Plans underway to celebrate 100th anniversary of highway

At the January Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting, Jackie Dororthy gave the director’s report and commented on plans for marking that this year is the 100th anniversary of the Yellowstone Highway and the tunnels opening near the south entrance of the Wind River Canyon.

Dorothy said “I have met with WYDOT and they are excited for the project. Shannon Watts is creating the map using Google Earth and the stickers will be an old school style. He will also create a brochure as a map handout for 2024.”

Dorothy added, “Freelancer Lynn Coulter has reached out regarding Legend Rock Historic Site and plans to include it in an article for HGTV.com. I sent her several photos and information regarding the site.” 

Additionally, Dorothy attended a Wedding Fair on January 14 in Billings and represented Hot Springs County. Dorothy added that they worked with the Chamber of Commerce to promote Thermopolis as a destination for wedding and honeymoon vacations to our neighbors in Montana.

Treasurer Audra Dominguez was not present. Therefore, Director Jackie Dorothy gave the financial report. There was no lodging tax deposit information available at the time of the meeting. Dorothy presented to the board their reformatted financial statements that would match their statements from Pinnacle Bank. For some time, there was some confusion on reading the various statements due to the date ranges from both their account and the bank. Chairman Carl Leyba and the board reviewed their ledger for any concerns. The board voted and passed approval of their financial report.

In old business, the board discussed their digital sign project where they are still working on discerning the owner of a certain property for the sign’s placement. No action was taken.

In new business, guest via Zoom Jim Wollenburg of the Wyoming Office of Tourism presented information about the February 25-27 Cheyenne Tourism Conference. The board and Wollenburg discussed the possibility of visiting with legislators at the conference and inviting other legislators to participate. The board also discussed being aware of any potential bills that would change the state’s budgets regarding tourism. 

Meri Ann Dorman presented a request for a letter of support on behalf of the HSC Shooting Complex Committee and presented a request for a letter of support from the mayor and council regarding their application and proposal to the Wyoming Task Force. The state has budgeted $10 million to budget a world class shooting complex. The board voted and passed the approval to provide the letter of support.

In open discussion, Dorman also noted that she learned there are 74 vacation rentals in Hot Springs County at this time and proposed to have some tourism binders to be given to property owners. These binders could be used for tourists to learn about what the county features, such as restaurants, activities, and other interests. Dorman also suggested providing a QR code that short-term tenants could use to access up-to-date information about current events or resources the county provides.

The next Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism board meeting will be on February 21 at the Quality Inn.