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Darke
County Visitors Bureau
Illumination
receives Tourism Grant
GREENVILLE
– The Darke County Visitors Bureau released the names of
the recipients of the 2013 Darke County Tourism Grant. This year, two
recipients were chosen. They are: Ohio Gourd Society for The Ohio Gourd
Show
and Illumination Ministries for Illumination Festival.
The
Illumination Festival started with a handful of people with a
common goal in mind – to bring the top artists in contemporary
Christian music
to Darke County. After the first year it was clear that Darke County
residents
were ready for this to become an annual event. Now in its seventh year,
the
Illumination Festival Committee has continually expanded and is now a
two-day
event with the first day geared toward youth groups. While there is a
good
representation of Darke County residents on both days of the event,
more and
more people from outside the community are discovering the Illumination
Festival with tickets having been sold to persons from across western
Ohio,
Michigan and Indiana. But that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise
since they
attract the top names in the music industry, such as TobyMac, Newsboys,
Big
Daddy Weave, Sanctus Real, Hawk Nelson, Superchick and FireFlight to
name a
few. MercyMe and Sanctus Real will headline this year’s event.
The
committee responsible for putting the event together includes
Marty and Connie McCabe, Daryl Riffle, Dan Franks, Julie Strait, Chris
Hammaker, Nick Hammaker, Pat Harless, John Gilmore, Sean Lawrence and
Ryan
Berry.
“With
the award of the grant, the bureau takes another step toward
achieving its mission to attract visitors to Darke County through
promotion,
education and development of Tourism,” stated Larry Boos, President of
the Darke
County Visitors Bureau Board of Trustees.
Funds
are made available to non-profit tourism attractions and
organizations sponsoring special events and programs in Darke County.
Grants
are awarded on a competitive basis, with primary consideration given to
applications, which: (1) attract overnight visitors; (2) attract
visitors from
more than 50 miles outside of Darke County and (3) feature new or
expanded
events or programs.
“This grant program is
designed to encourage creative thinking to gain “new” money from
tourist into
our community,” stated Executive Director, Deanna York. “Many new ideas
and
concepts were presented during this process. The bureau encourages
local
non-profit organizations to continue to think outside the box and apply
for
this grant.”
To
learn more about these events as well as other festivals and
activities taking place in Darke County, please visit
www.VisitDarkeCounty.org.
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