Sault Ste. Marie is a staple to any Michigander traveling around the state. While the Soo Locks are impressive, there’s a lot more to Sault Ste Marie than just the locks. Linda Hoath, Executive Director of the Sault Ste Marie Conventions and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) shares with us not only a bit of history but also what other activities are going on in Sault Ste Marie to make it a true destination.
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Transcript
Not only do we do, marketing for the area,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:we're a destination builder also.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want to build our destination.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want to be, to have our community grow.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want the people here to be successful in everything they do.
Cliff Duvernois:Hello everyone, and welcome back to Total Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:I am your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Cliff Duvernois:In this show, we showcase the Ordinary Michiganders who are doing
Cliff Duvernois:some pretty Extraordinary Things.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm in Sault Ste Marie this week, capturing all kinds of amazing stories.
Cliff Duvernois:And the first thing I usually do when I reach out to, a new area is I say, Hey,
Cliff Duvernois:I'm coming into town and I would like to get connected with people, is I reach out
Cliff Duvernois:to their, convention and visitors bureau, which is what led me to today's guest.
Cliff Duvernois:Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, probably the best
Cliff Duvernois:ambassador for the City of Sault Ste Marie, and that would be Linda Hoath,
Cliff Duvernois:Executive Director of the Convention Visitors Bureau, or the C V b.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda.
Cliff Duvernois:How are you?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: I am wonderful, Cliff, and
Cliff Duvernois:thank you for being here.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm excited about you being here
Cliff Duvernois:thank you.
Cliff Duvernois:It's great.
Cliff Duvernois:And for our, friends, on YouTube, if you're watching this right now, we're
Cliff Duvernois:sitting with a spectacular view of the St.
Cliff Duvernois:Mary's River that's behind us, gorgeous Park.
Cliff Duvernois:The weather has just been absolutely perfect this week.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Oh, it's perfect.
Cliff Duvernois:Almost always, because if we need rain, it comes.
Cliff Duvernois:If we need snow, it comes.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's always perfect in Sault Ste.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:So you can see when I said she's the perfect
Cliff Duvernois:ambassador for Sault Ste Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:I was not pulling any punches.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, tell us where you from?
Cliff Duvernois:Where did you grow up?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Sault Ste.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie, Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah,
Cliff Duvernois:there you go.
Cliff Duvernois:In a nutshell.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I have a small little town for about 10 years, just south
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:of here and called Detour.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I lived there cuz my dad was working there.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then he was transferred back up to the Soo.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So Sault Ste Marie's been my home.
Cliff Duvernois:And you've been, you've lived here all your life?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I mean, when I was a teenager I did go to New York.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I had to work in Manhattan.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:you have to do those things.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:When I was 18, I went out there,
Cliff Duvernois:kinda get the city outta your
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Oh.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And boy did I, so it was, yeah, it was like, I think it was
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:almost a year I was out there.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I said, that's enough.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then I came back and then I went to C M U.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I lived in Mount Pleasant for three years.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it, and then I've been back here ever since.
Cliff Duvernois:What'd you get your degree in?
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, you didn't finish
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: I didn't finish the degree.
Cliff Duvernois:I was gonna be a school teacher.
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, here I am.
Cliff Duvernois:So you come back to Sault Saint Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:What made you decide to get into the tourism business?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: I was in transportation.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:I worked for Kewadin Casinos here.
Cliff Duvernois:We had the great opportunity of building a motor coach company,
Cliff Duvernois:which, you've gotta put, you always, people say in hotels, heads and beds.
Cliff Duvernois:we had to put butts in seats.
Cliff Duvernois:And heads and beds.
Cliff Duvernois:I started there with, I did transportation for years.
Cliff Duvernois:I even had my, I was a state examiner.
Cliff Duvernois:For the state of Michigan, giving people driver's licenses and stuff like that.
Cliff Duvernois:So, I mean, it's a long history.
Cliff Duvernois:But then I worked Kewadin and we, they built a motor coach company.
Cliff Duvernois:And I ran that motor coach started into marketing.
Cliff Duvernois:You gotta market, you gotta get those people in there.
Cliff Duvernois:Always in marketing.
Cliff Duvernois:I don't care what job you're in marketing, you're representing that, that employer.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's a very important thing.
Cliff Duvernois:So yeah, that's how I ended up in marketing.
Cliff Duvernois:And then I got tired of working 24 7.
Cliff Duvernois:It was a great job and I loved working for the Sioux Tribe Ojibway Indians.
Cliff Duvernois:They're amazing.
Cliff Duvernois:I learned more there than I could have ever learned in a classroom.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's, I have been blessed there.
Cliff Duvernois:This opening came at the CVB and it was open, no, they didn't
Cliff Duvernois:hire anybody for six months,
Cliff Duvernois:And, I was on Mackinaw Island at a meeting.
Cliff Duvernois:And one of the board members was there, and I asked, did you
Cliff Duvernois:get an executive director yet?
Cliff Duvernois:And she says, no.
Cliff Duvernois:Are you interested?
Cliff Duvernois:Oh, there you go.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And I said, no, Patty, I got a really good job.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Well, by the end of the meeting I said, what's it all about?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And, She said, let's do lunch.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So we did lunch and she, I, and she made me, put my resume in.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then I had to go back to Kewadin because the head of the board of
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:directors here and I would've done anyway, cuz Carol Eva was a great friend.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Sure.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But she was my boss.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And so I had, she was president of the CVB back then, so I let her know I was going.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So she was, yeah, she was excited that I did that.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And now we're going on 22 years.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I'm here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They hired me interview within an hour later they hired me.
Cliff Duvernois:Nice.
Cliff Duvernois:And I know that in my travels and doing other interviews out there.
Cliff Duvernois:So I did an interview with, dave Lorenz from Pure michigan, and when I said, Hey,
Cliff Duvernois:who should I reach out to in the area?
Cliff Duvernois:Your name came up.
Cliff Duvernois:Now you've been involved with the Pure Michigan campaign.
Cliff Duvernois:So talk to us a little bit about that.
Cliff Duvernois:We can be, became partners in:Cliff Duvernois:And we've been a partner for something every year since, except for during Covid.
Cliff Duvernois:But, you know, it's just, with, without Pure Michigan, Sault, St.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie would not be what it is today.
Cliff Duvernois:Because of the simple fact is we've got a sister city.
Cliff Duvernois:Are you right across the river?
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:To Saint Marie Ontario.
Cliff Duvernois:And every time I went somewhere they'd say, where are you from?
Cliff Duvernois:I'd say sault Saint Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:They'd say ontario.
Cliff Duvernois:They no longer say that.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:They no longer say that.
Cliff Duvernois:So yeah, Pure Michigan has been Godsend for us.
Cliff Duvernois:And talk to us a little bit about that partnership
Cliff Duvernois:with them and how exactly that works.
Cliff Duvernois:Cuz I know that for the most part, the Pure Michigan campaign really is about
Cliff Duvernois:getting people to come to Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:Your goal is to get people to come.
Cliff Duvernois:Sault Ste marie.
Cliff Duvernois:So talk to us about how that partnership works.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: I can't afford the half a million,
Cliff Duvernois:so I don't do the big splashes like some of the other cities did.
Cliff Duvernois:But when we started off, we did radio.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:And we picked out where, and it was Sault Ste marie.
Cliff Duvernois:And, I still have every one of those that Tim Allen has done.
Cliff Duvernois:So we did radio and we did it in different places.
Cliff Duvernois:And it's, it's 50 50.
Cliff Duvernois:We put in 50% and they put in 50%, and we're able to go out and do more.
Cliff Duvernois:We bring it to the website.
Cliff Duvernois:It goes as a partner.
Cliff Duvernois:You're on their website, but you're, in a little bit better place.
Cliff Duvernois:You're not, I'm Sault Ste Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm an s and you're doing alphabetic.
Cliff Duvernois:We're at the bottom.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:So now we're at the top.
Cliff Duvernois:So, you know, you can, uh, work, but that has been a godsend for us.
Cliff Duvernois:But now we're doing other things too.
Cliff Duvernois:We did some digital with them.
Cliff Duvernois:I this year we're doing, we're gonna do an episode on Under the Radar.
Cliff Duvernois:They were here over the winter.
Cliff Duvernois:They're gonna be back this summer.
Cliff Duvernois:And we also did an arrivalist.
Cliff Duvernois:So I, an arrivalist is a program
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:That I can go in and look and see what people came to Sault Ste Marie
Cliff Duvernois:so I can match it up to my marketing and see, because that's what I like.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm a numbers person.
Cliff Duvernois:I like that.
Cliff Duvernois:I like knowing, tell the story that's, and I love stories, so it's, it's really
Cliff Duvernois:helped this year in being able to see, I'm able to do economic impacts better.
Cliff Duvernois:during the I 500, snowmobile race this year, I could go on arrivals.
Cliff Duvernois:I saw there was 171 day trippers, and then I can also go in and see do they
Cliff Duvernois:spend one night, do they spend two nights?
Cliff Duvernois:Do how, what is the percentage?
Cliff Duvernois:Three and four.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's, It helps, but I could not afford that if I didn't
Cliff Duvernois:do
Cliff Duvernois:a partnership with Pure Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:We're a small c b, we don't have the big dollars like a lot of 'em do, but, we sure
Cliff Duvernois:stretch of and make
Cliff Duvernois:it happen.
Cliff Duvernois:I think too, that by looking at the data, it actually helps
Cliff Duvernois:you to spend your money better and be able to take a look at the programs that
Cliff Duvernois:are really working for you to get people to come here and spend their money.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And you know what?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Michigan.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's not just about the advertising we do together, it's about the connection we
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:have with them and their marketing agency.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:McCann Erickson, when we first started, came right up here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Now mm.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:G y is there, if I have a problem, I have that access to more, then I would've had,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I would have to find my own way there.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But, that's the greatest gift Pure Michigan gives.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They're part of Medc.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We also, not only do we do, marketing for the area, we're
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:a destination builder also.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want to build our destination.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want to be, to have our community grow.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We want the people here to be successful in everything they do.
