Tourism

TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Taylor County Courthouse-County Board Room Call Meeting to Order: Sue Swiantek called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. Members Present: Sue Swiantek, Diane Albrecht, Krist Punzel, Dave Lemke, Don Liske, Candice Grunseth and Michelle Grimm. Members absent: Lisa Carbaugh Other Attendees: Billie Hartwig, Sue Emmerich, Sara Matyka, Corky Tesch, Cliff Mann, Maxx Handel, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Lemke, to approve the agenda . Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the October 8 , 2 024, meeting: Motion by Punzel, seconded by Liske, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism Grant requests: • Village of Rib Lake: Corky Tesch and Cliff Mann were present to represent the Village of Rib Lake’s request for $5000.00 for their Discover WI project. The cost of the project is 15,000 and they are requesting 5000. This project is highlighting the Ice Age trail and there are 63 miles of it running through the county with 6.5 miles running through Rib Lake. The village will be asking various other groups to help with the cost of the project. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Grunseth to approve $2000.00. Lemke and Liske voted no, and Punzel abstained. Motion carried. • Frances L. Simek Library: Maxx Handel, Director of the Simek library, presented on behalf of the 5 Taylor County libraries. They are holding a Passport event; people will get a stamp at each library they visit and will have a chance to win prizes. A great opportunity for Taylor County residents to get out and visit the libraries. They are requesting $250 to go towards advertising. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Liske to approve $250. Motion carried. • Maplefest: Dave Lemke presented on behalf of Maplefest. They have reduced the amount they have asked for over the past years and are asking for $1500 this year. Motion by Liske, seconded by Grunseth to approve the $1500. Lemke abstained; motion carried. Perkinstown Winter Sports Area Advertising-Star News: Sara Matyka was present to discuss pooling the Tourism and Buildings and Grounds money to advertise for the WSA. She felt proposal C was sufficient for $890.60. Motion by Lemke, seconded by Grunseth to approve. Motion carried. Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson reported that he is busy following Christmas events and concerts. The Curling Club will be hosting the state championship tournament and 19 teams will be attending. They will be putting together a booklet for the attendees with the local businesses. Rib Lake has a lot of people fishing. Chamber report: Hartwig stated that they are busy sending out winter guides and snowmobile maps. Mike Beebe is finished with the video and all are in the drop box. Old Fashioned Christmas and the fireworks were a big success. Last year’s Chamber Gift Certificate sales were $122,000 and they expect to surpass that this year. All money stays within Taylor County. The Munch and Punch is going through December 19 th and there are 38 restaurants participating. Christmas trees for charities has raised $10,346 this year. Public input/correspondence: Jim Metz added that the Tavern League served over 700 meals at the annual Light a Light dinner for the elderly. Lemke added that the Medford Lions will be having a snowshoe race at the WSA on Saturday, February 8th at 11:00 a.m. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $7711.62. Motion by Lemke, seconded by Punzel, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 11, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., in the third floor County Board Room. Adjournment: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Punzel, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:48 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Taylor County Courthouse-County Board Room Call Meeting to Order: Sue Swiantek called the meeting to order at 11:08 a.m. Members Present: Sue Swiantek, Diane Albrecht, Krist Punzel, Lisa Carbaugh, Don Liske, Candice Grunseth and Michelle Grimm. Members absent: Dave Lemke Other Attendees: Billie Hartwig, Sue Emmerich, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Albrecht, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the August 13, 2024, meeting: Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Grunseth, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism Grant summary: Bucktoberfest: Billie Hartwig represented the Medford Kiwanis and their request for $2000.00 towards the advertising for the third annual Bucktoberfest. She said this is the third year for the event and it grew to a two-day event and was a success, with an estimated 1000 people in attendance. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Punzel, to approve the request for $2000.00. Motion carried. Parkfest: Billie Hartwig represented Parkfest and their request for $2000.00 towards the advertising for the event. Due to the rainy weather and storms forecasted for the day of the event, attendance was down this year, but still an estimated 2500 people attended from all over Wisconsin, many of whom were followers of the Glam Band. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Grunseth, to approve the request for $2000.00. Motion carried. Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson reported that the Fall/Winter Recreation guides are out and 10,000 copies will be distributed throughout the state. He covered the third annual Midwest States 100 ultramarathon, with participants from Winnipeg, Canada to Chattanooga, Tn. Also there have been truck pulls and events at the rodeo grounds. Wilson suggested we start getting our advertising ready for the Perkinstown Winter Sports Area. Chamber report: Hartwig stated that the traffic on the new website is up 10% with the trails the most popular area. There was a Japanese film crew and reporter here, doing a segment on Medford for a production on Wisconsin to be aired in Japan. They spent a few days here visiting the courthouse, several businesses and residents and even attended the homecoming game. The Fall Haul was a huge success! The 50 spots on the bus filled up in 90 minutes and they visited 18 businesses that day, spending over $11,000! The Lieutenant Governor spent a day in Medford and toured BRI and even sat in on a Highway Commissioners meeting while visiting Marilyn’s. Public input/correspondence: None. Sports Show advertising: The Star News provided us an opportunity to advertise at several upcoming sports shows in Wisconsin and Illinois. The committee discussed the options of the shows as well as whether to advertise with Taylor County maps, brochures or rack cards. Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Punzel to advertise at all 4 shows with maps, for $390.00. This will then deplete our stock of Taylor County maps. Motion by Grunseth, seconded by Carbaugh, to reorder 5000 maps through the Star News, at a cost of $2881.00 plus the additional cost of adding a QR code to the map. The payment to be split over 2024 and 2025 budgets. Motion carried. Travel Northwest WI-Wisconsin Counties Association: Taylor County is the only eligible NW WI county that does not belong to this tourism group. The committee has talked about looking to budget for it next year to join in 2026. No action taken. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $17,801.71. There was an additional $10,960.00 from the Chamber that had been missed by the Chamber throughout the year, that’s why the invoices were so high. Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Liske, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in the third floor County Board Room. Adjournment: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Carbaugh, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:20 p.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, August 13, 2024 Taylor County Courthouse-County Board Room Call Meeting to Order: Sue Swiantek called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. Members Present: Sue Swiantek, Diane Albrecht, Krist Punzel, Dave Lemke, Don Liske, Candice Grunseth and Michelle Grimm. Members absent: Lisa Carbaugh Other Attendees: Billie Hartwig, Sue Emmerich, Marilyn Frank, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Lemke, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the June 11, 2024 meeting: Motion by Punzel, seconded by Liske, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism Grant requests: Bucktoberfest: Billie Hartwig represented the Medford Kiwanis and their request for $2000.00 towards the advertising for the third annual Bucktoberfest. She said it is now a 2 -day event, and all money raised goes back to the children of Taylor County. Motion by Punzel, seconded by Lemke, to approve the request for $2000.00. Motion carried. Tourism Grant Summary: Grass on the Black: Marilyn Frank represented the event and stated they saw growth in attendance, vendors and bands. Some of the bands even spent the night in Medford and camped out! The estimate for attendance was 1500 to 2000 people throughout the weekend. Some people in attendance this year have already booked their motel rooms for next year. Motion by Liske, seconded by Albrecht, to approve the payment of $2000.00. Motion carried. Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson reported it’s been a very busy few months. He’s covered Gilman Dairy Days, Grass on the Black, Taylor County Fair, Rumblefest, City Park music series and the duck race. He is working on the Fall/Winter Recreation Guide and will be covering the upcoming Midstates 100 race at the end of August. The Star News has asked the committee to run an ad in the Fall/Winter Recreation Guide, the ½ page full color ad will be $359.00 and a full page is $499.00. The committee suggested a few edits to the ad, and there was a motion by Albrecht, seconded by Lemke, to approve the ½ page revised ad for $359.00. Motion carried. Kelly of the Star News will send the revised ad to Farrand who will share with the committee for their approval. Chamber report: Billie Hartwig shared that there was a Tourism float in the Ice Age parade, thanks to Vi and Donnie! Billie said all is going well with the new website, and the trails page has seen the most traffic. They are not adding events to the site, as there are links directly to the pages of the City of Medford, Gilman and Rib Lake. People have been asking for kayak maps and bike trails and the comments have been made that Medford is like a Hallmark movie with all that it has going on! On Sept. 22 nd, the Chamber is holding its first Fall Haul. They will be taking 50 people on a coach bus to shops all around the county, so that people see what is all available, and they shop locally for the holidays. This is the first event, and it sold out almost immediately. Public input/correspondence: None. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $3890.85. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Grunseth, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Other items from the Committee: Farrand distributed the budget worksheet and the committee discussed it and had questions on the Chamber salaries. Farrand to investigate the difference between 2023 and 2024. The advertising budget looks to be short, so the committee is requesting it be increased from $8000.00 to $10,000.00. Other than that, no changes were made. Motion by Grunseth, seconded by Lemke, to approve the proposed 2025 budget. Motion carried. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in the third floor County Board Room. Grunseth asked if she could start attending via Zoom, due to Village Board meeting preparation on the same day, Swiantek approved. Adjournment: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Liske, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:54 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, June 11, 2024 Taylor County Airport Call Meeting to Order: Sue Swiantek called the meeting to order at 11:06 a.m. Members Present: Sue Swiantek, Diane Albrecht, Krist Punzel, Dave Lemke, Don Liske, Candice Grunseth and Michelle Grimm. Members absent: Lisa Carbaugh Other Attendees: Billie Hartwig, Sue Emmerich, Chuck Zenner, Jeff Meyer, Rick Sperl, Nicole Hager, Tracy Hartwig, Marilyn Frank, Jenn Hargot, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Punzel, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the April 9, 2024 meeting: Motion by Lemke, seconded by Albrecht, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism Grant requests: Grass on the Black: Marilyn Frank and Jenn Hargot were present to represent Grass on the Black and their request for $2,000.00. They are once again anticipating an increase in attendance and will be advertising via radio, TV, banners, posters and social media. In addition to the bands at the many venues, there will be a food truck alley, vendor fair, shuttles to move people from venue to venue. Bands are coming from all over and will be staying locally. Motion by Liske, seconded by Punzel, to approve the $2,000.00 request. Motion carried. Parkfest: Billie Hartwig and Sue Emmerich represented Parkfest and their request for $2,000.00. This year’s band is 80’s rock band, The Glam Band and they are scheduled to play from 7 to 11 pm. This will be the first Parkfest in the new band shell. Motion by Grunseth, seconded by Liske, to approve the $2,000.00 request. Motion carried. Tourism Grant Summary: Broomstack Brewfest: Brian Wilson presented the event summary. He said the weather worked against them as it was too nice outside! They had about 150 people attend, with about half from outside the area. They advertised in Price County and in the UP of Michigan and also utilized social media and posters. Motion by Lemke, seconded by Punzel, to approve the payment of $1,500.00 towards the advertising of Broomstack Brewfest. Maplefest: Dave Lemke presented the event summary for Maplefest. He reported that they had an increase in paid breakfasts and all vendor booths were filled. This was the second year at the Simek Center and they saw an overall increase in attendance and vendor sales. The weather did impact the outside events and displays. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Liske, to approve the payment of $2,000.00 towards the advertisement of Maplefest. Motion carried. Lemke to forward copies of advertising invoices to Farrand. Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson reported he is running the Camper of the Week again; the first ones were visiting from Minnesota. He’s been busy with reporting the Car Show, June Dairy Days, Dairy breakfasts, and already promoting Grass on the Black, Parkfest and the Old School Saloon street dance. Chamber report: Billie Hartwig shared the updated Tourism dollars from the state and Taylor County has seen an increase in all categories. Total Economic Impact for Taylor County increased from $53 million in 2022 to $55 million in 2023 and a 7.5% increase in state and local taxes. This information is all available on the Travel Wisconsin website. The Pine Line had 227 runners this year from 4 states. Parkfest is coming up and 200 of the 300 VIP seats are sold. Boots on Tour will be going to Chippewa Falls June 25th 8:00-5:15. Upcoming ribbon cuttings at the bandshell and RCU pavilion and splash pad. Airport update: Zenner provided an update on all that’s going on at the Airport. Looking for ideas as well as collaboration with the Chamber, Tourism Committee and the City of Medford to help promote it. The county is currently looking to hire a part-time Airport Coordinator. On September 28th Amber Epperly is coordinating a fly - in to promote the airport, plans are still in the works. Emmerich suggested the Tourism and Airport Committees come to an Economic Development meeting to have a discussion. Farrand to reach out to Corp Counsel about how to post this, as Economic Development is a confidential meeting, so they are not open to the public. Public input/correspondence: None. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $4,336.47. Motion by Albrecht, seconded by Punzel, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Albrecht left at 11:50 a.m. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in the third floor County Board Room. Adjournment: Motion by Liske, seconded by Lemke, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:08 p.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, April 9, 2024 County Board Room-Taylor County Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Diane Albrecht called the meeting to order at 11:22 a.m. Members Present: Diane Albrecht, Sue Swiantek, Dave Lemke, Don Liske and Michelle Grimm. Members absent: Lisa Carbaugh and Krist Punzel Other Attendees: Billie Hartwig, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Liske, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the February 13, 2024 meeting: Motion by Lemke, seconded by Liske, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism website updates: Grimm showed the committee the new website, through Square space. Kelly from Visionary Design will assist with transferring the domain name to the new platform and then it will be live under the same web address. The new look is very nice! Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson stated he was contacted by Out and About Wisconsin Magazine wanting information on Maplefest back in February. He sent them a story & photos and made the deadline to get a story in the magazine. The Spring/Summer Tourism guides are out for distribution. 