The Crookston Visitor’s Bureau met Thursday morning, awarding its first grant since the organization became its own entity.
Board Chair Nell DeBoer said the board was eager to award the grant for Ox Cart Days. “We did give our very first grant out to – no, surprise – Ox Cart Days for the full $3,000,” said DeBoer. “Comments immediately from I’d say everyone were – absolutely; no brainer; this is the premier event we have – there were some that felt Ox Cart Days should get more but $3,000 is the high-end of that for our grants right now. They have a lot of really good marketing they are going to do with that $3,000. Jess Bengtson was with us by phone today and said it is 100 percent full on. We are following the guidelines with Minnesota State Fair and there should be no restrictions as of July 1. We were excited to be a part of that as far as giving the grant to the Ox Cart Days. Right now, until the website is up, if anybody is interested in getting any of the grant information, requirements, and a form you can get us at crookstoncvb@gmail.com and we will send you the information.”
The CVB has been hard at work getting new Welcome to Crookston signs with the hope to have them installed by June 1. “Things are being measured for the new signs to go up,” said DeBoer. “If you’re following our Facebook page, you’ve seen the design we’re going to be putting on the designs. That was done by Fastline Graphics and it’s amazing. We’ve got a lot of really good comments on that. Travis Oliver is doing the next step and then, after that, the two landscaping places in town will be doing their work.”
The CVB is also hoping to roll out a website over the next couple of weeks. “The website is coming along,” said DeBoer. “It’s ready for us to see, but not quite for the public yet. We have a few more revisions we made. We sent it to the entire CVB board and asked for their opinions. We had some proofers come in and make some tweaks to it. On the CVB website, there will be places to shop, dine, lodge, etc. We’ll also have our grant request forms on there. Visitors Guides will be on there, and the visitor’s guides on there will be constantly updated with changes as things come in.”
The recently created Visitor’s Guides have also been a popular item. DeBoer said those will now be available at several Visitor’s Centers around Crookston. “We have our very own Visitors Centers we’ve constructed with Travis Oliver and the Crookston High School trades classes,” said DeBoer. “We will have a total of eight visitor centers in town. Cobblestone, the Crookston Inn, AmericInn, and Golf Terrace will all have one. Crookston Housing and Economic Development Authority at the Valley Tech Park has one, City Hall has one, and we will have two at the Crookston Sports Center.”