Cliff Duvernois:And I can tell you from the last few days that
Cliff Duvernois:I've been here that you can really see the results of your work.
Cliff Duvernois:Cuz there's a lot of passionate people around here, very excited about
Cliff Duvernois:what's happening in their community.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: We have gotten rid of the silos.
Cliff Duvernois:There's no silos anymore.
Cliff Duvernois:We all work together.
Cliff Duvernois:And he said, and once a month, the Chamber of Commerce here,
Cliff Duvernois:the DDA Downtown Development Authority, and myself have lunch.
Cliff Duvernois:So we can keep up with each other.
Cliff Duvernois:And also with those, we're on boards together too, on different boards,
Cliff Duvernois:and we all support each other.
Cliff Duvernois:Like the 4th of July parade.
Cliff Duvernois:All three of us are involved.
Cliff Duvernois:That's our parade.
Cliff Duvernois:it's, it's about bringing everybody together.
Cliff Duvernois:I said, I like connecting the dots.
Cliff Duvernois:No one can stand alone.
Cliff Duvernois:And that's one of the things that I've learned repeatedly in
Cliff Duvernois:my conversations with you since I've been here, is that a lot of people
Cliff Duvernois:are serving on different boards.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's allowed for this really, like really beautiful display of
Cliff Duvernois:interconnectedness between, like you were just talking about there, all of the
Cliff Duvernois:different organizations that are here.
Cliff Duvernois:So you're acting as one.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Exactly.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And uh, you can see right here, where we're sitting today is the old
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:federal building is now city hall.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And it's been restored to its original way of looking and it's gorgeous.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But we rent from the city.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We do not belong to the city.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Right.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But we rent from the city and being a part of the city and everybody that's
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:here, it's just a bigger connection.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's just a bigger source.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Hey, do you know so and Can I get, Hey, who does this?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Does anybody know who does this?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's just that connections and then connecting those dots.
Cliff Duvernois:And so when you made the transition from working at
Cliff Duvernois:the casino and you've applied for the executive director's spot at the
Cliff Duvernois:CVB and you've gotten it, talk to us about some of those like early
Cliff Duvernois:challenges that you had coming on board.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Coming on board, it just felt like everybody, the
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:ch biggest challenge was communication.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Between the different organizations.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:there, that's almost, that's over 20 years ago, the mentality was mind.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:mine, that mentality's not there anymore.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:The silo you were referring to the silo.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yep.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:it's not mine, mine, mine.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's ours.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We can do this together better.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's our community.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And it's our region.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And it's our up and it's our state.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And you don't just you don't
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:stop at just yours.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's reaching out, it's continuing reaching out, So people know this
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:great city and first city in michigan,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:1668.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Lot of history here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Lot of history here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Great.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Na, no Native American community.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:13% of the people here are Sioux Tribe members or Bay Mills members.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So you gotta take a look at the culture we have up here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We already, we live this culture and have for years.
Cliff Duvernois:When you were talking before about the communication being
Cliff Duvernois:a challenge, talk to us a little bit how you worked to overcome that.
Cliff Duvernois:You showed up.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: I'd get invited to things.
Cliff Duvernois:I'd go, I was, I'm, oh, and I still do that to this day if I get invited.
Cliff Duvernois:Last night I was at an arts council.
Cliff Duvernois:I showed up, I show up and it just gives me more knowledge
Cliff Duvernois:too, to be able to tell others.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's like showing up for people and being there and know that,
Cliff Duvernois:that they can count on you and you, that's how the dots start connecting.
Cliff Duvernois:Last night there was the arts council from the region.
Cliff Duvernois:And she says, Linda, do you think I can call you and we can talk
Cliff Duvernois:about how you do these things?
Cliff Duvernois:And I said, sure you can.
Cliff Duvernois:Because we want it all to grow.
Cliff Duvernois:We don't, we don't want it all to ourselves.
Cliff Duvernois:We wanna expand it on out, make it better.
Cliff Duvernois:So is there any other organizations besides Pure
Cliff Duvernois:michigan that you're working with?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Brand usa.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm gonna be the first one to raise my hand and say I have no idea what that is.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: So Dave Lorenzo's on that board too.
Cliff Duvernois:And it's, it's a marketing, it's a marketing area and it's international.
Cliff Duvernois:It's across the states too.
Cliff Duvernois:it's all, when we were before the pandemic, we were actually working with
Cliff Duvernois:Pure Michigan through Brand USA on, they buy something in Brand USA magazine and
Cliff Duvernois:we would buy a little portion of that.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's another type of a partnership.
Cliff Duvernois:So where we can show off Michigan, but Sault Ste Marie can be a part of it.
