Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
POTATO RIVER Falls in Gurney, Wis., is one of 11 waterfalls in Iron County to be featured in a brochure designed by publishing students at the Mercer School. The brochure was a partnership between the school, the Iron County University of Wisconsin-Extension office and the Hurley and Mercer chambers of commerce. Potato River Falls was also recently listed in the "Top 10 Waterfalls in the U.S." by CNN.
MERCER, Wis. - With fall weather sticking around before the snow flurries stay, people are encouraged to visit waterfalls across Iron County.
The idea to promote the 11 waterfalls in the county came from students in the publishing class at the Mercer School. Neil Klemme, the youth development agent at the Iron County University of Wisconsin-Extension office, presented the idea of having the students become more involved in county-based marketing projects.
The students helped to redesigned the Fe logo and also created a brochure, highlighting the waterfalls in Iron County. According to Klemme, many of the students didn't know where many of the local waterfalls were and wanted to create something to not only help travelers, but local people as well.
"I love the way it turned out," Klemme said. "I couldn't believe how well it turned out."
Both the Hurley and Mercer chambers of commerce participated in the project, providing ideas to students.
"It was nice to work as a community, to do something of importance, because tourism is a driving factor in Iron County," Dorrene O'Donnell, executive director of the Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce, said. "To have different entities involved is awesome, but the best is the kid's input. The kids came together and said there was a need, and they met that need quite well."
Klemme said, "I am really happy that this was a partnership with both chambers. It really added credibility to the project, having both of those groups involved. I think they kids enjoyed the experience."
According to Klemme, what impressed him the most was the overall look of the brochure.
"They looked like something done by a professional marketing company," Klemme said. "I'm very proud of the work the kids did."
Some of the features of the brochure include GPS coordinates of the falls, an interactive map with labels marking each location and a check-off list, so visitors can mark each waterfall they visit.
The brochure also highlights the fact that Potato River Falls in Gurney was recently rated in the "Top 10 Waterfalls in the U.S." listing by CNN.
"Having that distinction, really brings this brochure into focus," O'Donnell said. "Other places on that list included pretty magnificent waterfalls in Hawaii, Washington state, Oregon and Michigan. To be included in that group is pretty significant. We are really blessed to have these types of things in our area, and we want to highlight that."
Despite the overall success of the brochure, Klemme said he's not done with the students just yet.
"I talked to the new teacher of the publishing class and we discussed also doing a project in the spring," Klemme said. "I would like to leave the ideas of projects to the kids and hopefully we can work together to come with something. They came up with the idea for the brochures, so I am excited to see what they come up with next."
For more information, call the Iron County UW-Extension office at 715-561-2695, the Hurley Area Chamber of Commerce at 715-561-4334 or the Mercer Area Chamber of Commerce at 715-476-2389.
