RRVTA Member Activities
Click HERE for Membership Application
2013 Events/ Meetings (Please mark your calendar):
Feb 6 Quarterly Meeting GainesvilleFeb 23 & 24 Home & Garden Show Booth Wichita Falls
March Launch of Geocache Challenge
March 31 Deadline to register for Yard Sale
April 3 Quarterly Meeting Duncan, OK
June 5 Quarterly Meeting Nocona
June 7 & 8 Yard Sale
August 7 Annual Meeting Denison
Sept. 14 Stroll n Roll
Nov. 6 Quarterly Meeting Paris
Past Meetings
Great Turnout for August Meeting at Hagerman Despite HOT Weather!
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| The New Hagerman Visitor Center |
The fantastic new Visitor's Center Facility at Hagerman is not yet quite finished, but was in great 'preview' condition to host the RRVTA Annual Meeting on August 3, 2011.
Despite the record high temperatures, the meeting saw a very good membership turnout as everyone enjoyed the Hagerman Visitor Center overview by Rick Cantu, the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge Assistant Manager.
We encourage everyone to visit the Friends of Hagerman website for more information and highly recommend a physical visit to the facility during or after their Grand Opening on September 8, 2011.
The 'Friends' website URL is: www.FriendsOfHagerman.com. Hagerman NWR offers over 11,000 acres dedicated to wildlife conservation and is located at 6465 Refuge Road on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma. With the northern section extension of Highway 289 completed, access to Hagerman is now much faster and easier.
Emily Porter gave a nostalgic and very interesting presentation on the history of the Red River Valley Tourism Association organization with some great visual aids such as past flyers, magazines and association publications.
Becky Semple gave a very enthusiastic presentation on the overwhelming success of the Highway 82 Highway Sale, citing the increased participation, rapidly growing regional interest and good will the Sale has been fueling.
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| Installation Ceremony of new Officers |
We were honored to have Judge Drue Bynum and Commissioners Johnny Waldrip (Precinct 1) and Bart Lawrence (Precinct 4) on hand for the Installation of the new Officers.
A motion was adopted to create a committee to develop requirements and guidelines for Sammie Hatfield's proposal to offer a Scholarship Fund.
"Feast on This" catered a great Southwestern lunch - testified to by the fact that there were no leftovers, and everyone left over filled. Another great job by Feast on This Catering.
The meeting was culminated by a very interesting presentation by our Guest Speaker L.O. Nelson on uses of 2-D Bar Codes and their relevance to the tourism industry. Mr. Nelson is the Assistant Director of the Small Business Development Center, Dillard College of Business at Midwestern State University.
August 3, 2011 Meeting Agenda
June 1st Member Meeting - Small Turnout, Great Meeting
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| A view down one of the beautiful corridors leading to some of the many conference rooms. |
| (See www.ardmoreconventioncenter.com ) |
I was not prepared for what we found in Ardmore - a small Oklahoma town with BIG town amenities! The Ardmore Convention Center was a surprise to me - something that one might expect to find in a much larger population area.
The Ardmore Convention Center is a fantastic facility, modern and very well appointed.
And it is easy to find (once you turn your GPS unit off and read the instructions; "Exit 33" - which is all you need to know to find the Center!
We had a less than stellar turnout, as a lot of members were enjoying their summer vacations and could not attend the June meeting.
For those who were fortunate enough to make the meeting, we were treated to a great presentation on the A2A Marathon (Arbuckle to Ardmore Marathon - www.a2amarathon.com ) by Alison Smalley, Race Director and board member of the Mercy Memorial Foundation and creator of the A2A Marathon. Alison demonstrated how many of the techniques and practices they employ would be very useful in furthering tourism in our various communities along the Red River. We did notice a lot of note taking during the very interesting and informative presentation.
After the formal meeting we were treated to a tour of the now under construction expansion, or annex to the Convention Center by our gracious hosts.
A big 'thanks' goes out to our host Janet Bateman, Marty Auten for the tour and Alison Smalley for her great and informative presentation.
RRVTA Members Participate in Wichita Falls
Home & Garden Show
Wichita Falls Home & Garden Show in February 2011.
Pictured are Lynette Pettigrew, Lois Dawn Jones & Carolyn Grissom
Accomplishments & Activities
September 2008 – August 2009
- Published a regional travel guide
- Printed 25,000 copies
- Distributed 13,000 copies to Travel Information Centers, Trade Shows and Visitor Centers
- Re-designed RRVTA Artwork
- Held a joint regional event
- 2nd Annual US Hwy 82 / 287 Yard Sale
- Increased membership participation in meeting & activities
- Provided educational programs and networking opportunities in conjunction with the quarterly meetings and annual meeting.
- Trade Show booth at Wichita Falls Home & Garden Show
- Distributed over 2,000 information packets
- Co-op Travel Show booth w/ Texas Lakes Trial
- Tyler Texas Travel Show
- Texas State Fair
- Designed and purchased a new display for Trade & Travel Show booths
- Re-designed the Association’s website
- Began the process to update the bylaws
- Expanded the Association’s leadership to include Officers and Directors
- Set-up computerized accounting system.
- Set record attendance at quarterly meetings twice
- Gainesville
- Wichita Falls
- Expanded the email distribution list and membership to include tourism partners
- Texas Lakes Trail
- Texas Forest Trail
- Governor’s Office on Economic Development and Tourism
- Texas Workforce
- Texoma Council of Government
- NORTEX Council of Government
- Texas Department of Agriculture
- USDA
- Texas Downtown Association
- Arbuckle Country Marketing Association
- Chickasaw Nation
- Coordinated a hospitality booth at the Wichita Falls Travel Information Center during the US Hwy 82/287 Yard Sale event weekend.
- Board members provided educational programs and represented the Association at regional and state-wide conferences, meetings, and workshops.
- Began research on developing a marketing plan to attract additional motorcycle tourist.