Cliff Duvernois:The organizations, that do you have, that you can tap into.
Cliff Duvernois:And you have to figure out if it works for you?
Cliff Duvernois:Some, at some places it doesn't work,
Cliff Duvernois:right?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:so it's about, there's a nice salute.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:to You guys, that's a salute you're hearing.
Cliff Duvernois:I know if the microphone's picked that up, but it
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: hey, sounds kinda cool.
Cliff Duvernois:It is really cool.
Cliff Duvernois:But it depends on, we're, of course
Cliff Duvernois:we're an international community.
Cliff Duvernois:We have the International Bridge right here, and I'm on
Cliff Duvernois:the board of directors of that.
Cliff Duvernois:See, like I said, everybody's on everybody's board.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And it, that's appointed by the governor.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And I was appointed by Schneider and then reappointed by Whitmer.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:its, it, it's a great board of directors because it's the international.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You have four people from Ottawa, Canada.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then you have four people from the state of michigan and
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:we're the board of directors.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We've been on it 12 years now.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's it's awesome board where you get to see people working together,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:People trying to make things better.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And that bridge is better.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But you've got people from the Ottawa government comes down, a private company.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:This is how that all started.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's 60 years old this year.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's, there's just so much and it's, the opportunity that I get to see is,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:tracking people coming over from Canada.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We're only down 31% after the pandemic, which is really good.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And cuz we don't get the traffic that Detroit gets.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But we had a lot of traffic here too, so it's, yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:it's just pulling it all together, being a part of,
Cliff Duvernois:So when you're talking about being on this board, you
Cliff Duvernois:got four people from ottawa, you got four people from the Michigan side.
Cliff Duvernois:How do you work together with them?
Cliff Duvernois:And I'm gonna be a little selfish here, but how do you work together
Cliff Duvernois:with them to try to get as many canadians across the border as you can?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: And we do it both ways.
Cliff Duvernois:We do it both ways.
Cliff Duvernois:We want them coming and we want ours to go over.
Cliff Duvernois:They got some really cool restaurants over there that we don't have here.
Cliff Duvernois:We don't have the population, but you have 70,000 people over there.
Cliff Duvernois:We work both ways.
Cliff Duvernois:I did a partnership with Brand USA and Pure Michigan, advertising in
Cliff Duvernois:Canada
Cliff Duvernois:you?
Cliff Duvernois:literally right
Cliff Duvernois:there across river right there.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:You know, I said, I have relatives there.
Cliff Duvernois:My sister-in-law was born in Sault, Ontario.
Cliff Duvernois:There's no separation in us.
Cliff Duvernois:We've been going over there since I was a little kid.
Cliff Duvernois:And you do know how old I am, but I'm not saying it on air.
Cliff Duvernois:but it's always been a part of our life.
Cliff Duvernois:My grandfather came from Italy through Canada.
Cliff Duvernois:He's the only one that came to the uS.
Cliff Duvernois:His brother stayed in canada in the late 18 hundreds.
Cliff Duvernois:I love those little stories like that, just
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: little, That's,
Cliff Duvernois:life.
Cliff Duvernois:Life has stories.
Cliff Duvernois:Love
Cliff Duvernois:They always do.
Cliff Duvernois:For our audience, we're gonna take a quick break, to thank our sponsors.
Cliff Duvernois:When Linda comes back, she's gonna talk to us about the awesome
Cliff Duvernois:events that are going on in sa St.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie and what you can expect when you come up here.
Cliff Duvernois:We'll see you after the break.
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Cliff Duvernois:Hello everyone and welcome back to Total Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm your host, Cliff DuVernois.
Cliff Duvernois:Today we're talking with Linda Hoath, the best ambassador,
Cliff Duvernois:Executive Director of the Sault Ste.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie, CVB and Linda.
Cliff Duvernois:so before the break we were talking about a little bit about the history,
Cliff Duvernois:getting people to come to Sault Ste.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie.
Cliff Duvernois:What I'd like to do is I'd like to spend some time and talk about, when
Cliff Duvernois:people come here, what are some of the events that are going on that they
Cliff Duvernois:should see, that they should check out?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: You're probably gonna be able
Cliff Duvernois:to see this throughout the whole year, so let's go back a week.
Cliff Duvernois:We had just had the international bridge walk.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:It's an awesome walk.
Cliff Duvernois:It's between two countries.
Cliff Duvernois:It's done by the Chamber of Commerce in Canada, in Sault, Ontario, and Sault St.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie, Michigan.
Cliff Duvernois:So they do a great job.
Cliff Duvernois:That is usually on the same weekend as Engineers Day, but since it's
Cliff Duvernois:the July 1st is the canadian holiday, we don't, they, we are not
Cliff Duvernois:gonna make them work on that day.
Cliff Duvernois:So
Cliff Duvernois:What is Engineer's Day?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Engineer's day is the most awesome day.
Cliff Duvernois:It is a day, it's the one day a year.
