by Chris Richard, Director of Tourism
May 2018
Greetings.
To begin with, last week I renewed my advertising agreement with Beth David for my weekly ad here in the Neighb News. One of the things I learned early on from past New Bedford Tourism Directors Ed Camara and Arthur Motta is that some advertising money has to be spent locally. The reason for that is once tourists, business travelers, etc., are actually here, they need to know about the local Visitors Center and how they can get more information about the area.
The local ads also remind our own residents that we have a Visitors Center so they can refer visiting family and friends to the services of the Office of Tourism. For the money, the Neighborhood News is the best place to do that advertising in Fairhaven. More than 4,600 copies are distributed for free each week at all the sorts of places where visitors (and residents) are likely to see them. And the paper is available online, so it’s also accessible from practically anywhere in the word.
The “world wide web” also leads into the next news. In addition to the regular “Fairhaven, MA, Visitors Center” page on Facebook, I have started a related Facebook group, called “What’s Happening in Fairhaven.” The group is open to everyone and members are allowed to post notices about events, activities, business services, and other news about the town. If you’re on Facebook, go to https://www.facebook. com/groups/ whatshappeninginfairhaven. ma/
On Saturday, May 5, Town Meeting approved the budget for FY19, so the Office of Tourism is in business for another year. And a busy year it’s going to be. Let’s highlight some things that are coming up.
On Saturday, May 19, the North Fairhaven Improvement Association is holding an indoor community yard sale at the former Oxford School, 347 Main Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You can rent a space to sell your own stuff, too, for $20. For more information, you can call 508-207-2123.
Tours are starting up. I’ve already guided a couple for special groups. The first public tour will be the popular Riverside Cemetery Walking Tour on Sunday, May 20, at 2:00 p.m. It’s a great time of year to take a stroll through this historical cemetery created by President FDR’s grandfather Warren Delano I.
Along the route I’ll tell you about some of the prominent people who have been laid to rest there and point out special features like examples of early gravestone art and some of the specimens of trees and shrubs. Parking for the tour is along the cemetery roadways once you go through the Main Street gate. Please leave a few car lengths open just inside the gate or else it gets hard for traffic to go in and out. Two reminders: there is hilly and uneven ground so wear comfortable walking shoes and there is no public restroom at the cemetery. The tour will last about 90 minutes and is free of charge.
Walking with us on the tour there might be a couple of people who are interested in guiding Riverside Cemetery Tours themselves. I always welcome people who want to volunteer to guide tours — either the ones the Office of Tourism already offers or new ones that they might want to create themselves. (After my daughter went on a “ghost tour” during the high school’s music department trip to Philadelphia in April, she said we need to do one of those here. That’s not the first time I’m heard that. Stay tuned.) If you want to guide one of the regular tours, I have a number of prepared scripts to help you get started. Get in touch.
The other regularly scheduled public tours do not start until June, when Bob Foster and I start guiding Henry H. Rogers walking tours on Tuesday and Thursday morning. And the Friday before those start, the first Pirates and Privateers Presentation will be held at Fort Phoenix on Friday, June 1, at 10:00. I’ve already heard that a couple of groups will be showing up for that, so I expect a large audience.
Writing this column was interrupted by the delivery of 5,000 copies of the 2018 Fairhaven Visitors Guide. This is that 28-page, full color “magazine” that gets distributed all around our area during the course of the year. It’s also mailed to people who write and request information. Just about everything a tourist would need to know about town is in this guide — the list of hotels, marinas, churches, beaches, boat landings, playgrounds, annual events, tours, you name it. There are also historical stories about Henry H. Rogers, Joshua Slocum, Joseph Bates, Manjiro, the Delano family, and Fort Phoenix. Each year I update the guide book to include the latest information. Residents like the guides, too. You can find copies at Town Hall, the Millicent Library, at the visitors centers in New Bedford, and at selected businesses and restaurants, museums, etc., where visitors will see them.
Last, but by no means least, there is still space for vendors at the Huttleston Marketplace that will start on Saturday June 16 and continue each Saturday on the lawn of the Visitors Center until September 1. If you sell handmade arts & crafts, farm produce, antiques or collectibles, locally prepared foods or a book you have written, you’ll want to look into signing up. You can set up for a week or more with a donation of $20/week, or you can be here all season for $150. Lots of great vendors are already on board. To see the list or to get an application form, go online to http:// FairhavenTours.com/huttleston-marketplace/
Until next month, remember that I welcome your comments or suggestions. You can contact me via email at FairhavenTours@fairhaven-ma.gov, by calling 508-979-4085, or by stopping by the Visitors Center, 141 Main Street. The hours of the Office of Tourism are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a half-hour break around noon. There are some reserved parking spaces in the high school lot closest to the Academy Building.
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