Proving the Poppers wrong -- Red Willow County tourism director wears Buffalo commons label as badge of honor

Carol Schlegel, director of the McCook/Red Willow County Visitors Bureau, models her customized, one-of-a-kind jacket emblazoned with McCook's new logo, "The Capital of the Buffalo Commons." Carol said that Sarah Rippen of McCook Lettering created the red inset; Carol sewed it onto the back of her jacket. (Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- In the eyes of McCook's and Red Willow County's tourism director, a contention by Eastern professors that the Golden Plains should be abandoned to the buffalo and deer and antelope keeps providing the impetus to prove the learned Poppers wrong.

"The Poppers said we shouldn't be here ... that we shouldn't be doing well. But we are," tourism director Carol Schlegel told Red Willow County commissioners during their weekly meeting Monday morning. "We're here to stay, and here to thrive."

McCook has adopted as its logo, "The Capital of the Buffalo Commons," which is "more" than a reference to the community's successful annual Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival (another dig at the Poppers' belief in the creation of a "buffalo commons.") Schlegel explained, "It's more of an attitude."

The new logo "has caught on," she said. "There are lots of people embracing it." She said, "I've done some traveling with it, and people are intrigued by it, and asking questions. Which is good."

Schlegel presented commissioners with the newly-printed activity guide describing all that's good about McCook and Red Willow County: outdoor recreation, fishing, hunting, historical attractions, annual events and lodging and food selections.

Schlegel explained the "Spring Birding Trifecta," which teams McCook's prairie chicken tours with Harlan County's white pelican tours and Kearney's Sandhill crane tours. Commissioner Steve Downer said it appears to him that prairie chicken populations are increasing, and that the farming no-till concept is helping to provide and/or improve bird habitat.

Schlegel said she has had tourists from Canada, Israel and Germany come to watch the early-morning, spring mating dances of the prairie chicken. "We've gotten only positive feedback," Schlegel said. "No one's been disappointed in the prairie chickens." Even the birders who got rained out appreciated the "rain checks" and most of them came back the following spring, she said.

The county tourism committee has also been involved in sponsoring events for the Nebraska Art Teachers and the Nebraska Community Foundation. The "Connecting Entrepreneurial Communities" conference is scheduled in April, and plans break-out sessions in downtown business -- "everything will be walkable," Schlegel said.

Nebraska Rural Renaissance and the Fraternal Order of Eagles plan events in McCook next year.

Schlegel said that the www.VisitMcCook.com website has been updated and renovated, and includes a calendar of events. Contact Carol at carol@visitmccook.com to have an event included on the calendar. Anyone interested in receiving the calendar via e-mail can also contact Carol at the same address to be added to her mailing list.

Schlegel said she sees more and more tourism promotion going "digital" rather than print. It's less expensive and reaches a broader market, she­­­