We’ve been celebrating our 30th anniversary all April long! Our birthday was just last Friday. As part of the fun, we’ve been meeting with former OVC Board members, and some others who have been along for the ride. We’re reflecting on three decades of tourism and considering what the future might hold. Join us for a look back on local tourism’s evolution, some Ottawa Visitors Center history, and a special guest’s unique perspectives.

Our special guest for this entry is Brent Roalson, former chief of the Ottawa Police Department and current president of the Recreation Board. He got us started with some background information on his time as the police chief and his current position.

“I started my career with the city of Ottawa in the police department in 1996. That was at the time when Mayor Buck was in office, and I worked through his administration with the police department, and coached, and helped the youth in the community, both in different leagues and recreational capacities. And then working with the police department, we worked hand-in-hand with the Visitor Center and anyone that was actually bringing a special event to town. And so through that time, until essentially I retired in… 2025 in January with the police department as a police chief, we had direct involvement in all the planning, the organizations. The planning transitioning was a little easier at first, because Nancy took care of 90% of it. But as it kind of spiraled out, we were more involved in the actual day-to-day planning of it, included in meetings and kind of the logistics to see what was functional, what wasn’t, and giving our input from both the public safety, but also what would work with the flow that we saw in town,” Brent said,

“And keep in mind, tourism started to grow at a pretty good clip. Because the more events that we did, the more events came up and it sparked new ones, which was good. And it, it helps, because again, when you look at you know, tourism, it brings people to town, industry, creates jobs in towns. Well, you have to get them here to see our community, and that’s what tourism does. It opens up the door to where you have potential people that decide they want to move to the area, because there’s things to do outside of work. Work isn’t just the only thing that brings people to an area. I mean, work will, but at the end of the day tourism is what keeps families here and having things to do. And so again, what started out is exposing Ottawa to other people, other areas… I saw a campaign that started kind of, I don’t want to say small, but smaller than what we are now in our advertisement and the outreach to get, farther. And a lot of that has to do with social media and a lot of different aspects that you guys at the Visitor Center has transitioned over the 30 years too. Quite frankly, we’re reaching more and more people. We’re having more and more events, which brings more and more people to our town and exposes them to, you know, all the good things that Ottawa has to offer.”

Throughout this interview series, we’ve been exploring the many working parts of tourism and the importance of community collaboration. Brent points towards many of these facets, such as public safety, event organization, facilities, and more. There’s a lot that goes into the structure of an event! With his experience in mind, we asked Brent how he would say his work both at the police department and on the recreation board intersect with tourism.

“Most of it now as a part of the Recreation Board, uses the facilities that the city offers. So we’re a part that we play in the direct planning and making sure that the facilities are up to what people are asking of us, and making sure that they’re welcoming and taken care of properly. So that’s part of the rec board’s responsibility and oversight over those programs, and not only our recreational programs, but also the facilities that people utilize. As far as the police department goes, it was more, again, planning on the safety aspect of it, looking at capacities, looking at safety routes, plans, and different aspects to keep the people that are coming here safe and secure from any kind of issue, whether it’s weather or man-made, whatever the case may be. We had to plan accordingly and have plans in place to make sure that the people that were coming to our event, it was done safely and controlled. And again, I think that’s what people look for. They look to come down and have a good time. Experience Ottawa, experience events that are in hand, but they want that safety aspect and component which I think having the police department with a great community and the community support that the police department gets, I think is a major factor of why we have the events that we do. Of course, we’ve had other expanded events that were first brought to town, and again, some people like, some people don’t,” he said.

“I’ll give an example, which is Pride Fest, that brings a lot of different people from different areas, different mindsets, different cultures to our area. And these are all good things for the community because it exposes everyone. Everyone has a chance to enjoy it and enjoy what Ottawa has to offer. And so the police department played a major part in a lot of those events that were planned out that may… I don’t want to say have criticism or adversarial approaches to them, but it’s a difference of opinion. And quite frankly, it made sure that everyone has a balanced chance and a fair opportunity to have their events and to make sure that they’re ran safely.”

“And I think working with the Visitor Center on that, making sure that proper publication, proper advertising, and making sure that things are controlled and done in a proper manner to not offend anyone is, I think, a big part of it. It played a big part with the police department, and it also allowed us to transition our department and continue with that community aspect of law enforcement,” Brent explained.

Ottawa’s events, which both heavily rely on public safety and the local facilities, are certainly a major draw for the city. Before we discussed events in-depth, we zoomed out to look at the big picture again. We asked Brent what he feels tourism, in relation to Ottawa, means to him.

