America's Byways®
Bulletin

April 2007 / Vol. 4 No. 2

WHAT'S NEW

National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways 3rd Edition is Out!

Here is some big news for all of us! We've teamed up with National Geographic Publishing! Check out the third edition of National Geographic's Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways FEATURING America's Byways®. Included in the edition is an introduction to the book written by US Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, and a listing of America's Byways in the back. All 126 of America's Byways are included in this 464-page book. The featured photos on the front and back cover are taken along the byways!

The Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways is out and available to the public through vendors online. National Geographic is offering byway leaders the opportunity to order a minimum of 10 books and resell them at visitor centers or other outlets along your byway.

The reselling terms for Special Sales retailers are: Returnable: 40% off list price for orders of 10 or more books; Non-returnable: 50% off list price for orders of 10 or more books. Books can be resold along your byway with the profits going to your byway organization. Orders can be invoiced, but payment is due 45 days after invoice is issued.

For more information and to order, contact Greg Sutorius. All order requests need to come to the attention of Greg for proper discounting. Greg can be reached by telephone: 202.744.8304, by fax: 202.330.5511, or by e-mail: gsutoriu@ngs.org

GREAT IDEAS

Symphony in the Flint Hills 2007

The Second Annual Concert, Symphony in the Flint Hills 2007, will be held on Saturday, June 16th. The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra concert will reflect the spirit of the American prairie and include well known works evoking images of the landscape and heritage we celebrate. Musical selections will range from Aaron Copland's lofty and beautiful An Outdoor Overture to Antonin Dvorak's picturesque 9th Symphony in E Minor "From the New World" and suites from award-winning motion picture scores inspired by the prairie vistas.

Visit http://www.symphonyintheflinthills.org for more information on this fantastic event, and for more pictures and observations, check out this blog entry from KansasPrairie.net.

Congratulations to George Washington Memorial Parkway!

Adventure in an urban setting? Easy when the George Washington Memorial Parkway runs right through your city. The Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association will host its annual spring media weekend, "An American Byway Runs Through It," May 17–20, honoring the 75th anniversary of the Parkway, recently named one of America 's Byways. Birding, kayaking, and biking are a few of the activities planned — not to mention the shopping, dining and historic sites of Alexandria. Space is limited. Interested parties whose publishing outlets combine outdoors and heritage tourism may contact Laura Overstreet at loverstreet@alexandria.travel for more information.

Find a Knight in Shining Armor at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center through May 4

A fascination with history is one of the reasons people travel the Seaway Trail, the 518-mile-long America's Byway that parallels the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. Europe's history of medieval knights mingles with the romance of the 1000 Islands region of the Seaway Trail at Singer Castle on Dark Island, and a shining example of that union – a suit of armor from the collection of arms and armor at the Castle – can be seen until May 4 at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor.

The suit of armor that stands 6 feet tall with chain mail and plate armor – a combination of 14th-century and earlier metalwork – can be seen at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center Tuesday –Saturday 10–5 until May 4. On the weekend of March 17–18, the armor can be seen among the Great Lakes fish theme quilts and near a 40–inch–tall gingerbread lighthouse – all part of the 2007 Seaway Trail Quilt Show at the Discovery Center.

The Seaway Trail Foundation operates the Discovery Center in the former historic Union Hotel (1817-1818) that is owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. For more information, call 315-646-1000.

ON THE WEB

Spring Cleaning on Byways.org!

Spring has sprung, and now is the time to check out www.byways.org and click on your byway's webpage. Are the photos current? Have you sent us any new ones lately? Are there any photos with people having fun, doing activities, learning about history or culture, enjoying the outdoors? Is there an itinerary connected with your byway up on the site? Are all the contact numbers still valid? It's important to keep photos and information current. We have a great website and it gets better every time you add rich content and photos. Potential travelers visit the site to make vacation decisions, and travel writers use photos and information for their articles. For additions and corrections to the website, email angel@byways.org.

If you don't think it's important to keep your info current, check out this testimonial from Deb Divine, Kansas Byways State Coordinator:

"One of the agritourism folks from the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway area recently linked to www.ksbyways.org and thus to www.byways.org. Within 20 minutes of the linking, he got a call from a woman from NYC (5th Ave no less) who said she always checks the byway website for interesting places to go and found out about his prairie fire burning event and signed up!"

Remember, linking works both ways! When you're checking your byway information, make sure your byway's site is linked from www.byways.org, and also link to our site from yours! Everybody wins!

NEWS BRIEFS

National Tour Association and the American Recreation Coalition Team up for Scenic Byways Pilot Project

Lexington, KY — The National Tour Association joins the American Recreation Coalition in an innovative program that will bring the technology era to one of the United States' most historic roads. The two groups will participate in a pilot project that will make multi-lingual digital commentary about features along the George Washington Memorial Parkway located on the Potomac River available for free on the Internet in Mp3 format.

NTA and ARC will work with the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration and others on this pilot program to create audio guides for the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The parkway itself connects many historic and cultural features, including Mount Vernon and the Old Town district of Alexandria. Other loops will be added, such as a loop of Capitol Hill, Pennsylvania Avenue and the White House. The project is to assist the National Park Service Centennial Challenge, which is designed to increase NPS visitor services and satisfaction by 2016, the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

To read more about this project, visit www.NTA.travel.

TIA Announces: National Tourism Week 2007 Logo Available for Download

This year's National Tourism Week (NTW) activities will take place May 12-20, 2007 and will be themed "Tourism: America's Front Door." The theme illustrates the importance of travel to America's image and suggests its impact as a leading industry for economic growth. This year's logo is now available for download. Feel free to include the logo on brochures, documents, presentations and banners that promote your NTW activities. All graphics and logos © Travel Industry Association. Click here to download and/or go to www.tia.org/ntw for other ideas for planning your NTW events.

FROM THE ROADS

As always, we look forward to hearing the latest and greatest news from you! If you've got a great picture or some exciting stories and ideas from your byway, let us know by e-mailing pmcnally@byways.org or jldungan@byways.org!

Way to Go, Arroyo Seco!

The March/April issue of Preservation Magazine has a feature article on the Arroyo Seco Parkway in Los Angeles and the Cabrillo Parkway in San Diego. The issue is out on newstands and the National Trust for Historic Preservation gives a teaser for their magazine articles on their website: http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/current/feature3.htm.

Update! More Great Conservation News from San Juan Skyway!

Please know that Val and Deanna Truelsen of Dolores [CO] completed a conservation easement today on 216 acres of their property in the Upper Dolores River Valley. This property is significant in that it is surrounded by National Forest and protects more than 1/2 mile of the Dolores River; Colorado River Cutthroat Trout Habitat; big game habitat, summer pasture, wonderful views along this section of the valley, and public access points to the Forest.

For more information, contact Ken Francis.

Uncle Sam on Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway

Tim Alling from Coulee Corridor Scenic Byway says, "We got Uncle Sam to help promote America's Byways!"