CLEARFIELD – The USCAA Small College World Series for baseball and softball, held May 13-17, was a success, according to Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism Authority Director Josiah Jones.
Jones said he doesn’t have all the numbers yet, but that the event filled over 1,000 hotel rooms and the organization is already saying the event broke ticket and money earned records.
The event is scheduled to be held in DuBois again next year, as it was a two-year contract. Jones noted that the organizers were very impressed with the facilities provided.
And, even though it rained, because of the design, when the rain stopped the games were able to get immediately under way.
Jones continued to give updates on other things he and the staff have been working on. Visit Clearfield County’s social media and web presence has been increasing and they have been able to help others.
Recently VCC set up an overnight package for Quehanna Industrial Development Corp., including a contest to win one of the packages, for the weekend of the 100-Mile Yard Sale and Frenchville Picnic.
Jones said QIDC’s new Facebook page exploded with 2,000 shares and 500 new likes and growing with many out-of-state people taking notice.
And VCC’s Web site has been seeing increasing numbers of visits. Jones added that he has been meeting with other tourism directors to exchange ideas and, from what he is learning, VCC is out-performing many of them.
Use of mobile devices to access the Web site is up, he said, and they are receiving about 9,000 views per week on the Facebook page.
Jones and Assistant Director Sue Swales-Vitullo also talked about some upcoming plans. During the recent Downtown DuBois Art Walk, Jones learned about DuBois native and early Hollywood actor, Tom Mix.
He noted that DuBois used to have a festival dedicated to Mix, sharing the festival with Las Vegas where the location would alternate.
The last festival held was in 2004 and Jones said he doesn’t know what happened after that, but the DuBois Historical Society is working with him to research the fate of the festival and see if it is something that could be revived.
Swales-Vitullo reported that the Clearfield Baseball Association will be hosting tournaments during every weekend in July at the Senior League fields. She said each weekend will feature tournaments with eight teams from around the state and also neighboring states.
Also, Clearfield County is now home to a few Uber and Lyft drivers, including Rural Ride Share, a couple of locals who currently operate with limited hours but hope to expand. They and others can be booked through the Uber or Lyft apps, Swales-Vitullo said.
