jeff in jefferson

Big Tuesday

Big Tuesday

Jeff Campbell / Jeff in Jefferson

Photo by Jeff Campbell

Usually my Tuesday’s are pretty uneventful and mainly consist of social media updates, answering e-mails, ad design and meeting with our local stakeholders. This past Tuesday was a little different than the norm as we had two big events; The Texas Travel Day Rally at the I-20 Texas Welcome Center in Waskom, Texas and a Texas Historical Commission Preservation Workshop here at the Jefferson Transportation & Visitor Center.

The Texas Travel Day Rally is rotated around the state and held at a different Welcome Center each year. It was good to see our friends from the Marshall Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Kilgore Rangerettes Museum, the Texas Forest Trail Region and to make new friends with groups like the Jacksonville Convention ad Visitors Bureau.

We were able to share information about Jefferson to a large number of travelers. The travelers were also able to view live Texas Longhorns, take part in a rod & reel casting event and enjoy entertainment from Alabama-Coushatta Indian Tribal Dancers and the Marshall Mavettes Drill Team.

May is also National Preservation Month and to celebrate the Texas Historical Commission is holding a series of workshops around the state. Jefferson was fortunate to be chosen as a host for one of these events.

Photo by Jeff Campbell

Attendees to the workshop were able to learn about methods and resources to attract visitors to their community through heritage tourism. This was accomplished through a mix of morning speakers and an afternoon of “break-out” round robin type discussions. Attendees to this workshop were able to head back to their communities with new resources in their heritage tourism tool kit.

Last Tuesday was a big day for a small staff and thanks goes to our Admin Assistant Paula Youngblood and our passionate, high energy Jeffersonians who volunteered to help, we could not have done it without you!