Cornerstone Fund Raising and Core Initial Programming
In
order to continue its important work, and step up to
the next level, the Friends of the Big South Fork is
seeking four Corporate Sponsorships totaling $100,000
in the first year, and five totaling $125,000 per year
thereafter in order to implement our Core Initial Programming
(CIP). This covers the cost of all of our administration
and our most important initiatives, including:
- The Establishment of the Visitor’s Center
- A comprehensive Web Presence for the Region
- Coordination of Local Attraction Operators and
Central Ticketing
- Full Time Staffing to pursue our other Planned
Initiatives
Establish the Big South Fork Visitors Center
Two of the greatest barriers
to full development of the Big South Fork National
River and Recreation Area are (1) A lack of good information
about the resources available here and (2) The lack
of a logical starting point from which to organize
and begin the Big South Fork experience. Today’s visitor
to the Big South Fork may well discover enjoyable activities
and have a good experience—or he may not, depending
largely upon whom he may first encounter for information,
and the extent to which he can afford extra time for
random exploration.
Toward that end, Scott County has just completed a
brand new, Jim Barna Log Homes Visitor Center, which
is immediately available. Centrally located to the
entire Eastern boundary of the Park, the new center
is a mere 20 miles off I-75, is easily recognizable
and enjoys good, five lane access on U.S. Highway 27,
between the towns of Huntsville and Oneida. With its
rustic log construction, front porch and rocking chairs,
the Center will provide an ideal focal point where
visitors can get out of the car, have the experience
of “arrival” and begin to plan their individual day
trips into this broad and diverse national resource.
Providing both a working space for the Friends and
a well-qualified tenant for the County, the first assignment
of the new director will be to occupy and outfit the
Visitor’s Center with full information about this area.
This project is ready for immediate implementation.
Establish a Comprehensive Web Presence for
the Region
A strong presence on the World
Wide Web is central to the task of distributing information
to an audience, which almost by definition covers
a broad geographic area and is less than familiar
with the Big South Fork. The Friends Web Site, already
under development, will serve the following important
functions:
- Provide a Central Clearinghouse for Visitor and
Retirement Information
- Identify the full range of recreational activities
available
- Allow Big South Fork to Compete effectively with
better known destinations
- Eventually incorporate Carta Vista Technology planned
for Visitor Center
- Present Cornerstone Sponsor’s Identity and Major
Role in the supporting the Park
Coordinate Local Attraction Operators and Establish
Central Ticketing
A key feature of the Visitor Center will be the ability
for a guest to reserve goods and services at virtually
any visitor-based business in or around the Big South
Fork from one central location. The Executive Director
will compile full information on all area attractions,
and will coordinate with their management to provide
central off site ticketing and reservations as appropriate.
Once central ticketing has been coordinated, Web Based
Ticketing becomes a real possibility as well. This
is the “Grunt Work” of tourism development, but it
is crucial to answering the most commonly asked question:
“What’s there to do here?” The Friends Director will
make it his or her job to answer that in spades.
Secure Full Time Professional Oversight
In place since 1995, and with numerous successful
projects under its belt, the Friends of the Big South
Fork has now gone as far as it can as a purely volunteer
organization. In September 2004 we are in discussion
with a number of very promising candidates to provide
full time professional oversight. All are well qualified
and selection should proceed quickly. Once funding
is secured the Director will immediately undertake
our Core Initial Programming (CIP), described above,
and will put together the resources to continue with
our other planned projects and initiatives.
Funding for the Director and Visitor’s Center—In
order to get our professional operations off the ground,
the Director’s initial 3-year operating budget is being
secured by commitments from our Cornerstone Partners.
Long term, funding for the Director, Visitor’s Center
and Core Initial Programming will be sustained through
License Plate Sales, Friend’s Store Sales and, and
Festival Based Income. Link to Support Us.
Planned Projects and Initiatives Funding
for additional planned projects and initiatives will
be provided by grants, special appropriations and special
use private and corporate sponsorships and other sources,
depending on the particular project. Some of those
in development now include:
Parks as Classrooms Program
This comprehensive grant based program provides materials
and a well developed set of lesson plans to local school
systems, thereby allowing elementary and Middle School
Students to conduct real science in the Park. The grant
cycle is underway for this annual program, which we
expect to begin here in 2005.
CartaVista™ Technology to Complete the Visitor’s
Center
CartaVista™ is a cutting edge, interactive computerized
information and mapping system. While the technology
is already proven in other fields, its use in a tourism-based
application will make this exhibit the first and most
powerful of its kind anywhere in the world. In spite
of its power, however, the CartaVista™ system is surprisingly
easy for visitors to use. It also offers powerful educational
components and a marketing/information platform with
which the Big South Fork can capture visitors before
they ever leave their own homes.
The benefits of the CartaVista™ system for the Big
South Fork are many-fold. First, as a web accessible
program, once compiled and formatted, vast amounts
of information will be available to other visitor centers,
libraries, Chambers of Commerce and other public buildings,
as well as visitor related businesses such as hotels,
restaurants and convenience stores. In short, anywhere
there is a PC and an Internet connection; visitors
can be offered access to extensive information on the
BSF area.
Overlays in the CartaVista™ System will feature every
kind of information from geology and archeology to
hiking, history and photography will expose our rich
natural and cultural heritage to schools and individuals
throughout the United States and the World.
Finally, as the benefits come to fruition, this program
will be readily adaptable to other National and State
Parks, State Forests and any other public facility
which could be better explained or experienced with
the aid of this technology. Click Here (Ambrosiak PDF
Link, attached) for a full description of both the
technology and costs of this project. Sponsors are
already being targeted for implementation of this project
beginning in 2005. (I am attaching a PDF file with
the description and budget for this link.)
Past and Ongoing Programs Spearheaded by
the Friends include:
Planned Museum of
Natural History—Further
plans for the future include a Museum of Natural History
to house some of the vast collections of artifacts
that shed light on pre-historic and early settlers’
life in this area.
Support The Friends
While we seek outside funding in the form of grants, legislative appropriations and corporate sponsorships for a great many of the above projects, most of these also require us to match some percentage of their contributions with funds we raise on our own. That’s where you can help! Through the use of grants and other sources, we are able to multiply your contribution many times over for the good of the Big South Fork Region.
Please show your support today with your contribution of $10, $25, $50, $100 or More. We will take your generous contribution and make something nice out of it—We Promise.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO THE FRIENDS OF BIG SOUTH FORK
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area 
