GLIN==> Press release: Great Lakes Seaway Trail issues Community Quilt Challenge

[Kara Dunn <karalynn@gisco.net>]

Title: Press release: Great Lakes Seaway Trail issues Community Quilt Challenge

PRESS RELEASE:  January 7, 2009
Contact:  Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, Inc., 315-646-1000
 
Great Lakes Seaway Trail Issues Community Quilt Challenge 

More than seven dozen communities – from Akwesasne on the St. Lawrence River to Lake Erie in Western New York - along the 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail byway are being challenged to create storyteller quilts that showcases their local “favorite places.” The quilts, or quilted wallhangings, are invited for entry into the March 21-22, 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail storyteller quilt show at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY. 

Seaway Trail Foundation Chairman Alexander “Pope” Vickers, a hospitality and tourism instructor at Jefferson Community College, says, “We are inviting communities from along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail shorelines of the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania -- to take this unique opportunity to showcase their communities in fabric. The storyteller style of quilting provides a fascinating way to educate the public about the historic, cultural, scenic, natural, agricultural, architectural, and maritime resources that make your community a great place to visit. The works as a collection will showcase the depth of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail travel experience.”

Storyteller quilts can depict a single site of interest or a collage of favorite places, events or activities. Some storyteller quilters transfer travel photos to fabric or attach destination souvenirs, pins and other embellishments. 

The quilts for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show and Competition must feature publicly accessible places. Prizes will be presented by “viewers’ choice” voting at the March show. 

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail community storyteller challenge is designed to stimulate tourism interest in the region by regional audiences.

AAA Western and Central NY Past Chairman Arthur C. Stever II serves as Seaway Trail Foundation Secretary. Stever says, “Our recent Great Lakes Seaway Trail brand assessment shows that 60 percent of our visitors are from New York and Pennsylvania and that primary motives for visiting the byway region include its ‘close to home’ proximity, interest in scenic or themed road trips, the Great Lakes waterways, and appreciation of local attractions. That data translates to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show Community Challenge being a great way to showcase your community to our patron and targeted audiences.”

Seaway Trail Foundation Treasurer Steven M. Pierce, Vice-President of Commercial Banking with Key Bank, Watertown, NY, says, “In these challenging economic times, this quilt competition invites diverse interest groups to join forces in a creative way to draw attention to their segment of the Seaway Trail, and by showcasing your community as part of the larger byway, you will gain more visibility of your location as an attractive destination that encourages travel dollars into your local economy.”

The Seaway Trail officials suggest that quilters partner with local groups to brainstorm, design and make entries for the March 21-22 show. They suggest asking Chambers of Commerce and business groups, travel agencies, car rental companies, artist’s associations and others to help with such tasks as drawing images, designing the quilt blocks, supplying photos of local attractions, underwriting the cost of supplies, and providing workspace for assembling the quilt perhaps even as a local living art exhibit, prior to sending the quilt for the Seaway Trail show.

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail show will also include a special display of the works of nationally-known storyteller quilters and authors.

An example of a storyteller-style quilt depicting the travel attractions of the 1000 Islands region of the Seaway Trail and the 2009 Seaway Trail Quilt Show and Competition rules and entry form are on the web at www.seawaytrail.com. Anyone with questions may contact the Seaway Trail Foundation at 315-646-1000 x202. # # #