COUNTY RAKES IN MORE THAN $300 MILLION FROM TOURISM
The Chippewa Valley is becoming quite the hotspot in the tourism world, as visitors spent $329 million in the region last year alone (up 13 percent since 2000). Visitors include those traveling in the area for fun, business, or sporting events, with 30 percent of the revenue generated through shopping, 27 percent through food, 22 percent through recreation, 13 percent through lodging, and 8 percent through transportation. Of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, Eau Claire County is 19th highest in visitor spending, securing $177 million, adding to the $13.116 billion generated statewide. Tourism in the Chippewa Valley also directly supported 4,432 jobs and generated $40.2 million in State Government Revenue.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MABEL TAINTER RESIGNS
The Mabel Tainter’s executive director, Gary Schuster, is resigning in order to pursue studies at UW-Stout. Starting in 2001 as a communications manager and eventually working his way up to executive director in 2005, Schuster made the most his eight years on staff. By creating an “open door” policy for the building, he strengthened partnerships with community non-profits, expanding programming from 13 to 32 performances a year, including a combination of regional and national performers. Schuster collaborated to create the Rising Star and Emerging Artists programs, which mentor high school and college students. He also presided over the 119-year-old theater’s renovation project. He will surely be missed.

GRANT ALLOWS MUSEUM TO ADD NEW LONG-TERM EXHIBIT
The Chippewa Valley Museum was awarded $40,000 by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the largest of six Wisconsin winners. The funds will allow the CVM to plan the new, long-term exhibit Intersections. The exhibit, funded in the category of America’s Historical and Cultural Organizations, will explore the relationships between the Chippewa Valley’s many descending groups, including the Ojibwe, Europeans, Hmong, and Somalis. While most museum exhibits are separated topically, suggesting no relationship between the two, Intersections intends to show the interconnectedness of opportunities, displacement, mediation, and selective acculturation that have come together to create our region’s potluck of cultures.

LOCAL MIDDLE SCHOOLERS DESTINED FOR NATIONALS
Two Eau Claire schools sent teams to the global Destination ImagiNation theatrical contest in Knoxville, Tenn., May 20-23. “This Side Up,” Eau Claire South Middle School’s team, comprised of eighth-graders Nate LeBrun, Keeley Neevel, Addy Wells, Elliot Heinz, and Ally Tio, under coach Kathy LeBrun, won first place at the DI state competition at UW-Stevens Point. Delong’s team, comprised of sixth- and seventh-graders Roz Faulkner, Hannah Gilberstadt, Lucianne Heeg, Anna Lane, Mara Lane, and Alida Markgraf, under coaches Ellen Faulkner, Susan Heeg, and Jill Markgraf, won second place. Both teams competed in the “Private DI,” an improvisation challenge, focusing on acting, story development, theater arts, teamwork, and technical innovation.