Just got back from vacation on Monday, and already attended a “Dig in”to Tourism conference Tuesday in Devils Lake. Sarah Otte Coleman, ND Tourism Director, said ND has a 17% increase in tourism, while the national average is only 13.4%. 68% of the tourists are from out of state. The number one reason for travel here is visiting relatives, number 2 is coming for fun, and third is business. ND is the cheapest state to visit at an average of $187 a day. The Tourism website of http://www.ndtourism.com/ is very colorful and informative as I found out today when I checked it out.
Some of us got together in small groups to practice saying “We’re counting on you!” for a ND Tourism Hospitality DVD that will be released April 20th at the ND Tourism conference.
Holly Mawby, owner of Gardendwellers Farm, has a very different garden. Her very unique brochure tells how she and her husband have taken over the community of Churchs Ferry that was “virtually removed from the map by waters of nearby Devils Lake.” In 2 1/2 blocks (or 2 acres) they grow 14 different herbs and 3000 lb of rhubarb. In her brochure she advertises for 8 other businesses. Visit their website at www.gardendwellersfarm.com to see more of what they have to offer.
For one of our afternoon sessions we practiced how to do an “Elevator Speech” which is a 30-60 second talk on who we are, where we are from, and what we want to promote in our community or business. These short, concise talks were used by salesmen when they only had 30-60 seconds while they rode the elevator up with their clients till they reached their floor.
This picture shows Shirley Nitz and I posing next to the ND poster. The speaker in the second picture is Holly Mawby, and in the third picture we are with some dedicated Wally, the moose, fans from Walhalla. They said Wally is a bachelor, but we told them how our Joe Moose is getting married to Ana-moose June 28th. I went on their website today, and they already have blogged about the tourism day. They have a great website that you might want to check out- http://walhalla.communityblogs.us
Nine crafty ladies learned the art of making their own greeting cards today at the Anamoose Senior Citizen’s Club. Lesson was given by Mardi Helm. Everyone went home with 5 cards and envelopes ready for giving to some lucky recipient. The lesson will allow them to make more of them at home as we wait for summer to come. (Participants: Tami Miller, Janice Buchholz, Phyllis Zimmerman, Leela Sprenger, Angie Kesler, Lillian Schmidt, Kathy Rademacher, and Marlene Whitaker) The Classes are open to everyone - check the Anamoose Senior Citizen’s Club door for the next class, cafe or call Mardi Helm @ 465-3746. 
