F riDAY, mA rch 12, 2010 • 50¢
SpOrTS
Vicksburg tourism
Selling the city will come easier with time These stories are the last in a six-part series by staff writer Steve Sanoski and journalism students from the University of Mississippi.
By Danny Barrett Jr. dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com
By David Hopper For The Post
FLYiNg high Golden Eagles land on spot in C-USA semis B1
WEAThEr Tonight: Partly cloudy; low near 42 Saturday: Partly cloudy; high near 56 Mississippi River:
25.3 feet Fell: 0.8 foot Flood stage: 43 feet
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DEAThS • Clarence Barber • Darlean Patton Flowers • Johnny Hoskins • Charles Mack Jr. • Ola B. Sims
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TODAY iN hiSTOrY 1864: Ulysses S. Grant is promoted to the rank of general-in-chief of the Union armies in the Civil War by President Abraham Lincoln. 1912: Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, Ga., founds the Girl Guides, which later became the Girl Scouts of America. 1933: President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers the first of his 30 radio “fireside chats,” telling Americans what was being done to deal with the nation’s economic crisis. 1947: President Harry S. Truman establishes what became known as the “Truman Doctrine” to help Greece and Turkey resist Communism. 1980: A Chicago jury finds John Wayne Gacy Jr. guilty of the murders of 33 men and boys. (The next day, Gacy was sentenced to death; he was executed in May 1994.) 2000: In an unprecedented moment in the history of the church, Pope John Paul II asks God’s forgiveness for the sins of Roman Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities.
The one person employed full time to focus on the tourism component of the Vicksburg and Warren County economy is Bill Seratt. Coaxing improvements in area attractions, working to plan and support events, assembling travel packages and spreading the word about what the area offers are among the duties of the executive director of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau. The largest corporate casino and the smallest bed and breakfast depend on the efforts of the VCVB. Seratt has been on the job two years, coming here after 11 years in Washington County. His arrival barely predated some tough months for tourism. “Since the fall of 2007, there has been a decline in travel overall,” Serratt said. “Projections are that it will be slow in 2010, perhaps picking up some in the fourth quarter. And, by 2011, there will be a slowbut-steady return of visitation in the recovery period lasting through 2013.” The agency Seratt heads was created by the Legislature in 1972 as the first of its type in Mississippi. Also novel was creating a separate funding stream See City, Page A6.
KATIE CARTER•The Vicksburg PosT
Bill Seratt stands in front of the Levee Street Depot.
VcVB funding A 1 percent tax levied on all hotel stays, as well as a 1 percent share of all food and beverage sales in the city funds the bureau. Checking account funds are for one-time expenses, such as its planned $175,000 move to the Levee Street Depot in 2011. 2008 2009 2010 * Revenue Lodging/Food and Beverage tax revenue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,033,300 . . . . . . . . $958,506 . . . . . . . .$968,200 Total Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,089,460 . . . . . . . . $964,680 . . . . . . . .$974,200 Checking account balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $154,185 . . . . . . . . $337,795 . . . . . . . .$288,197 Operating budget total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,243,645 . . . . . . $1,302,475 . . . . . .$1,262,397 Expenses Administrative salaries/benefits . . . . . . . . . . . $328,445 . . . . . . . . $373,119 . . . . . . . .$402,713 Administrative office expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . $75,896 . . . . . . . . . $74,617 . . . . . . . . . $68,200 Advertising and promotions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $431,335 . . . . . . . . $493,775 . . . . . . . .$644,484 Attractions development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $11,000 . . . . . . . . . $15,000 . . . . . . . . . $30,000 Contract services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13,911 . . . . . . . . . $17,788 . . . . . . . . . $12,000 Legal and professional fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $41,404 . . . . . . . . . $64,436 . . . . . . . . . $57,500 Travel and presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $15,338 . . . . . . . . . $14,231 . . . . . . . . . $17,500 Transportation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4,123 . . . . . . . . . . .$5,600 . . . . . . . . . . $5,500 Total expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$921,878 . . . . $1,152,312 . . . .$1,262,397 Net income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$321,767 . . . . . .$150,163 . . . . . . . . . . . . . ** *2010 numbers are projected. * *VCVB Executive Director Bill Seratt said he expects to hold expenses below budget and have net income in the VCVB checking account for 2011.
