Illinois Destinations Association Fall Member Meeting: Mayor's Reception at the Historic Fischer Theater

Illinois Destinations Association Fall Member Meeting: Mayor's Reception at the Historic Fischer Theater.

Welcome to the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast! This multi-episode series takes us to Danville, Illinois, for the Illinois Destinations Association Fall Member Meeting. Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. is our host for the kick-off event at the beautifully restored Fischer Theatre.

DISCUSSION

1. Interview with Mayor Rickey Williams Jr.

• The Mayor’s tenure and background.
• Fischer Theater Renovation and Community Impact
• Personal and Racial Reflections on the Theater
• Future Vision for the Fischer Theater
• https://www.cityofdanville.org/

2. Interview with Ashton Greer, Executive Director, Vermilion Heritage Foundation

• Personal background and connection to Danville.
• Role in Theater Renovation and Operations
• Pride and Community Ownership of the Fischer Theater
• Historic Preservation and Vision for the Future
• https://www.fischertheatre.com/

3. Interview with Dana Rowland, Director, Vermilion Advantage (Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development)

• Overview of Vermillion Advantage's mission and scope.
• Chamber and economic development roles.
• Fisher Theater’s Role in Community Development
• Partnership with Tourism Authority
• https://www.vermilionadvantage.com/

4. Interview with Rheanna Ollis, Community Relations Administrator, City of Danville

• Role in organizing events, branding, and communications.
• First Fridays event series
• Downtown Danville’s Atmosphere
• https://www.firstfridaysdanville.com/

5. Interview with Stephanie &  Michael Ewing, The Local (Catering)

• Background in the local culinary scene.
• https://www.thelocalcovington.com/

6. Interview with P.B. Patel, VP Sunrise Hospitality

• Partnerships with the city and local organizations for community growth.
• Positive impact on local tourism and economy.

NEXT STEPS

Visit us at https://outdooradventureseries.com to like, comment, and share our episodes.

KEYWORDS

Illinois Destinations Association, Danville Area Visitors Bureau, Vermilion Advantage, Fischer Theatre, Outdoor Adventure Series

#IllinoisDestinationsAssociation #DanvilleAreaVisitorsBureau #VermilionAdvantage #FischerTheatre #OutdoorAdventureSeries

My Favorite Podcast Tools:

1. Production by Descript
2. Hosting Buzzsprout
3. Show Notes by Castmagic
4. Website powered by Podpage
5. Be a Podcast Guest by PodMatch

Transcript

Howard Fox: 0:06

/Hello everybody. this is Howard Fox, host of the Outdoor Venture Series podcast, and I am here in Danville, Illinois. I am, Attending the conference of the Illinois Destinations Association. Now, I got down here early, toured around the city a bit, a little walking, a little exercise, a little food. And now I am at the beautiful renovated Fisher Theater in downtown Danville, and I have the pleasure of introducing to you the Mayor of Danville. Ricky, Williams. Mayor, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast and hear a few words from you. How are you doing today?

Mayor Rickey Williams: 0:43

I'm doing great, Howard. We're so excited to have you guys here, and I just thank you for this opportunity to tell people about how great Danville is. Fantastic. Now I have to ask, how long have you been mayor of Vanil? It'll be seven years next month. So I was acting mayor for six months before winning election outright. Okay. And then I won reelection in, 2023.

Howard Fox: 1:03

Fantastic. Congratulations on that. Thank. Now, are you a longtime resident of the Danville

Mayor Rickey Williams: 1:07

area? Absolutely. So my dad is from Westville, a little town five miles south of here. So we lived there until the middle of my second grade year, and then we moved to Danville. but I still played sports in Westville until high school, so I consider myself both a tiger and a Viking.

Howard Fox: 1:22

Gotcha. Now, where did, where did you go to school In, Advance, four years college Master's. Where'd you do, where'd you go?

Mayor Rickey Williams: 1:29

Sure. So I actually got a Bachelor of Arts, emphasis in political science. I kind of did pre-law at Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois. And then I was offered and working towards a full scholarship, to pursue a PhD in political science, specifically public policy and urban development down at Emory University in Atlanta. And about a year and a half shy of that after I had completed. All of my coursework, all of my teaching requirements, and, two outta three comprehensive exams. I took a missions trip that changed my life. long story short, I am not Dr. Williams. but, it's got a

Howard Fox: 2:02

ring to it though.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 2:03

It does, but I, I learned a lot of great things along the way, which I'm able to help use to, to use, to help my people here in Danville.

Howard Fox: 2:10

Excellent. Now, when you came back to Danville, how did you happen upon this idea? I'm gonna run for mayor, or I'm gonna accept this temporary position as an interim mayor.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 2:22

back when I was a senior in high school, we had our first ever countywide youth summit, and then I feel like God kind of put it in my mind that I would be mayor someday. Fast forward, a lot of my professional work was, and, and youth and, and family development. So I learned a lot about managing people and money. Long story short, I was on the council for almost 10 years. Our former mayor accepted another position. State law says you have to choose one from amongst your own to be the acting mayor. So then I became acting mayor, and that kind of rolled me into this. This eventually fulfilling what I thought was my destiny for over 20 years.

Howard Fox: 2:55

That is wonderful. There, there's a saying in, in the coaching field, what you think about, you're bringing about, so you have certainly brought about that. And I imagine you're also bringing about right now the renovation and the really, the, the exciting transformation of Danville and this theater that we're in right now, the Fisher Theater is, is. I grew up in Detroit and we had our own Fisher Theater, and that was the first thing on my mind is I'm wondering, can it be as grand as the one in Detroit? And here I am with you in the auditorium. This is a. Wonderful. example of some early American architecture and what did it take to bring this,

Mayor Rickey Williams: 3:37

renovation about? So Julius Heckler ii, he was also a friend, so interestingly enough, Julius also graduated from Milliken. Go Big Blue.

