The Crookston Visitors Bureau held its monthly meeting on Tuesday at the Eagles Office.
The bureau discussed its grants issued in 2025 and 2026. In 2025, the CVB issued grants totaling $18,964.68 to 11 groups and organizations. As of August 18, 2026, they have issued $15,002 in grants to seven groups. CVB President Ellie Fee remains optimistic about the amount of funding they’ve given out but would like to reach out and support more groups and businesses to help attract bigger events, like Ox Cart Days. “Our goal here at the CVB is to give grants to businesses to attract events, conferences, and conventions to Crookston,” said Fee. “Last year in 2025, we gave out 11 grants. That’s Ox Cart Days, Ice Buster Days, our staycations, some class reunions, the Get Kids Outdoors golf tournament, our music and movies we bring to town. It’s all about getting people to Crookston and getting them to spend their money there. This year, it’s about the same. It’s the reunions. We had some big ones this year. The 50-year class reunion drew over 100 people, so we’ve seen success with it.”
Another topic of discussion was about class reunions and grant proposals. Most of the discussion revolved around potentially changing the requirements set by the bureau when class reunions submit grant proposals, including capping the amounts they could apply for. Fee brought up an idea regarding the upcoming 150th anniversary of the City of Crookston in 2029, in which the CVB could work to have an all-class reunion to celebrate the city’s milestone as well as the classes on their milestone years. The feeling behind that concept would be to bring in a large crowd for the reunion and encourage them to visit local businesses and explore the town. “With class reunions, they tend to come in the summertime,” Fee said. “Ox Cart Days is a big draw for them. They come back for the nostalgia class reunion. We were throwing around the idea at today’s meeting of maybe partnering with some people to do an all-class reunion for the 150th anniversary of Crookston. Obviously, lots to think about and work out, but we are very interested in partnering with someone to bring an all-class reunion to town, maybe as a weeklong event or a long weekend.”
Another key discussion point was the loss of the lodging tax, the CVB’s main source of revenue. The bureau has recently stopped receiving the tax but has been in discussions with the city on a solution. Until then, the bureau was looking to identify potential revenue sources outside of the tax. Jess Bengtson suggested an additional electronic outdoor billboard, either along Highway 2 or in downtown Crookston, that would be viewed by people commuting in and out of Crookston, as well as by visitors. A billboard would give businesses the opportunity to advertise and reach a broader audience, while the CVB could have an additional, steady source of revenue to support more grant opportunities. Fee said, “We’re looking at possibly having a video billboard that we would be partnering with some people on to promote Crookston businesses, preferably on Highway 2 there, to get people to town. That’s still very early in the works, but we’re going to keep working on that to see if it’s feasible and affordable, and if it really will provide the results we want and need for Crookston.”
Additional discussions included the Crookston Sports Center. The CVb has been trying to bring more events to the facility, such as flea markets or conventions, but has not seen the number of events they had hoped for. Fee discussed the possibility of using the sports center as the main site for the all-class reunion and 150th anniversary celebration. The next step to bring these events to town is to continue pushing for more advertising to groups through social media and an updated Visitor’s Guide. “It’s fun to learn the different events that used to be held in Crookston,” said Fee. ” We were talking about a craft fair at our meeting today, which used to be held there. The Shriners were just out there again. That was a private event, but it’s bringing people to town. It’s the heads on beds, different ideas, different conferences, being very active in searching out organizations that we feel Crookston can hold with our hotel space, and just going out and finding them and offering Crookston what we have to offer.”
The next Crookston Visitor’s Bureau meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, at 7:00 a.m.
