The Circus' Disappearing Act

The news is nothing new, the circus has left town, early. The tent is gone, their business office is vacated and none of the circus’ phones are being answered. Actually, nobody is answering their phones.

Everything started in the spring of 2008 with all the hype of FSU’s Flying High Circus coming to town. They have a great reputation and have performed for 60 years with their main summer act being at Callaway Gardens in the summer since 1960. Don Hamrick wanted to change all that. Don and his wife Brenda formed Flying High LLC, contracted with FSU to pay them $120,000 for use of the name, Flying High Circus, and hired their student circus staff for the summer paying the performers $10 an hour.

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Grand Lagoon National – Party Boat Tournament

The Grand Lagoon National, being held on August 20-24 has formed Party Boat rules to allow fishing enthusiasts to compete for cash awards during the tournament. Prizes will be awarded for party boats that surrender the heaviest Gag Grouper, Red Grouper, Trigger Fish, Vermilion Snapper or Amberjack.

The entry fee for the first day will be $100 and $75 for each additional day.

There will be two Classes of competition with both classes to be subject to the rules and regulations of the Party Boat Division. The first class is anglers that go on an 8 hour fishing trip and the second class is those that go on a fishing trip less than 8 hours.

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Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort Hosts Grand Lagoon National

Saltwater Fishing Enthusiasts Flock to Resort for Big Catch

Panama City Beach, Fla. (July 23, 2008) – Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort is the official host resort for the 2008 Grand Lagoon National, scheduled for August 20-24. The tournament, billed as “America’s Saltwater Fishing Tournament,” consists of eight separate tournaments appealing to every kind of saltwater fishing enthusiast.

“We are pleased to host the Grand Lagoon National fishing tournament,” said Paul Wohlford, vice president of sales and marketing for The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach, which manages Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort. “The event is a great opportunity to showcase our beautiful resort and amenities to fishing enthusiasts and their families.”

The $1 million purse is enough to attract more than one thousand anglers, hundreds of boats and healthy onshore crowds.

As official sponsor and host, Edgewater Beach & Golf Resort will offer two VIP packages starting at $99 per night to include deluxe accommodations in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums complete with fully-equipped kitchens, and washers and dryers. For more information on the Angler VIP package and the Spectator VIP package, call (800) 874-8686.

Did the Summer White Sale Hurt Local Businesses?

There was a “letter to the editor” published in the News Herald on July 18th from Reggie Lancaster talking about how the Summer White Sale didn’t help local tourism, but actually hurt the existing businesses.

Quote:

Few people have more of an appreciation of what our Tourist Development Council members do than I. I spent 11 years on the board and chaired it for four years and have fond memories of serving with some great people. I would like to offer some constructive criticism to the advertising agency and the board in regards to the current advertising effort referred to as the Summer White Sale.

Although well intentioned, I don’t believe the advertising campaign produced the desired results. Instead of enticing new guests to come to Panama City Beach, it largely accomplished offering reduced rates and incentives to guests who already had reservations or at least plans to come here. Consequently, while everything else in the country was going up in price, we were reducing already stressed profit margins in the accommodation industry.

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Dr. Ed Wright, WestBayFlorida Blog – Last Post

Dr. Ed Wright, former Dean of FSU-PC and authority on the whole West Bay area, including economic development and the airport relocation, has posted his last post and article on his WestBayFlorida Blog.

I could summarize, but I could never duplicate the effect of the writing itself. Below is the last post, and below is his last article, The Future – It’s More Than Building a New Airport.

Ed, you’ll be sorely missed in our area and online.

I quote in its entirety:

I owe you all an apology for being AWOL for so long.

It’s not that there wasn’t any news – there certainly was. I had expected to take a short hiatus over Christmas and New Years and to think about a new direction for the newsletter focusing on the broader issues of economic development and the need to build a regional identity and marketing approach now that airport construction has gotten underway.

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The Future: It's More Than Building a New Airport

Again, I quote in its entirety, from Ed Wright:

As construction of the new airport proceeds on schedule, it is clear that we need to get busy putting all the other pieces of this jigsaw puzzle together. Approval of the airport relocation was key to approaching the vision for the West Bay Sector Plan and to realize its many different benefits to the region.

The following are thoughts about just some of the things that need to be underway:

The preservation of West Bay, by setting aside nearly 40,000 acres of conservation land, established a remarkable and unparallel public-private partnership and opportunity.

Currently the leading edge of this conservation effort is the planned Audubon Nature Center. The communities of Bay and Walton Counties and businesses and residents need to get behind the Audubon Society’s efforts to make this world-class Nature Center a reality. It has enormous potential for education, reputation, conservation, tourism, and (yes) economic development as well.

A coordinated growth and land use plan for development that involves the counties adjacent to Bay County and contiguous to the West Bay Sector Plan is needed.

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Jerry Ray Discusses New Airport on HomeAwayPodcast.com

Jerry Ray, the Senior Vice President for Strategic Alliances for the St. Joe Company, was interviewed this week on the HomeAwayPodcast site. The topic of discussion was the new airport and what it is going to do for our area.

Jerry starts by giving an account of the history of St. Joe and where it all began. He continues by giving the history of the airport relocation project, how it all started and discusses the process it has gone through thus far.

You can listen to it by downloading it, or listen to it online.

Letter from Delta – "sharp economic downturn"

Last week as I was on vacation, Delta sent a letter to frequent flyers, warning that we will see a “sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices.”

The rest of the email reads:

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Click the more link to read the rest of the letter.

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High Fuel Prices + Major Airlines + Weak Economy = Catastrophe

I came across this paper talking about the effects of record high fuel prices could have on the US Airline industry.

The title actually reads: Record-high Fuel Prices +Major U.S. Airlines + Weakened U.S. Economy = A Catastrophe. I shortened it to save space.

The paper talks about an top energy analyst at Goldman Sachs is predicting that we’ll see oil at $200 a barrel within 24 months. With the price of oil twice what it was just a year ago and 4 times as much as it was in 2000, the price of oil rising is certain to have significant effects on the United States Airline industry.

In 2000, the cost of fuel was around 15% of the average airline total operating cost. Today, it is around 40% of the average airline total operating cost. This is greater than the cost of labor or the cost of plane leases.

Click the more link for a link to the entire paper.

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25th Bay Point Invitational Tournament Makes History

Tournament Pays Out Nearly $1 Million and Marks Silver Anniversary with Success of New Community Events

Panama City Beach, Fla. (July 14, 2008) – The Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament made history as 47 boats headed out to fish in the first major all-release billfish tournament on the Gulf Coast. The highly-anticipated tournament welcomed more than 10,000 attendees at Bay Point Marina July 9–13 to enjoy the live entertainment, an artist colony, local food, sponsor displays and, of course, the Friday and Saturday night weigh-ins.

Life is Good took top honors in the Catch and Release category with three blue and one white marlin released for 2050 points. The team walked away with $210,960. Second place went to Wynsong with one blue marlin and one sailfish. Wynsong also captured first place in the Tuna category with a 105.5-pound yellowfin tuna caught by Will Wilson for a total of $208,246, and third place, based on the time of release, went to Jolly-B with one blue marlin for $53,250.

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