Howard Fox: 3:45

Okay. I

Mayor Rickey Williams: 3:45

first met him at a reception there when I was our homecoming king. But, anyways. Thanks to a very generous donation. We're talking millions of dollars from Julius w Heckler. He had his first date with his wife here. Okay. She got ill and passed from cancer some time ago. He was here for a show and thought, man, this is in bad shape, and he started thinking about his, his beautiful wife. He said, I'm gonna do this one thing. That became another thing. And then that came a full on restoration. So if it weren't for the late Julius WW Second and the Heckler Foundation, we would not be standing in this structure. When they got into the work, they found that the trusses were probably six months away from failing. It was that close to being gone. So thankfully we had a patron saying in Julius Heckler, and then we had, a great carpenter that came along and worked with him, Paul Offit. And, so many people donated money as well and time and effort and, The city, Danville almost tore this down over 20 years ago. It was saved by one vote on the city council.

Howard Fox: 4:39

Oh, wow.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 4:40

So I thank God that they had some courage, to, to save it, because we would not be standing here right now if that, if they hadn't. And

Howard Fox: 4:47

I, I would imagine this theater is a. Can be considered a crown jewel. I mean, it's, it's a gathering place for many wonderful occasions.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 4:55

Oh my. Everything from, big name acts to, acts to, we have an incredible local theater, especially musical theater in our community. you also have a lot of community meetings here, so. Local foundations, sponsor events and galas here. I mean, it really is not only the hub of downtown, but it's once again becoming the hub of the community. And we are trying to compliment that. in Danville we were one of the only community downstate outside of Chicago, Illinois. We won a$3 million. we. Hometown and, downtown restoration grant. So a lot of the sidewalks that you've seen replaced. We did a lot of sewage infrastructure down here, roadways and things like that. So we are trying to do, I have an amazing team at the city and we are working to do our part to support things like this. I often tell people no one is coming to save us. It is gonna take and it, and the city can't do everything. I love, I love the city and I have an amazing team, but we can't do it all. The Fisher is incredible and they have a wonderful, director and amazing board, but they can't do it all. our nonprofits can't do it All. Our businesses can't do it all. But everyone can do something, even if it's just as simple as taking care of your yard, taking care of your home. We all have something that we can give that would not only help us, but help everyone.

Howard Fox: 6:06

That's wonderful. I'm curious, is there a. Some El Cove, a seat, a piece of this theater that really just kind of tugs at your heartstrings and brings back memories for you.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 6:19

So you have to think when I was a kid, this was closed. But I'll, I'll tell you a quick story. So I'm actually a mixed kid, biracial. My dad is black, my mom is white. My dad told me a story when he was young of being in eighth grade and, He, his mom always said in, in the, they always said in the balcony when he came here and he thought, that's where my grandma liked to sit. Well, one day he came with some of his white friends and he was told that they could not sit on the floor, that they had to sit on the balcony. So that was a reation for him. Also, my dad told me growing up that I had a, my grandpa used to do cleaning and he, he cleaned theaters downtown, but I never knew that it was this theater that he was talking about. So. Imagine my great surprise in 2019 and, we're here for the grand reopening and I'm sitting in the balcony and they announce me and I'm being honored in this theater. And I look over and my dad has tears running down his eyes. And I said, pop, what's wrong? And he says, son, you remember that theater that I told you about? He was like, where I couldn't sit where I wanted to. He was like, now we're sitting here in the balcony with you and they're honoring my son. He said, I, I just can't believe it.

Howard Fox: 7:19

That's so wonderful. It's a journey, and I can only imagine how proud your father was.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 7:25

Absolutely. And I think the thing that I'm the most proud of is that now everyone feels welcome here. I mean, at first they could not give, they could not get, especially, African Americans who are more affluent to give to this theater because of how they were treated in the past. Right now, it's a place for everyone. Everyone comes here, whether you're young or old, black or white, rich or poor, gay or straight Christian, Muslim, Jew, or atheist. Everyone is welcome at the Fisher Theater. Okay. I'm

Howard Fox: 7:51

curious too, is there an event perhaps sometime in the near future that if we can get this, here I am. the story is fantastic, but if we can get this event here and it's just going, it's gonna be like the icing on the cake. A particular event that we could recruit. Yeah.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 8:12

I am really excited. They are on the verge of making it a big announcement tomorrow, so I can't steal their thunder. Ah. But I have a habit of doing

Howard Fox: 8:19

that. I always

Mayor Rickey Williams: 8:20

ask a question I can't really tell you just yet, maybe tomorrow. So, to make a long story short, one of the challenges that we have is that if the, green rooms and such are below the stage mm-hmm. They are currently in bad disarray and not able to be used yet. So that hinders us. From being able to get bigger name acts and to do some bigger production sometimes. Well, let's just say all of that shall be changing soon.

Howard Fox: 8:41

That is wonderful to hear. One la couple more questions. I know you're busy and again, thank you for hosting this reception for us, this evening. Where do you see this theater say in 10 years from now?

Mayor Rickey Williams: 8:57

10 years from now, I see us being the premier place that major acts wanna stop when they're cri, when they're crisscrossing. America being on Highway 74, we are just two hours from Chicago. An hour and 15 minutes from Indy. Three hours from St. Louis. maybe three and a half hours from Louisville, Kentucky. So no matter where anyone is going to play in America, they have to cross by or not too far from Danville. And what I want us to be is their stop along the way where we get to see these big, awesome acts. That maybe wouldn't necessarily do a show here, but because they love the charm, the acoustics, because they meet such wonderfully warm and nice people here, and because it's such a beautiful setting that they say, you know what, we'll make a stop. And that we, we have our hospitality that we're known for, and that, that makes them want to come back and also tell their friends.

Howard Fox: 9:43

Excellent. One, another question. I always say one last question, but there never is, you know how that goes. It's The, your, your work with, the city of Danville. Tourism authority. You've got Vermilion County, the, and you've got the chambers. And what's it like working with them to help promote this city?

Mayor Rickey Williams: 10:01

Well, without right now, we would not be where we are without, our visitors bureau, Rhonda and Tracy, those ladies are incredible. They're dynamic. They love this community, they love our people, and as a result, they are working hard for us. But it's great because, and more than so than since I've been back as a young professional. What I am noticing is everyone is working together. It used to be folks got terrible to the city, wanted to keep its stuff, and the visitors bureau of didn't wanna give any credit to the city. And Vermillion Advantage, the economic development and Chamber of Commerce didn't work well with this, with this group. But now we are all working together, if everyone is rowing in opposite directions, it's hard to get the ship, to make any progress. But when we're all rowing together, we make a big difference. And I think the theater, the visitors bureau, And, for million advantage combined with the city and the county, we're going, we're gonna keep making progress.

Howard Fox: 10:54

I have no doubt about that. Final question, many listeners are gonna be hearing the, the collection of the interviews I do over the next couple days, and it's an opportunity for you to, to speak to all of the listeners, the thousands that listen to this podcast. Hopefully the more, what would you like to share with them about why Danville?

Mayor Rickey Williams: 11:17

Why Danville? Because we have that awesome mixture of culture, environmental, recreational opportunities, and just charm. The people here are kind and welcoming. there's lots of anything that you could wanna do. You can even scuba dive in. Danville out at Kickapoo in the old mines. Oh boy. We have a historic, nationally registered stadium. We have this beautiful fisher theater. If you are into the arts, if you are into the outdoors, if you are into sports and recreation, if you wanna just have a good meal and be surrounded by friendly, warm, kind, welcoming people, then Danville is the place to be.

Howard Fox: 11:52

That's wonderful, and I am certainly feeling very welcome, in the short time I've been here and I'm having a, a wonderful time, with, the Tourism Authority and Tracy and Rhonda, and I'm looking forward to more activity. And I really, really, from the bottom of my heart, am very appreciative that you've taken the time, to chat with us today, mayor Williams. It's been a pleasure and we wish you, Danville, Fisher Theater and whatever your other plans are. Much success. Thank you so much. Thank you. This has been amazing and just welcome to you and to everyone.

Mayor Rickey Williams: 12:21

Thank you.

Howard Fox: 12:28

And we are back for another interview here at the beautiful Fisher Theater in Danville, Illinois. And I'm here with Ashton Greer. She is the executive director of the Vermilion Heritage Foundation. I probably would be selling her short, but just saying she has a cool job, but she has a very important job and it's been the overseeing the renovation of the Fisher Theater. And Ashton, I would love to hear a little bit about that story, but first, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Ashton Greer: 12:56

Well, I will say it is a really cool job. I have three kids and every time they come in here, they're like, mom, your job is so cool. And I'm always like, it is so cool. I love it. Every day that I come in here, it just feels like I'm, I belong here and I'm supposed to be doing this work. So, a little bit about me. I've been in Danville since I was 18. I love it here. I call it my hometown. And there's a lot of. Haters and negative energy around Danville, but I truly believe it's a great place to live. I have a great quality of life and I love my community so much. I have a master's degree in organizational leadership and I have my own leadership consulting company, and I also do commercial real estate development. So this job for me is honestly a really good combination of both leadership and renovations and capital improvements and understanding how to take care of, and work, work through projects on a building like this.

Howard Fox: 13:41

Okay. And I'm curious, with that background and just with real estate, you have, you kind of have your hand in a little bit of everything and you also learn who the right people to talk to if I need, if you need something. How did you come to be involved with the renovation of the theater?

Ashton Greer: 13:59

So I came on board at the Fisher Theater in February of 2020. So the restoration happened, that was

Howard Fox: 14:05

not the best time to come. No. Start a job?

Ashton Greer: 14:07

No. but I was in healthcare before. Ah, so it was an even, a better scenario I guess for me. But, the Fisher Theater was restored in September of 2019 fully. The restoration was complete. We had our grand opening, and then I started here just a few months later. As the operations director. during that time, I did all the operations of the theater, worked with volunteers, built the programming, all of those things. And then I left the theater and I went to work for the mayor. So I was the community relations administrator for three years for the City of Danville. And during that time, I was invited to be on the board of Directors for the Fisher, became the board president. And then when the Fisher went through the transition that it has gone through this year in leadership, I opted to step into the interim director role to carry it through, and now I'm just here for good. I think I've always just kind of been involved from, from the beginning and it feels very, it just, it feels like it's supposed to be. I really have a lot of passion and a lot of. The, the knowledge from all those years being involved to carry it forward. So that's been really, really cool.