Cliff Duvernois:That you actually can walk inside the Soo locks, you can get between
Cliff Duvernois:the two locks and see, you can see a freighter coming and going as
Cliff Duvernois:long as, remember this is commerce.
Cliff Duvernois:It's not always, they're not on time all the time, But the freighters come
Cliff Duvernois:through here and you can actually be there in there and see them and
Cliff Duvernois:talk to the people on the freighters.
Cliff Duvernois:And you can do that from outside too.
Cliff Duvernois:But it's just that one day a year you can talk to the engineers, you can see
Cliff Duvernois:the historical buildings that they have.
Cliff Duvernois:The main building has marble floors and a marble staircase that goes up and winds.
Cliff Duvernois:f, oh, they opened up in, uh,:Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:And they're not the first lock.
Cliff Duvernois:The first lock was on the, uh, on Canada's side.
Cliff Duvernois:And, during the war of:Cliff Duvernois:We weren't very nice.
Cliff Duvernois:that, that type of thing is the locks are very important.
Cliff Duvernois:it's the commerce.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's a day that you get to talk to those people that are
Cliff Duvernois:actually inside there doing it.
Cliff Duvernois:And with the new lock being build built, you'll be able to talk to Kaine
Cliff Duvernois:cuz they're gonna have a booth there.
Cliff Duvernois:You're gonna be able to talk to people that know what's going on inside.
Cliff Duvernois:And you're gonna be able to enjoy it.
Cliff Duvernois:But it's the one day a year and it's, from nine to
Cliff Duvernois:about 3 3 30.
Cliff Duvernois:They start shoving you out at three 30, they want you out by four.
Cliff Duvernois:But
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:it
Cliff Duvernois:it's army core.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And you get to see your tax dollars at work.
Cliff Duvernois:That would be cool to see.
Cliff Duvernois:so we've talked about, engineer's day.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:What are some oh, Parades.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:oh, we have a, we always have the 4th of July parade.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:There you go.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Always.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And usually our fireworks is on the river, but this year it
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:can't be because of the army.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:The new lock that's being built is full of right now, has a lot
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:of fuel and explosives over there.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So we're moving it up to Sanderson, airfield here in town.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But that's, it's in great day.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We do a whole parade and then we go right to the fireworks afterwards
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:and the whole town shows up.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's great.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:The region, and then you can go down to the river and you can look
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:up in Brimley and you can see the fireworks going off, up there too.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Nice.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's just, you can see the whole region.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We work together and, it, it's awesome.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And after the 4th of July, the events that we do, I have a total of
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:five fishing tournaments this year.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We just had one passed and it went well.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And now we have, two walleye coming up and two, bass tournaments.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:that's cool.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah, it, we bring in a lot of, of events ourselves.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So we have that happening this summer and then we have, paranormal convention
Cliff Duvernois:coming up in September.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Yeah, the end of August.
Cliff Duvernois:August.
Cliff Duvernois:yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:Weekend before labor Day.
Cliff Duvernois:Always.
Cliff Duvernois:Yep.
Cliff Duvernois:So we have a paranormal convention.
Cliff Duvernois:We do, we help with a lot of other events that are happening in town.
Cliff Duvernois:Local events.
Cliff Duvernois:There's seven, Wilda and Ken, and they're doing a run through town.
Cliff Duvernois:It's called Seven Bridges.
Cliff Duvernois:And they crisscross over the seven bridges that bring you to downtown.
Cliff Duvernois:Right Where you're sitting now is an island.
Cliff Duvernois:You're on an island right now because the canal starts at the upper
Cliff Duvernois:river and comes all the way down.
Cliff Duvernois:And that's our hydro plant, historical hydro plant.
Cliff Duvernois:that you saw there.
Cliff Duvernois:So while you're here,
Cliff Duvernois:uh, I did
Cliff Duvernois:know I was on an
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: You're on an island.
Cliff Duvernois:Perfect.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:And there's seven bridges that go across and they do a seven bridge run.
Cliff Duvernois:So that's in July, I think.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:It is.
Cliff Duvernois:I don't have my calendar right on me, but there's just so many
Cliff Duvernois:things happening all the time, you can always find something to do.
Cliff Duvernois:And even on the outskirts of towns, they give us their events
Cliff Duvernois:and we put them onto because we want everybody to be successful.
Cliff Duvernois:I know that when it comes time for the winter, the I 500 yes.
Cliff Duvernois:is like a tent pole.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:As far as event goes, talk to us about some of the other
Cliff Duvernois:events that are going on as well.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Can we start with, New Year's Eve?
Cliff Duvernois:Let's do that.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: We We do an anchor drop.
Cliff Duvernois:I'm, I, okay.
Cliff Duvernois:So I understand anchor drop, but share with us what it is.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: It's, it's a, it's like a ball
Cliff Duvernois:drop, just like every day's at
Cliff Duvernois:midnight.
Cliff Duvernois:But it's an anchor.
Cliff Duvernois:It's in the shape of an anchor and all that up.
Cliff Duvernois:And we do an and, the downtown development does a great job.
Cliff Duvernois:They do an early one for the kids.
Cliff Duvernois:So they can be down here at eight o'clock in any evening, and
Cliff Duvernois:then they do the midnight one.
Cliff Duvernois:So it is just, and then there's different things going on, winter type things
Cliff Duvernois:down there for people to just enjoy.
Cliff Duvernois:They have bonfires going on around and doing that right downtown.
Cliff Duvernois:Nice.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's a great event.
Cliff Duvernois:Okay.
Cliff Duvernois:And then we're heading into january, which I love.
Cliff Duvernois:January's a great month.
Cliff Duvernois:we get sunshine in january, believe it or not.
Cliff Duvernois:yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:we have hockey tournaments galore.
Cliff Duvernois:We have hockey teams here.
Cliff Duvernois:We have four ice arenas.
Cliff Duvernois:There's always something to do.
Cliff Duvernois:You've got bird's eye.
Cliff Duvernois:Who does the different, cross country skiing?
Cliff Duvernois:Not, no, they don't do cross country.
Cliff Duvernois:They just do the snow show with the candle, the lights and
Cliff Duvernois:everything else in the evening.
Cliff Duvernois:So they do a lot of things in the wintertime, hiking,
Cliff Duvernois:and taking people around.
Cliff Duvernois:Towa Falls does the same thing.
Cliff Duvernois:You can go up there to the lantern.
Cliff Duvernois:That's what the word is, lantern.
Cliff Duvernois:There.
Cliff Duvernois:you go to the lantern and go down there and do the different trails.
Cliff Duvernois:I mean, so there's lots to do here in the winter and then and snowmobiling.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:We have a tubing hill, huge tubing hill here.
Cliff Duvernois:People come up and they go tubing, so it, and it's a part of the city's park.
Cliff Duvernois:So it, it's just we have a lot to do.
Cliff Duvernois:Then the first Saturday in February, we have the International 500 snowmobile
Cliff Duvernois:race, 500 miles on a one mile ice oval.
Cliff Duvernois:Can you imagine that?
Cliff Duvernois:Daytona and they're in a cars and they're strapped in and they've
Cliff Duvernois:got all the helmets and everything.
Cliff Duvernois:They're on a snowmobile going 119 on the straightaways,
Cliff Duvernois:and it's freezing cold
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: and it's freezing cold outside.
Cliff Duvernois:And they are doing 500 miles on one mile ice oval.
Cliff Duvernois:And it is amazing to see this last year, the 54th, it's gonna
Cliff Duvernois:be the 55 fifth coming up.
Cliff Duvernois:55 years it's been going on.
Cliff Duvernois:You actually saw two snowmobiles coming down the straightaway towards the
Cliff Duvernois:end going next to bumping each other.
Cliff Duvernois:It was just so much fun to watch.
Cliff Duvernois:it's just, it's like nASCAR on ice only as No, but no, they don't
Cliff Duvernois:have no brackets to keep them safe.
Cliff Duvernois:How many people show up for the I 500?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It can be anywhere from six to 10,000.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's a very busy time.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And people don't just come up for that weekend.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They come up for, snowmobiling.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They got, we got great trails up here, great trails, or snowmobile trails.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You can go here to munising and not run into a ton of people.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Sure.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It's wonderful.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:I grew up with four snowmobiles in my yard as a kid.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:snowmobiling to me is great.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And being a far of the I 500.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then we have hockey tournament, we have a girls hockey
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:tournament in February, always.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And this past year we had 14 teams here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We have Lake Superior State University hockey.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We have the Eagles down here, their hockey.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So we always have something going on.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So year round you can do almost anything.
Cliff Duvernois:And what i, from what I've learned is the Red Wings
Cliff Duvernois:actually used to come up here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:summertime.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Polar Stadium that opened in:da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It was one of the two refrigerated ice arenas.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And the red Wings used to come up here for summer camp.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They used to stay at the Ojibwe Hotel, which is just right
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:down the street from them.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And back then we didn't have a lot of hotels in town like we do today.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it was, they were a part, they were a part of this community.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And back then when there was tournaments that go on at the
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Pooler, because we didn't have all the ice arenas we have today back
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:then, but we would house people.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So you just housing people we'd take the kids in for the tournaments and everybody
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:did that throughout the community.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And we still have the Eagles.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:There's families that take the Eagle players because they come
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:from out of town to play here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And they take them in.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's still happening this now.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:but now we have, LSS U we have the big Bear arena (Chi Mukwa) It is,
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:it has two, two ice rinks in it and we have the Polar Stadium, so
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:we have tournaments up here a lot.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So it's a great time.
Cliff Duvernois:How big is the influence of hockey in the area?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: It's in our blood.
Cliff Duvernois:I can tell you as a kid, on Saturday night, it was hockey
Cliff Duvernois:night in Canada back then.
Cliff Duvernois:And you're watching, he's my dad, 92 still watches hockey.
Cliff Duvernois:He watches everything.
Cliff Duvernois:It's just, it's inbred in the community.
Cliff Duvernois:It's a part of who you are.
Cliff Duvernois:my brothers never played, but my grandson did, And, there was a,
Cliff Duvernois:but everybody, all comes together.
Cliff Duvernois:You have Sault High hockey team.
Cliff Duvernois:They've done a great job.
Cliff Duvernois:You just have all of that around you continuously.
Cliff Duvernois:And then you have all these other teams.
Cliff Duvernois:My grandson played right up until, he became a dad.
Cliff Duvernois:So it is just, it's just wonderful to wa to watch, and it's part.
Cliff Duvernois:And don't touch
Cliff Duvernois:the polar stadium,
Cliff Duvernois:1939.
Cliff Duvernois:Everybody.
Cliff Duvernois:If anybody ever wanted to tear that down, I think you'd see the city
Cliff Duvernois:just swarm themselves around it.
Cliff Duvernois:Because it is who we are, right?
Cliff Duvernois:right.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: It is a part of our past.
Cliff Duvernois:And our history.
Cliff Duvernois:If I was coming up here, never been to Sault Ste Marie
Cliff Duvernois:before, had a, maybe got a family that I'm bringing up here on a vacation, cuz
Cliff Duvernois:I've heard the show and I'm, Linda's convinced me this is where I need to go.
Cliff Duvernois:What would be some of the things, let's break this into two questions.
Cliff Duvernois:What would be some of the things that people need to think about
Cliff Duvernois:when they're coming up here?
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Okay.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You can see how beautiful it is today.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Just know that when you come up, always bring a sweatshirt
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:because the evenings get cooler.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You can really enjoy the evenings around here when it's warm.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:when you're coming up here, you wanna go to the river's the reason
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:we're all here, and then Sault Ste marie is about the people.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So you're gonna wanna visit you.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We've got attractions.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You already know you've been to them.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We have the boat tours.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We have two, we have the, Famous and we have the, Original boat tours.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You can do a two hour tour.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:That's great.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You got the freighter, the Valley Camp.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:That's an awesome place to go.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:it's a museum and it has the life rafts off the edmund Fitzgerald in there.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah, but you have to go see it.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You have to experience it.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:and, as I took you to the Tower of History.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:That's one of my favorite places.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And people don't think of it as an attraction.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:It is an attraction.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:But you go up in the tower here, 210 feet up, you get to see the layout
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:of the whole river, around Sault St.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Marie and you get to see Sault Ontario.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You get to see all the things that we have here.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then we also have a great museum, the river of history, and
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:that's right on the main street.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:of Ashman.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:You get to see from where we started when, Father Marquette
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:started with the Native Americans.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:The Native Americans were here first.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And the gift that Native Americans have given us is such a, for me, it's
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:a deep spiritual part of who I am.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And then you get to see all of that.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:they welcomed us.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:the French here, they, the british, they welcomed them.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They fed them.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:They made them a part of the, who they were here.
Cliff Duvernois:Sure.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: And they still do that.
Cliff Duvernois:And I wanna circle back to that.
Cliff Duvernois:So when we're talking about like some of the local attractions in the area.
Cliff Duvernois:So I'm gonna be so bold, put my ambassador head on.
Cliff Duvernois:I would almost think the first place that some people would want to go and
Cliff Duvernois:it's easily wheelchair accessible.
Cliff Duvernois:I saw a young mother with her, with her baby cart manage it with no problem.
Cliff Duvernois:And that would be the tower of history and going up
Cliff Duvernois:to the top.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yes.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And
Cliff Duvernois:getting that overall view of all of sault Ste.
Cliff Duvernois:Marie with the
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:and the boats.
Cliff Duvernois:And cuz I know for me personally, when I
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: saw that,
Cliff Duvernois:all of a sudden Sault Ste marie connected
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: And that's why the river connects us.
Cliff Duvernois:and that's why it's so important to see who we are as a bigger
Cliff Duvernois:picture, So yes, it's my first stop.
Cliff Duvernois:If I have media here, it's my first stop, So that's why it was so important.
Cliff Duvernois:I didn't get to get you there first, but that's why it's important to us.
Cliff Duvernois:it just gives you that essence of who we are and the connectedness
Cliff Duvernois:with Canada, there is no separation.
Cliff Duvernois:so that's the greatest part is just, we're just the river.
Cliff Duvernois:That's all it is.
Cliff Duvernois:It's a river.
Cliff Duvernois:We eat the same fish, we do the, some of the same things all the way through.
Cliff Duvernois:So it's important.
Cliff Duvernois:But yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:And the big one is don't miss the Soo locks.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:That park there is just beautiful.
Cliff Duvernois:The viewing platform is right there.
Cliff Duvernois:you can just go and rest, and.
Cliff Duvernois:There's great places to eat.
