Welcome Inside

Every good tourism district has a website, but how many of those offer an inside view of the tourism department itself?  So much goes on between the tourism office and the various local business and attractions, and it's crucial that the community not be left out.  Fliers, press releases, and brochures are all well and good, but we're here to connect with the most important people in the tourism community -- you.  My name is Stephen Jefferies, and as a summer intern here at the Shelby County Office of Tourism / Lake Shelbyville Area CVB, I'm here to do exactly that.

Well, that and drink all of their coffee.

To give you a quick glimpse of the lens you'll be looking through, allow me a few words about myself.  I've lived in Shelbyville since March of 2002 and recently entered the Master's program at Eastern Illinois University.  I've enjoyed writing even further back than I can remember.  According to my parents, I wrote my first story when I was four.  It was three pages of tape-bound brown construction paper titled with brightly colored, proportionality skewed crayon letters.  It was entitled Staples (though I’m sure it wasn’t spelled correctly).  Each page bore a single message scribbled at the top, complete with anatomically mutated stick figures and oversized etchings of the namesake office supply:


Page 1: “Staples are sharp.”   Page 2: "Staples can hurt.”   Page 3: “Staples can kill.”

In retrospect, I’m surprised my parents never took me in for psychiatric evaluation, but nonetheless, this creation marked the beginning of something that I’ve not yet grown out of -- a love of writing.  My other hobbies range all over the spectrum, from racquetball and skiing to computers and tabletop games.  I love cats, despise mushrooms, and find the inconsistencies and ambiguities in our language hilarious.  Just look at the comma in "let's eat, grandma."  It makes a big difference.

As the summer continues so will this blog, and I won't be the only one manning it.  Check back each week to see what's happening not just in the Shelby County Tourism office, but all around the lake itself.

Be sure to visit the official Lake Shelbyville Website @ www.lakeshelbyville.com

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