Howard Fox: 15:05

Okay. Now one thing I have to say is the fact that your kids think it's pretty cool what Mom does for a living Uhhuh and where she, and they probably look at this, I can go play in the theater and I. What has been the, your aha moment in terms of coming into this theater, seeing it through once it's been, restored and, and helping to really make it an anchor for the community and bringing. the acts and the festivities, like we're having a, a festive, a festivity this evening here as the Illinois Destinations Association kicks off their conference. What's it like to, to kind of have these events and really showcase this theater in Danville? Mm,

Ashton Greer: 15:45

that's a great question. I have a lot of pride in the Fisher, but it doesn't belong to me. It doesn't belong to the board of directors. The Fisher was restored. And is managed by a nonprofit because it really belongs to the community. And so when I came into leadership here, the primary thing that I really wanted to see improve was our. Friendliness in our ability to open our doors to our community, because that had been a complaint in the past. And I think as far as like an aha moment for me, honestly, there's nothing like this building in Danville. There's nothing like this building in in, in other parts of Illinois. it's so old, it's historic. The architecture is incredible, the sound quality, it just inspires me just being here and it's such, such a privilege to get to be here every day, honestly. And, As somebody who restores old properties, the, the commercial properties that I own are also a hundred, a hundred plus years old. It just really, there's something beautiful about restoring and preserving history and, and creating that legacy and that longevity for our citizens and for future generations.

Howard Fox: 16:46

Okay. Where do you see the theater say in 10 years from now? Or what would you like to see? Going on in this theater, the types of acts that are coming here, so, or sooner.

Ashton Greer: 16:57

Yeah. So we, when the theater got renovated in 2019, it wasn't a full renovation. So we still have several areas of this building that are unfinished, including the top two stories. The basement is completely unfinished. and there's a few other areas as well, like our gift shop, and there's some other improvements that we need to do. But what I see taking place over the next, four to six years and starting now as we, as we move into it. I see us finishing this theater. our board is really passionate about that and our, our leadership, we have a lot of people that. Have experience in grant funding and in restoration and historic preservation that are really involved with our, with our organization. So I could see us, finishing under the stage and making green rooms and dressing room space. And we actually just got a grant for that, a$280,000 grant. So we're gonna be starting that project in 2026. I can see us, after that, moving on to the upper two stories and creating office spaces for other arts organizations to have. Space under one shared roof so that we are sharing resources. We can have, residency here with other arts organizations. I could see us really completing the structure and then becoming more of an arts hub for Danville.

Howard Fox: 18:08

That was fantastic and I love that. I love that vision. Before we head out, question. I'm curious if, is there, what would you want to say to our listeners? This is the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast. I'm here for the, Illinois Destinations Association, their conference, and we're gonna talk about podcasting. So what would you want to say to all of the listeners who are gonna listen to this episode about why Danville and why? And why the, Fisher Theater?

Ashton Greer: 18:40

Okay. I would say that if you are traveling, passing through Danville, have the opportunity to make a stop here. It's just so rich with history. It's, it's the home of so many famous stars. It has a strong art. presence, but I think that, not just the Fisher Theater, but there's a lot of quaint downtown boutiques. And, we have Vermilion River Beer Company, a great place to stop. We have vineyards and breweries, and we even have an incredible, outdoor community. We have mountain biking trails, we have, state parks that are just gorgeous. So all in all, you could come here and spend a couple of days and have a great little getaway.

Howard Fox: 19:18

That's excellent. Now, when your family and friends come in from afar, and do you, do you take'em on a tour of the, theater?

Ashton Greer: 19:26

Always, always. I give tours to this theater all the time. Okay. anybody passing through Danville, it seems like, has heard of the Fisher Theater, especially because of the connections to Gene Hackman and Dick Van Dyke and Bobby Short and, and others. Many famous people have passed through here or been employed here or performed here, played, played instruments here. All of the things it seems like. It is a destination. People wanna see it, and it's really remarkable in here. It's really beautiful.

Howard Fox: 19:51

That's fantastic. And it's so, it's wonderful to hear that. to share with you, I grew up in the Detroit suburbs, and we had a Fisher theater there. And that, I don't know if it's spelled the same, but I, I know historically that was like a, a crown jewel of the city of Detroit and seeing its renovation and now. Coming to my second, Fisher Theater here in Danville. I mean, you've done a wonderful job and the team that is doing the work, and it's just absolutely fantastic and we really appreciate you, taking the time to spend with us and chanting about your role and the Fisher Theater. If our listeners would like to learn more about, the Fisher Theater and the Foundation, where are the best places to go?

Ashton Greer: 20:29

I would say go to our website, it's fisher theater.com, which is, which is F-I-S-C-H-E-R-T-H-E-A-T-R e.com.

Howard Fox: 20:40

Excellent. Well, we will have that in the show notes and as well as some photos, we will have a shot today. Ashton, it's been a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much.

Ashton Greer: 20:49

Thank you.

Howard Fox: 20:55

Hello everybody. I am back here at the Fisher Theater and I have the pleasure of introducing you to Dana Rowland from Vermilion Advantage. She is a director of the organization, which. And another way you might say it's the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development. Dana, it's such a pleasure to have you here, for this short interview, and I'm excited to be. Here for the next couple days in, in, Danville, and I'd love to hear a little bit more about you and your work with the Chamber.

Dana Rowland: 21:24

Yeah, thank you. We're happy to have you here in our community. We'd love to show it off. I'm the director of the Chamber of Commerce. We are a little different at our chamber because we are the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development, so I oversee the chamber side of things. we love our community. We oversee all of Vermillion County and we have just under 500 members.

Howard Fox: 21:45

And how big is Vermilion County? I mean, how sp spread out? Are you, I mean, is I

Dana Rowland: 21:50

think, I wanna say from end to end, we're about 90 miles. Okay. And population wise, there's about 79,000 in the county.