14,000 copies are being distributed statewide. The Star News has covered the Beer Festival, Yucca Club events and Women’s Weekend. The Village of Rib Lake had contacted Star News for help with their Tourism website, and he sent them over 1000 photos for them to use. Chamber report : Billie Hartwig confirmed they are busy sending out the Spring/Summer Tourism Guides. The Pine Line Marathon is coming up and they already have 194 runners signed up representing several states. There is a lot of interest in the summer music series they are putting on together with the Kiwanis. They are getting a lot of requests for their Visitor bags. They are working with Gilman and Rib Lake and Jeff Anderson from Travel Wisconsin, to update the website and give Gilman and Rib Lake some exposure on it. The Parkfest reveal party is April 11 th at the Curling Club, and the entertainment will be announced. Billie also provided information to the committee on RentFun. They are a Midwest company that offers self-service equipment rental options. They offer kayaks, paddleboards, bocce ball, cornhole and ping pong. Farrand will send the information to the committee as well as Buildings and Grounds to see what kind of interest there is. Advertising opportunity: Mike Beebe passed along an opportunity from Rod Kolash of Midwest Grillin’ with Mad Dog and Merrill, to have a 15 second commercial during the new episodes beginning Memorial Day weekend, on WVTV, and running every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and repeating on Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. Reruns will then air Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 a.m. For a flat $1,000.00 we will have a 15 second commercial. There was a motion by Liske, seconded by Swiantek, to go ahead and try it. Motion carried. Public input/correspondence: None. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $2,905.70. Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Liske, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in the third floor County Board Room. Adjournment: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Liske, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:05 p.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TOURISM COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 13, 2024 County Board Room-Taylor County Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Diane Albrecht called the meeting to order at 11:04 a.m. Members Present: Diane Albrecht, Dave Lemke, Lisa Carbaugh, Krist Punzel, Michelle Grimm and Don Liske. Members absent: Sue Swiantek Other Attendees: Sue Emmerich, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Approve the Agenda: Motion by Lemke, seconded by Punzel, to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Approve the Minutes of the December 12, 2023, meeting: Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Lemke, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Tourism Video update-Mike Beebe of Point of View Multimedia: Beebe shared several of the videos he created for our project. He has a question for the committee, can the Rib Lake Development Foundation use the videos on their website? This led to the question of anyone wanting to share, as the Chamber will also do on their Facebook page. Do they want to address these individually? Or make a blanket approval? There was a motion by Liske, seconded by Carbaugh, to allow others to use and share our videos. Motion carried. Tourism website updates: Grimm presented the committee with an update of the new look of the website, through Square space. Kelly from Visionary Design will assist with transferring the domain name to the new platform. This will be a work in progress. Once finished, Beebe will update our videos with the new website where applicable. Reports: Star News: Brian Wilson stated with no snow and warm weather there wasn’t much to report on. He covered the Tired Irons event as well as the Running Tree maple syrup bonspiel at the Curling Club and will cover the upcoming Women’s Weekend. They are working on the Spring/Summer Tourism guide which will have a larger distribution area, to include just outside of the county. Chamber report: Emmerich provided an update on the Chamber’s tourism-related activities. Hartwig met with Travel Wisconsin in Gilman to help Gilman establish a presence on the Travel WI website. The Chamber provided a list of 5 businesses to the Governor’s office for an initiative to help local businesses struggling due to the weather and lack of tourism this winter. The Chamber is meeting with a company that has self -serve kayaks. About 50 people went to each night of the opening weekend of the Yucca Club and their first play. Upcoming events are Women’s Weekend and the Home Show with the theme of Homegrown Roots. Booth at the Home Show: The home show will be March 22 -24 at the Siemek Center. The Chamber graciously offers the Tourism Committee a booth at no charge. The committee agreed to have the booth, Farrand and Grimm will not be available to help this year. Farrand has a partial schedule of workers and will email the committee to complete it. Albrecht will pick up candy. Liske will bring a TV. Beebe will set up the videos. Emmerich will put together a basket of Taylor County goodies. Advertisement in the Spring/Summer Tourism Guide: The Star News has offered the premium inside back page to us once again in the Tourism guide at a cost of $569.00. Carbaugh suggested a new ad, Wilson said they will create it and send it to Farrand to share with the committee. Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Punzel, to approve the ad in the Tourism guide. Motion carried. Public input/correspondence: None. Approve the invoices: Invoices were presented by Farrand, totaling $1,971.00. Motion by Liske, seconded by Punzel, to approve the invoices as presented. Motion carried. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. in the third floor County Board Room. Adjournment: Motion by Carbaugh, seconded by Liske, to adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:11 p.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk