April 2018 Quarterly Newsletter

April 2018 Quarterly Newsletter

Tourism Season Is Underway

Small Town Charm & Big City Appeal

We have a fun and vibrant Downtown Excelsior Springs and surrounding area!  If you’re looking for the perfect day trip get away you found it here!  Come join us and your experience will speak for itself!  From the beauty of Historic Downtown Excelsior Springs to the surrounding area, Excelsior Springs has something to offer every visitor of every interest.  From the beautiful Elms Hotel & Spa and the Inn on Crescent Lake to the Payne Jailhouse Bed & Breakfast and Sunny Side Cottage your overnight accommodations will exceed your expectations!

What To See
Excelsior Springs is well known for several attractions.  We are abounded in scenic beauty, both inside the city limits and in the surrounding countryside.  Click the following link to see all of the great things you don’t want to miss while you visit us!
What to See When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Destination Directory
With so many attractions in and around Excelsior Springs, we’ve put together some of the most popular interest based intineraries to help make your trip planning easier.  We cover a wide range of themes, so no matter what you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered!  Click the following link to see the various intineraries.
What To Do When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Extend Your Tour
While we love to keep you busy in the heart of Excelsior Springs, we know that we are ideally located for visiting great tourist sites in Missouri.  Just minutes away from many wonderful sites we try to assist you in extending your sightseeing tour in our area.
Where To Extend Your Tour When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Shopping in Excelsior Springs
Shopping in Excelsior Springs features several districts from our collection of specialty shops in our Nationally Registered Historic Hall of Waters District within walking distance of the Elms Hotel and bed and breakfast establishments, to our compact shopping centers on the north and west side of the community.
Where To Shop When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Eating in Excelsior Springs
Dining in Excelsior Springs features selections from Italian and Mexican, award-winning BBQ, steaks and specialty foods to locally-made wines.  Our montage of restaurants and specialty treats will present something for everyone.  Most are locally owned and serve up delicious food with the ambience that is distinctively Excelsior Springs’ own.
Where To Dine When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Staying in Excelsior Springs
Staying in Excelsior Springs offers accommodations as unique as the town.  They are engineered and nurtured by business owners in establishments that will surely fit your mood and pleasure.  Wherever you stay, we’re sure you will be treated with a personal pampering touch that is the signature of Excelsior Springs, Missouri.
Where To Stay When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Wineries & Wine Tours
Excelsior Springs Wineries and Vineyards, Wine Merchants, Wine Parties and Trolley Tours are growing each year.  If you are a wine lover, Excelsior Springs is your dream come true!
Where to “Wine” When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Brews & More
Long known for our wine attractions, Excelsior Springs is now catering to the beer loving crowd.  Many establishments offer fine brews.  With an existing business adding a brewing component and a new brewery opening in the Spring of 2018, we are becoming a beer lover’s dream.  In addition to enjoying the brews at our establishments, we offer beer gardens at several of our festivals and have one in the fall dedicated to the craft beer industry.
Where To “Brew” When You Visit Excelsior Springs

Wedding Venues
Say I do to Excelsior Springs!  Whether you want a small, simple wedding or a big, elaborate affair, Excelsior Springs’ unique and scenic community makes a picture perfect backdrop for your event in every season!
Say I Do When You Visit Excelsior Springs

In addition to all of the wonderful things Excelsior Springs has to offer, there are events like the 12th Annual Wine Festival and Mug Shots or activities such as golfing at Excelsior Springs or seeing a theatre production at Slightly Off Broadway Theatre.  We have Zipline Tours in the surrounding area, beautiful hiking and biking trails, an abundance of parks to fit your desire, fishing, people watching, and not to mention we are within minutes of other nearby attractions such as, Watkins Mill, Jesse James Farm & Museum and the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives.  See all the things to do in Excelsior Springs!  We look forward to seeing you during your visit to Excelsior Springs!

A Few Words From Our Executive Director

We are off to a great start in Downtown Excelsior Springs for 2018!  We have new businesses opening their doors, revitalization efforts and building improvements underway, the event season kicking off and so much more!  Since beginning 2018, DEP has presented our annual report to the City of Excelsior Springs City Council and the results from 2017 were so great, I wanted to take the opportunity to share them with you too!

We Welcomed 5 New Businesses to Downtown
We Added 7 Part Time Jobs & 1 Full Time Job
Nearly $26,000 Were Spent In Private Building Investment
1,919.5 Volunteer Hours Were Donated to DEP.  That equals $44,282.87!
DEP Completed 47 Projects, Events & Initiatives in 2017
Over 177,000 Unique Visitors to Visit Excelsior Tourism Website
28 Days of DEP Events Bringing Over 13,000 People to Downtown
Awarded Over $5,000 in Façade Grants
DEP Invested Nearly $150,000 in Low Interest Loans to Businesses
Completed a Retail Market Analysis
Spent Over $16,500 Marketing Downtown & Visit Excelsior Campaign
Completed the Banner Initiative
Secured a Missouri Tourism Grant
Secured a Missouri Art Council Grant
Secured a Missouri Humanities Council Grant

These are just to mention a few of the many accomplishments we were able to make throughout 2017.  We have recently performed significant goal setting for 2018 and can’t wait to see the future success and growth of Downtown Excelsior Springs during the upcoming year!  If you want to stay constantly up to date with what is happening with DEP, you can follow this blog, where we regularly release new and exciting information!

2018  Board of Directions
Board President – Scott Adams
Board Vice President – Robert Meadows
Board Treasurer – Cheryl Boos
Board Secretary – Melissa Simmons
Board Member – Gary Sanson
Board Member – Mark Spohn
Board Member – Jim McCullough
Board Liaison – Sharon Powell
Board Liaison – David Rhodus
Recording Secretary – Betty Bissell
Executive Director – Lyndsey Baxter

2018 Invest
DEP is only able to continue our revitalization efforts of Downtown Excelsior Springs through the support and generous contributions of our local businesses, individuals and downtown property owners.  We can’t thank these individuals enough for their support in our efforts.  Click here to see a full list of our current 2018 Investors.

You can join these efforts today too and help DEP continue the work they are doing.  DEP is community supported and volunteer driven organization.  We are united in our efforts to build a special place that future generations will be proud to call their home!  Click here to invest in DEP today!

April Quarterly Meeting
DEP would like to extend an additional reminder and invitation about our April Quarterly Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 11th, at 9:00 a.m. at Ventana Gourmet Grill.  This quarterly meeting is being sponsored by the Excelsior Springs Chamber Trolley.  During this meeting we will put a great focus on the kick off of tourism season for Downtown Excelsior Springs and ways in which businesses can capitalize on this tourism to better their businesses.  We will be supplying coffee and breakfast snacks so please RSVP to our Executive Director if you plan to attend.

Excelsior Springs Chamber Trolley
Experience Excelsior Springs aboard one of the two Chamber Trolleys!  The Chamber hosts a variety of tours year-round.  Wine Tours, Easter Bunny Tour, Craft Beer Tours, Wine & Dine Dinner Tours, Historic Mineral Water Tours, Paranormal Tours, Holiday Lights Tours and more!  Plus, both trolleys are available for private rental use too.  The Little Trolley is an authentic streetcar-style trolley and can accommodate up to 22 guests, while the Big Trolley has all the features of a city bus including handicap accessibility, but with the charm of real wood seats and brass interior accents.  The Big Trolley can comfortably accommodate up to 28 passengers.  Visit the brand new website for tour information by clicking the link below or follow them on Facebook to stay up to date with all of the events and happenings.

Spring Sidewalk Sales
Save the date for Saturday, April 14th and join us in Downtown Excelsior Springs for our Spring Sidewalk Sales!  Help us kick off Spring with specials and discounts you won’t be able to pass up!  This is also a great day to check out all the new spring merchandise and items available in our Downtown Shops!  For more information about the event and what you can expect, visit our Spring Sidewalk Sale Facebook Event.

Gin & Jazz “A Great Gatsby Affair”
The Downtown Excelsior Partnership and Chamber of Commerce are partnering again to host the 2nd Annual Gin & Jazz, A Great Gatsby Affair!  Join us again for some speak easy fun in the Historic Hall of Waters on Friday, May 11th.  Presales tickets are $10 or $15 at the door!  Get your tickets early at the presale party on Second Friday, April 13th, at Willow Spring Mercantile!  It’s a night full of prohibition era cocktails, dancing and more!  Come dressed in your best and help us kick off Gatsby Weekend in Downtown Excelsior Springs!

12th Annual Wine Festival
Whether you are a seasoned wine connoisseur or still figuring out the difference between chardonel and champagne, the Excelsior Springs Wine Festival in for you!  Now in it’s 12th year, this event places the wines of Missouri on display for festival attendees to sample, learn wine making methods and speak directly with the wine makers themselves!  An assortment of live bands will provide the background music and keep the festival lively!  This festival uses find art and craft vendors who add to the air of refinement and class!  Tickets to the Wine Festival include access to the grounds, free wine samples, a sampling glass, and the option to buy additional wine by the glass, bottle or case.  Tickets for the event are on sale April 2nd and can be purchased by clicking here or you can also volunteer for the event for a 2 hour period and receive a free ticket.  Sign up for volunteers can be seen by clicking the same link as for ticket sales above.

Pancake Breakfast
DEP and the Christmas Committee are teaming up again to host the annual pancake breakfast at Ventana Gourmet Grill during Waterfest weekend. You have the choice between $5 pancakes or biscuits and gravy. All proceeds are used to add Christmas décor to downtown during the holiday season. Save the date, June 23rd, and join us for a delicious breakfast!

Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available