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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels October 13, 2004 Bellying up to the Bard By Bill Choy Ashland Daily Tidings What Ashland has accomplished with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival drew the interest of a group of delegates from the Minnesota town of Winona, who have a fledging Shakespeare festival in their community. Norma D'isidora (second from the right) talks about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival with a group from Minnesota that is looking for ideas to build on its own. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings They arrived in Ashland on Oct. 5, and left early Friday. The group consisted of the presidents of the town's chamber of commerce and convention center, the city editor from the local paper, and the city economic director. For five weeks in June and July, Winona hosted the first annual Great River Shakespeare Festival, which was modeled after OSF. Paul Barnes of Ashland, who used to work at OSF as an education director, was one of three producing directors at the Great River Shakespeare Festival. The festival presented two plays, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "The Winter's Tale." Winona is a town of about 28,000 people along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border, next to the Mississippi River. The group met with a variety of people from the city, the chamber, and OSF, visited local shops and restaurants, and talked to local residents to get an idea of what makes Ashland tick, said Della Schmidt, president and CEO of the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce. She said they have heard for a while how wonderful Ashland is, and how it was a good model to follow. "We wanted to have a physical connection coming here and walking the street, seeing the theater, and seeing for ourselves the comparisons," Schmidt said. "We had heard so much about Ashland and OSF, but it really hits home on a deeper level when you're here. ... We want to learn from your successes and failures, and your challenges as well." Darrell Ehrlick, city editor of the Winona Daily News, said he was impressed with what Ashland has accomplished thanks to OSF. "It's really amazing to see an entire community's economic success involving Shakespeare," he said. "It's amazing how good all the shops, restaurant and lodging are to create an experience for visitors." Ehrlick recalled going into Bloomsbury Books and seeing the store's large, gray cat Orlando, sleeping near the Shakespeare books. He said little moments like that help define the special atmosphere and experience he saw in Ashland and was "part of the vibe." Both Schmidt and Ehrlick were especially pleased with the quality of shops and restaurants in Ashland and how they blend seamlessly into the fabric of the town to create a sophisticated, yet warm and inviting atmosphere. They said they would like to see a more diverse range of restaurants in Winona, compared to the steak and potato staples that are prominent in town. "What we're looking at is how do we take it to the next level," Schmidt said. "Being in Ashland shows us what it could be." Schmidt said there are similarities between the two towns. Winona has three universities, Winona State University, Saint Mary's University, and the Minnesota State College-Southwest Technical. Like Ashland, Winona's downtown has many buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places and have many nearby outdoor recreational activities. Like Ashland's proximity to major cities such as Portland and San Francisco, Winona is about five hours from Chicago, and two hours from the Twin Cities. Barnes said he has been impressed with the enthusiasm and dedication Winona community leaders have shown to making their Shakespeare festival a success. "The city leadership is energetic and wants to do good things for their town," he said. "They saw this cultural enterprise as a really strong engine for economic development." Barnes said approximately 7,000 people attended the Great River Shakespeare Festival this past summer, meeting expectations. "I feel Ashland has done so many things right that it was a good time for (Winona) city leaders to come and take a good, hard look at Ashland and see how it works," he said. "I think they gained a lot of insight and met a lot of people." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams