Honors handed out for Gage County Tourism efforts

BEATRICE - Gage County Tourism presented annual honors to organizations Thursday, at a reception held in the rotunda of the Carnegie Building in Beatrice.
This year’s winner of the Friend of Tourism Award is Joe Billesbach, owner of Leo’s Jewelry in downtown Beatrice (not pictured).   Tourism Advisory Committee Chairperson Laureen Riedesul says Billesbach founded and directs the annual Solstice Gravel Grinder ….a popular bicycle event that draws regionally.

"This is an event, a bicycle ride that travels through the communities of Holmesville, Virginia, Blue Springs, Odell, Diller, Harbine and Beatrice. Joe is a community-minded small business owner at Leo's Jewelry and he serves on the Beatrice City Council. He also volunteers at other events such as the Homestead Cycling Tour, Hoppy Half Marathon and activities hosted by Main Street Beatrice and by the Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce."

Honored for the best tourism-related website is the Community Players of Beatrice theatre organization.  "From the moment somebody lands on Beatrice Community Players Dot Com...they are greeted with captivating images and easy to navigate menus and links that encourage participation by audience and actors alike. It also connects that audience with the community. A recent audience study has proved to translate into over a quarter-million dollars a year...with 65-percent of its audience coming from outside of Beatrice."

The Gage County Tourism award for Outstanding Campaign honored an extraordinary change……a new name of the Homestead National Historical Park…which required congressional approval.   "In 2021, the park saw 54,100 visitors... and it supports 27 jobs for the local area....a $2.3 million economic impact. If some of you think that tourism is just a passing fad....oh, no....we really do depend on it."

The fourth award presented by Gage County Tourism is for Outstanding Attraction…..which goes to the historic Pleasant View School House Museum…a Wymore feature.  "The historic Pleasant View School House Museum has had significant improvements to preserve and restore this building, making it one of the best one-room school house restorations in the region. The historic Pleasant View School House Museum is a prime example of promoting tourism both regionally and nationally. It's part of the Welsh Heritage Great Plains project."  Next year, the school house will help host the North American Festival of Wales.

New Gage County Tourism Director, Megan Bartz….says the local award winners will also be nominated for the Nebraska State Tourism Awards presentation, October 25th through the 27th.