ISMC Visits Manitouwadge
Dignitaries & snowmobile club members from the Township of Manitouwadge were thrilled Tuesday as they welcomed representatives of the ISMC (International Snowmobile Media Council) who were on day 3 of a 5 day Media Tour traveling the Superior Snow Challenge Loop. The International Snowmobile Media Council is dedicated to promoting snowmobiling as a safe and exciting family recreation and includes among its members writers, editors and publishers of snowmobile related media.
The media tour was organized by the ISMC in partnership with the Northern Office of Ontario Tourism and Algoma Kinniwabi Travel Association guiding ISMC representatives from various states on a tour snowmobiling from Wawa to Dubreuilville, Hornepayne, Manitouwadge, Marathon and back to Wawa. Since the closure of their only hotel, council members, business owners and others in Manitouwadge have struggled with the loss of snowmobile traffic coming through the community and the Economic Development Office believed meeting with the ISMC representatives could boost marketing efforts to reestablish Manitouwadge as preferred snowmobiling destination for both Canadians and Americans.
The Economic Development Corporation hosted the luncheon, on behalf of the township, at the community clubhouse where Mayor John MacEachern, Tourism and Recreation Director Randy Mattson, Economic Development Officer, Dave Raymond and members of the SnoDrifters Snowmobile Club took advantage of the opportunity to talk up what their community had to offer snowmobilers to the representatives. The ISMC reps would be writing about their tour for no less than eight State Magazines upon their return to the U.S. and to have Manitouwadge included among their adventures was tantamount. “Welcoming media tours into our community continues to be a very important advertising tool for Manitouwadge” explained Economic Assistant, Karen Robinson “the ISMC is an invaluable partner for us in spreading the word that Manitouwadge is indeed open for business with vacation homes and bed & breakfasts available to accommodate snowmobilers, ATV enthiasts, and anyone looking to Play in the Extreme”.
The afternoon ended with local snowmobiler Lloyd White leading the group up to a mountain lookout from which the riders and writers enjoyed a scenic view of the entire community before he guided them through local trails and out along the D110 as they made their way towards Marathon where they would be spending the night. In spite of warmer than average temperatures and drizzling rain the trails surrounding Manitouwadge were well groomed and enjoyed by all. Bonnie Holbrook of the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers described the trails surrounding Manitouwadge as being “more like our trails (in Vermont) than any other part of the (Superior Snow Challenge) loop, without the traffic of course!”.
I didn’t actually manage to submit this until Friday and bit my nails a little when it wasn’t in the Chronicle over the weekend but it finally did make it to page 4 of January 16th’ s paper). I sent it to the local Echo as well, we will see if it printed on Wednesday, if not I may opt not to bother with them and begin simply submitting to Marathon’s paper as I had sent an article about the Family Place recently that I was quite dissapointed never made it to press. I will work on extending this a little for Michigan Snowmobiler but sent the short version to OSM.
