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Association of Great Lakes Outdoor WritersFuture Angler Foundation 30% equipment/support materials given to attendees by volunteers at educational events; 50% production costs for “Getting Families Fishing” program content/curriculum; 15% grant administration, communication, accounting, record keeping, and Futureangler.orgwebsite operation; 5% travel expense to attend angling-related educational conferences and trade shows.Our desire to share angling as a life-changing activity with future anglers and boaters –TChanges in Marketing Strategies:!!Attract Touristshere’s more to marketing than having a visitor’s center that passes out area informationalguides! New strategies arebeing used by convention & visitors bureaus. The use of storytelling in visitor’s guides and media posts is attracting more visitors to an area. The typical visitor’sguide has names and lists of business addresses, divided into categories including services such aslodging, eateries, and attractions.Tourism destinations are changing the lookof visitors guides by using story telling in theirguides and media posts. People are no longer buying what you sell, they buy why you sell it! Targetthe audience and tell them why your service is madefor them and explain what they will experience ifthey decide to buy your product or service and visityour destination.Stories have power! They are easier to remember, share with others, and increases your potential market. But how do you create valuable content and optimize marketing?Use short four-letter key words in creating abrand for your destination. Include the words in thetitle on the page, in the first paragraph of the content, repeat it several times throughout the contentand localize the content.Seventy per cent of travelers read TripAdvisor before deciding on destination locations and 53percent make reservations after reading reviews.HORIZONS - JULY, 2022through education and outreach – remains our driving force, ” says Neu,!In short, the FAF believes exposing non-anglers and boaters to our sports, and reactivatinganglers and boaters who haven’t participated recently, can solidify a place for sportfishing and boatingin American culture for generations tocome. “That,” concludes Neu,” is what we’re allabout.”!!To learn more about the FAF visit: www.futureangler.org. Media Contact: Noel Vick:noel@traditionsmedia.com."Reviews can be beneficial - or harmful - in a business. Respond to negative comments in a positive,polite manner. Eighty-seven percent of folks believean appropriate response to a negative review improves the impression of an establishment.Respond as quickly as possible. Do it politely. Thank the individual for sharing his impression and let him know this is helpful. Considerapologizing. Mention your company takes guestscomments seriously, and include ways that serviceswill be improved. Offer solutions after allowing forstaff input. Destination marketing is designed to attract more visitors to an area. Destination Marketingserves as a link between the visitor and the destination.What makes your destination unique? Is it aunique history or landmarks?What age group does the destination appearto?!Make your location, more attractive to visitor.!What additional features can be included; doingwhat has been done in the past is history.Brain storm with members of the tourismboard; and also include ideas from the entire membership. Make a list of ways marketing has beenused in the past. Then make a new list of ideas.Evaluate which ideas are workable and also cost effective. Be sure to involve every member in theCVB. Allow time for feedback from the group.Make modifications!!Never view criticism as a threat; the opinions of customers can help to improve a businessand offer better experiences to future customers.Sixty-six percent of folks tend to ignore extremecomments when reading reviews.6

Association of Great Lakes Outdoor WritersMany of you have told us that the 2012 conference in Branson was one of the best AGLOW conferences you have ever attended because there are so many outdoor opportunities along withall the other fun things to do in and around our city."Whether you were in Branson 10 years ago or this will be your first time, we encourage you tocome a few days before the conference starts or plan to stay a few days after the conference. Go towww.explorebranson.com and discover world-famous live entertainment, thrilling attractions, outdoor beauty, delicious food and genuine Ozarks hospitality that will make you feel right at home. Tofind out about the history of Branson and get a better feel for this beautiful area of the country click he-branson-area-s9utym/ and watch a documentary about Branson created by Ozarks Public Television."We are looking forward to seeing you all in Branson September 18 - 22. Media Contact: LarryWhiteley; Branson CVB Outdoor Ambassador; larrywhiteley2@gmail.comay 4, 2022 a crowd gathered at the Shepherdof the Hills theater to celebrate Harold BellWright’s 150th Birthday. Missouri GovernorMike Parson and a group from the Branson Chamberof Commerce and other guests celebrated this authorof “The Shepherd of the Hills,” the book that putBranson, Missouri on the map.MThe Ozark Hills have seen a lot of sufferingand hard times over the past two centuries. HaroldBell Wright captured some of this despair in hisaward-winning book."!Today his bestselling novel is reenacted atan Amphitheatre on the original farm of his leadcharacters, Old Matt and Molly. The surroundingOzark Mountains are the same inspirational symbolsof pristine beauty that caught Wright’s attentionwhile writing “The Shepherd of the Hills” in 1904.The book, published in 1907, drew attentionand tourists to the Branson area in search of thispure but poor life and a chance to meet charactersfeatured in Wright’s book. Suddenly this impover-HORIZONS - JULY, 2022ished area discovered new economic opportunities intourism."!“The Shepherd of the Hills” brings hugecrowds in annually, many return visitors. Skilledactors and actresses portray the era when Wrightdiscovered ancient hills of drought and suffering. Yethe brought out the warm and loving spirits of hardysettlers who fought daily to feed their families.Wright introduced these people of substance7

Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writersto the world. His remarkable book helped give Branson an identity of strength and honesty. The Shepherd of the Hills play that started in 1960 and is the"world ‘s longest running outdoor pageant.#The show is relatively unchanged over thelast 20 or so years,” said Jeff Johnson, General manager of the play and property. “Actors and actressescome and go and they deliver things in a differentway. The changes are fairly subtle for the “Shepherdof The Hills” traditionalist but we like to keep it updated and fresh. We still have plenty of live animalsin the play and many of the original actors cameback.”"!I recently went backstage to watch how eachactor prepares for their performance.!!The evening was hot and characters dressedin the show’s costumes all sat around and visited. Awedding cake from one of the actor’s children’smarriages was shared as two men a few feet awayplayed pool on a regulation-sized table. All wereexceptionally friendly and just waiting for the showto start.!This evening the actor playing Walsh Gibbssat outside by the horses visiting with several actorsand wranglers. He plays the show’s leading villain,head of the Baldknobbers, the name of a real vigilante gang of ex-Civil War soldiers who met on thetop of bald hills on moonlit nights. He was a big,strong man who could have played linebacker for acollege team.!The hero who played Young Matt was about60 pounds lighter.“Are you going to wrestle with him in theshow?” I asked.!!face.“Yep,” he answered with a sick look on his "Luckily for him all of the action scenes inthis play are well rehearsed. Otherwise, he mighthave looked a bit more beat up after several performances with his miss-matched opponent, althoughthere have been injuries over the years.!Soon the show started and actors in theopening scene stepped out of the modern-day airconditioned building to 100 plus years earlier. Sev-eral of them admitted to mentally going back in timeduring the play. Each polished actor made the audience believe they were in a different time.The live show was broadcast on a loudspeaker inside and outside of the building. I watchedthe beautiful actress playing Sammy Lane waitingon her horse for the cue that would send her galloping onto the set.!The show, too, features a lot of horses andmules. Two big, beautiful sorrels harnessed to awagon spooked for some unknown reason and wentwild. Soon wranglers were leading the horses backto a stable area. The show went on without thatwagon. In live theater everything is timing. Harnessing another team would take too long for the progressing show!The Shepherd of the Hills is mainly playedby actors from the area. Many are second or thirdgeneration that picked up where their parents orgrandparents left off.I watched a young man who playedLittle Pete prepare for his first show ever. His brother had played the part for a couple of years until heoutgrew it and moved into the role of an older character. The boy’s mother waited nervously in thewings while her son walked in front of several hundred people to play a mountain boy.!“He practiced his lines for hours,” she remarked nervously.!Finally, the sissy-boy Ollie was played by avery animated actor who the crowd loved, especiallythe women. He was even cat-called by a couple ofwomen during a part where is was alone and talkingto the crowd. He handled it well by laughing andfencing back with the hecklers and the audienceloved it.!The Shepherd of the Hills Play has succeeded because of professional acting and directing. Partof the show has pyrotechnics; it is a tribute to thewranglers that nearby horses don’t go berserk. Buteven the animals in the play have rehearsed theirparts over and over again. I recommend this show toall, whether you’ve seen it before or not. I have appeared in the play and am grateful not to wrestleWalsh Gibbs."HORIZONS - JULY, 20228

Association of Great Lakes Outdoor WritersBranson’s Old Days -"The year was 1969 andwe had hair longer than the oldergeneration approved of. My twobuddies decided we should take aroad trip to Branson, Missouri.We were avid readers and weredrawn by Shepherd of the Hillsfame."Downtown Branson hada classic look that today is described as old Americana. The 76Highway Strip featured a fewtourists’ souvenir shops, fourmusic theaters featuring homegrown talent and restaurants. Wedrove past the Toby Show andMexican Hacienda Restaurantthen suddenly entered the beautiful Ozark woodlots that led tothe Shepherd of the Hills, SilverDollar City and Indian Point onTable Rock Lake where wecamped.!Today Branson is a different town. Silver Dollar City isten times larger and the 76Highway Strip is loaded withfamily-oriented activities. Manymore theaters have been builtand all shows are still based ongood, clean family entertainment. More importantly, there isHORIZONS - JULY, 2022still a feeling of my old Branson."Visitors are made welcome and the hospitality threelong haired boys discovered 53years ago still exists. Add Taneycomo fishing and you can understand why I always will return.Lilley’s Landing -"Early in my career,about 40 years ago, Phil Lilleybought a trout dock on LakeTaneycomo. The Branson Chamber of Commerce contacted meto come down and meet this guywho planned to create a completefishing camp.!!A week later Lilley welcomed me and said go take anap, we’re night fishing. I methim about midnight on a coolSeptember night and we wadedin below Table Rock Dam. Therewas an intense fog and we fishedblind, flipping flies in the darkness and catching one big troutafter the other. Years later we didan afternoon Christmas fishingtrip and found a mayfly hatch.The trout went crazy. We caughtand released over 20.!The rooms then wereadequate then, but comfortable.Today they are remodeled andvery nice.Lilley’s Landing andResort features a tackle store, ahuge trout dock and top guidesworking year-round. The dockhas an underwater camera thatoccasionally shows huge brownor rainbow trout looking for forage."Phil Lilley has been instrumental in helping conservequality trout on Taneycomo. Philis a great interview and has always worked well with outdoorwriters.Shopping Mecca - "Cat and I have foundseveral great shopping destinations in Branson. Our first choiceis the Grand Village ShoppingCenter. The T. Charlestown Bookand Gift Store features booksabout the region and nationalbest sellers, hundreds of Christmas ornaments and ThomasKinkade art prints."This unique outdoorshopping center has a tea shop,boutiques, leather or wood artistsand Lori’s Soap Shop where Catpurchases oils and candles.Another favorite is the old downtown stores. We have art pieceshanging in our house from several of these unique places.Want to step back intime? Dick’s 5 & 10 store located downtown is similar to the oldversions we grew up with. Theyhave thousands of items that youlikely would not find elsewhere,many from your youth.!Branson has several Outlet Malls that have many topbrand-name products. These arelarge areas so wear your bestwalking shoes.!Branson Landing hasmany shops you might find at anupscale shopping center. This,too, is where the Bass Pro Shopsis located. There are several finerestaurants and bars throughoutthis long shopping mall thatstretches along Lake Taneycomo.There are many, manymore places to shop while inBranson.Branson Restaurants Branson has numerousrestaurants, but my wife and I9

Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writersprefer the family-owned versions. We have always enjoyedThe Farmhouse Restaurant inBranson’s old downtown area.They serve good home cookingat reasonable prices.!Billy Gale’s Cafe is agreat breakfast choice, but comehungry. The pancakes are huge,food is delicious and reasonablypriced. People are often waitingin line for a table.!Mel’s Hard Luck Dinner,in the Grand Village Shoppingcenter, offers a return to the oldsoda shops. The food is good,mainly hamburgers and hotdogswith other items on the menuincluding ice cream treats. Pricesare fair and the waiters and waitresses will occasionally breakout in song with juke box accompaniment. This is an enjoyable place to visit.!Finally, no trip to Branson would be complete withoutstopping at Bass Pro ShopsWhite River Fish House on LakeTaneycomo. This is pricier thanthe above-mentioned restaurantsbut the food is excellent.!Top of the Rock is another Bass Pro Shops restaurant.This is closer to five-star diningand the food is excellent.!Just like everything elsein Branson, there are plenty ofgreat restaurants to choose from.Smallmouth & SpottedBass on Table Rock -Captain Don House, ofRidgedale, Missouri, is a fishingguide with a reputation for constantly putting clients on bass.When the bite is tough, he usesnightcrawlers. He hooks eachcrawler through its head and letsit sink to the bottom with amedium-sized piece of split shot.HORIZONS - JULY, 2022Then the rod tip and line arestudied for slight motions.“ the big fish are there if youknow how to catch them.”Nightcrawlers aredropped down to the bottom andbrought back up with one reelturn as instructed. We driftedabout a minute before the rod tipdipped and house caught our firstspotted bass of the day.My rod tip slightlydipped and I set the hook on athree-pound smallmouth and noticed it was darker green thanmost. Later a five-pound smallmouth bass took the bait.Table Rock Lake, byBranson, is deep and clear. Fishing for almost any species inover 30-foot depth is normal.Light line and medium tackle arenormally required. Heavy linelooks more like anchor rope inthis well-fished lake where fishhave seen more than Their shareof fishing pressure. Yet the bigfish are there if you know how tocatch them.Most of the area wasdonated or purchased from Ruthand Paul Henning. Paul is bestknown as the creator of the Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, andPetticoat Junction television series. "There are 5.6 miles ofhiking trails, a scenic overlook,and a lookout tower. The 3.4mile Homesteaders Trail features14 informational stops that eithershowcase the natural features ofthe area or places of historicalinterest. Information on thosestops can be found on the areabrochure found at trailheads.Make sure you sign upfor the guided tour to be offeredduring the Branson conference.Kids and TaneycomoFishing -Take A History Hike The Ruth and Paul Henning Conservation Area is located on the west side of Branson.Much of this 1,534-acre areaconsists of steep hills coveredwith typical upland oak/hickoryforest. The forested hills are interspersed with a series of scenicglades. The glades or balds, aslocal people refer to them,played an important role in thehistory and folklore of the region. Because post-Civil Warvigilante groups often met on thebalds, they became known asbaldknobbers. Several features ofthe area were also immortalizedin Harold Bell Wright's book,“Shepherd of the Hills”.Branson is noted as a"great destination for childrenbecause of rides and other attractions. Yet Lake Taneycomo, thatruns beside Branson, is an excellent stretch where kids can discover the fun of catching a rainbow trout."Approximately 560,000rainbows and 15,000 brown troutare stocking in Taneycomo annually.!I highly recommend the10

Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writersfirst trips be with a guide thatwill teach how to catch trout inmost water conditions on bait. Aball of TroutKrilla or Power Baiton a tiny hook held down withsplit-shot under a float may bedangled over the side of a fishingdock or bounced on the bottomwhile drifting downstream. "Use a hypodermic needlewhen fishing live worms to injectair after impaling it on the hook.This floats the worm off the bottom where it’s easier pickings forthe fish. Trout are sight feeders"that, too, attract to scents."The river is perfect forboating anglers and their kids.There are numerous trout allowing anglers to motor up and driftback down with the current."Make no mistake, children love catching these scrappyrainbow trout.“The Missouri Department of Conservation doesn’tstock walleye in Lake Taneycomo,” Doty explained. “Walleyecome through the flood gates ofTable Rock Dam.”"!My first three casts werepractice runs developing my lurejerking action to match Doty’s.The fourth cast produced a strikeand pleasant surprise when

charge rod/reel combos, angling promotional items such as T-shirts with conservation themes, and an-gling educational literature. Attendance numbers at FAF-supported events prior to COVID averaged an impressive . Our desire to share angling . as a life-changing activity . with future anglers and boaters remains our driving force.