Club Meeting – September 15th, 2016

Pete Eshelman is Director of Outdoor Branding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership and Director of Roanoke Outside.  Today Mr. Eshelman brought us up to date on Roanoke Outdoors.  His comments enumerated the many natural resources and outdoor activities that contribute to the quality of life in our region.  These natural and manmade resources were not truly realized till the turn of the century when their promotion became an important part of our economic development efforts.  The regions natural beauty and scope of outdoor activities aid to attract both businesses and employees to the region.

The Roanoke Regional Partnership has made a determined effort to build an “outdoor brand” for the area and now the success of marketing that brand is helping to build the region.  It is no surprise “the more folks like an area the better the growth of the region”.  The development of greenways, cycling trails, running events, improvements to accessing natural resources along with many other initiatives over the past several years have put us on the national map.  Mr. Eshelman passion and vision have facilitated the success outcome of these development efforts .

Visit the Roanoke Regional Partnership learn how you can help build our region and Roanoke Outdoors to explore new ways to have fun in out neck of the woods.  Some other links to get you started below.

In 2015 Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine readers voted Roanoke Valley region sites Best of the Blue Ridge.

“Over the past several years, the Roanoke region’s reputation as an outdoor recreation destination has steadily grown, gaining accolades and recognition from around the country for its abundance of, and ease of access to, a huge amount of outdoor resources. As 2015 begins, yet another outdoor entity is singing the praises of Roanoke’s infrastructure, events, and the companies it supports.”

On Roanoke.org’s Get2KnowNoke page, the second photo of slideshow is about “Friends, Family, Community”.  The picture is Main Street in Salem during Olde Salem Days.

Another Rotary sponsored outdoor event, the first Star City Gran Fondo will be held on October 15, 2016.  Organized by the Rotary Club the Blue Ridge New Generations.

The next Blue Ridge Marathon will be held April 22, 2017, has established itself nationally as “America’s Toughest Road Marathon”