The Decatur County Visitors Commission met on Thursday.
John Pratt gave a bicentennial update. It is officially the start of the Bicentennial and things are going good. With the help of the Community Foundation, they have put together some great sponsorship packages. So far they have raised more than $30,000 for the Bicentennial and now that they have the funding, they can begin to book things. Next Tuesday they will be showing ET the Extraterrestrial at Wolf Theaters with a special zoom call afterwards with Dee Wallace, who plays the mother in the movie. There will also be an Octoberfest celebration with a band, historical homes tour, and Township Tours by the Historical Society throughout the year, along with many other events.
Erica Gunn and Daniel Fayette gave a marketing update. They have been focusing on the Bicentennial Facebook page and its posts, making sure they are promoting it to the best of their ability. The plan to make videos to promote these events as well.
The board discussed the 4th of July Fireworks. In the past they have been the main sponsor, however the Decatur County Memorial Hospital requested to be the only sponsor this year, as it is their 100 year celebration. Unfortunately, there were some issues with this which led them to not be able to fund the full $20,000 promised and they are now requesting other sponsors to help fill the gap. The board wants to make sure that this is a great fireworks show as it is the Bicentennial. The board approved $5,000 from the tourism fund and $5,000 from the Bicentennial fund.
The meeting time will remain on the third Thursday at 12:30 pm. The VDCI board will meet immediately after.
Morgan Schofield
WTRE News
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