“I think it’s the opportunity to bring people. To our community, to become members of our community. The initial part is to get them here. The follow-up is to keep them here and to make sure that they’re going to… everybody looks at the tax dollars. And, of course, that’s a nice added benefit, especially to the small businesses. But keeping those small businesses, which is our foundation to the community and keeping Ottawa what it is, is important. And without tourism, that falls apart. It becomes critical to have people here and experience that. So from my personal [experience], it’s a benefit. There are some downsides to it, of course. More tourism, the community feels perhaps there’s too much going on. But then we have events, like you turn around and you look at Music in the Park, which is predominantly attended by people from the area. That’s kind of a community reminder, and it’s a great event that the city puts on, and it’s all summer long, to help let the residents explore and enjoy what they have,” he said.

“It’s nice to have it. It’s a benefit to have it. And it’s almost a must-to-have when you have, again, it works hand-in-hand with the economy. You look at the industry portion of it, and then you look at tourism portion of it. Not one can overweigh the other. There has to be a combination. The City of Ottawa’s done great, and obviously on the backs of the Visitor Center in getting people here, promoting our events, and getting people from outside to come in. Because, the people that live here, love it. For the most part, obviously everybody has complaints, but you want to have that expansion. You want to offer that to people not from the area that can come down here, look at what we have to offer, and then hopefully become residents and join our community,” Brent explained.

Our small and local businesses are what makes Ottawa special. These places provide a charm that you truly cannot find anywhere else. Combine that with the variety of events in town, rich history, and many spheres of interest available, and you get the Middle of Everywhere. To build on what Brent said, it isn’t uncommon for a new arrival in town to come pick up a Hello Neighbor packet, and mention they had visited before. As tourism grows, more things will be offered for both tourists and locals. These offerings include Ottawa’s renowned events and attractions, so we asked Brent if he has a favorite event/attraction in town.

“We’ve done a tremendous revamp of our parks, and so that’s why I think they become inviting to people to have our events. An event that I enjoy is coming up, which is Kites in Flight. I enjoy that. Not that I can fly a kite to save my life, but I do enjoy and watch people that have that kind of knack for it. When Touch a Truck came to town, at that time, Mayor Aussem, it was phenomenal. And watching the kids get to experience that, and everything was free. And keep in mind that, so there was no child left behind that couldn’t afford it. And so things were kind of given back in that sense. Those are events that I absolutely enjoyed. We went to the Wine Fest that, well, it was Lobster and Wine at that time. And I enjoyed that because it’s a different type of event. Not much of a wine drinker, but I did love the lobster,” Brent explained.

“And that’s the one thing I guess that we have. There’s not just one class of events. When I was younger, of course, we had Riverfest, and that was more of everybody coming back home from school, from other areas, and you got to see your friends. You got to spend time with family. And then it transitioned, and again, it turned more into the beer gardens and different things like that, which is all part of it with the bands. But it was enjoyable, and it brought people back together. So, you know, from my personal take on it, that’s the aspects that I like. The biggest one, like I said, the Touch a Truck event, being free and making sure that all our kids could attend it and enjoy it and see the smiling faces was big.”

“And we had people from all over that come down to it as well. It’s not just for our local people. So once it was developed, and it grew, and it grew and grew. And again, so as Kites in Flight, I think Donna enjoyed the fact that I was in the dunk tank. I think a lot of people did, especially as the Chief of Police, liked to dunk me. But it was fun. And, again, it’s part of giving back to the community that I enjoy spending time in and like to serve. But that’s why it’s so important that what I may like, my wife may like something different. But we have it all to offer. And I think that that’s kind of a buffet of events that we have,” he said.

Additionally, Brent and Shelly Roalson are key contacts with Santa and Mrs. Claus up at the North Pole. Shelly mentioned that in the future, the Santa and Mrs. Claus might make appearances in Ottawa beyond the Festival of Lights and Chris Kringle Market. On Santa, Brent had this to say.

“I think Santa’s a great guy. If you run into Santa, tell him I really enjoyed his time. That’s the specialest special event I’ve ever had. I enjoy spending time with him.”

Ottawa is known for its number of quality events, from the Festival of Lights to Fall Fest, and more. Brent mentions serving the community, and the Ottawa Visitors Center is all about sharing our community. What makes our community so special, is that there’s something for everyone in Ottawa. Brent did mention a few events that are no longer held or are in a similar place. We asked him if he would like to see any former events or attractions make a comeback, or if he’d prefer to see something new in town.

