Sometimes it just takes someone to point it out for you to appreciate what assets you have right in your own backyard. Livingston County Tourism helped a local group of 50 people do just that with their annual bus tour through the county. This year’s bus tour theme, the red, white and blue experience, appropriately took place on Flag Day, June 14, 2007. The county Chamber of Commerce’s "Leadership Livingston" class was on board the bus tour. They are learning about how tourism works to rejuvenate economic potential.

   Lisa Burns, Livingston County Tourism director, hosted the bus trip that started at the Mt. Morris dam, which she calls the county’s stellar attraction. Burns said Mt. Morris was a fitting starting point for the red, white and blue bus tour experience since it is the birthplace of Francis Bellamy, author of the Pledge of Allegiance. Other tour stops included a visit to the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, 1812 Country Store, SUNY Geneseo, Hemlock Lake and the American Hotel where lunch included a choice of red, white or blue soup.

   "It’s my job to link the communities by their tourism attributes and instill ambassadorship in our communities so we can talk first hand about they have to offer," Burns said. "As one tour participant stated, "I’ve lived here all my life and never knew that there used to be homes on Hemlock Lake, that a major Revolutionary War battle was fought here or that we had so much to offer visitors. This was an eye opening experience."

   A short trip down the American Road, better known as routes 5 and 20, brought the bus into the Village of Caledonia where Town Historian Eileen LaFave met the travelers. She pointed them to some of the town’s interesting attractions, including the New York State DEC Fish Hatchery, known to be the oldest continuously operating hatchery in the Northern Hemisphere, dating back to 1864. LaFave owns and operates a small shop called The Stray Cat, located in the historic 1833 Masonic Temple building which is named to the State’s National Registry of Historic Places.

   Just across the street on the other side of Soldiers’ Monument, Rita Kanaly, owner of Country Junktion, and Village Mayor Joe Caluorie rolled out the red, white and blue carpet for the county tourists. Kanaly welcomed the visitor’s with a complimentary light breakfast of tasty Danish and what else, plump red strawberries and fresh blueberries. She handed out gift bags filled with discount coupons for several Caledonia businesses. Burns called it "a real hometown welcome," adding that being located on the historic routes 5 and 20 gives Caledonia businesses an amazing potential for tourism. Caluorie was so glad to be on hand for the welcome and said he enjoyed the fun and friendship that he and the others exchanged. He hopes the tourists will come back again soon. The group spent quite some time walking around to other Caledonia shops, including Knit One Scrapbook Two, Another Time, Caledonia Antiques, Giggling Pig and State Street Gallery.

   "Everybody on the bus was so elated, so delighted with the friendliness of Caledonia. I had several bus tour participants say they plan to go back to visit Caledonia," Burns commented.

   Community businesses working together to promote each other is what brings in visitors to a community. Burns said that the number one tourism activity is shopping.

   "If they come to your community to shop, they also will eat at local restaurants and visit the museum and walk the outdoor trails and attend the festivals," she explained.

   LaFave says visitors to Caledonia often stop in her shop at the Masonic Temple just to tell her that they have spent an afternoon shopping, eating and touring the town. They often plan to make a return visit.

   "Tourism has a huge economic potential on a communities," said Burns.

   Livingston County Tourism is working to promote that idea locally by hosting the annual bus tour and through their website, www.fingerlakeswest.com

Hooray for the red, white and blue

   Caledonia-Mumford Elementary School hosts a Flag Day ceremony each June on the front lawn. Students, faculty and staff attend, along with many families and residents of the community, to pay tribute to America’s symbol of freedom. Former Caledonia Mayor, Mary Catherine Hamilton, gave a special speech this year on June 14, 2007 and the Matthew Cleary Post Color Guard participated in the ceremony that featured patriotic musical selections and poems.