Hi everyone,

The wind is blowing again today out here on the prairie. Not unusual, but it sure makes me think we should have one of those wind generators hooked up to the house, and a giant battery in the basement. With all the hype on “going green” lately, it may be worth looking in to.

Speaking of “green”, did you know that cold, undiluted white vinegar will remove coffee, tea and wine stains from linens? It also works as a room freshener. Dip a cloth in white vinegar, wring it out, take it into the room you want to “freshen”, and swing the cloth around over your head. The room will smell like vinegar for a short while, but when the vinegar smell is gone, so is the offensive odor. Sounds crazy, but it works and we’re not poking holes in the ozone with our room spray.

Did you see the Spring/Summer Great Getaways flyer in the Sunday, April 27th newspaper? BBISD is right there on page 14, upper left-hand corner. We also received our Midwest Living Magazine with the co-op ad with Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes. Another very impressive ad. A great big THANK YOU to the marketing committee for an ad that will benefit the entire association.

Ron and I want to thank Eileen and Warren for hosting our board retreat on the 18th and 19th of April. It was well attended and we accomplished so much. We heard a proposal by Cindy Olson of Hospitality Central on capturing the international market. Later we discussed the pros and cons of her proposal and decided that it was not in the best interest of all of our members. If you want to know more about this discussion, please contact us and we’ll fill you in.

The South Dakota Office of Tourism has in place the “Million Dollar Challenge” which is a grant program designed to increase tourism spending in South Dakota. We’ve a committee established to explore the possibility of BBISD writing a grant to secure monies to spend on digital marketing. We’ll keep you posted on the outcome.

This issue of the newsletter will contain our proposed changes to the by-laws. We’ll be voting on them at the annual meeting in January of 2009.

Have a great season! May our South Dakota winds blow guests your way from all areas of the US and beyond!

Blessings,
Carla & Ron