By Kelly Foreman
BEREA — While enjoying a home-cooked southern meal, travelers will soon have the opportunity to learn about the many attractions and beauty of Berea.
Thanks to community development funding approved by the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association, local restaurants and hotels will be displaying placemats this fall with a variety of tourist details and activities for children, said Director of Community Development Van Back.
The placemats are part of an ongoing “Company’s Coming” program initiated by U.S. Rep Hal Rogers, R-5th District.
Back said the placemats will be two-sided and printed on 11x17-inch paper. The front of the placemat will be in full color with a map of the Southern Interstate 75 corridor, which includes Berea as well as Jackson, Laurel, Rockcastle and Whitley counties. Photos of attractions throughout the corridor will be displayed as well as tourist information, phone numbers, helpful Web site addresses and contact information for the attractions. The placemats are being drafted at this time, Back said, and should be available by December.
The back of the placemat will include mazes, fun facts, connect the dots and craft activities for children, Back said. A Kentucky map listing all state parks also will be included.
“By doing that we hope, parks in our 46-county region will carry them,” Back said.
The placemats are modeled after similar table accessories used in the Country Music Highway region, Back said.
“The response has been phenomenal,” he said. “It has amazed us how much people actually used them to plan their trip.”
Fifty thousand copies of the placemats were printed for the Country Music Highway, Back said, and they were gone in no time. Back said 200,000 are scheduled to be distributed throughout Berea and the other counties.
“They’ve served their purpose better than any of us thought,” Back said.
Berea Tourism Executive Director Belle Jackson said she is waiting until she has the product in hand to approach local businesses about displaying them on their tables.
“I hope to start with locally owned restaurants,” Jackson said. “I’d love to see them in our local hotels. Most of them have continental breakfasts.”
Jackson said many travelers stop at the Berea exit and visit businesses on the edge of the Interstate. If the placemats are in place at those businesses, Jackson said she hopes tourists will realize just how close they are to a variety of beautiful and interesting attractions.
“This will give people an opportunity to see what’s just another half mile away,” Jackson said. “I don’t think travelers realize how close we are.”
In addition to the placemats, SEKDTA also provided Berea with $1,000 for landscaping projects related to tourist attractions, Back said. Berea also received the funding from SEKDTA last year, and Jackson said it helped fund hanging baskets all over town. A specific project has not been selected for the funding yet, but Jackson said it will go into a fund for beautification.
“The city has a budget for beautification,” Jackson said. “This will help supplement that budget.”
Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.