Howard Fox: 21:58

Okay. Now, my familiarity with the chambers and the, the Boulder City, Nevada Chamber of Commerce, I mean. There's an and economic development, there's an attraction of new businesses, to come to the city, families to move to the city, and also highlighting a lot of the experiences that are available. And that's how I actually met, Tracy and I interviewed, a couple folks from the, the, the park and Lara Danzel from the education, which was wonderful. And so what are some of the opportunities? That you are helping to facilitate here in Danville as far as the, the chamber is concerned to bring businesses, especially, the boutiques, the, the outdoor venture experiences, the restaurants. Mm-hmm. What's going on?

Dana Rowland: 22:46

We're really trying to highlight the businesses we do have to get people in our communities. So on the economic development side, we bring new business to town, but on the chamber side, we support the businesses that are here and we have, our membership is full of small businesses that we love to support. We have the most, green acres per capita in the state of Illinois, and one of our members is Kickapoo Adventures. So I don't think people realize all the things that we have here. And by supporting them and sharing what they're doing through all of our networking events or advocating, Hopefully we'll track people here and they'll wanna stay and work and play and live here. We actually just came back from a trip to DC where we went and advocated on behalf of the members here. Oh yeah. And that was a great experience to share our love for Vermilion County and hope. You know that they remember us when it's time to send some money along.

Howard Fox: 23:35

There you go. And, and I know that's hard work now, do you also rely on grant money from the, the state to kind of facilitate some of the activities? Yeah, we do

Dana Rowland: 23:43

have a couple grants that, we are working with right now. And we do have a new program that we just rolled out. It's not new, we've done it for a while, but we actually have a workforce education position right now. Jody is the director of that and she's the liaison between industry. And the schools, so K through 12 all throughout Vermilion County. Just to get those students into the pipeline of the workforce, workforce is such a big problem right now. And I think a lot of our students don't know all the opportunities here in our community. So she's done a great job with that on getting the word out, hooking those two up together and just, letting them know all the things here.

Howard Fox: 24:18

Excellent. Now from your vantage point, as the the chamber director. Here we are in the Fisher Theater. It's gone through a, a renovation. I, I just heard a little bit about that from Ashton Greer. How do you see the, the theater here and what it has to offer as being one of the anchors for future development and opportunity here for the chamber?

Dana Rowland: 24:40

Yeah, the Fisher is such a staple in our community, and it's so beautiful. I mean, just looking around, it's, they've done such an amazing job of restoring it. We love to have events here and promote it. things like this where we can get people from outside of our community into the Fisher to see what an asset it is, I think it just really draws a crowd. everything from, we've seen weddings here to the galas. And everything in between from movie night to, different businesses sponsoring events here, just knowing that we have such an asset here to share with others is it's a wonderful thing.

Howard Fox: 25:14

Excellent. Now I, I should have asked at the onset, are you originally from the Danville area?

Dana Rowland: 25:20

I am not. I'm actually from Streeter, Illinois, which is about two hours north. I know where that's at. Yeah. But my husband and I, actually just bought about eight acres here in Vermilion County to build our retirement home on. So we're empty nesters now and our bed, that's gonna be big home. Well, not too big. I want the kids to visit, but not. Stay too long. Okay. so we, yes, we, my husband is actually the welding instructor at the community college here, so we are very rooted in, in our community.

Howard Fox: 25:46

Okay. Now, what is your, the relationship, and how you work together with the tourism authority, whether it's, Danville or whether it's Vermilion County? How are you all, kind of co. Partnering together. That's the right word. Yeah. We

Dana Rowland: 26:01

love Tracy and Rover at the Visitors bureau. They're doing great things. at being the Chamber. We get calls all the time or emails saying, what is in your community? if we're coming here, we're, what hotel can we stay at? Where can we eat? And we know that we can call the visitors bureau or, Anyone in the county and have a whole list ready for them. So we often refer people to the visitors bureau and they also refer people coming to the community to us to promote our businesses.

Howard Fox: 26:26

That's fantastic. Yeah. Now, Dana, if our listeners, Are are, join this episode and they're hearing about Danville and what would you like to share with our listeners and why Danville?

Dana Rowland: 26:38

I think Danville has amazing people. I lived in Champaign County for many years and while it is also great, Danville is just home. It feels like home. You can walk down the sidewalk and be greeted by everyone. You see the community members here really want what is best. For the community. And yes, we have our problems, but the positive just really outweighs everything. There's so much to do and so much opportunity here that people, they just don't know what they don't know. And I think if they came here, they would be pleasantly surprised.

Howard Fox: 27:10

Fantastic. And something that, that's a common theme from the interviews I have been doing.

Dana Rowland: 27:15

Mm-hmm.

Howard Fox: 27:15

Now, before we, head out, I know there's the, the bar is open mm-hmm. And there's food on the table and, I'm sweating bullets. Yeah. If our listeners would like to learn more about you, Vermilion Advantage, the economic development. Yes. Where are the best places to go?

Dana Rowland: 27:30

they can check out our, our website@vermilionadvantage.com. Vermilion does have one L so I like to, to specify that. And also we have a really big social media, page on. So it's just Vermilion advantage on Facebook. we're getting ready to do our annual scarecrow contest, so you'll see those throughout the community this week while you're here. And yeah, all of our information's there.

Howard Fox: 27:51

Excellent. Now, before I, I actually let you go. I noticed there was a Sign O overhead that said the Harry Potter. Is that your doing? Yes,

Dana Rowland: 27:58

that is actually the city of Danville. They do first Fridays, the first Friday of every month, and the November theme is Harry Potter. And we have people that come from all our surrounding states to, that is our, I think their biggest one that they do at. Great.

Howard Fox: 28:11

Okay. So fantastic. Well, Dana, it's been a pleasure to chat with you. I hope we get to do some more chatting Yeah. over the next couple days and in the future. Thank you so much. All

Dana Rowland: 28:19

right. Thank you.

Howard Fox: 28:26

And we are back for another, mini, podcast interview here at the beautiful Fisher Theater in Danville, Illinois. And I have the pleasure of chatting with, Rihanna Alis. She is the, community relations administrator, for the city of Danville. And. She's got some really fun things she gets to do. And so first off, Rhianna, it's a pleasure to have you on the podcast.

Rheanna Ollis: 28:49

Yeah, thank you. I'm really excited to be here and excited to have, all of the IDA here.

Howard Fox: 28:54

yes. It's very nice. And I am, I'm excited to be here. Yes. And present to the IDA. So tell us a little bit about your role here in Danville.

Rheanna Ollis: 29:02

Yeah, absolutely. So I am the community relations administrator. I do everything from fun events and event series, like our first Fridays event series to more of the less fun stuff of branding and consistent branding to, in general communications. We're on news channels. We write press releases. We do all of the fun communication things. We're often called the party planners. The party

Howard Fox: 29:25

planner. I love it. Now you, you said a couple words that really piqued my interest. Yeah. First Fridays and a lot of communities have First Fridays and what makes the first Fridays here in Danville unique.

Rheanna Ollis: 29:37

So what makes ours unique is that they're always changing. So every first Friday of the month, we have a different theme, not just music, not just food trucks. we have a different theme every single month. we decorate the entire downtown for the day for it, and we really just celebrate. It's a great time to be able to just sit down and take a breath and be off, whatever devices you're on and just enjoy being with people. I always say one of my favorite parts about first Fridays is that, People when you're walking around, people aren't on their phones. They're chatting with each other and giving each other hugs. People you haven't seen in a long time to, we have a group of guys that sits outside one of our local bars here, and they pop up their chairs and they're all matching and they're all cute sitting together listening to the music. So, I mean. Everything from that to bounce houses and activities, like an egg drop for the kids. It's a little bit of everything, which, what makes it unique.

Howard Fox: 30:26

That is fantastic. I noticed, as I was kind of touring around downtown, I mean, it's just a really quaint little downtown. Yes. And a very enjoyable, a lot of boutiques. there's even a coffee shop nearby, which is the near and dear to my heart. Oh,

Rheanna Ollis: 30:39

yes.

Howard Fox: 30:40

What is the unique, what is some of your first. Favorite first Friday activities that you have been involved with or what, is there anything that kind of stands out for you as being very memorable?

Rheanna Ollis: 30:49

Yeah. we have. Two events that I would say. One is a traditional event that we do. Danville's, got Talent. we bring in contestants from all over Vermilion County, let them compete right here actually on the Fisher stage. we give them prizes and we just celebrate local talent from. We have people, Dick Van Dyke and Gene Hackman, and we have astronauts from here. So we have a really cool history with talent. Anyway, so Daniel's got talent's, a really special moment for us. being able to put, I mean, even children, young children on the stage and letting them perform for 700 plus people is. Absolutely amazing. And we get excited every year because we get so close to Absolutely Filling The Fisher, which is a special moment. All on its own.

Howard Fox: 31:31

All on its own. All on

Rheanna Ollis: 31:32

it. Yep. Now are you

Howard Fox: 31:33

originally from Danville?

Rheanna Ollis: 31:34

Actually, I'm from, just outside of Danville. I'm from Oakwood originally. But being from a small town like that, you don't have places to shop or eat or whatever it may be. So I grew up in Danville essentially my whole life. Yeah,

Howard Fox: 31:46

that is fantastic. Now, when friends come to visit. What are your go-tos if, okay, first Friday's covered?

Rheanna Ollis: 31:52

Yep,

Howard Fox: 31:53

you gotta come visit me in first Friday, but when other friends and family come to visit. What's your go-tos for them?

Rheanna Ollis: 31:59

Oh, this is a shout out, but not on purpose and definitely not sponsored Mad Goat Coffee. That is a die hard for me. Anytime I have to set up a meeting or bring somebody new into town, mad Goat coffee's right off the interstate here, so we always stop in there and grab a good drink. They've never failed to impress anybody I've brought there. and then here, here's another one of the great locations that I'm always bringing people to and being able to show off. The Fisher's beautiful. It's super special for Danville, so yeah.

Howard Fox: 32:28

You have connections that'll open the door for you here?

Rheanna Ollis: 32:30

Yeah, the, current director was actually my, boss and I took her role as community relations administrator. So not only a little connection, but a big connection. So yeah, ashing was a blessing.

Howard Fox: 32:42

I love that. And by the way, to Matt, go coffee. I found them yesterday when I got to Danville. I bought my, pound of coffee and I took it back to the room. They ground even grounded it for me, and I have good coffee in the room instead of the, those little devices. So,

Rheanna Ollis: 32:57

or their pastries. They were, I literally went in there this morning for my regular morning coffee. Of course. I work in government. I have to have a coffee to get my day started. Of course. they were literally rolling their pastry dough, like you can see them doing everything handmade, which is amazing. You don't always get that, especially in a smaller town or city like we have here. Mm-hmm. So it's really cool that we have not only one location of Mad Go, but two locations. One in South Danville and one in North Danville.

Howard Fox: 33:22

That's fantastic. One last, two last questions. Sure. For our listeners that are gonna be part, listening to this episode, they're all over the world and they come into the United States and they, they, what are we gonna do when we get here? Why Danville?

Rheanna Ollis: 33:36

Because why else? Why not try it out and see what you like? The fun part of traveling and coming to do different places that we're all unique in our own ways. But your uniqueness depends on you. So it's not gonna depend on my thing. What I might love might not be what you love. So I say just come travel around, experience it, see what you like. We have not only a great city here, central, but we have a really cool, a lot of small communities around us. So just come visit, pick us, choose us,

Howard Fox: 34:03

choose choose you guys. I, I love it. I love it. Now if our listeners would like to learn a little bit more about you, the work you're doing for the city of Danville, where's the best place to go?

Rheanna Ollis: 34:13

Two places. If you're looking into First Fridays in downtown Danville, check out First Fridays danville.com, or if you're looking for City of Danville, things I manage, the entire website is city of danville.org.

Howard Fox: 34:24

Fantastic. Well, Rihanna, it's been a pleasure to, have you join me for this short, podcast episode. We really appreciate you taking the time and. I know you have a lot of friends here and they're waiting for you to get back, but thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Rheanna Ollis: 34:37

Thank you.

Howard Fox: 34:43

Okay, everybody, we are back here, still at the Fisher Theater. it's about a quarter to six beautiful fall day in Danville, Illinois. We have a reception going on, behind, me right now and. I saw this really handsome guy and and gal, they were just standing around doing absolutely nothing. It's like, what are you guys doing here? Well, that's a joke folks, but I have the pleasure of introducing you to Michael and Stephanie Ewing. Michael and Stephanie have a nice, embroidered, tops on with a logo. It's called the local. There's a knife and a fork there. So I'm guessing you guys are caterers? Yes sir, we are. And how did you get started catering here in Danville?

Stephanie & Michael: 35:25

Well, I've lived half my life in Danville and half my life in Covington. So we just, we come here a lot and, yeah. Okay.

Howard Fox: 35:31

Born and raised here and decided to give it a try. Now you had said Michael, you kind of spent a little time away chasing aliens in New Mexico. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. And when did you all decide to come back? I've been back three years. Three years, but the restaurant's been middle. For three years also. Okay, so the local is also a restaurant? It was. It was a

Stephanie & Michael: 35:50

restaurant was, we closed in April to pursue catering and we're actually moving to Danville. Okay. Yes, we're building a tiny house that's gonna go at Vermilion River Beer Company.

Howard Fox: 36:00

Tiny. I love tiny homes. In fact, that's where I probably will be looking.'cause like I live in Las Vegas and everything is incredibly expensive. Yeah, I believe that. So little tiny homes would be just about right. so you had the restaurant, how did you decide to follow up with the pursue the catering? That's a hard, hard gig. I think the people did for us.

Stephanie & Michael: 36:20

They did. People did. That's the perfect answer. They did. When I opened the restaurant, I did, it never even occurred to me to do catering, and then people started asking, and then it just took off from there.

Howard Fox: 36:28

Okay. Now what are you all known for in, in your, culinary, journey? Chips and dip, or

Stephanie & Michael: 36:35

you make a Housemaid chips and pimento chip. Yeah. I kind of wanna say we little do a little bit of everything. When we're cooking. We're known for our burgers. And then with catering, I think we're known for upscale. Dining more. Okay. We do a lot of plated meals, catering meals.

Howard Fox: 36:51

Okay. Now for the guest here at the reception for the ida's reception and, and we're having it here again, folks at the Beautiful Fisher Theater. What, what are the, guests enjoying this evening?

Stephanie & Michael: 37:02

We have a spinach and artichoke dip with house-made tortillas. We have, Turkey cranberry jam and provolone sliders, jumbo shrimp cocktail pesto, goat cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes with house-made crackers, a lemon bars. A fruit tray and a vegetable tray.

Howard Fox: 37:20

Excellent. So Michael, I was gonna ask you, who's the boss? Why we, you and I both know the answer to that. That's the boss. Yeah. What is it that you enjoy about this? This type of business and kind of helping them put smile on people, people's faces. It's different. Different. We get to cook fun food that people give us ideas to do for'em, and it is just enjoyable. Yeah. Now, do you ever go, honey, I've got this idea for a dish. I've been trying to do that. It's not working out rabbits. Hunting rabbits. Yes, sir. See, I have friends back in Chicago there. There's a huge Belgian community there. Rabbit Stew, Belgian style rabbit st. See, there you go. Go. There you go. You'll, you, trust me, you will get people coming down from Chicago for this, right? Authentic Belgian style rabbit stew. You got that stuff

Stephanie & Michael: 38:04

tomorrow. I would give Rabbit a try. I said I would give Rabbit a try. I won't give sloppy Joes a try. That's what he

Howard Fox: 38:10

wants me to do next.

Stephanie & Michael: 38:11

And I,

Howard Fox: 38:12

I have, I'll do that. I love it. I love it. Now if our listeners are coming to Danville, they, they, or they want to learn more about. this wonderful operation you have the local, where's the best place for them to go?

Stephanie & Michael: 38:24

the local Covington one at Gmail.

Howard Fox: 38:27

Okay. And you have a website?

Stephanie & Michael: 38:29

That's our website. The local Covington one at.

Howard Fox: 38:33

Okay. dot.com. Com. Dot com.

Stephanie & Michael: 38:35

That's my email. Address's, not my website. Stephanie, I may be working this

Howard Fox: 38:38

evening, but my head is still on straight. Mine

Stephanie & Michael: 38:41

is not.

Howard Fox: 38:41

Okay.

