There will be lots to do here in 2009

Almost any where you go, including Nevada, you may hear people say there is nothing to do. That will not be true in Vernon County in 2009.

With the year winding down and a new year to begin shortly. It is only appropriate to look at 2009 and visualize all of the events that will take place.

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Glenda Crowder, IMPACT Nevada's tourism coordinator, give a program on Vernon County's annual events. She passed out a flyer listing numerous events that will be taking place. The flyer is only a summary of the events and a summary of the events. There is much more that could be added.

This flyer demonstrates that there is a lot going on in the community that is of special interest. These are events that will attract people to this community. Tourism is a major economic factor in our community and it is growing and becoming more important.

While visiting with Glenda this week, she said, "There's a lot of stuff going on, more than people realize. It is a good thing."

She is right there is much more going on than most of us realize. After reviewing what will be happening in the coming year, we realize that she is right about much taking place.

One of the events listed is Bushwhacker Days. This will be held June 10-13. This year it will not be held on Father's Day weekend as it has been for many years. This year the Eagles will be holding a motorcycle rally during Bushwhacker Days. This is rather exciting as it will draw a large number of people to this event. It is expected that there will be from 2,000 to 4,000 cyclists. Currently there have been 1,700 reservations made at area motels for these special guests.

Larry Scism and others are putting a lot of effort into organizing, planning and bringing this group to Nevada. It is another event that needs the support of the community. Glenda commented that Bushwhacker Days will never be the same again.

Each year Bushwhacker Days is a big event and will be even bigger this year. To be successful, the organizers are going to need a greater number of volunteers and more support.

This past week end we watched the Miss Merry Christmas Pageant and the Christmas Parade. Once again, there were volunteers helping to make these events successful. These two events will be held next December.

Regardless of the event, there are always people involved in making the event a reality. It is because of these people and the support each event receives that makes all of these events possible. As we see what is going on behind the scenes, it is remarkable what is getting done.

Lights at the Lake planned last year, is going on now. It is an attraction that not only draws people from this Nevada and Vernon County, but also from surrounding communities. It is great to have these beautiful lights reflecting off of the water at Radio Springs Lake.

Among the events listed is the ACRA-NRCA sanctioned Professional Rodeo sponsored by the Vernon County Youth Fair on June 4, 5, 6, 2009. The Vernon County Youth Fair will be held June 6-11.

While the brochure lists many of the things going on in Vernon County next year, it does not include all of the things there are to do in the area.

The IMPACT Nevada Tourism board with Glenda Crowder as the coordinator is having an impact on Nevada and on tourism in the area. They are promoting the community in a variety of ways. One of the projects that they have worked on that will soon become a reality is direction signs. This will be good for the community.

This is the age of the computer and many people get information about the community by checking the web site. There are three listed on Glenda's business card: www.visitnevadamo.com is the website for tourism, www.nevada-mo.com is for the chamber and www.nevadamo.org is for the city of Nevada. Each one of these contains good information about the area and new information is in the process of being added. Much has to be done to tell others about ne-VAY-da in a variety of ways.

Glenda said, "With tourism come income -- come money." They come and are welcome, we hope that they will come back to see everything there is to see.

The IMPACT Nevada Tourism board is doing a great number of things, but they can not do it all by themselves. Everyone in the community needs to be community ambassadors and help to make guests in our community feel welcome.