Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
A full-color photography book showcasing Oklahoma paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the state great.
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SHAWNEE<br />
CONVENTION &<br />
VISITORS BUREAU<br />
by Mike McCormick<br />
Below: International Finals Youth Rodeo.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF RODEOBUM.COM.<br />
Bottom: Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art—<br />
Arts Trek!<br />
Tourism is alive and well in Shawnee and<br />
Pottawatomie County. Statistics show that<br />
dollars spent by tourists provide a significant<br />
economic impact regionally and throughout<br />
the state. Behind the oil and gas industry and<br />
agriculture, tourism is ranked as the third<br />
leading industry in <strong>Oklahoma</strong>. One of the<br />
biggest reasons tourism is doing well in<br />
Shawnee and Pottawatomie County is because<br />
of the Shawnee Convention & Visitors<br />
Bureau. Its executive director is Kinlee Farris,<br />
a seasoned veteran of the tourism industry.<br />
Shawnee Convention & Visitors Bureau was<br />
born in late 1994 when voters in Shawnee<br />
agreed to a modest hotel/motel tax of $1 a<br />
night per room, including those staying in<br />
RVs overnight as well. Several years later<br />
community leaders realized the revenue from<br />
that small tax was not sufficient to support<br />
the type of growth which could be realized<br />
with additional revenue. Voters were asked,<br />
and they agreed, to increase that to a rate of<br />
five percent. The community has not looked<br />
back since, and has experienced exponential<br />
growth over the past decade.<br />
Mike Jackson is operations manager<br />
of the Heart of <strong>Oklahoma</strong> Exposition<br />
Center, the largest facility in Shawnee<br />
drawing an estimated average of<br />
15,000 people monthly.<br />
“There are a lot of events they (the<br />
CVB) financially support,” Jackson said.<br />
Among them are calf roping, barrel<br />
racing and others. The CVB also<br />
provides welcome bags and information<br />
for visitors. “They help with our motels.<br />
They play a huge role with the<br />
International Finals Youth Rodeo.”<br />
They help with the media for the IFYR,<br />
which is considered<br />
the richest youth rodeo<br />
in the world. 2014<br />
was the twenty-second<br />
consecutive year for<br />
the event that provides<br />
more than $200,000<br />
in prize money and<br />
other awards for the<br />
winning contestants.<br />
Jackson also pointed<br />
out the CVB helps with<br />
large RV rallies, a number of which Farris and<br />
Expo staff member Stephanie Gideon help<br />
recruit. Right after 2014s IFYR in July, a 500-<br />
unit RV rally descended upon the Expo Center,<br />
and following it was the National Junior<br />
Beefmaster Show with more than 400 head<br />
of cattle and contestants from thirteen states<br />
attending. The 2014 Central District Livestock<br />
Show was another large event, drawing huge<br />
numbers of youth and parents. Jackson said<br />
the National Barrel Horse Association has at<br />
least six events annually and the State 4-H<br />
Horse Show also was held at the Expo.<br />
Donna Merkt of the Mabee-Gerrer Museum<br />
of Art in Shawnee echoed Jackson’s remarks.<br />
“The Shawnee CVB and the museum have had<br />
a fruitful partnership for over a decade. The<br />
CVB works diligently to promote the museum<br />
and their other partners.” Merkt, the museum’s<br />
curator of education, added, “The CVB provides<br />
strong tourism development for the museum,<br />
promoting the museum’s activities and events<br />
in ads, on their webpage, on social media,<br />
in print media and signage, and at tourism<br />
events, allowing the museum to focus<br />
valuable time and dollars on education,<br />
exhibitions, and preservation. “The CVB is a<br />
primary supporter of the annual Arts Trek<br />
Festival, promoting artists and performers<br />
in the Shawnee area. Support from the<br />
CVB assisted in getting this festival off the<br />
ground, helping it grow from 1,000 visitors<br />
in 2010 to 3,000 visitors in 2014,” she stated.<br />
Due to leadership and assistance provided<br />
by the CVB, in cooperation with local tribal<br />
nations, the Jim Thorpe Games came to<br />
Shawnee in June 2014. The event drew thousands<br />
to the community and surrounding areas.<br />
An estimated 1,600 Native athletes, representing<br />
more than seventy Native American Nations,<br />
converged on our community for the competition<br />
held throughout the week of June 8-14.<br />
Farris spent many hours working with people<br />
both locally and outside the city to bring<br />
the games here from <strong>Oklahoma</strong> City where it<br />
has been hosted the past couple of years. It<br />
shows the cooperation it took from many entities<br />
and the many hours Farris spent working<br />
with them. The games featured eleven sports<br />
and in 2014 an <strong>Oklahoma</strong> Native American<br />
High School Football Game was added. Among<br />
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e<br />
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