Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors Bureau Announces Its Tourism Awards
Cara Rose wanted to talk with us about a couple of annual tourism awards just handed out by the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. First she talks about the Tourism Person of the Year Award.
“The Tourism Person of the Year Award is a nomination process that anybody can nominate an individual or a group or an organization for that award” said Cara. “There is a committee of CVB Board members and outside committee members who review these nominations and make the choice of who that winner is. We had three nominations this year. I am happy to announce that Mary Snyder of Cass was awarded Tourism Person of the Year on May 9th at the annual Tourism Partner Luncheon. She has worked at Cass Scenic Railroad for 40 years and has become one of the main people that the visitors and guests would see at Cass Scenic Railroad all those many years. And she has also volunteered on the CVB Board for many years; helped with events in Cass and so many other great activities; and volunteerism efforts. I’ve known Mary for many years and she’s just wonderful to work with and she is a true spokesperson for the value of hospitality and tourism in Pocahontas County.”
Cara was also excited to talk about the Tourism Scholarship awarded by the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.
“Each year the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau awards a scholarship to one of the graduating Seniors at the High School. It’s an application process. Seniors will fill out the application and submit it to a committee. The Committee includes individuals from the CVB Board as well as outside committee members. The Tourism Scholarship is $1000.00 per year annually for up to four years. So in total it will be a $4000.00 scholarship. This year, as well as the past 2 years, the Snowshoe Foundation has actually partnered with the CVB and has matched the scholarship, bringing that scholarship to $2000.00 annually up to four years, or an $8000.00 scholarship. So it’s a very significant amount of money for any student who is going into college. I am happy to announce that the 2018 Pocahontas County High School Tourism Scholarship recipient is Miss Cora Hedrick from Frost, West Virginia. Cora intends to go to Glenville State College where she will be majoring in Natural Resource Management which means she will likely go to work within one of our State Forests, perhaps one of our State Parks or even the National Forest. And those are highly valued assets for the tourism industry in Pocahontas County and that’s truly what makes it Natures Mountain Playground.”
Cara also wanted to remind us that the summer tourism season has arrived.
“The summer season is beginning as well, with Memorial Day kicking off the summer season” said Cara. “All of our attractions are fully operational, including Snowshoe Mountain Resort; the Green Bank Observatory; the trains are all running, so we are excited for a great summer. Hopefully the weather will be fantastic and our guests will have a wonderful experience when they come to Pocahontas County.”
Story By
