Music festival uses hotel/motel tax grant to bring people to Le Mars

A Hotel/Motel Sales Tax grant is paying off for Le Mars.

More than $6,000 of the 5 percent sales tax revenue from hotel and motel rooms rented in town was given to a group advertising the 33rd annual National Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival, held this year in Le Mars for the first time.

That event is expected to draw more than 10,000 people and kicked off Monday at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.

Bob Everhart, one of the event coordinators, said the National Traditional Country Music Association was excited to receive positive support from the community.

The money, he said, helped them advertise in Le Mars and the entire upper Midwest.

"We have been, for the past 33 years, a No. 1 tourist attraction, especially in dealing with America's classic rural country and bluegrass music," Everhart stated in a press release.

People from all over the state, nation, and even the globe have made their way to Le Mars for the event.

"Things like this do us wonders," said Lisa Whitehead, manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Le Mars.

The hotel is nearly full for the week, she said, including a band and a musician from New Zealand.

Rex Knapp, a member of the Hotel/Motel Sales Tax advisory board, said grants for events like this are exactly what the Hotel/Motel Sales Tax money is designed for.

"There are two principles with hotel/motel sales tax grants: that they promote Le Mars, and that it will put money out there and get more money back," Knapp said. "We felt this does both."

Angela Watson, another member of the hotel/motel tax advisory board, agreed.

"We figured the application met all the requirements: market Le Mars as the event destination, drew an audience that was largely outside of our region, and was an event that drew a significant number of people," she said. "It also contributed to Le Mars' cultural offering."

The old time music promoters were among 12 organizations receiving hotel/motel sales tax grants this year, approved by the Le Mars City Council Jan. 15.

The advisory board recommended recipients out of 29 applicants for more than $90,000 in total grants.

"With events like this, more people from out of town come to town," Knapp said. "If it brings people to town, it creates more hotel/motel tax money."

The grant fund replenishes itself, he said, and allows for more promotion of the community.

The National Traditional Country Music Association, Inc., is a 501(c)3 non-profit association devoted to the preservation and performance of America's traditional rural roots country music.

Visitors at the music festival are also benefiting from a project headed up by the Le Mars Fire Department in 2001.

That year, the fire department hosted the Iowa Firefighters Association annual convention at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.

To prepare for all the visiting campers, the Le Mars Fire Department decided to put in electrical hookups on the south side of the fairgrounds.

Working with MidAmerican Energy and Northwest Iowa Community College, the fire department had $14,000 in wiring and other infrastructure installed to make the fairgrounds hookup-ready for electricity to campers. Those hookups are being used this week by campers from all over the nation, here in Le Mars to enjoy the music.

Event coordinator Everhart said he was pleasantly surprised by all the support in Le Mars.

"Normally we have to deal with negatives working to preserve and save America's old-time rural music," Everhart said. "This is an incredible 'positive' step helping us with our work."