In March, a young musician named Jessica Farmer came out to play. Our friend Jon Lyle had told us about her and we contacted her mother, who travels with her. She writes original songs and also does covers of some country songs. Her performance of "Jolene" was unique and amazing.
In April we had guests every weekend. One of them has developed her own organic body balm, called Kaloka Kare. She gave me a sample and it was truly awesome. It is super moisturizing and isn't oily or too fragrant. I have ordered some to put in our rooms for our guests to use. It is really good for all skin but works especially well on the heels of my feet, to keep them from drying and cracking -- a real problem in the summertime. She has a website to order on-line: www.kalokakare.com.
Social media takes a lot of time, but it we get the best "bang for the buck" with our small advertising budget by staying current on Facebook and networking via social media options. I am also on the board of directors of an Oklahoma tourism association, Red Carpet Country, representing Blaine County. I work with our executive director and the rest of the board to promote tourism in northwest and north central Oklahoma, and my main focus is on Blaine County.
If you see our website, www.chaparralbb.com, you'll see that we share tourist related information about businesses in town when we know about them. I also administer a facebook page named "Blaine Co. Community Events" which is open to anyone to post an event or activity or business.
May, June, and July are our busiest months. There are lots of family reunions and high school reunions going on. It is also a busy time for the Roman Nose State Park Lodge and sometimes accommodations in our area are hard to find if one waits until April to make a reservation. Recently we had three couples staying with us, who were all related to each other in one way or another and some of them hadn't been to Watonga before; one couple hadn't been back in many years.
One of the couples had a less than pleasant experience in town and the husband wrote a post on his facebook page about their visit to his childhood hometown. The post riled some feathers and drew verbal fire from some local residents. But there were also lots of comments from local people who agreed that the town needs some changes, and even made suggestions about what changes could be made. The original post and comment thread got more likes and comments than any other post I think I've seen -- over 2200!! Like the true gentleman that he is, our friend removed his post and all of the likes and comments from the facebook page (after saving it to a word document).
We are blessed and fortunate that most people here, long-time friends and people who recently know us, and people who come to stay at the Retreat, know that we promote Watonga . Our business is hospitality and bringing visitors to our place benefits us and the town. We will always refer our guests to the businesses and services available in town but we also have available information from businesses in Canton, Geary, and Okeene.
3 comments:
I was disappointed with Watonga businesses recently too. I was coming through on my way to Roman Nose and had hoped I might be able to leave my kids with the friends we were meeting and I could take a moment to get my brows waxed. This usually takes 10 minutes for someone to do. I called FOUR places in Watonga that day and none of them wanted my business. I kind of doubt they were all that busy. And they weren't friendly on the phone either. I felt like I was calling Wheeza from Steel Magnolias.
I'm also saddened to see the Noble House have to cut back their hours so much compared to two years ago. They said the can't keep help. I've heard the same from another food place in town. My friend noticed the food truck operator at Dollar General had stepped outside to smoke a vape with their gloves still on.
As a visitor, it leaves a bad impression of the town. Our family adores Roman Nose and I hope to spend any of our precious extra income supporting our state parks and small towns but I do feel like there needs to be a change in Watonga. It could be such an amazing place!
Dear Keri, you just made my day when I opened your comment. I was beginning to feel like I was crazy. The fact that I live here and experience this kind of behavior is frustrating, but everyone just says "it's the same in all small towns". If anyone speaks up with an idea to make things better, that person is criticized and shunned. But it is my home now and I'm going to make the best of it, and I want to see the best for Watonga. I've realized that not everyone here has the kind of attitude you've described, or our recent visitor described, but there is definitely some "entitlement" and complacency that makes some people stick their heads in the sand and not see what that Watonga can be a great place for visitors. I didn't grow up here, but my husband did. He has tried to put the idea out there that Watonga will never be what it was in the 50's and 60's, but that it can still be a great place to live and have a business with some good leadership. We have a jewel (Roman Nose State Park) in our backyard and the town would benefit from the thousands of visitors to the Park if they wanted the business. I'm sorry you had to have the experience that you did, but putting it out there is the only way to solve these issues. I am on a state tourism board (Red Carpet Country)and I work hard to point out all of the good things here and encourage people to come visit.
I know I will be "blamed" for your comment, but after years of being the target, I'm beyond that and continue to do what I can do to promote this area. I recently asked all of the local Watonga businesses if they wanted to be listed on a rack card I am putting together to hand out to visitors to our Bed & Breakfast and got few responses. It would be FREE advertising! Because I represent Blaine County on the tourism board, I am making contacts with businesses in nearby towns, like Geary, Canton, Okeene, and have even found a lady who will come to our B&B to do manicures by appointment! Next time to come to Roman Nose State Park, I hope you will stop by and see us -- we are located on HWY 8A, almost 1 mile after you turn off of Hwy 8 and onto 8A (the road to Roman Nose). Look on your right for a wood fence and we are hidden behind the trees but there is a blacktop lane at the north end of the wood fence. We also have a wood-fired pizza oven for group dinners (by advance reservation), host live music house concerts, and have hiking trails on our property. I hope you don't stop coming to our area, and I can promise that things in Watonga will get better. My husband and I are putting in an arts center on Main Street and will be offering free art classes for children and curriculum art lessons for both children and adults (hope to be open by the November??).
Thanks for your comment!! /Linda Barrett
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