Webster Parish, Louisiana

Tourism News Archive
January, February, March, 2006

Notes from Marketing Director Lynn Warnock

March 2006  

The Webster Parish Convention & Visitor Commission would like to invite everyone to the first 2006 Spring events, the Fifth Annual Scottish Tartan Festival and the First Yellow Pine Spring Fling this weekend. The Tartan festival is presented by the Scottish Society of the Louisiana Hielands and the Heartland Highland Cattle Association. On Saturday, the festival will be held at Scotland Farms just north of Minden and begins at 10 AM with a bagpipe competition.

There will be activities throughout the day for visitors to enjoy. Events include the Celtic Run, Jog, Stroll, Walk or Wobble, Scottish Bagpipe competitions and Demos, as well as a Bagpipe Workshop by Alfred L. Barrow. There will be contests for Bonniest Knees and Scottish Fiddling and Demos as well. Highland Cattle worked by Border Collies will also be a highlight. Other events will include Scottish Games, the Scottish Pet Show and Competition, Red Shank Reenactments and Demos, and Scottish Miniature Ponies. There will also be a Black Smith on hand, Single Action Shooting Demos, and a Dogtrot Open House. There will be someone there to discuss Scottish Clan information, as well as Genealogy, and Vendor Tents. At 6:30 PM there will be a Ceilidh and Hay-Loft Barn dance. This unique event can only be seen here. A Highland Feast on the Beast lunch will be served at a cost of $5. Admission is free! For more information call Dr. Alan Cameron at 318-371-1781.

The Yellow Pine Spring Fling will also begin on Saturday April 1 st at the old Yellow pine Schoolhouse currently known as the Yellow Pine Inn in Sibley. This historic site has been accepted by the National Register of Historical Places and will celebrate the unveiling of the historic plaque awarded last October. The event will also include a plant swap, antique and rummage items, crafts, food and drink vendors and a free tour of this unique bit of Webster Parish history. Admission is free! For more information call 377-3600.

Chef Jean Folse will be our guest on April 30 th. He will be filming a segment of the LPB series “Taste of Louisiana” at the Germantown Colony Museum. This is another terrific opportunity for Webster Parish to shine.

The Holiday Rambler’s are currently arriving at the Minden fairgrounds. This office has developed an exciting agenda of activities during their stay, March 22 nd through 28 th including a tour of Camp Minden with the assistance of Col. Ron Stuckey and Col. Terry Hammett of the Youth Challenge Program. We can anticipate 240 or more visitors during the rally. This is the first rally to be held over a weekend and we are working hard to make it the best ever.

The Wandering Wheels bicycling group will return again this year on April 21 st on their annual coast to coast ride. A group of 50 World War II Veterans are confirmed to visit our parish for the first time on Friday, April 28 th as a “day tour” during the annual Selman Field Historical Association Reunion in Monroe. We are working with the Germantown Colony Museum and Camp Minden to put together two historic venues for them to tour during their day in our parish. They will be welcomed with a color guard presentation, 30 minute film, guided tour and refreshments at Camp Minden.

Since my last report, our office has been contacted by Southern Living Magazine. As a direct result from our FAM Tour in January 2005, a feature story “Antiques of Minden” will be published in an upcoming issue. This is a huge accomplishment for Webster Parish Tourism!

Lynn Warnock

Executive Director

 

February 2006  

As you may recall, in September of 2005, the Tourism Commission approved establishing a film office to be officially known as Louisiana Films North for the purpose of attracting film, both television and movie production and distribution to be done in Webster Parish for the important economic impact of creating new jobs and increasing tax dollars for the citizens of Webster Parish and the subsequent promotions of the film locations as major tourist destinations. The new name allowed us to expand into surrounding parishes. The current website http://www.lafilmsnorth.com/ continues to be updated.

Claiborne Parish has confirmed their commitment to join Webster Parish in the film initiative and a task force was established in early November. A non profit corporation was established in late November to receive contributions, both public and private, to fund future marketing tools including a promotional film, brochures, publications, and rosters. The Mayor of Springhill has provided an office space on Main Street in Springhill for the use of the new organization.

The film initiative continues to bring publicity to Webster Parish. The combined efforts of Webster Parish and Claiborne Parish working together as Louisiana Films North was the featured story on Channel 6 News at 6 and 10 PM on January 3 rd. What a way to start the New Year!

Through our continued efforts and persistent requests to the publicist, Peter Silbermann, with “The Guardian”, a major press conference was held at Camp Minden on Saturday, January 14 th with representatives of A School Productions and the film production company for “The Guardian”. This was the last day of filming in our parish. Coverage was provided by Channels 3 and 12, The Shreveport Times, The MindenPress Herald, The Minute Magazine, KEEL Radio, and KASO Radio.

Mark Indig, Unit Production Manager, Maher Ahmad, Production Designer, Virginia McCullam, the location scout and Peter Silverman, the publicist for “The Guardian” reported to the press about the positive experience of filming in Webster Parish at Camp Minden. They strongly recommended that Webster Parish work closely with Shreveport- Bossier to continue to develop film production as a viable industry. When asked how to get the word out they indicated that the industry was small and they would definitely recommend us to others. They also recommended participation in the AFCI Locations Tradeshow to be held on April 7 -9 in Santa Monica, California.

The week of January 17 -20 th, I had the opportunity to attend the Louisiana Travel Promotions Association Conference in Lake Charles. The conference was well attended and the mood was remarkably positive considering the devastation to the tourist venues in south Louisiana. The State Department of Tourism reported the loss of $15 million in revenues daily and anticipates the loss of over a billion this year. Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu reported that he has requested additional federal dollars to be dedicated to the biggest advertising campaign ever by any state. The message of the campaign will be focused on letting the rest of the world know that we are open for business now.

The Holiday Ramblers RV group has been confirmed to arrive on March 22 nd and we can anticipate 240 or more visitors during the rally. The Wandering Wheels bicycling group will return again this year on April 21 st on their annual coast to coast ride. A new group of 50+ WWII Veterans are confirmed to visit our parish on April 28 th. Your tourism office is currently working with their representatives to ensure a wonderful experience for our spring visitors.

Lynn Warnock
Executive Director

 

January 2006

Our Mission Statement : To provide leadership in marketing Webster Parish as a highly desirable visitor and meeting destination and engage in visitor promotions which generate overnight stays.

2005 Major Accomplishments :

A. Completion and Distribution of the new Webster Parish Brochure

B. Development of Additional Marketing Tools: Initiated the First Major Advertising Campaign utilizing Cox Cable and KASO/ KBEF Radio.

C. Developed http://www.websterfilms.com/ for the purpose of attracting film, both television and movie production to be done in Webster Parish for the immediate economic impact of creating new jobs and increasing tax dollars for the citizens of Webster Parish and the subsequent promotions of the film locations as major tourist destinations.

The Webster Parish brochure is complete and available at our office. Currently 30,000 have been shipped to Baton Rouge for distribution to the 60 visitor information centers throughout the state.

The Tourism office has completed our first major advertising campaign on Cox Cable featuring events throughout our parish. For the month of November we featured the Main to Main Trade Days throughout our parish, the Veterans Day Celebration, and the Ghost Walk in Minden. The commercials were broadcast into South Arkansas , including Magnolia, El Dorado , and Hot Springs ; East Texas including Marshall and Longview ; and Central Louisiana including Shreveport- Bossier, Ruston , Farmerville, Bastrop , Columbia , and Winnfield. In conjunction, we completed our commercials on KASO and KBEF Radio in October. The commission is discussing another major campaign in 2006.

In December of 2004, I attended the first Cultural Economic Summit in New Orleans and learned about the outstanding tax incentives offered by the State of Louisiana to the Film Industry. I also learned about the success of this business development in south Louisiana. This started my mental wheels turning. As the new Webster Parish Tourism Director, it is my job to develop new products to attract tour groups to our parish. I pondered the economic impact that the movie “Steel Magnolias” had on Natchitoches. Tourists still travel from around the world to tour this movie location.

In early March of this year, I began coordinating tours for several television and film industry location scouts. Based on their excitement over the uniqueness and the easy access to the enmities at Camp Minden and the “Anywhere in America” location possibilities available in our rural parish, my office made a commitment to quickly establish a website: http://www.websterfilms.com/. Our proximity to Dallas is also a major advantage over south Louisiana.

“The Guardian”, starring Kevin Costner officially began filming on Monday, December 5 th at Camp Minden! “This is a huge budget film and a phenomenal opportunity for showcasing our parish”. This film will bring priceless recognition to our area and will prove the importance of the amenities offered by Camp Minden for future film productions. Having toured the nearly completed movie sets on Wednesday, November 30th, the reality of a fantastic new tourist attraction in Webster Parish was realized. It is easy to visualize tour buses entering the gates of Camp Minden full of visitors from every state in America anxious to view the sets of the location where Walt Disney Studios filmed Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Let’s hope this is our Steel Magnolias.

The Mercer Films production, “Chlorine” starring David Arquette, Ray Liotta, and Julianna Marquiles to be filmed in downtown Minden has been delayed until the end of February or early March as of this report. The movie, “The Lodge”, to be filmed in Webster and Claiborne Parishes, has also been delayed until this Spring.

The name Louisiana Films North has been registered with Secretary of State for our use in the future. We have updated our www.websterfilms.com website to reflect our new name. The new website is http://www.lafilmsnorth.com/.

Lynn Warnock

Executive Director

Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau

 

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