Sometimes my job is a kick in the pants. I know you’re all probably sick and tired of hearing about rhubarb, but let me tell you the Sumner Downtown Association has upped its game when it comes to this leafy vegetable.
May 10, we had our first annual merchant’s Rhubarb Festival which was kind of like a mini trade show for business owners to learn about what rhubarb products are being sold or served here in Sumner and what products are available online and locally at wholesale. Our guest speaker was Tammy Blount, the president of the Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and she came with a power point presentation which included all of our Sumner branding logos and statistics on how destination marketing translates into dollars. Using examples like Leavenworth, Las Vegas and Disneyland, she showed over and over again how these internationally branded destinations have capitalized on specific assets and promoted themselves through easily recognizable graphics.
Did I mention that we invited the media, including a cable television film crew? Well we did. And they all came, including Chaz (Holmes) from The Courier-Herald. I had to go into the coat closet to do my happy dance so as not to appear unprofessional. We had a record membership attendance at the SDA meeting, plus the business owners of Sorci’s, Midtown Station, Berryland Café and The Silo all showed up with samples of their rhubarb delights, plus the owners of Whistle Stop Antique Mall, A Good Book and Blue Iris Bead shop were there and shared their stories about rhubarb products for sale in their stores.
Thursday, Melissa Santos wrote a front-page article about the Rhubarb Festival in the TNT complete with a color photo of Lola Hansen and rhubarb at the Berryland Café. But wait, that’s not all. The TNT article was picked up by the AP wire (be still my heart) and the story was run everywhere from Seattle to Olympia (I could hardly wait to email John Doan about it) to Oregon to India? Holy cow! Who knew folks there would be interested in rhubarb.
But tops for me was being mentioned again in The Nose in the TNT Friday. I’ve never been compared to a Griffey before, but I think I like it. Who knew that as part of my job I’d be participating in a “write-off” with an obviously talented and well traveled columnist. I mean anyone who’s been to Berryland and tasted the rhubarb pie is someone I can relate to. And though I’m not looking to put his “nose” all out of joint, those charms and books and slices of pie that he’s making fun of are putting dollars into our downtown economy. Well those, and the attention his column is bringing to our rhubarb pie brand.
So a big thanks to all our local businesses who are embracing and empowering the rhubarb brand, to all the media who are interested in covering our resurrected city brand, and especially to The Nose whose obvious affection for Sumner and rhubarb pie never fails to make me smile.
It’s all part of the recipe that makes folks want to spend some time in Sumner.
