Officials in North Carolina have tested a 91-foot passenger ferry from Boston that they hope will help reverse a trend of declining tourism on the Outer Banks.
The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reports the Provincetown III was used for trips on Hatteras Inlet, which were part of a study conducted by a Raleigh company to determine how to cut down on long lines and improve tourism on Ocracoke Island.
Volkert Inc. plans to complete its study by the end of the year.
Ferry Division statistics show the number of vehicles using the six Hatteras ferries last summer dropped to 115,000, compared to an average of 139,000 over the previous three summers.
Hyde County Manager Bill Rich also says tourists visiting Ocracoke fell by 450 people a day.
Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Some leaders in Asheville think the city should spend some of its hotel room tax proceeds to pay for police or other services.
But many hotel owners and state lawmakers think the money is better spent to continue marketing efforts that have made Asheville a top destination.
The General Assembly is discussing a bill that would allow Asheville to increase its room tax from 4 percent to 6 percent. But the proposal continues to send all the money to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to boost tourism or on projects that would attract more visitors.
While tourism is important, it shouldn’t get all the money and be the top priority, City Councilman Gordon Smith told the Asheville Citizen-Times (http://avlne.ws/1T4gClO).
“We have to build Asheville first for people who live here. The fact that other people like that is great, but it’s Asheville first,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re not turning our city into a place for others.”
Other city officials wonder if hotel owners are pushing hard to keep all the extra revenue going toward recruiting tourists because of the rapid increase in hotel rooms in the area. Buncombe County is expected to go from 7,200 rooms to 8,800 rooms over the next three years, and more visitors will be needed to help keep everyone making money.
But business and tourism leaders said Asheville didn’t become one of the hottest tourist destinations by accident. There was an effort to sell the city, and leaders can’t now sit back and expect people to keep coming, said Kit Cramer, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
“Does Pepsi stop advertising? Does Coke?” she said.
“It baffles me that people think people are coming here (only) because it’s cool. They won’t come here if they haven’t heard about it,” Cramer said.
Some North Carolina cities are trying to get permission to spend hotel tax revenues on infrastructure like police and roads. Other big Southern tourist towns like Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, already spend their room taxes that way.
ASHEVILLE – In Savannah, Georgia, a policeman has an extra incentive for being nice to tourists: They’re helping pay his salary.
A move to raise the Buncombe County hotel-motel room tax has members of Asheville City Council saying something similar should be happening here — with police or with other services that benefit city residents.
“If the city’s taxpayers are required to provide the infrastructure for tourists … it seems a tax on tourists ought to help out the local taxpayers,” City Councilman Cecil Bothwell said.
People in the hospitality industry and their allies would rather use most of the money to pay for efforts to draw more tourists here. They reject the idea that any of the room tax could or should go directly into the city budget.
“There’s a basic difference … about what the tax is all about. The basic view of the hoteliers is to create a marketing fund,” said Kit Cramer, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce.
For now, hoteliers have won the argument. A bill moving through the General Assembly to raise the room tax from 4 to 6 percent would continue to funnel all of money raised through the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, whose voting members are from the hospitality industry or related fields. A requirement that all of the money go to boost tourism will stay in place.
Three quarters of the additional money would go to increase efforts to market the area to visitors and one quarter to an existing fund used to help pay for projects to make the area more attractive to tourists, like investments in Pack Square Park or the Montford Park Players. That matches the distribution formula of the existing 4 percent tax.
CITIZEN TIMES
Buncombe House members support room tax hike
CITIZEN TIMES
Buncombe room tax increase plan emerges in legislature
Asheville for Ashevillians
The pot of money at stake amounted to $9 million in fiscal year 2013-14. At that rate, the increase would add $4.5 million to the total.
City Councilman Gordon Smith said he still hopes legislators could be persuaded to change the way the money would be spent. But he called the apparent failure of a city effort to have half of the new funds dedicated to affordable housing “a missed opportunity.”
City leaders approached people in the tourism industry several weeks ago in hopes of getting their support for adding another 1 percent of the tax to go to efforts to provide affordable housing.
“Rather than a conversation and a negotiation, the industry simply got with Sen. (Tom) Apodaca and pushed legislation that cut the city out,” Smith said, referring to the Henderson County Republican who has pushed the current proposal in the General Assembly. “The city approached these leaders in good faith only to learn that they weren’t interested in helping with these issues.”
Discussions between hoteliers and Apodaca about a room tax increase apparently had already been going on. Rep. Brian Turner, D-Buncombe, said they predate last November’s election.
Smith says using room tax funds for affordable housing makes sense: “Due to the low-wage jobs that the industry supports, it contributes to the affordable housing problem.”
Tourism contributes to the local economy, Smith said, but should not take too high a priority.
“We have to build Asheville first for people who live here. The fact that other people like that is great, but it’s Asheville first,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re not turning our city into a place for others.”
Bothwell said the TDA has been approached in the past about the possibility of using some room tax money for broader city needs. The response, he said, was that an increase would make the area less attractive to tourists by adding to the cost of a visit.
The explanation didn’t make sense before, he said, because people don’t make their travel decisions based on the relative room tax rates charged in different cities.
Hoteliers’ stance now undermines that argument even more, he said. “Now that they are overbuilding hotel rooms, they suddenly need more tax money for more advertising to attract more tourists. Let the Asheville taxpayers who provide services for tourists be damned.”
Other members of City Council have been less caustic, but have also expressed disappointment.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said tourism leaders did hear the city out.
“I was very pleased that everyone engaged in a full conversation about it. They did not decide to just be heavy handed about it. We got to a little bit of a better place” by directing some of the increase to the tourism product development fund, she said.
Tourism tax for tourism
Cramer, Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau head Stephanie Brown and at least one hotelier say the proposal now advancing in Raleigh is a reasonable one.
Cramer cited an expected increase in the number of hotel rooms in the county from 7,200 to 8,800 over the next three years. Neither the chamber nor the CVB went out and recruited hoteliers to come to Asheville and it makes sense to try to keep existing hotels and motels prosperous, she said.
When the new hotels open, “What happens to the more marginal properties who had been commanding room rates higher than anyone would have thought because of lack of supply?” she said.
Asheville’s presence on so many national top 10 lists happened partly because of CVB marketing, Cramer said, and the city can’t afford to rest on its laurels.
“Does Pepsi stop advertising? Does Coke?” she said.
“It baffles me that people think people are coming here (only) because it’s cool. They won’t come here if they haven’t heard about it,” Cramer said.
The idea of linking tourism with affordable housing issues may have caused hoteliers extra heartburn.
Hoteliers “don’t feel that it’s fair for one industry to bear the brunt of a communitywide problem,” she said.
Cramer said only 6 percent of local hotel employees make less than a living wage and that providing services to the tourism industry is a major source of growth for other businesses like law firms and accountants.
State statistics say hotels are part of the most poorly paid sector of the Buncombe County economy. The average pay in accommodation and food services in the county was $331 per week in 2013, the N.C. Employment Security Commission says. That’s less than half of the $720 weekly average for all workers.
Brown and Cramer say even if local leaders and legislators did agree to use some of the room tax proceeds for things not directly related to tourism, the idea would have a tough time getting approval in Raleigh.
Asheville’s proposal came just after two local legislators city leaders had sometimes been at odds with, former representatives Tim Moffitt and Nathan Ramsey, were defeated in re-election bids. But Cramer said tourism industry groups statewide watch room tax legislation closely and would strongly oppose any break in state policy that room tax money benefit tourism directly.
“I think we could all go in lockstep and stand in a circle on the steps of the Legislative Office Building and it would not matter. The rest of the tourism industry would rise up to crush it because it would lift the lid off Pandora’s box,” she said.
Not how we do it?
Smith says the lid is already off in several North Carolina cities and counties and tourism leaders are just passing the buck when they say it could not happen here.
He cited a report by Magellan Strategy Group, a local consulting company, that says seven of the 80 counties that levy the tax can use proceeds for any lawful purpose. A couple of other municipalities can do the same.
A few additional counties or municipalities are allowed to consider spending on police, firefighting, sewage treatment and trash collection as tourism-related and thus permissable to be funded with room tax money under the laws that set up their taxes, the report says.
Outside the state, Savannah and Charleston, South Carolina, are among cities that put significant portions of their room tax proceeds toward more general needs with varying degrees of impact on tourists.
Half of Savannah’s tax goes to the city’s general fund. The rest is spent on tourism marketing, the city trade and convention center and its civic center. A new Georgia law will devote $5 per hotel or motel stay statewide to transportation projects
Charleston this year is devoting large chunks of its tax to renovation of a downtown performing arts center, police officers and parking enforcement.
Brown said the TDA has already restructured its grant process to make it more likely that city and county government projects will get product development funds and that money has gone to some local government projects like soccer fields in East Asheville and U.S. Cellular Center renovations in past years. The bill that would increase the Buncombe tax says product development funds could no longer go to for-profit companies.
Smith said that’s no guarantee of future funding for the city.
This year, “I believe we have some solid projects that will meet the TDA’s approval. It may not be the case next year or the year after,” he said.
Brown said the General Assembly has tightened its policies over the years to ensure that room tax proceeds go to tourism-related projects and that other uses were only allowed in legislation approved some time ago. That wouldn’t happen today, she said.
She said it is common for local governments in other states to get a share of room tax money.
But, she said, “We exist within the realities in this state.”
As the heavy tourist season gets underway and the official start of summer approaches, it can be hard to remember that the beach isn’t all sun and sand, fun and games.
It can also be a dangerous place if you aren’t aware or aren’t paying attention to Mother Nature.
This week is Rip Current Awareness Week, and as Steve Pfaff with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C., says, “rip currents are equal opportunity killers, impacting all genders and ages.”
So far this year, there have been 37 U.S. surf zone fatalities, 26 of them due to rip currents, according to data collected by the NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Since 2000, there have been 105 fatalities in North Carolina (59) and South Carolina (46) due to rip currents.
And over Memorial Day weekend alone in the Myrtle Beach area there were three reported drownings and a report of a near-drowning.
Erick White, 20, of Sumter, died of an accidental drowning in the ocean; Young Gwon Go, 58, of Charlotte, N.C., also died of accidental drowning while in the ocean; and Eduardo Gutierrez, 41, died of accidental drowning in the Intracoastal Waterway.
Rodney Smith, 28, of Detroit, said during Memorial Day weekend that he felt himself being pulled out to the ocean, but was pulled to safety by three strangers from Denver, N.C.
“I was out there swimming for fun, and the next thing a wave took me under and I was farther out and farther down than I expected. … I can’t even tell you what happened, all I know is we were having fun and the next thing you know it just went south,” said Smith after the incident.
Most victims of rip current drownings are males between the ages of 31 and 50, according to Pfaff. He also points out that 1 in 4 rip current drownings involves the person who is attempting to rescue another.
The S.C. Sea Grant Consortium Coastal Processes program is in the process of implementing a rip current awareness program called “Break the Grip of the Rip” that was developed by the NOAA National Weather Service and is being conducted in partnership with the Charleston and Wilmington offices of the NWS.
The program helps beachgoers identify the signs of rip currents and how to respond if you find yourself caught in a rip current.
The website has photos, local beach forecasts, online training and more, including important facts to know, like the chances of drowning at a beach with lifeguards are 1 in 18 million, according to the U.S. Lifesaving Association.
Included on the site is a section for kids and teens that offers tips, videos, games and activities to help younger beachgoers familiarize themselves with the dangers of the ocean.
NOAA defines a rip current as “channelized currents of water flowing away from shore are surf beaches.”
Rip currents can form at:
▪ breaks in sandbars
▪ near jetties or piers
▪ near cliffs that jut into the water
To help raise awareness about Rip Current Awareness Week and the Break the Grip of the Rip program, Pfaff answered a few questions about beach safety and the program:
Question | Can you talk a little bit about the Break the Grip of the Rip program?
Answer | It is a program designed between the United States Lifesaving Association, Sea Grant, and the National Weather Service to promote rip current awareness. The team looked at designing a website to house rip current information, develop an easy to understand sign/poster, and share in a unified message to the public that foster education and awareness. The strength of rip current outreach is through partnerships between these agencies and many more, including our media partners.
Q. | What resources does the program provide beachgoers?
A. | The program enables beachgoers with where to find rip current forecast information and with information that will arm them a better understanding of what a rip current is, and most importantly how to get out of one.
Q. | So, what should someone do (or not do) if they find themselves caught in a rip current?
A. | First and foremost, be able to recognize that you are in a rip current. During extreme events you can feel yourself being carried away through the surf. However, most times you may only notice that you are getting tired and not getting any closer to the shore.
If either occurs, then swim to the side to get out of the rip. Most rips are not wider than 30 feet. Swim to the side then at an angle back to the beach. It is easier to do this if you have a flotation device, so you should always enter the surf with some sort of flotation in case you cramp up or get caught in a rip.
If you can’t swim to the side, then use all your energy to stay afloat and raise your arm and wave for help. Stay as calm as possible. If you get tired you will go under.
Q. | What’s the most important thing people need to remember about the ocean?
A. | There are many hazards in the ocean but the most common one they may face is a rip current, based on USLA statistics. The ocean is not a swimming pool and … taking a few moments to learn about rip currents may help save a life, especially the life of someone they love dearly.
Q. | Do you have any tips for parents who are trying to teach their children about ocean safety?
A. | Visit the NOAA rip current website and learn together. There are many tips on how to spot rips and what to do if one is encountered. The more people we can teach about rips, the better. Take the time to learn and be a force multiplier – share what you learn with family and friends. We need to work together as a community to truly be a Weather Ready Nation!
Q. | Can rip currents be spotted from the shore? How can beachgoers learn to identify them by sight?
A. | Yes, they can, but it is easier from a higher point, i.e., the top of a beach access path. They look darker than surrounding areas in the surf … you may see the water flowing seaward, and they are often in areas with little in the way of breaking waves compared to the waves spilling onto adjacent sandbars. There are good examples on the website.
Q. | What if someone sees another person caught in a rip?
A. | If you see someone caught in a rip, seek help from a lifeguard or call 911. Direct the person in trouble to swim to the side. If you have no choice but to attempt a rescue, then only enter the surf with a flotation device. If you don’t, then you may get into trouble as well. Flotation devices like body boards, rafts or surfboards buy you time if you get tired. In addition, the person struggling in the surf may accidentally push you under as instincts to get air and breathe take over their actions.
By the numbers*
59 | rip current deaths in North Carolina
46 | rip current deaths in South Carolina
9 | the age of the youngest rip current victim in the Carolinas
74 | the age of the oldest rip current victim in the Carolinas
1-2 feet per second | the average speed of a rip current
*Data since 2000, according to the National Weather Service of Wilmington, N.C.
Beach flag rating system
Two red flags | No water activity allowed
One red flag | Public encouraged to stay out of the ocean
Yellow flag | Public encouraged to swim ONLY in front of posted lifeguard towers
Green flag | Public encouraged to swim in front of posted lifeguard towers
Purple flag | marine creature warning, such as man-o-wars, jellyfish, blue buttons or sea nettles
A key question has been arising at Iowa’s political pig roast Saturday: Will the Republican presidential straw poll survive?
Several 2016 hopefuls have said they will not participate in the carnival-like summer event that draws thousands of Iowa party activists. But the event appears to be on shaky ground.
Sen. Joni Ernst hosted Saturday’s pork roast at the same site selected for the poll and says the candidates should join in.
Ernst said Saturday that whether they opt out or not, she wants them to “visit Iowa as much as possible.”
State GOP officials have fought to keep the Aug. 8 event alive. But critics say the poll has become a costly sideshow.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham say they plan to skip the poll. Graham said Saturday that participating was not a good return on investment.
11:30 a.m. (CDT)
Jack Zimmerman says he’ll do whatever he can to elect Rick Perry president.
Zimmerman and lots of other veterans converged on a hotel in Perry, Iowa, to hear from the former Texas governor, who’s running again for president.
It’s the fifth anniversary of Zimmerman’s first deployment to Afghanistan. He was severely wounded after stepping on an explosive device and had his legs amputated.
Zimmerman says he met Perry during a hunting excursion for wounded veterans and they have stayed in touch. Zimmerman was in a San Antonio hospital for rehabilitation.
Perry is set to lead a motorcycle ride later Saturday to raise money for an organization that provides service dogs to wounded veterans.
Perry will end up in Boone, Iowa, where a number of Republican presidential contenders are giving speeches.
—
11:15 a.m. (CDT)
Scott Walker is all decked out in his Harley-Davidson gear — jacket, boots, gloves, even down to his wallet.
The Wisconsin governor and 2016 Republican president hopeful is joining Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst for a 40-mile motorcycle ride to kick off her “Roast and Ride” fundraiser.
Saturday’s ride is from Des Moines to Boone, where Walker and some other White House contenders will give speeches.
Walker and lots of bikers have gathered at a Harley-Davidson store before the trip. The governor chatted enthusiastically with others about riding bikes.
—
10:45 a.m. (CDT)
Rev up and pig out — it’s time for a new kind of event on Iowa’s presidential calendar.
U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst’s “Roast and Ride” is debuting Saturday, and she hopes it’ll become a tradition on the state’s political circuit.
The first-term Republican lawmaker is set to lead a 40-mile motorcycle ride from Des Moines to Boone with a group of military veterans and a likely presidential candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
In Boone, Ernst is hosting a pig roast that will feature speeches from Walker and six other GOP hopefuls.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry just got into the race, and he’s planning to take a different route to Boone on his motorcycle ride.
About an hour’s drive north of Greenville, an area once known for horses is quickly becoming known for wine.
There are five active wineries and 12 vineyards in the area just east of Tryon, North Carolina. Four of the wineries showcased their efforts during a progressive wine dinner Sunday.
The fundraising event was the brainchild of Suzanne Strickland, director of Our Carolina Foothills, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and tourism in the region. About 15 people met at Stone Soup restaurant in Landrum before being shuttled to four wineries, where winemakers and restaurant owners discussed the wines and foods being served.
The dinner started with an appetizer at Russian Chapel Hills Winery in Columbus, North Carolina. Here, sushi from Umi in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was paired with a rosé made from estate-grown cabernet franc grapes. The wine was dry and quite light, with hints of strawberries and a touch of minerality. It paired well with the sushi.
Owner Andrey Medvedev also poured Karma Viura, a white Rioja wine he imports from Spain. Tasting notes accurately suggest clean and persistent fruit, with flavors of green apple and citrus. The wine offered mild acidity and a smooth, fresh taste.
“I call it front-porch sipping wine,” Medvedev said.
The next stop was Mountain Brook Vineyards in Tryon. Here, a mixed-green salad from Southside Smokehouse Grille in Landrum was paired with Mountain Brook Rambunctious Rosé.
The salad — made with locally grown lettuce, strawberries, honey and goat cheese — was topped with marinated onions and lavender. It was complemented nicely by the rosé, which offered a good balance of acidity and sweetness.
“We’re small,” said Dennis Lanahan, Mountain Brook’s owner and winemaker. “We have seven acres of grapes.”
Lanahan, a former attorney from Florida, planted his first grapes in 2002. He originally sold the fruit to other wineries. Today, Mountain Brook makes several different wines, all with 100 percent North Carolina grapes that are harvested by hand.
“We opened with our first wines in August 2013,” he said. “In two years, we’ve entered six wine festivals and we’ve won 15 medals, four of them in California.”
Lanahan also poured a chardonnay, which he ages in French oak for 10 months. It was clean and refreshing, with hints of vanilla and lemon, balanced with a nice acidity.
Mountain Brook chardonnay won a silver medal at the 2014 San Francisco International Wine Competition and the 2014 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.
“I like the fruit on it,” commented one of the dinner guests. “It has a nice finish, and it’s very, very clean.”
Making wine is a constant learning process, Lanahan said.
“North Carolina is young in the wine business,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to learn. But we’re getting better at it. North Carolina is where Virginia was 20 years ago.”
The main course was served at Overmountain Vineyards in Tryon. Here, Stone Soup restaurant first served trout en papillote — North Carolina trout in a lemon, white wine and butter sauce, with potatoes, beans and cherry tomatoes — followed by braised leg of lamb with charred tomatoes and spinach, applewood bacon, local goat cheese and fresh rosemary.
Overmountain Epic petit manseng, made with estate-grown fruit, was paired with the trout. This aromatic white wine was fermented in stainless steel and offered flavors of tropical fruits, citrus and honey. Petit manseng is a particular focus of Overmountain, though the winery also grows a number of red varietals.
The lamb was paired with Patriot Red, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. It was aged in French oak for 18 months. This heavier wine — with flavors of dark fruits and berries — was a good match for the richness of the lamb.
The dinner ended at Parker-Binns Vineyard in Mill Spring, North Carolina. The winery, which has been making wine since 2008, has about eight acres of grapes currently planted.
A chocolate cake from Newman’s Restaurant at The Orchard Inn in Saluda, North Carolina, was paired with a raspberry wine followed by a cabernet sauvignon that had been aged for 18 months in oak. The raspberry wine paired particularly well with the dessert.
“We want our vineyard to tell the story of the wines,” said winemaker Karen Binns. “This is a hobby out of control, but it is so much fun.”
You can go
The next Our Carolina Foothills progressive wine dinner is Aug. 16. Space is limited, and reservations are required. The cost is $100 per person. For more information, contact Suzanne Strickland at stonesouprestaurant@gmail.com. For more information about the wineries mentioned in this article:
c 2014, WLOS ABC 13 | Portions are Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or distributed.
WLOS News 13 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for Asheville, NC and nearby towns and communities in Western North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina, including the counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, Haywood, Polk, Transylvania, McDowell, Mitchell, Madison, Yancey, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Graham, Spartanburg, Greenville, Anderson, Union, Pickens, Oconee, Laurens, Greenwood, Abbeville and also Biltmore Forest, Woodfin, Leicester, Black Mountain, Montreat, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, Etowah, Flat Rock, Mills River, Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Canton, Clyde, Franklin, Cullowhee, Sylva, Cherokee, Marion, Old Fort, Forest City, Lake Lure, Bat Cave, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Bakersville, Burnsville, Tryon, Columbus, Marshall, Mars Hill, Brevard, Bryson City, Cashiers, Greer, Landrum, Clemson, Gaffney, and Easley.
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a distinctive, world-class research university that blends cutting-edge programs across many disciplines including business, computer science, the arts and sciences, engineering and public policy. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
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Corey Mitchell, 2015 Excellence in Theatre Education Award winner
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Corey Mitchell, 2015 Excellence in Theatre Education Award winner
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Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a distinctive, world-class research university that blends cutting-edge programs across many disciplines including business, computer science, the arts and sciences, engineering and public policy.
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Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a distinctive, world-class research university that blends cutting-edge programs across many disciplines including business, computer science, the arts and sciences, engineering and public policy.
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NEW YORK and PITTSBURGH, June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Tony Awards® and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have announced Corey Mitchell, Theater Arts Teacher at the Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, N.C., as the winner of the inaugural Excellence in Theatre Education Award. This year’s finalists were Marianne Adams, Director of Education at the Grandstreet Theatre School in Helena, Mont., and Donald Hicken, Theatre Department Director at the Baltimore School for the Arts in Baltimore, Md.
This special honor recognizes a K-12 theatre educator in the U.S. who has demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students and who embodies the highest standards of the profession. More than 4,000 nominations were received from across the United States for the 2015 Excellence in Theatre Education Award.
“The submissions for these educators by their students and colleagues were extremely moving, and the lasting impact they have made was made very evident by the videos and stories they shared. We are extremely honored to have this opportunity to recognize their outstanding work in this manner and are thrilled to have them join us on Sunday evening at the Tony Awards,” Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, said.
A panel of judges comprised of the American Theatre Wing, The Broadway League, Carnegie Mellon University and other leaders from the theatre industry selected Hicken and Adams to be recognized as the runners up for the honor, and Mitchell as this year’s winner. Mitchell will receive the Excellence in Theatre Education Award at Radio City Music Hall during the 69th Annual Tony Awards telecast on CBS at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time), Sunday, June 7.
“In light of CMU’s rich history of producing Tony Award-winning talent, Carnegie Mellon is proud to partner with the Tonys in celebrating arts education with this first-ever honor for theatre teachers,” said Dr. Subra Suresh, president of Carnegie Mellon University. “The importance of arts education and its impact on the human condition cannot be overstated.”
Reared in rural North Carolina and educated at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Corey Mitchell is now completing twenty years in the classroom and his fourteenth year at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, N.C. He teaches acting and leads a dynamic musical theatre program. His musical theatre history final exams have become legendary, and his love for Uta Hagen is unparalleled. Corey does not shy away from material that challenges his students, the audience, or his own skills. Some of the most notable of his seventy-plus productions include “For Colored Girls,” “Pippin,” “Edges,” “Aida,” “Rent” and “Hair.” During his career, Corey has garnered recognition as a director, performer, and teacher, including the North Carolina Outstanding Theatre Arts Educator in 2007.
In addition to his work at Northwest, Corey is involved as a director and actor with the Charlotte-area theatre community and is a strong advocate for arts education through his work on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Theatre Conference. Additionally, Mitchell, his colleagues, and his students are the subject of the 2015 feature-length documentary “Purple Dreams.” The film chronicles the journey of Northwest’s production of “The Color Purple” and its journey to the main stage of the International Thespian Festival. With past and present students performing, writing, and composing for community, university, and regional theatre, as well as theme parks, the West End, and even Broadway, Corey Mitchell is proudest of the love for the stage he instilled in thousands of young artists over the years.
Marianne Adams received her BFA in Theatre Arts from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Marianne has directed many mainstage productions for Grandstreet, most recently “The 25th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee,” “Big River,” “Ragtime,” “Annie,” “Peter Pan,” “Into the Woods,” “Oliver,” and “Songs for a New World.” She teaches acting classes for the Theatre School. She has also worked as a mentor and artist-in-residence in the Helena Public Schools and surrounding areas.
Donald Hicken has directed “Red,” “Heroes,” “Fifty Words,” “Shooting Star,” “Our Town,” “I Am My Own Wife,” “The Turn of the Screw,” “Betrayal,” “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” “The Children’s Hour,” “Jacques Brel,” “My Children! My Africa!,” “Watch On The Rhine,” “The Road To Mecca” and “The Lion in Winter” for Everyman Theatre. He has also directed at The Berkshire Theatre Festival, The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, The Kenyon Festival Theatre, Round House Theatre, Rep Stage, and Pennsylvania Stage Company. For his production of “The Glass Menagerie” (a co-production of Everyman Theatre and Round House Theatre), he created and directed “Steps in Time: Scenes from 1840 Baltimore” for the Baltimore City Life Museums. Hicken founded The Center Stage Conservatory, The Actors’ Conservatory and has taught master classes at The Berkshire Theatre Festival where he developed “Fog People,” a celebration of the Eugene O’Neill centenary. He has been Department Head of Theatre at the Baltimore School for the Arts since 1979, where his productions include: “Romeo and Juliet,” “Lysistrata,” “The Rimers of Eldridge,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Marat/Sade,” “Curse of the Starving Class,” “Yerma,” “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” “The Lady From Maxim’s,” his own adaptation of “The Wind in the Willows,” “A Chekov Sampler,” “Ionescorama” (an evening of one-act plays by Eugene Ionesco), the world premiere of “Chalk” by Al Letson (co-commissioned with the Baltimore Theatre Project) and “Our Town.”
From January through March 31, 2015, submissions were accepted online for K-12 theatre educators for the inaugural “Excellence in Theatre Education” Award. Anyone—from students and school administrators, to friends, neighbors and family—was invited to submit a worthy teacher for consideration. Submissions were accepted for current teachers at an accredited K-12 institution or recognized community theatre organization anywhere in the United States whose position is dedicated to and/or includes aspects of theatre education. To learn more, visit tonyawards.com/educationaward.
Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama is the oldest drama degree-granting program in the United States and celebrated its centennial in 2014. In the past century, CMU has produced hundreds of Tony nominees, and its alumni have won 40 awards to date. During last year’s live Tony Awards telecast, CMU alumni Zachary Quinto and Matt Bomer announced the educator award initiative.
About the Tony Awards The 2015 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At The Broadway League, Robert E. Wankel is Chairman and Charlotte St. Martin is President. At the American Theater Wing, William Ivey Long is Chairman and Heather A. Hitchens is President.
IBM, the official information technology partner of the Tony Awards, develops, designs, and hosts the official Tony Awards digital experience across platforms, including www.TonyAwards.com. Carnegie Mellon University is the first-ever, exclusive higher education partner of the Tony Awards. United Airlines is the official airline of the Tony Awards. Paramount Hotel is the official hotel partner of the Tonys. City National Bank is the official bank of the Tony Awards. Porsche Cars North America, Inc., manufacturer of exclusive sports cars, is celebrating dynamic performance as the official sports car of the Tony Awards. La Crema, known for elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, is the official wine of the Tony Awards. USA TODAY is the official media partner of the Tony Awards. PEOPLE is the official magazine partner of the Tony Awards. Clear Channel Spectacolor is an official media partner of the Tony Awards and co-producer of the Tonys Simulcast in Times Square. The Hollywood Reporter is an official media partner of The Tony Awards. Nordstrom is the official sponsor of the Tony Awards Red Carpet.
About Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 13,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.
“It’s great to go to Review Santa Fe and see all these creative people for two days and immerse yourself in their art, their world, and ask them to tell you their stories, why they’re doing what they’re doing and what their passion is,” said Mary Anne Redding about Center’s annual portfolio-review event for photographers and reviewers from magazines, galleries, and other venues. “I think most reviewers are looking for a body of work that interests them and is complete and that they think they can show in whatever venue.”
Center is a local nonprofit organization devoted to furthering the careers of photographers. Redding is one of more than 40 industry professionals invited to see the work of 100 photographers in the Review Santa Fe Festival, which takes place from Thursday, June 11, to Sunday, June 14. The colloquium, now in its 15th year, was established to facilitate relationships between photographers and professionals looking for new work. Redding is curator with the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She was previously curator of the Marion Center for Photographic Arts and chair of the photography department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design; and before that she was the curator of photography at New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors. “I’m on Center’s advisory board, and for me and a lot of other reviewers it’s a great way to see a lot of photography with an eye toward exhibitions and publication. It’s also an opportunity to network with people in the industry. One thing that’s nice about the Turchin Center is that we show all media by local, national, and international artists. I’d especially love to bring work by emerging photographers here.”
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The McKnight Foundation commissioned writer Jay Walljasper to do a series of reports looking at the prospects and challenges in Minnesota’s 80 counties outside the metro area. This is the fourth of four articles excerpted from his first report focusing on Southeast Minnesota.
By instinct, Midwesterners head north for vacation dreaming of sky-blue lakes, pine forests, rustic cabins and walleye frying in a pan. That bright vision, reinforced by decades of tourist brochures and Hamm’s Beer ads, sometimes blinds us to the appeal of rolling rivers, oak-dotted hillsides, historic towns and trout frying in a pan. In other words, Southeast Minnesota.
“Southeast has a really beautiful landscape that a lot of people haven’t actually seen,” says Jan Joannides, who co-founded the Green Routes project to draw attention to authentic travel destinations throughout the Upper Midwest. “It’s got exactly the same appeal as up north, but in a different way.”
A lot of Southeast lies in the Driftless region, the corners of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and a small patch of Illinois that was not flattened by glaciers. (In geological terms, drift means material of glacial origins, so this area is “driftless.”)
A recent documentary, “Mysteries of the Driftless,” highlights the awe-inspiring scenery and outdoor attractions of the area. “Have you ever thought to yourself the world is already all explored?” the film begins. “What if I was to tell you there is a place in America that is huge and 99.5 percent of all Americans don’t even know it exists? … It’s geologically and biologically amazing.”
North Carolina-based filmmaker Rob Nelson calls the area a “topographic island” brimming with caves, native art, springs, fossils, trout streams and rare plants and animals. Dubbing it a “hotspot of biodiversity,” Nelson explains this is where species of the East meet those of the West along with “relics of the Pleistocene Era” that have survived in unusual ecosystems like goat prairies and talus slopes along river bluffs.
On the road to Southeast
Here’s a pleasing itinerary leading you to some of Southeast Minnesota’s chief attractions.
