NEWS IN BRIEF
Free museums: windows into art, history and culture
For entertainment, education or sheer curiosity, visits to museums can be among the best values around. Museums that have free admission are downright bargains. That's the message from the Maryland Office of Tourism, which has designated October as a month to experience the free museums in the state.
"In recognition of National Arts and Humanities Month, we want to let our residents and visitors know about these wonderful cultural resources — especially ones that are free," says Margot Amelia, executive director of the tourism office.
"We are fortunate to have myriad museums in Maryland — with collections that feature everything from world-class art to depictions of regional culture," she adds. "You can see works by Matisse and Picasso at the Baltimore Museum of Art, a display of aviation technology at the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum, or an exhibition that illustrates our maritime heritage at the Waterman's Museum — all for free."
Gary Vikan, director, Walters Art Museum, says: "Since the Walters went free in 2006, attendance is up 45 percent. The museum is a free weekend destination for families, which is especially important in these tough economic times.
Star-Spangled 200 fundraiser presents PBS film
Nearly 300 people joined Gov. Martin O'Malley, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and State Sen. President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. at the Landmark Theatres Harbor East Cinema in Baltimore, Monday evening, Sept. 26, for a highlighted version of The War of 1812, a new two-hour PBS documentary that airs nationwide Oct. 10.
The film includes re-enactments, animation and commentary from 26 American, British, Canadian and Native-American historians. Viewers at the screening also saw a preview of Anthem, a made-in-Maryland production that traces the origins of the National Anthem, and a short film about the upcoming bicentennial period — 2012 through 2014 — produced by Maryland Public Television.
Following the PBS documentary, filmmaker Lawrence Hott, Florentine Films, presented a Q&A session. "I spent about seven years making this film — traveling all across the U.S. and Canada," he said. "We filmed here because Baltimore and Maryland are extremely important to (the story of) the War of 1812." Hott and his crew filmed in the state two years ago at a variety of locations, including two days at Fort McHenry and one day aboard the Pride of Baltimore II.
"By screening this PBS film, we continue to ramp up our activity in anticipation of the launch of the bicentennial next June," said Bill Pencek, executive director of the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission. "We plan to showcase Maryland on an international stage during the bicentennial period and this documentary certainly adds traction to our efforts."
The War of 1812 is a production of WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc., in association with WETA Washington, D.C. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided a major grant.
For more information about The War of 1812, and details for purchasing the DVD and companion book, visit PBS online. An electronic press kit, including downloadable photos for promotional use, is also available.
Tourism board holds strategic-planning session
The Maryland Tourism Development Board convened its yearly strategic-planning session, Sept. 15 at The Hotel at Arundel Preserve. Board members say they are looking ahead to the 2012 Maryland General Assembly session and discussing the economic value of tourism with state lawmakers.
Two representatives of the Maryland Tourism Council — David Reel, president and CEO; and Sandy Turner, chair, board of directors — joined 17 tourism board members and Office of Tourism staff at the session.
David Ratcliffe, who heads a hospitality-related consulting firm, facilitated the meeting. Ratcliffe has clients across the U.S., including convention and visitor bureaus in: Anaheim, Calif.; Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Ariz.; Seattle, Wash.; and Vancouver, B.C.
Markers evoke Frederick ties to Lewis and Clark
 In 1803, explorer Meriwether Lewis prepared for his upcoming expedition into the Louisiana Territory with William Clark by embarking on a horseback tour of towns between Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. He took crash courses in botany, paleontology, navigation and field medicine from friends of President Thomas Jefferson, and also acquired weaponry and supplies.
Lewis' travels in this region are part of a possible Lewis and Clark's Eastern Legacy Trail. (The National Park Service is studying its feasibility.) He probably came through Frederick on at least three occasions that year and likely stopped at the Hessian Barracks — a military installation in Frederick that held captured German soldiers during the American Revolution — en route to the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, where he obtained guns, knives and axes.
The Frederick chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) arranged a ceremony, Sept. 24, commemorating Frederick's link to Lewis and Clark. Both a DAR commemorative trail marker and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration medallion — honoring the Lewis and Clark expedition — were dedicated near the barracks, which is on the campus of the Maryland School for the Deaf.
"For many years, the National Park Service has placed signs along highways and local roads designating nearby routes of Lewis and Clark's historic trip — primarily from St. Louis to the Pacific and back," said Md. State Sen. Jennie Forehand, a member of the Maryland Tourism Development Board and the Lewis and Clark Heritage Foundation. "A Lewis and Clark Eastern Legacy Trail can generate tourism interest in a similar way."
Photo: The geographic coordinates of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration medallion (12 inches in diameter) will be entered into NOAA's database of marker positions across the U.S.
Register online for Maryland tourism conference
The 31st annual Maryland Tourism and Travel Summit (MTTS) will be held Nov. 2-4 at the Marriott Inn & Conference Center at UMUC in Prince George's County. Registration is available online. Call the Marriott at 301-985-7300 and mention MTTS to reserve rooms.
MTTS speakers include Brett Petit, senior vice president of marketing, Six Flags Theme Parks (trends in theme park and family travel); Berkeley Young, president, Young Strategies (destination marketing); Hannah Paramore, president, The Digital Agency (keynote: online marketing expertise); Tanner Latham, freelance writer and multi-media storyteller (public relations insights); and Amy Showalter, The Showalter Group (grassroots organizations).