Believe it or not, the Internet is old school. While Vicksburg attractions are likely to continue to use Web sites for “passive” advertising and event listings, for booking hotel and bed and breakfast rooms and selling tick-
ets, there are more interactive media. The Vicksburg National Rick Military Martin Park, for example, has an “iPhone app.”
Park Chief of Operations Rick Martin said technology is the way to help bring in young people and, given Bess the National Averett Park Service emphasis on helping the next generation learn to
love and appreciate America’s treasured places, they’ll keep on keeping up. The first recorded narrations for people touring the Civil War battlefield were eight-track tapes. They gave way to cassettes, which gave way to CDs. Now there are DVDs and links to the Global See Twitter, Page A6.
The project Five journalism students from the University of Mississippi spent two days in Vicksburg last month — to gather and report on the future of tourism in the area. The last of their stories, directed by reporter Steve Sanoski and Executive Editor Charlie Mitchell, are being published today.
iNDEX Business ...............................A7 Classifieds ............................ B8 Comics ..................................A8 Puzzles .................................. B7 Dear Abby ........................... B7 Editorial ................................A4 People/TV ............................ B6
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ONLiNE www.vicksburgpost.com VOLUME 128 NUMBER 71 2 SECTIONS
Power production at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station remained halted this morning after a feedwater pump tripped Monday. Loss of water pressure sufficient for the Claiborne County facility to produce electricity prompted the shutdown, Entergy Nuclear spokesman Suzanne Anderson said this morning. Protocol requires that power be increased gradually until the plant can go back on the grid, Anderson said. The plant, the only nuclear-fired plant in Mississippi, was operating at 10 percent of its startup power, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s daily status report update. Anderson said the 672 workers were on site today, about 30 percent more than a typical day because of the shutdown. “Repairs were made safely yesterday,” Anderson said. “Right now, we’re looking to ramp up slowly.” The failure, which occurred at 4:35 p.m. Monday, was the first unplanned shutdown of operations at the reactor since 2008 when there were four such shutdowns. Entergy’s power grid is served by multiple generating plants, and the shutdown had no effect on service to consumers. Federal regulators are expected to present the findings of Grand Gulf’s 2009 inspection report this month, Anderson said. See Grand Gulf, Page A9.
Source: VCVB
Check it out: Tweet the Twitter, ogle the GPS By Andrew Mullen Scott and Aline Carambat For The Post
Pump woes stop output at Grand Gulf
State rep kills bill for open meetings By Emily Wagster Pettus The Associated Press JACKSON — A House chairman has killed a bill that was designed to strengthen Mississippi’s Open Meetings laws, saying a change to the bill amounted to an end-run around his authority. The bill passed the House last week but died Thursday when Ed Judiciary A Blackmon Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon chose not • Goverto remove nor rea hold on stores it before a cut deadline. funds. Blackmon, • ‘Miss EveD-Canton, lyn’ honsaid he was ored at unhappy that Capitol. the bill was amended on the House floor March 4. He said the change should have been made in his committee rather than on the floor. “I don’t expect you to be out here throwing amendments in when you haven’t brought the amendments up in com-
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Aline Carambat
Andrew Mullen Scott
David Hopper
Donica Phifer
Elizabeth Pearson
Kirklin picked as VCVB board chairman By Steve Sanoski ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com
Annette Kirklin is the new chairman of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors, the board decided Thursday at a meeting that was called after the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted March 1
to replace board members Elmerree Bradley and chairman David Maggio. Their fourAnnette year terms Kirklin had been expired since August.
Continuing the Tradition
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Rocky Smith and Chris Patel, both representatives of the local hotel industry, were selected by the mayor and aldermen as their replacements. Kirklin, who joined the board a year ago and is executive director of the Southern Cultural Heritage Center, was the lone nominee for the chairmanship.
Frank J.
Patty Cappaert was reappointed as board secretary at the meeting that lasted 4 minutes. “I’m thrilled about the way everything has been going on the board, and I’m happy to be in a leadership role to help make things happen for Vicksburg tour-
FISHER FUNERAL HOME
See Kirklin, Page A9.
(601) 636-7373 1830 Cherry St. Vicksburg, MS
See Meetings, Page A9.