Despite a lower turnout, Spring Pilgrimage drew people from all 50 states for the first recorded time this year, according to information released this week by event organizers.
Having all states represented has been a long-standing goal for organizers, said Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau Interim Executive Director Nancy Carpenter.
“Several years ago we had 48 states represented and last year 39 states were represented here during Pilgrimage so this was a highlight for us,” Carpenter said in an email.
Considering the rising gas prices and spots of bad weather, Carpenter added that organizers are “most happy with our overall numbers.”
One of those who did bite the gas-prices bullet was Jan Manasco and her husband, Tim, of Dierks, Ark., who had a 400-mile one-way trip.
Despite the mileage, she said they “thoroughly enjoyed bit of (Pilgrimage).”
“It was well worth the trip,” she added.
Coming from her and her husband – who have made pilgrimages to Georgia, Texas and Louisiana, among other states – that”s high praise.
“(Columbus” Pilgrimage) was just as good or maybe better than other pilgrimages in other cities we”ve been,” she said. “It was a very relaxing time.”
Even though ticket sales for the city”s historic homes tour – one of the more popular pilgrimage events – dropped 6 to 7 percent, or by roughly 175 tickets, 2,950 people still attended, Carpenter said.
She also reported the following attendance levels at other Pilgrimage events, although many people likely attended more than one:
- About 7,500 people attended Grilling on the River.
- About 2,100 people heard the Tales from the Crypt.
- About 1,721 attended Mayor Robert Smith”s Unity Picnic.
- About 720 people participated in Noon Tunes, kitchen tours, church tours and carriage rides.
Attendance at Tales from the Crypt – which has Mississippi Math and Science students telling the stories of long-dead citizens in Friendship Cemetery – would probably have been better except that one night was rained out and two had temperatures in the 40s, Carpenter said.
The historic homes tour also saw unseasonably cold weather on two days, she added.
Dixie Butler, who owns the historic Temple Heights home on Ninth Street North, said she couldn”t tell attendance was down.
“I had a very good feeling about the Pilgrimage,” she said. “We had some great nights. I think it was successful.”
One of the reasons she has participated in Pilgrimage each year for the past 42 years is because of the people, she continued.
“I think all the people, all the volunteers who helped, liked the feeling of knowing they”re helping our visitors have a pleasant stay in Columbus,” she said.
Not only did visitors come from every state, she said, they came from other countries. But wherever they came from, they “always seemed delighted” with Columbus.
“And those people,” she added, “will come back and tell others to come.”
Jim Singer, of St. Louis, Mo., said that”s definitely true of him. After spending the week in the “Friendly City,” he”s already making plans to send more friends down.
“We were just so impressed with the friendliness of the people,” he said. “I always thought westerners were friendly – but they”re not as friendly as the South.”
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