JACKSONPORT — This year’s Ozark Gateway Leo Rainey Tourism Appreciation Banquet was held on Thursday at the Jacksonport State Park visitor center, recognizing citizens, organizations and businesses that have made an impact on the Ozark Gateway Region.
Featured speaker was Mat Faulkner, president of Think Idea Studio of Searcy. Faulkner is involved in the rejuvenation of downtown Searcy and is part of the team that recently helped the town win the Small Business Revolution contest.
Partners in Tourism recognized were Citizens Bank, First Community Bank, Areawide Media, FutureFuel Chemical Company and North Arkansas Electric Cooperative.
President’s award recipients were citizens Danny Dozier and Bob Carius. “With the topic of placemaking and the nearing completion of another phase of Maxfield Park, it only seemed fitting that this year’s award to go to individuals who are leading the way in creating momentum and excitement for Main Street Batesville with their placemaking efforts,” Ozark Tourism Director Cathy Drew said.
“You can’t help be inspired by Danny’s vision of recreating and repurposing a grown up piece of unused land into the beautiful space that Maxfield Park has become with the help of dedicated volunteers like Bob. We hope that everyone who attended this year’s banquet left inspired and with plans to do some placemaking in the place they call home,” said Crystal Crow, OGT President. “It was really an honor to be able to surprise Danny and Bob with these awards,” Crow said.
Meanwhile, the Cave City Watermelon Festival was recognized as Festival of the Year. Celebrating the 40th annual event this year, the Cave City Watermelon Festival has continued to grow and thrive, easily bringing 12,000-15,000 people to the small town of Cave City (pop. 1904) each year.
Member of the Year 2019 is the Ozark Folk Center. The OFC brings thousands to the region each year and works very hard to keep weekend events and activities that attract people from all over the USA.
Receiving this year’s Tom Biggs Award was Dr Patti Mullins of Newport for her hard work helping the promotion of tourism in the region and the Wilson Powell Media Award went to White River Now for their dedication to promotion of the area. “Always the membership leader among the 12 regional associations, the Gateway boasted more than 300 members during the late 1970s. This was due mostly to the late Tom Biggs (1897-1984), a Sharp County native who retired in Batesville,” Drew said. “Tom always sold over 100 memberships in Independence County, and then traveled to other counties to help with their sales.” The Gateway honors his memory with the annual “Tom Biggs Award” for outstanding service to tourism.
The Wilson Powell Media Award was given to White River Now for their support and promoting of the local tourism industry. Wilson Powell (1914-2003) was the first secretary/treasurer of the Gateway Board and held the position for more than 25 years. “Wilson was the business manager and staff newsman for the Batesville Guard, writing most of the Gateway features promoting the region. The annual Media Award recognizes contributions to area tourism through public media.
For more information about the Ozark Gateway Region visit www.ozarkgateway.com or call 1-800-264-0316.
Cathy Drew is a lifelong resident of the region that she loves to promote. She was born in downtown Batesville in the late ’60s, located in one of the eight counties she now enjoys encouraging people to visit.
Drew became associated with the Ozark Gateway Region in 1990 while working at the ad agency (The Media Market Inc.). The agency handled marketing for the regional association, where she and her co-workers produced an annual tabloid publication. She began working as the Ozark Gateway Region director in June 2000.
After Drew became director, she took the region to the next level by helping the tourism organization create a new website and moved it from the old newspaper paper tabloid publication to a color magazine format. She helped open a visitor center for the Ozark Gateway, allowing visitors to pick up information from the entire state 24/7. Over the years, Drew has helped the organization meet new marketing goals, such as in- and out-of-state marketing, assuring that all 100,000 copies of their magazines are distributed each year.
In 2016, she assisted in creating the first Ozark Gateway Region Golf Classic. The tournament continues to grow each year, allowing the organization to expand its co-op program and helping each county have dedicated promotion. Drew stays busy at Ozark Gateway as the ad sales manager, magazine editor, day-to-day office operations, trade show representative, and magazine distribution representative, all while ensuring that the region is represented all over Arkansas and southern Missouri.
Drew was featured in several local and statewide publications over the years, as well as the 1997 cover of the Ozark Gateway Region tabloid, along with her then 4-year-old son, Jon. She has received several awards, such as the Batesville Rotarian of the Year in 2010 and a three-time Paul Harris Fellow.
She also has served as an Independence County election commissioner for several years. She now serves as their co-election coordinator, helping with behind-the-scenes management of voting equipment, day-to-day election deadlines, and poll worker training.
Drew is Batesville Rotary Club Past President, and is the Rotary Clubs’ current membership chair.
In March of 2018, Drew was honored with induction into the Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame for her many years of dedicated service to the tourism industry.