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On February 2, the Grand Marais Park Board held its first meeting of the year and the board welcomed Frances Jarchow as its’ newest member. Bob Nesheim was sworn in at the December meeting, so the park board has two new members.
Rita Hinchman was voted park board chair and Stephen Aldrich vice chair.
Parks and Rec Director Dave Tersteeg told the board that as of February 1, the Grand Marais Park had 1,800 reservations for May through August. Out of those, 1,370 folks booked online, and 430 were call-in reservations. Last January, the park booked 1,870 reservations for the summer months, which included September and October.
“We are tracking nicely relative to past demand, considering we haven’t opened up September or October dates yet,” said Tersteeg.
Furthering the discussion that began last December, Tersteeg brought up the subject of filling vacant seasonal sites.
Starting in February, vacant seasonal sites are offered chronologically two ways. The first group already has a site but is looking to get a more preferred location, which currently has about a dozen people on that list.
The second list for remaining vacant sites are offered to the general public waiting list, which has about 200 plus folks on it that are competing for about five spots.
In order to give folks who have been on the waiting list–some who have been on it forever and a day– a chance to get one of the five openings, Tersteeg discussed the prospects of having a lottery or auctioning the seasonal sites to the highest bidders. However, the board will need more information about how either process would work or even if it’s legally possible for the park to offer an auction.
2021 Recreation area marketing review
“Our overall marketing philosophy always includes the three recreational pursuits we offer (camping, boating, and golf) under the Grand Marais Recreation Area brand or umbrella. Over the years, we’ve found the most effective marketing strategy is to leverage our online/digital presence through local business underwriting and collaborations with local and regional partners.
“We also rely heavily on Google search and other online search engines to find us when folks are looking for outdoor recreation in the area. GrandMaraisRecreationArea.com and GunflintHillsGolf.com websites are optimized and finish prominently in organic searches for camping, boating and golfing on the North Shore and Grand Marais area.
“Perhaps even more important is our online review status amongst Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, TheDyrt.com, CampgroundReviews.com, etc. This modern “word of mouth” advertising is invaluable (although we pay nothing for it) and great reviews directly translate to more business.
“Another form of marketing we benefit from is what is known as “earned media.” This free publicity results from journalists and bloggers writing about the region and featuring the Grand Marais Recreation Area in the coverage. Other earned media includes the “Best of ” types of awards we frequently receive from regional magazines and online content providers,” Tersteeg said.
Tersteeg also noted that the Grand Marais Campground and Marina have more than 2,000 likes and friends on Facebook.
Parkside project gains momentum
The old public works garage and dog pound will soon be taken down and removed to make way for the Parkside project, which looks like it will be done in two phases. In 2021 the breakwater construction will take place. Tersteeg said the hope is to have the heavy materials brought in before the spring road bans go into effect.
The breakwall work, which will feature a pedestrian-friendly, concrete walkway for strolling and parapet wall for sitting on the bay, will begin in June and be completed by September.
Tersteeg said the public access site would be closed to the public this season while construction is underway.
Spring event okayed
Wanting to help celebrate the 15th anniversary of Harbor Park, Wavelets Creative, was granted a special event permit to hold a two-day festival on the harbor over Memorial Day weekend.
The event will feature composer JG Everett’s “Spring Sound Garden” sound, plus art displays, printed poems, stories, and information about the local ecology and history, as was done in 2018 when this event premiered at Harbor Park.
Wavelets Creative promised to provide a safe and healthy event space for all participants and attendees in the special event application. In response to the COVID-10 pandemic, Wavelets Creative developed a preparedness plan. Because of the constant flux surrounding COVID- 19, the Preparedness Plan is designed to be flexible and modular, and adaptable to current circumstances.
While there is no stage or focal point and no specific time for a particular performance, the performers— dancers and musicians—will continually rove throughout the harbor park, entertaining while maintaining their distance from each other and other participants and attendees.
Attendees will be “encouraged to circulate and experience the subtle sound installation and performances in silence by limiting their own social and verbal interactions, further reducing the instances of grouping and verbal exchange.”
Creative Wavelets says each day’s performances will last five hours.
The Cook County Historical Society, the Minnesota State Arts Board and Visit Cook County are sponsoring the two-day festival.
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