Armed with a banner idea and a $10,000 grant, a newly formed group focusing on local culture and heritage will be doing their part to help bring in and keep tourists coming back.
Starting this week, a series of new, eye-catcbing banners will be hoisted into positinn on Barry’s Bay, Combermere and Wilno-area hydro poles. These approximately three by six-foot banners will not only be pleasing to the eye, they will educate visitors and residents alike about key local cultural and historical points of interess.
Madawaska Valley Township Com mnnity Development Officer Craig Kelley explained that about six months ago, several Barry’s Bay area groups met with each other and de ided to take a joint-effort-approach to promoting local culture, history and business.
“We all got together to create a marketing alliance;’ Mr. Kelley ex plained. “We decided the best way to promote one business or group was to promote them all?’
The Barry’s Bay Cultural and Heritage Square was formed with representatives from organizations like the Barry’s Bay Heritage Society, Barry’s Bay Railway Station Museum and Caboose Committee, South of 60 Arts and Information Centre, Madawasks Valley Arts Council and Zurakowaki Park.
“Really we’re taking an area of town and promoting the heck out of it,” Mr. Kelley explained. “We want to capture those people coming into town and teach them a little something about the area. Summer not withstanding, we’ll still see thousands of tourists here in the next few months and these banners are basically just to say here’s something you may not have known about the Valley. If even one person walks away knowing something they didn’t before or finds another reason to come back and visit again, we’ve done ourjob?’
Each banner displays a tidbit of trivia about the region and identifies such local coups as Barry’s Bay be ing the first place to haves turpentine factory or being home to the country’s only wooden railway water tower, Wilno being the first Polish settle ment, Combermere’s Mayflower. J. R. Booth’s influence along with the impact of the lumber industry.
“Even some of our locals have for gotten some of the things that make this area unique, so they’ll be nice to look at, but also make people think about the local history;’ Mr. Kelley said.
He said there are currently about 12 trivia banners to be erected around Barry’s Bay, Wilno and Combermere and a handful of local business-spon sored welcome banners. The trivia banners will feature the information and a photograph secured through local historical societies or museums while the welcome banners will fea ture logos and greetings from area businesses. “They are a personalized ‘welcome to the Valley’ banner and a chance to let local businesses welcome tourists in, let them know what’s available to them. | 