“That’s the tough part, right? I think realistically, everybody likes to remember and have something that they remember when it was a good time or whatever the case may be. But I really like the way that the events are transitioning, and they follow what the community and what people are asking for. So there’s a transition that takes place, and that’s what I like to see. Friendship Days is back now as opposed to it was Friendship Days, then it went to Riverfest, then it went to Friendship Days now. And I think you still see some of those core components.”

“Music in the park I enjoy, of course. There’s a lot of different things that we see. We did the Drinking with Lincoln. Whether that event continues or doesn’t continue, there’s a lot of different opportunities that it’s hard to put your finger on. I’d like this to be back to this. The Riverfest, or I should say the Taste [of Ottawa] and everything else that they did back when I was younger, I enjoyed because, again, you saw people that you were friends with that had went away to college or moved out of town with their families, and you were able to reconnect. All these events still bring that same component to it. So I don’t really have an event that I would say I’d like to see back,” he said,

“Because I think all the events that we have, with the number of events and the number of things that go on in our community, meet all those goals together. It’s nice to have that different, that switch up a little bit of a change. Obviously the music, the standards things still apply, but I do like to see the change in things.”

In a forward looking town like Ottawa, the next big thing could be just around the corner. There are already so many fun things in the works for both tourists and locals to enjoy. An old event could return, be revitalized, combined with another, or a new one could pop up! The possibilities are endless, especially as our town continues to evolve and change. To round out our interview, we asked Brent if he had any final thoughts on the future of Ottawa tourism.

“But realistically, what I see is still this partnership that the city has, using the Visitor Center as a component to explore and help create the tourism. You have to have the team approach to make things work, and I think that’s where it’s a major part. Do I think that we’ll transition? I know that we’re working on a children’s discovery, exploring a museum. That’s going to be a huge component to helping draw people to the area as well. The Center for the Arts are doing that now. There’s a lot of increased things that are taking place in the community that I think will benefit over the course of time.”

“But again, you have to do that in a manner that the citizens that live here can handle too, right? You can’t have 100 million visitors decide to just pop in one day and then leave your town. But realistically, what I see is just the growth. I think it’s going to continue. And I think what you’ll see is following that will be industry. Normally, or it used to be industry would come first, and then you would have tourism, because people needed things to do while they weren’t at work. Now I think you’re seeing things will switch. We have the tourism component of it and the events that are taking place and getting people here.”

“In the job that I have now, we do the short-term rentals. And, we license them, and we see the occupancy, and we see the people that are using that. And that’s a huge component as well. It’s not just the hundred and some already that we have in addition to the hotels. And, it’s impressive to see the number of people that are actually coming to the community and spending time in the community. We’re surrounded by great things, you know, whether it’s Starved Rock, other communities that are having events. But our events also focus on that. So it’s great for the whole Illinois Valley area,” he said.

“But quite frankly, I see the expansion of it for the City of Ottawa, and I think that spearheads the growth in what we’ll see in businesses that want to come down here, different aspects that will grow in the community to where we’ll see some developments that come in, because of what we have to offer to those people that work. They want to live and stay, because there’s enough to do and play. That’s one of the things we focus on with the Parks and Rec is making sure that, and Commissioner Pearson does a great job sitting down with the Rec Board and talking about that, and making sure that our parks are always up to date and we’re working on stuff constantly, whether it’s through a grant or whatever the case may be.”

“But we try to develop things and make our parks better and better. Kids have someplace to play safe. Sports clubs get to utilize them, whether it’s soccer or softball or baseball. Eventually you’re going to see a complex that potentially could be here that is going to facilitate all those things and help draw more people to our community. And then they have other things to do during the weekend when they’re here. And we see that when I coach softball. Over south, and we had a travel tournament, and we had 12 teams here playing. The families that came here, that came from all over, stayed here, and then they did stuff down at our events, and it wasn’t uncommon to see families down, whether it was music in the park, or whether it was during one of our festivals, enjoying it and making a weekend of it, and that was one of the draws to it, was having an event, so that’s why they signed up, they did their research ahead of time and saw that. And again, that’s where a big component for the visitor center comes in, because without that advertisement component and without that push for getting the tourism information out there, that may not be accessible. So you’d limit yourself.”

Many thanks to Brent! We are nearing the end of our interview series, but we have a couple more for you. We’re so proud of this community and thankful for 30 years in the Middle of Everywhere. We can’t wait to keep sharing the evolution and collaborations from the community with you.