Cliff Duvernois:Food is a great thing.
Cliff Duvernois:And you might know for the last couple days that we've spent
Cliff Duvernois:together that, I like my coffee too.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:Yeah.
Cliff Duvernois:And we have four coffee shops, so we just, we have it all.
Cliff Duvernois:And if, then if you want nightlife, Kewadin Casino, it's great.
Cliff Duvernois:Downtown Portage after eight or nine o'clock at night, there is,
Cliff Duvernois:there is places to go and listen to things, but Kewadin has big events.
Cliff Duvernois:they have, a theater where they do concerts in and stuff.
Cliff Duvernois:So you can do that, and you can game, they also
Cliff Duvernois:have food,
Cliff Duvernois:So it's all we're, we have it all up here.
Cliff Duvernois:you, we don't have to leave here to go find out what we want.
Cliff Duvernois:Let's talk about, cuz this was something very interesting that
Cliff Duvernois:you shared with me yesterday in that, and circling back to our conversation
Cliff Duvernois:about the Native Americans, that the kewadin casino actually works with you.
Cliff Duvernois:They're a much a part of the cVB as anybody else, even though they're, they've
Cliff Duvernois:got their own little sovereign nation.
Cliff Duvernois:Talk to us about that relationship.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Oh, it's an amazing relationship that
Cliff Duvernois:we have and that we've always had.
Cliff Duvernois:the minute they opened up their hotel, they, they've been a part of the
Cliff Duvernois:convention and visitors bureau, it, the connected us and I can say right
Cliff Duvernois:down to the CEO of the five Kewadin Casinos is on my board of directors.
Cliff Duvernois:Everybody's on everybody's board.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: And that's how you stay connected.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes.
Cliff Duvernois:That's how you bring people together.
Cliff Duvernois:Is keeping those people together.
Cliff Duvernois:I can.
Cliff Duvernois:Let me give you an example of how bigger this is.
Cliff Duvernois:How big are our ccb B is as a small Ccb B one of my board
Cliff Duvernois:members lives in Traverse City.
Cliff Duvernois:He's from the sault.
Cliff Duvernois:I have another board member that lives in detroit and he's up here all
Cliff Duvernois:the time and he has hotels all the way up and he's a part of our board.
Cliff Duvernois:And then I have mom and pops on my board.
Cliff Duvernois:I have the, mayor of Sault Ste Marie on my board.
Cliff Duvernois:My board is the greatest board you could ever have.
Cliff Duvernois:Cuz they're visionaries.
Cliff Duvernois:They're looking down the road.
Cliff Duvernois:They're not looking at what's in it for me today.
Cliff Duvernois:They're looking 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road.
Cliff Duvernois:cuz then they'll know what's in it for them.
Cliff Duvernois:When you're looking 10 years down the road,
Cliff Duvernois:you're thinking strategically.
Cliff Duvernois:Yes,
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Yes, and we do all the time.
Cliff Duvernois:Just getting that two and a half million dollar grant for the I 500 track to
Cliff Duvernois:make it available to use year round.
Cliff Duvernois:They thought outside the box, surely no,
Cliff Duvernois:let's
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:do that.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:And, we did, we received two and a half million dollars and we have to
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:raise 20% of that, Which we've already done 150,000 from the
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Great Lakes Sports Commission.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So yeah.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:So we still have more to raise and we will, and we're just getting started.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:That's why I say we're a destination builder.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:We're just, we're.
da Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB:Cuz when you have a destination that is built, the people will come.
Cliff Duvernois:I couldn't think of a better way to end this than, on that note.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, if somebody's listening to this interview and they're saying
Cliff Duvernois:to themselves, I'd like to check out Sault Ste Marie, think about
Cliff Duvernois:bringing my family up there, wherever.
Cliff Duvernois:What is the best way for them to, connect?
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: saultstemarie.com.
Cliff Duvernois:Go.
Cliff Duvernois:And it's s a u l t s t e m a r i e.com Cuz Sault is
Cliff Duvernois:spelled, not s o, it's s a u l t.
Cliff Duvernois:So that's a good one.
Cliff Duvernois:And you can find all our social media on there too.
Cliff Duvernois:Linda, thank you so much for taking time to chat with us today.
Cliff Duvernois:It was, it's been great.
Cliff Duvernois:LInda Hoath, Sault Ste Marie CVB: Oh, Cliff, it's been wonderful.
Cliff Duvernois:And I want you to say your last name one more time.
Cliff Duvernois:I love it.
Cliff Duvernois:I love it.
Cliff Duvernois:It's so exciting.
Cliff Duvernois:and thank you for being here.
Cliff Duvernois:You're welcome, and for our audience, you can always
Cliff Duvernois:roll on over to total michigan.com.
Cliff Duvernois:Click on linda's interview and get the links that she mentioned above.
Cliff Duvernois:We will see you next week with another great story of an ordinary michigan
Cliff Duvernois:or doing extraordinary things.