emotional connection to an area tell the story best on those sites.

Tourism secretary promotes branding and growth

The state’s new tourism secretary brought a message of branding and tourism growth to Shawano Tuesday when she met with Shawano Country Chamber of Commerce members.

Local plans under way to boost tourism

Local officials and tour industry members already have plans to grow tourism here.

Mississippi Rotary group honors Riopelle for Katrina efforts

Jack Riopelle, president of Wisconsin Film & Bag, was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow award by the Rotary Club of McComb, Miss., on Tuesday in recognition of his relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

BlueLine Media buys Shawano Shopper

BlueLine Media Holdings, LLC, Tuesday announced the purchase of the Shawano Shopper, Inc.

Dispatchers get week of national

This is National Telecommunicators’ Week across the country, and officials at the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department honored their local personnel in a press release last week.