2017-003-Thorp Mill Town Historical Pres.

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APPLICATION QUESTIONS Please answer each question completely,in the order listed,on a separate sheet attached to this application.Please include any supporting data within the response narrative. 1.Please provide a description of your project/event and identify the specific tourism audience/market that your organization will target with these funds.You must include an itemized list of exactly how any grant funds awarded will be utilized. Following the success of our second annual event this past August,the Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society (Thorp Mill)is hosting a single day event,the 3rdAnnual Thorp Mill Antiques MarketandAppraisals,scheduled for Saturday,July 15,2017.This is a unique event- the only regular antiques appraisal event and antique market in central Washington.Thorp Mill is perfectly suited to host this event,as we attract annually more than 8,500 visitors to our site, advertise aggressively for the event,and have the reputation and visibility needed to execute such a happening. Our first two events in August of 2015 and 2016 were resounding successes.Across the two years,we are pleased with the number of attendees,how many vendors we were able to attract and,in general,the public reception to the event.We averagedover four hundred attendees/shoppers,over one hundred appraisals,and twenty-five unique vendors (we filled every availablevending space).The event averaged104 overnight stays in area lodging and accommodations,171day visitors from outside 50 miles,in total generating $41,640.00 spent in the county by both attendees and vendors (see #3).Further,ticket sales produced $2,155.00 in revenue for the Thorp Mill on average across the first two years. In light of what we have learned from our first two years of the event,we plan two significant changes in this third year.First,we are moving the date from the first weekend in August to the 15th of July.In the first two years,we piggybacked upon the largest antiques show in the region,the Clayson Farms show at the Yakima Fairgrounds;we had coordinated our event with theirs and shared some of the visitors.Unfortunately this approach also reduced the number of potential vendors,who chose the larger venue.Hence we have selected a date in which we are the only antiques show in the state.Second,by request of the vendors,this year will be a one day event.The reason is two-fold:the vast majority of our visitors came on Saturday,and the vendors requested the change.We realize that this change will half the number of overnights spent by the 50%of the vendors who are out-of-region (they will still be staying overnight after the Friday set-up).However,as all of our visitors treat this as a one day event,the 37%of our visitors staying overnight will not change. This annual event serves to: o draw to Kittitas County out-of-region tourists with disposable income as well as antique collectors and enthusiasts from around the Pacific Northwest o promote the history of Kittitas County,an integral part of the Thorp Mill's mission o forge and strengthen our relationships with other county organizations with whom we are partnering for the event o provide a regular source of fundraising to complement money raised from our annual auction,memberships,and other sources (grants,donations,etc.)that will contribute to County-wide Lodging Tax Application P a ge |10