Both the Maryland Office of Tourism and the Maryland Tourism Council will present awards at the conference. Categories for the tourism office awards are: Green/Sustainable Tourism; Visit Maryland (promotion of the state as a travel destination); Cultural/Heritage Tourism; and Economic Engine.
Tourism office, CRUSA offer marketing to inbound travelers
Domestic and international advertising opportunities are available with the Maryland Office of Tourism Development and Capital Region USA (CRUSA).
Destination Maryland, the state's official travel guide, features travel articles, itineraries, and hundreds of listings of attractions, accommodations, restaurants, outdoor activities and shopping locations. Maryland Calendar of Events is a collection of event listings throughout the state for each month of the year. The tourism office is investing more than $1 million in marketing to encourage travelers to both request these magazine-style publications and view them online. Deadline for advertising submissions is Oct. 14. Call or e-mail Steve Lassiter at Media Two, 443-909-7828, for details. (Mention you saw this opportunity in Insights and receive a 5 percent discount.)
CRUSA, through a partnership with Miles Media, offers an integrated print and online marketing program that targets more than 485,000 potential overseas visitors. Advertising is available in the CRUSA Travel Guide, on the CRUSA web site and through an e-mail marketing program. Deadline for advertisers is Sept. 30. Call or e-mail Carly Norosky Stedman at Miles Media, 304-982-3298, for details. CRUSA is the official destination marketing organization that promotes Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland in the international marketplace.
July tourism sales taxes up 8 percent over last year
The latest issue of the Maryland Tourism Monitor — the Office of Tourism's monthly report on measures for visitation and marketing, tourism-related sales taxes and leisure and hospitality jobs — is available online. Among its findings: the number of arts, entertainment and recreation jobs grew 7 percent in July, and sales-tax revenue from tourism tax codes grew 8 percent — more than triple the 2.5 percent growth for overall sales-tax revenue for the first month of the new fiscal year. The tourism office has also released a new publication tracking lodging trends, the Maryland Lodging Monitor. It includes Smith Travel Research data for Maryland counties on a bi-annual basis.
Two Talbot B&Bs receive national honor
Food & Wine magazine's list of "America's best bed and breakfasts" includes two Maryland businesses — both in Talbot County. Inn at 202 Dover, built in 1874, is a four-suite B&B in Easton. Robert Morris Inn, a 16-room inn in Oxford, was the home of its namesake, the "Financier of the American Revolution" and a friend of George Washington.
Lewis Museum hosts annual 1812 symposium
The 15th National War of 1812 Symposium - The Civil War of 1812: War and Disquiet and the New Nation - will be held Oct. 1, 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture in Baltimore. David T. Terry, executive director of the museum, delivers one of the day's presentations, African-Americans and the War of 1812. Alan Taylor, professor of history at the University of California, Davis, and author of The Civil War of 1812: American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels, & Indian Allies, will also be a featured speaker.
Other presentations include: Three U.S. Navy 44-Gun Frigates; Former Maryland Slaves and the Treaty of Ghent; The U.S. Raid on York, Upper Canada: April 1813; and Whites and Black in British Uniform: Royal Marines and Colonial Marines in the Chesapeake in 1814. A tour of the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House follows the symposium.
To attend, e-mail Charles P. Ives III. Registration is $50/person. Event is co-sponsored by the Council on America's Military Past.
Worcester County hosts annual Celtic Festival
Celebrate all things Celtic — bagpipe music to haggis — at the 20th Chesapeake Celtic Festival, Oct. 1-2 at the Furnace Town Living Heritage Museum in Snow Hill. Event includes Highland athletics, dance groups, musicians, sheepherding, Celtic marketplace, historical re-enactments, and whiskey and wine tastings. Daily admission is $15/adult and $5/children. Free parking at Furnace Town; shuttle between Snow Hill and festival.
Despite hurricane damage, wine festival goes on at Sotterley
About two dozen Maryland wineries will participate in the Riverside Winefest at Sotterley Plantation, Oct. 1-2. Event features live music, artisans, winemaking and free tours of Sotterley's plantation house and gardens. Area chefs offer cooking demos at Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission's booth, using locally grown ingredients. Chesapeake Spinners and Weavers Guild also offers demos. Sotterley, located along the Patuxent River in St. Mary's County, dates back to the early 18th century. In the aftermath of property damage from Hurricane Irene, Sotterley is accepting donations for clean-up efforts.
Bavarian tradition marks early autumn
Oktoberfest season is here. Frederick's Oktoberfest runs Oct. 1-2 at the Great Frederick Fairgrounds. The town's three breweries serve up 17 styles of beer. Wear your dirndl or lederhosen and get in free. Football Tent lets you catch game action. Germantown Oktoberfest (Montgomery County) is also Oct. 1. A week later, Das Best Oktoberfest is Oct. 8 at the Timonium fairgrounds (Baltimore County). Gaithersburg Oktoberfest at the Kentlands (Montgomery County) is Oct. 9. Then, it's Ocean City Oktoberfest, Oct. 14-15 at the convention center (includes an art & craft fair). Bratwurst and sauerbraten will still be waiting at Charles County's Oktoberfest, Oct. 22-23 at the county fairgrounds.
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