Billings Events

Subject: A Visitor's Opinion: Billings is a Great Place to Visit

Recently my wife and I were invited to attend the High Plains Book Awards at Billings, as a book that I co-authored was one of the three non-fiction finalists. Our highly illustrated book, "Legacy of Stone: Saskatchewan's Stone Buildings" features about 50 historic stone buildings in our province, which is part of the northern section of the Great Plains. Hence our invitation to come to Billings.

This was our first real visit to Montana, a fly through from Yellowstone National Park back in the mid 1990s hardly constituted a visit. Although we are close neighbours, what an incredibly different topography so close to the border. And the Yellowstone River Valley is simply gorgeous. Unlike some other interstate highways, the I-94 permits visitors to view and enjoy many of the small towns en route and still permits one to travel at a good pace. We also enjoyed your frequent Rest Areas; we could use more of those in Canada.

The organizing committee for the High Plains Book Awards put on an excellent program. They made us feel extremely welcome, and we look forward to a return visit to Billings just to tour and enjoy the community. We were very impressed with Billings, both as a city and for the geography of the region.

As a new author, this was my first exposure to any book awards program, and I must say that everyone treated us like royalty on the one hand, and like close friends on the other. We felt so welcome and comfortable in their midst. I can't think of a more enjoyable way to participate in such an event. It will be interesting to see how the Billings program compares with the upcoming Saskatchewan Book Awards, for which our book has also been nominated. The organizers here will have to do something pretty special to top your achievement.

A separate word for the facilities and service at the Montana State University Billings: Fantastic. And the food was among the best I have ever had in any restaurant. That is certainly not my memory of university fare. Our compliments to those who provided the banquet meal and preceding refreshments.

On a slightly different note, I would also like to compliment Billings' community leaders for the fine blend of modern and historic architecture in your city. I'm sure you have lost some very good historic buildings to "progress" - what city hasn't? However, in spite of (or perhaps because of) Billings being half the size of Regina, I would estimate that your downtown has at least 10 times more well-preserved and fully utilized historic buildings than we have here. Hence, as a construction historian, I thoroughly enjoyed my brief tour of Billings, and look forward to a more leisurely exploration in the near future.

Events such as the Book Awards and accompanying BookFest not only promote the community, but also draw in considerable tourist dollars. While our visit was short, and our projected shopping somewhat curtailed by the pending snow storm licking at our heels, we did manage to leave around $400 dollars in Montana. We tend to be somewhat frugal tourists, so I imagine that you can safely use that figure, and multiply it by the other attendees to get a sense of the minimum economic impact that an event such as the Book Awards has on the city and on the state. So, that complimentary dinner ticket and hotel accommodation paid off in other respects. Without this nomination and generosity, we probably would not have gone to Billings for many years to come.

Again, my thanks to the High Plains Book Awards organization for the nomination, for the room and board, but most of all, for the hospitality. These people are excellent ambassadors for Billings, for Montana, and for the USA. It was indeed a pleasure visiting with you.

Frank Korvemaker, SAA (Hon.)
Heritage Advisor / Construction Historian and Chair, Bell Barn Society of Indian Head
59 Compton Road, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 2Y2

YMCA Writer's Voice
   402 North 32nd 59101
   248-1685 ext 231
   www.billingsymca.org

    The Writer's Voice is a literary program of the Billings YMCA.

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