Our 30th birthday was just a few days ago, on Friday. This month, we’ve launched the 30 Stories for 30 years to celebrate. 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 may hold. Join us, as we 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 Pamela Beckett, the founder of the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation. We spoke about the intersections of the work done at the community foundation, our work at the visitors center, and more. She got us started with some background on her time in Ottawa.

“I first came to Ottawa in 2001, and I came here from Easter Seals in Peoria, Illinois, and lived in Metamora, Illinois. And so I fell in love with Ottawa when I was up here working as a consultant to Easter Seals in Ottawa. And Easter Seals in Ottawa is now the Starved Rock Regional Center. And so I became the CEO of Easter Seals in 2002. And I moved here in 2006. And I’ve loved Ottawa ever since. My initial involvement with the Ottawa Visitor Center, was with Julie Johnson, who actually was a friend of a friend at first, and then I came to know her relationship with the Ottawa Visitor Center,” Pamela said.

“Of course, Bob Eschbach was the mayor at that time, and Bob and I became very good friends not too long after I moved here. As a result, I really paid a lot of attention to the Ottawa Visitors Center. And one thing that maybe some people don’t realize, is that when you’re talking about tourists becoming long-term residents, some of the things that they’re looking for are more than just a good health care, and good education, and a nice house,” she said.

“A lot of times, they’re looking for what type of nonprofit services are in the area, particularly if they would have a special needs child. And as a result, we always tried to make sure that the Visitor Center was aware of what the Easter Seal Center was doing. Because if people were tourists several times, and then suddenly decided they might want to be here on a more permanent basis, we wanted them to know that we had child care that was inclusive and that we offered a lot of therapy services for special needs kids.”

“I also am a member of Ottawa Noon Rotary, and so when the Ottawa Visitor Center partnered with the City of Ottawa for the Wine Fest every year, our Rotary Club got involved and it became the Wine and Lobster Fest. And our Rotary Club is the club that created the Lobster Fest. And so we did a lot of co-advertising, and really relied on the Visitor Center to get the word out about our Lobster Fest, so that Rotary could raise money to provide services in the community as well. Lots of different grants and provide support for the community. So the relationship then became more so probably between Rotary and the Ottawa Visitor Center, for me. And then it stayed pretty much the same through the years with Curt Bedei, and then on to Donna,” Pamela explained.

“For now, from a personal standpoint, I used to be a visitor to Ottawa, and then I became a permanent resident. I lived in Naperville for quite some time prior to Metamora, and a lot of my friends still come to shop in the Ottawa area. And I think the visitor center really has been through sort of an epiphany of the reach that it has and the quality of the services that it provides.”

“And I know that Donna has really gotten the organization engaged pretty heavily with other organizations and with this partnership with John Williams and the team in Chicago. For now, one of the things that we have been talking about doing, is making sure that we get our literature into the new residents packet. And making sure that residents are aware that this town has a community foundation that serves three counties. And I think when people visit, they just are interested to know all the ancillary services that a community has. And we’re one of them, a pretty major player, actually,” she said

“I do think that visitor centers are vitally important. And I think that Donna specifically has created some additional services, certainly either enhanced existing events or created new events. And even though that’s supposed to be designed a lot to attract visitors, there’s no doubt that everybody in our community benefits from all the things that the visitor center is doing,” Pamela added.

As we’ve looked back on our 30th anniversary, we’ve explored many of the moving parts and related fields to our own. Tourism is a special field that connects and strengthens so many others. We next discussed how tourism and the SRCCF’s work are connected. It doesn’t happen at first, Pamela explained, as tourists are likely to donate to their own areas first. It also may take some time for new arrivals in town to feel comfortable participating. Pamela shared what tourism, in relation to Ottawa, means to her.

“From a tourism standpoint, I don’t know that tourists a whole have an immediate impact on the community foundation, but the outcome of being a wonderful tourist destination and having a community foundation here… We have had people who have been at the mansion next door, that are tourists, and have come over here and said ‘We didn’t know you had a community foundation,’ and they come from an area with a very large community foundation, especially if they’re from Chicago or DuPage County, or Barrington, or somewhere where there’s lots of big community foundations, far and away more wealthy than we are. But they’ve also been around maybe 40 or 50 years, and we have not. It just takes time,” she said.