Start in hilly, historic Red Wing, which National Geographic Traveler magazine ranked high [PDF] on a list of world tourist destinations for authenticity and preservation of historic character. Make a bike, canoe or cross-country ski trip along the Cannon River through the picturesque village of Welch and cozy Cannon Falls, which features a classic Main Street with two hardware stores, a grocery soon to open, cafes and taverns. The Cannon River Winery, with a tasting room just off Main Street featuring live music, is a tourist draw. Other wineries have popped up along the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Winona and LaCrescent, giving rise to the Great River Wine Trail with 11 stops between Prescott, Wisconsin, and Marquette, Iowa.
Back in Red Wing, head south on storied Highway 61 (the Great River Road, which is soon to get a facelift in terms of amenities, which is also known as the Mississippi River Trail to bicyclists) to Lake Pepin, the widest and arguably most lovely spot on the whole 2,000-mile stretch of the Mississippi. Lake City, the birthplace of water skiing, is a major port for boaters and sailors. The village of Frontenac feels like a field trip back to the 19th century.
The river’s towering bluffs can be hiked in Frontenac, John A. Latsch and Great River Bluffs state parks as well as Barn Bluff Park in Red Wing and Garvin Heights Park in Winona. For a closer look at the river, explore Latsch Island, right across the channel from downtown Winona, or settle in at the riverside Reads Landing Brewing Company in tiny Reads Landing.
Don’t miss the National Eagle Center in downtown Wabasha, the best perch anywhere to sight our national symbol. The impressive museum and visitors’ center began in 1989 when local folks built a viewing platform to accommodate birders who were flocking to town because year-round open water made Wabasha a favorite winter home for Eagles. More than 70,000 people visited last year from 124 different countries. Inspired by the Eagle Center, the National Trout Center has opened in Preston and the International Owl Center in Houston.
Winona, the region’s second biggest city, is a college town serving up an unexpected menu of artistic activities. Winona’s Minnesota Marine Art Museum is brimming with fine examples of Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, O’Keefe, and Wyeth, and the annual Great River Shakespeare Festival draws actors and theatergoers from around the country. Winona’s Polish flavor can be sampled at the Polish Museum and the ornate Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka.
Follow the river road south to La Crescent, Minnesota’s apple capital, and head west on Highway 16 (a National Scenic Byway) into the steep hills of the Root River valley. The Root River Trail, one of the most celebrated bike routes in the United States, runs 42 miles through forested bluffs from Houston to Fountain. A bit west of Lanesboro, the equally appealing 18-mile Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail branches off through a hilly landscape notable for trout streams and pastoral scenery.
Lanesboro shows off a vivacious Main Street offering arts, artisans, bistros, bars, boutiques and a winery as well as the richest concentration of BBs in the state, ranging from Victorian luxury to downhome charm. The village is becoming a noted ecotourist destination with: outfitters equipping you for tubing trips on the rushing Root River; the River Roots Skills School teaching local crafts at the Eagle Bluff Center; and nearby Forestville/Mystery Cave featuring unique geological sights like springs, sinkholes and, of course, caves along with a ghost town restored to its 1899 heyday.
Ecotourism potential
“A lot of communities in Southeastern Minnesota are understanding their ecotourism potential — wildlife, boating, orchards, biking, paddling the backwaters of the Mississippi, arts, local food, hiking, skiing,” says Tex Hawkins, sustainability adviser at Winona State University.
The prospects of more people coming to Rochester for health and wellness services is activating ideas throughout the region about how to lure Mayo visitors to Red Wing’s historic downtown, Wabasha’s Eagle Center, Winona’s arts events, the Root River Valley’s outdoor activities, Owatonna’s landmark Louis Sullivan bank, Northfield’s college town ambience, Mantorville’s 12-block nationally designated historic district, Spring Grove’s Norway-meets-Norman Rockwell spirit, plus first-rate bike trails, trout streams, local food tours and boat rides on the Mississippi.
“Tourism isn’t strongly developed in this part of the state. I think there’s great growth potential,” points out Jan Joannides of Renewing the Countryside, which focuses on using local assets to build stronger local economies. While acknowledging that tourism often means lower-pay jobs, Joannides says, “This is where ecotourism comes in. It’s more a peer-to-peer.” This means economic opportunities to open BBs as well as work at a hotel, run family restaurants and not just wash dishes, teach craft classes instead of clerking in souvenir shops.
Tim Penny, a former congressman from the region and now the president of the Owatonna-based Southern Minnesota Initiative Fund, envisions Southeast Minnesota as a Midwestern New England, drawing on its cultural, historical, agricultural and natural assets to create a dynamic, entrepreneurial economy.
Jay Walljasper writes, speaks and consults nationally about how to create healthier, happier communities. His website is JayWalljasper.com.
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