By Charles Romans
Carter County Times
Grayson Tourism Executive Director Lana Axtell said that when it comes to showcasing what the City of Grayson has to offer that there are no crazy ideas. Axtell is constantly working with other organizations, the Grayson Tourism Board, and businesses to promote the city and improve tourism. And she said that she also loves getting input from local residents on what they think would be good ideas and what they would like to have available for everyone to enjoy.
Axtell is originally from Pike County, Ohio and began her career in sales for the Portsmouth Daily Times. From there she was on the ground floor when the CW opened in local markets, and then worked for WSAZ when their parent company, Grey Television, took over the CW. After that Axtell worked in sales for US Cellular and AllTel and had a morning radio talk show with current Go Radio DJ Mike Nelson on WPAY in Portsmouth, Ohio. She was the Sales Manager for WCHS and WVAHS for multiple years, then went to work as the Regional Sales Manager for Windstream for four years.
Axtell said that she had multiple other interests, such as getting her realtor’s license, but had planned on retiring. But after talking to Grayson about the Blue Goose building and discovering that they were interested in hiring an executive director, she put her retirement on hold and applied for the position which she now holds.
“In around 2010 I had spoken with a lady named Mary Richardson who worked with Grayson Tourism,” Axtell said.
She did a few commercials for Grayson, she said, and quickly fell in love with the city.
“So far I have had tons of community support,” Axtell said. “Not only from the powers that be in Grayson, but with the county tourism and chambers of commerce.”
Axtell said she uses all of her experience and is constantly gathering information so that she can advise the tourism commission on what she thinks are the best avenues to help Grayson grow its tourism footprint.
“I’m trying to create new things for people to do here in Grayson,” Axtell said.
Some of those things might be new events at the cabin, she said, since she moved her office from that location to the Grayson city building. Another thing coming up is the Oktoberfest Grayson has planned this year, Axtell said. Last year’s Oktoberfest was a hit with local residents and drew attendees from other areas, so she is excited for it to return.
One of Axtell’s duties is getting sponsorships for events in the city.
“There have been several thousand dollars in sponsorships from people who have not sponsored events in the city before,” she said. “And we are really pleased with that. And Windstream has also stepped up and supported us in a very large way.”
Some of the projects Axtell is currently working on include one with the fire department to light up the ballpark, with plans to grow that on a yearly basis. She said they are trying to raise money for a skating rink, and so far, there is a lot of interest in that project as well. Also, tourism is working with Charles Young to create a website for city tourism where people can easily find up to date information about events coming up in the city. That should be up and running in May of this year, she said.
“We also have the Raiders Run (motorsport route),” Axtell said. “We are refreshing and refurbishing our Facebook, and I will be doing Facebook Live about what’s going on weekends. And of course, there is our wonderful art gallery which is very popular and a good draw for tourism,” she said. “They do the Final Fridays and collect art for the gallery.”
Axtell said that the Sports Park is also a boon to Grayson Tourism with tournaments and everything else that venue has to offer.
The goal, she said, is to grow Grayson Tourism and just give people fun things to do.
“People love their community and want fun things to do here,” she said. “And I want to thank the community for welcoming me and I encourage them to share all their big plans with me. All ideas are good and let’s see what we can make happen together.”
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