“But from a personal standpoint, I’m on the near west side and my husband and I restored a home. And I love that. I love being here. I love the people of Ottawa. But I actually really like all of the events that are going on and to see people come into our community and their mouths kind of drop open. ‘Like, ‘we didn’t know Ottawa had this,’ or ‘we haven’t been here in 10 years.’ We can’t believe the change in Ottawa over the past, really, probably 25, I would say. Because I’m a firm believer that when Bob Eschbach became the mayor of this town, we have since experienced an epiphany, for sure.”

“And the way we impact that actually is, Bob Eschbach is a great example. Bob Eschbach’s sister, Sharon, lives in Seattle, and the Seattle Community Foundation has billions. And so when we decided to start this community foundation, Bob was the mayor, and I went to talk to the mayor, the head of the chamber, the economic development director, the head of the newspaper, and said, ‘Do you know what a community foundation is?’ And they were like, ‘No’. I said, ‘Well, here’s what it is, and here’s what we do, and this region doesn’t have one, and I think my husband and I would like to start this,’ which we did,” she explained.

“But when Bob told his sister that Ottawa was going to have a community foundation, she sent a lovely size check, and Bob created a fund that is an endowment fund for the city of Ottawa, and it’s restricted to the beautification and the edification, and basically supports everything that’s good in Ottawa, in terms of nonprofit services and beautification. So that Community Foundation Fund, along with now almost 145 others, is what contributes day after day after day to the City of Ottawa and provides for. Like Ottawa Center for the Arts, we have that fund. We hosted the marathon 10 years ago. The Run Today for Tomorrow mental health run, we have that fund. We have the fund for the murals in Ottawa. We have a Chamber of Commerce fund. We hold the money for all these wonderful organizations that benefit tourism every day.”

“So that, I would say, is the biggest impact the Community Foundation has, is making sure that all of these wonderful organizations that contribute directly to tourism, like the Ottawa Arts Center, for example, we’re the ones that help them launch that organization and we manage their fiscal responsibilities,” Pamela said.

This series of interviews has explored the revitalization and beautification of downtown, the many interconnected parts of local tourism, and more. Pamela gives a great example of how these community connections play a vital part in contributing to tourism. Organizations like the SRCCF can assist in projects that bring in tourists, which end up benefiting locals as well. Events, murals, attractions and more rely on partnerships like these. All of this in mind, we asked Pamela how she feels she has seen tourism change throughout her time in Ottawa.

“I think it’s exploded. I don’t know what the tourism was like prior to 2001… I came about the time things were exploding, and I think it’s been phenomenal. And it’s not over yet. That’s the good news, there’s just more to come,” she said.

There truly is so much on the horizon. The next big thing for Ottawa might be just around the corner. There’s so much to look back on too! We asked Pamela if she had a favorite event or attraction in town from throughout the years. Similarly, we asked if she’d like to see any old event or attraction be revitalized.

“I think my favorite now would have to be the Chris Kringle Market, just because it, impacts tourism so greatly and it just adds to the Christmas spirit in this town. The other thing I would say in conjunction with that, maybe you could say our ‘Christmas season’ because I think the Festival of Lights Parade, the day after Thanksgiving, I would definitely say our holiday parade. But I still loved the Wine, Jazz, and Lobster fest. And I would love to see that come back the way it used to be, not the current version of it. The one that was done 10 to 12 years ago, pre-COVID. Because just working the Lobster Fest as a team of 50 Rotarians and having 1,500 lobsters go out the door in a day or two, was amazing,” she said.

“I would like to see the Wine, Jazz, and Lobster Fest brought back. Lobster just added a whole new element to it. And I just feel like the music was so good. And that music was brought on by Julie Johnson originally. She was still here when that thing started. And the last two versions of whatever it was supposed to be just didn’t fly. It wasn’t the same.”

There have been a variety of events and attractions that have called Ottawa their home throughout the years. Ottawa is an adaptable town, meaning that the possibilities are almost endless. Whatever the future holds – we can’t wait to keep sharing the heart of our community with you. To close out our interview, we asked Pamela if she had any final thoughts on the future of Ottawa and tourism.

“I would say I’m absolutely excited for the future of Ottawa. And it’s not like we’re waiting for that to happen. It is happening. It’s been happening,” Pamela said.

“And I think because of the leadership at the Visitor Center, the leadership at the Chamber. And I would throw in maybe the leadership at the Community Foundation, just community groups that are all focused on really making sure Ottawa’s here to stay in a big way.”

As we’ve stated, Ottawa’s community is what makes it all so special. Many thanks to Pamela! Our interview series is drawing to a close, but we’ve still got a few more for you. Stay tuned on our Facebook page and the rest of our blog. Thank you for 30 years in the Middle of Everywhere.