Laserfiche WebLink
I �J .; q� d <br />Please answer each question completely, in the order listed, on a separate sheet attached to this <br />application. Please include any supporting data within the response narrative. <br />1. Please provide a description of your project/event and identify the specific tourism <br />audience/market that your organization will target with these funds. You must include an <br />itemized list of exactly how any grant funds awarded will be utilized. <br />Following the success of our second annual event this past August, the Thorp Mill Town Historical <br />Preservation Society (Thorp Mill) is hosting a single day event, the 3rd Annual Thorp Mill <br />Antiques Market and Appraisals, scheduled for Saturday, July 15, 2017. This is a unique event— <br />the only regular antiques appraisal event and antique market in central Washington. Thorp Mill <br />is perfectly suited to host this event, as we attract annually more than 8,500 visitors to our site, <br />advertise aggressively for the event, and have the reputation and visibility needed to execute <br />such a happening. <br />Our first two events in August of 2015 and 2016 were resounding successes. Across the <br />two years, we are pleased with the number of attendees, how many vendors we were able to <br />attract and, in general, the public reception to the event. We averaged over four hundred <br />attendees/shoppers, over one hundred appraisals, and twenty-five unique vendors (we filled <br />every available vending space). The event averaged 104 overnight stays in area lodging and <br />accommodations, 171 day visitors from outside 50 miles, in total generating $41,640.00 spent in <br />the county by both attendees and vendors (see #3). Further, ticket sales produced $2,155.00 in <br />revenue for the Thorp Mill on average across the first two years. <br />In light of what we have learned from our first two years of the event, we plan two <br />significant changes in this third year. First, we are moving the date from the first weekend in <br />August to the 15th of July. In the first two years, we piggybacked upon the largest antiques show <br />in the region, the Clayson Farms show at the Yakima Fairgrounds; we had coordinated our event <br />with theirs and shared some of the visitors. Unfortunately this approach also reduced the <br />number of potential vendors, who chose the larger venue. Hence we have selected a date in <br />which we are the only antiques show in the state. Second, by request of the vendors, this year <br />will be a one day event. The reason is two -fold: the vast majority of our visitors came on <br />Saturday, and the vendors requested the change. We realize that this change will half the <br />number of overnights spent by the 50% of the vendors who are out -of -region (they will still be <br />staying overnight after the Friday set-up). However, as all of our visitors treat this as a one day <br />event, the 37% of our visitors staying overnight will not change. <br />This annual event serves to: <br />o draw to Kittitas County out -of -region tourists with disposable income as well as antique <br />collectors and enthusiasts from around the Pacific Northwest <br />o promote the history of Kittitas County, an integral part of the Thorp Mill's mission <br />o forge and strengthen our relationships with other county organizations with whom we <br />are partnering for the event <br />o provide a regular source of fundraising to complement money raised from our annual <br />auction, memberships, and other sources (grants, donations, etc.) that will contribute to <br />County -wide Lodging Tax Application Page 110 <br />