Stephanie & Michael: 38:42

Yes. You could email me too. Oh, we can email. You got everything? Yes. There

Howard Fox: 38:45

you go. Nice. Nice recovery. Yes. See, we're not even gonna cut that out. Michael. are you also on social sites as well? We're all social media. Okay. Like Facebook. Facebook, Instagram. Excellent. Excellent. We have a website. The local? The local. Yeah. Covington one.com, right? We got it buddy. We got it. We got it. Listen, I want to thank you both for, ch briefly chatting with me on the podcast. And it again, it's, I love this the fact everybody's just so friendly out here. Yes, sir. You guys are doing a bang up job and keeping, people fed. And, I'm gonna go look for a, a, a beverage. Now, it's not gonna be an adult beverage, but it'll be a beverage. Thank you both for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. I am back here, at the, Fisher Theater here in beautiful Danville, Illinois. It's, Tuesday night. There's been a reception that was hosted by, the mayor, of Danville, mayor Ricky, Williams, and we're all having a great time. And I came across this gentleman very distinguished looking. And somebody had said, well, he's in the hotel business. And I said, is his last name Patel? And then sure enough, he's in the hotel business. But no. All joking aside, it's a pleasure to introduce you to PB Patel. He's a vice president of Sunrise Hospitality. PB, it's a pleasure to meet you. How are you doing today?

P.B. Patel: 40:09

You too. I'm doing great. It's nice evening.

Howard Fox: 40:11

Yes, it is. Yes it is. Yeah. How long have you been in Danville? I'm on 21 years. 21 years.

P.B. Patel: 40:17

Yes.

Howard Fox: 40:18

as far as Sunrise hospitality, how has the hotel, business and the spaces, how has it evolved over the years to really be, help be an anchor for the development that's going on in and around Danville?

P.B. Patel: 40:32

Well, We started a new hotel in 2003 to develop Holiday Next Express, and we opened the door on April 1st, 2020, 2004. Yeah. And then we have seen the opportunity for the future, and then after three year we started another construction for a e in that was against 74 unit with the Hilton grant. Mm-hmm. And, again, we see another opportunity. So we started Downplay Streets by Marriott and which was open in 2019. Okay. So we, we did quite good legwork in Danville. We have a lot of support from the city of Danville as well as. Convention, visa Bureau One Advantage and all of that stuff.

Howard Fox: 41:20

Okay. And how are the hotel spaces being used? Who's coming in and staying at the hotels? Are, are, and that question, and I have another one after that regarding the length of stay, but who's coming and staying at the hotels

P.B. Patel: 41:33

normally there are a lot of small corporations which are inviting the visitors here and all the weekdays we have. A road construction crew. We have a lot of corporate executive who is coming for the man getting it manufacturing facility, use some warehousing corporations. Are there that, what system support guys are here. Like some, they are putting SAP or some computer work mm-hmm. In the warehousing automation. So we a lot of different type of, people. We are seeing some of the overflow from of Illinois, like a football game. University of Illinois Mom's Day, father's Day. Mm-hmm. As well as graduation. Okay. We are surrounded by three major university like, university of Illinois at Urbana Champion, about 45 mile west. what university at Lafayette? About 50 mile Northeast and, Bloomington, Illinois. Indiana. That is Indiana University. It's about 70 miles southeast. Okay, so that's a reasonable, so we have reasonable, attraction from universities, lot of construction activity, group cell on the weekend like a wedding. And NGCA to Nomin is a big. Okay. Kick up, start for the Danville in March. Middle of the march. That's

Howard Fox: 43:00

big here from what I've been learning. Yes. Right. And what other are you seeing? The, in increasing, beds, bed rentals because of the increasing activities with tourism and the sporting activities coming into the Danville area.

P.B. Patel: 43:15

Yes, we do. And we always welcome any group, any events we make that happen, we try to accommodate them based with our ability. And we give best service.

Howard Fox: 43:27

That's excellent. Well, PB it's been a pleasure to, to chat with you a little bit. I know, I came over to you because I had read the article on CNN and the history about the Patel family coming over from India. But all joking aside, you have such an important role in the community here. And, I, and it's just wonderful that you're here and supporting this event for the, Illinois Destinations Association. So it's a pleasure to meet you.

P.B. Patel: 43:50

You too. And thank you. You're very welcome.

Howard - Fischer Outro: 43:58

Alright folks, that's a wrap from here at the Fisher Theater here in Danville, Illinois. I am here, for the next couple days, Teddy, the Illinois Destinations Association annual, fall meeting, and have the pleasure of presenting to the. attendees at the meeting. But first we had a wonderful reception here at the Fisher Theater here in Danville, Illinois. and I will say this theater is fantastic. It's gorgeous. What a renovation that has taken place, and I am only, can imagine, what a, what future. experiences and pre, performances are gonna take place, here at the theater. We really appreciate Mayor Ricky Williams, for hosting this reception. And I personally would like to thank, mayor Williams for taking some time out of, the. festivities this evening to, join us on a short interview. I'd also like to thank Ashton Greer, the Executive Director of the Vermilion Foundation. Dana Rowland, the Director of the Vermilion Advantage. That's the ver chamber of Commerce here in Vermilion County. Rihanna, ALIS, who is Communications relations, a, a administrator. We've also had Michael and Stephanie Ewing, our caterers for this evening's event, as well as PB Patel, VP of Sunrise Hospitality. Now remember, folks, you can listen to this episode wherever you get your podcasts from. You can also find it on our Facebook and LinkedIn pages and the video of this podcast, which will also include, some photos that were taken around Danville. Earlier today will be included as a part of that video as well. Okay folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there and have a fantastic day. and we look forward to sharing a couple more, podcast, episodes with you from here at the Illinois Destinations Association, fall meeting. So until then, take care of yourselves and we'll talk to you soon. Bye now.