Lawrence County Tourism Board welcome Special Guests to February meeting
The Lawrence County Tourism Board (LCTB) had its monthly meeting Monday February 21, 2022 at 5:30 PM at the Lawrence County Extension Office.
Wes Kingsmore, Chairman, was present along with Board members Brenda Hardwick, Treasurer, Susie Chambers, Secretary, Rita Parker, Debbie Hill, Keith Chaffin and Chris Jobe. Wes opened the meeting with prayer.
Kingsmore recognized Special Guests Kim Willard, Director of Mountain Movers Theater Company, in Louisa and cast of “Little Women.” Kim thanked the LCTB for its donation and mentioned that some of the cast are from as far away as Seattle and one is from Australia.
One of the cast members said how beautiful the nature was here in Lawrence County and it reminded him of home.
Additional Special Guests Frank Kincaid, Commander of the W.O Johnson American Legion Post 89 and James Barnette, Commander of the VFW 6103 were next.
Frank and James thanked the LCTB for its donation and mentioned they have purchased flags for the officers of American Legion Post 89 and VFW 6103. Anyone wanting to purchase a flag for a member of their family the cost is $89 or you can join the Veteran’s for $35 a year and receive a flag free.
Also the Vets will have to provide honorable discharge papers and have them filed at the courthouse before receiving a flag. On Memorial Day the Veteran’s will have a free celebration and you will see the flags flying proudly around the courthouse for our local Vets.
The flags are 18 inches in width and 3 feet long and have a picture of the Veteran, military branch and years in the service. Frank and James also stated that anyone receiving military rites at a funeral that those services are free to Veterans. Meetings for American Legion are the 1st Thursday of month at 6PM and the VFW meet the 1st Tuesday of the month at Fred M Vinson Building.
After the Special Guests spoke and thanked the LCTB, we were all treated to delicious dinner and awesome desserts by Rebel Barn Catering and everyone thanked the ladies for their work on catering to a large crowd with a round of applause. Once the special guests left, the LCTB continued with the agenda…
5. Old Business: 1) Fishing Show in Paintsville which was limited from Covid and 2) Fishing Expo in Williamson, WV on February 19 which Keith Chaffin and Wes Kingsmore attended and handed out brochures and had a give-a-way of gift cards from Rebel River Outfitters owned and operated by Ken Akers.
6. Approval of January 2022 minutes- Susie Chambers, Secretary, Brenda Hardwick made the motion and Keith Chaffin seconded the motion, none opposed.
7. Approval of January 2022 Report-Brenda Hardwick, Treasurer, motion carried non opposed.
8. New Business,
1) Rack Cards-New brochures on Yatesville Lake.
2) Website-The website LCTB has, needs updated so they need to complete a grant application. They received a bid from The Holler, which will build, train, upload and manage the website.
3) Rent Storage Building For Equipment-the board has coolers, tents and heaters that needs to be stored for safety. Wes said he will check locations and sizes and prices. Keith Chaffin made the first motion and Brenda Hardwick seconded, none opposed.
4) Donation for $200 to Brooke Neil- Miss Louisa, going to state pageant March 25-26.
5) Donation of $2500 for Dead-Fred 5K on April 30th. Brenda made the motion and Keith seconded, none opposed.
6) LC Search and Rescue-donation of $1000 for equipment. Wes stated that the LC Search and Rescue will attend functions helping out the board events.
7) Easter Parade downtown Louisa with events in park following on April 2, 2022. Brenda Hardwick said ‘we are in the planning stage, more to follow’.
8) Easter Bunny event at Wilderness Park (Susie New) on April 16th all free. Keith Chaffin made the first motion and Rita Parker seconded the motion, none opposed.
9) Yatesville Lake Spring Clean-up Day (Army Corps of Enginners) is on May 21st.
10) Fallsburg Musicfest – will be on May 20th. Shenandoah will attend the event.
11) Kid’s Fishing Day at Yatesville Lake (Corps of Engineers): is on June 4th.
12) Pioneer Days at Wilderness Park (Tamera New) on June 24-25.
13) Fourth of July Boat Parade at Yatesville Lake Marina (Susie New) on July 2, 2022 at 5PM.
9. Public Comments- General talk about, Friends of the Tug Fork cleaning the Tug River of old tires making access to boat ramps especially for Search and Rescue teams easier. Also in attendance helping the LCTB were Tamera New and Shanda West Adkins, young recruits to help with events.