CLEARFIELD – Members of the Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism Authority board Wednesday morning expressed their sadness and condolences after learning of the death of long-time community supporter, Ray Savel.
Savel had been a member of the CCRTA board for many years. He is best known for founding the Quehanna Industrial Development Corp., and his brain child was the 100-Mile Yard Sale, which ranges from Shawville through the Quehanna Wilds Area.
Savel spent his life promoting the Downriver and Quehanna areas, trying to draw business to the area while also working to protect the natural resources.
Director Josiah Jones said that the membership of QIDC is stunned by Savel’s passing and he has been encouraging them to push on with Savel’s projects and vision. He said they don’t want to lose everything Savel worked for over the years and asks community members to step up and help.
Additionally, there is a GoFundMe account set up to help defray costs for Savel’s funeral expenses and community members are encouraged to help.
Jones and Assistant Director Sue Swales-Vitullo also updated the board on their activities and results of various marketing strategies.
Swales-Vitullo said the Groundhog Wine Fest packages proved to be a big success and credited the targeted geo-marketing online.
She had several phone calls a day asking about the package and some people also inquired about a shuttle from the hotels to the event, and she was able to work out a shuttle with Fullington Bus Co.
Jones also said the new geocache Geotour is getting a lot of attention and they have had 888 e-mails expressing interest and already have been setting up overnight stays for people to do all five trails.
Swales-Vitullo also reported on her time spent with the American Bus Association where she met with several bus tour operators to “sell” Clearfield County to them.
Already she has been approached to work with a company out of Michigan traveling to New York City. They will be stopping in DuBois on the trip there and also on the trip back. A representative of a company in Colorado is coming soon to tour the area and talk with the staff about tours.
The board also learned that Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-5 of Howard) will be hosting a round-table event March 2 at 2 p.m. at Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub to talk with local restaurant and hotel managers about how the state can help them with promotion, and the event is open to the public.
Two sponsorships were approved. The first is for Friends of Moshannon Creek and the annual Red Moshannon Race set for March 31. The sponsorship amount is $1,000. The second is for the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League Golden Gloves Championships March 24 for $1,000.
The grant committee reviewed its decision regarding paying out a grant for the Harmony Grange Fair and realized that the requirements had been met and only some information had been omitted in the documents. The board approved reimbursement of $1,949.04.
Finally, the board was alerted that after a public meeting with Senator Wayne Langerholc in December, Visit Clearfield County put together a promotion package in the event that Clearfield County is chosen for one of the proposed mini-casinos, or even if one is located in central Pennsylvania. Locations for the new mini-casinos have not been announced.
