Fairport Harbor Tourism Council celebrates 15th anniversary

Apr. 14—Fairport Harbor Tourism Council marked an important point in its history by honoring a special person.

Council President Pat Spivak received an award at an event during which the group celebrated its 15th anniversary.

The recognition was planned as a surprise to Spivak from other members of the tourism council board, said Pam Morse, who serves as the panel's vice president.

"We want to sincerely thank Pat for all of her work and efforts over the last 15 years," Morse said.

Fairport Harbor Tourism Council commemorated its 15th anniversary with an evening program on April 11 at the Fairport Harbor Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7754.

Spivak has been president of the tourism council since its inception.

"She's given countless hours to our organization and this community," Morse said.

Morse also said Spivak has provided the council with strong leadership.

"She really saw a lot of things that (other board members) couldn't see, and she brought it forward," Morse said.

Spivak also played a pivotal role in establishing the tourism council. During the April 11 program, she recounted some key moments in the council's history.

In 2007, Spivak was serving as vice president of the Finnish Heritage Museum in Fairport Harbor, which had opened in June of that same year.

"And in the fall, we got an invitation to attend a meeting at the Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake," Spivak said. "The director of Ohio tourism was going to be there."

When Spivak arrived at the meeting, she noticed displays with travel brochures and information on tourist attractions in towns throughout Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties. She wondered why Fairport Harbor couldn't be taking similar steps to attract tourists.

"I'm sitting there, thinking, 'Fairport Harbor's missing the boat,' " she said.

Spivak said that when she got back to the village she contacted then-Mayor Frank Sarosy and Doug Harrison, who served on Village Council at the time, and talked with them about forming a tourism group and start promoting Fairport Harbor.

"So Mayor Sarosy told me to go ahead and organize something," Spivak said. "So I invited a lot of organizations, like the Fairport Mardi Gras Committee, the Fairport Harbor Marine Museum and Lighthouse, and various people, and we started meeting and getting organized."

Spivak showed the audience at the April 11 event a copy of the council's first promotional brochure on Fairport Harbor tourism.

"We had no money, but Sid Rose and Dale Workman, residents of Fairport Harbor, they both paid for us to have 1,000 of these printed," she said. "So that's how we got started."

Spivak recalled some of the council's earliest efforts to draw people into the village.

"We started with the Harbor Strolls, we would do those once a month on a Wednesday, and get the businesses involved," she said. "We wanted to bring in people to help the new businesses that were opening."

The tourism council also sponsored Ladies Night Out events for two or three years, as well as Wine and Chocolate Walks, she said.

Today, the council's major annual fundraiser is the Masquerade Magic event, which was held this year on Feb. 23. The council also generates funds through the Great Fairport Harbor Quack Race, which will take place Sept. 17 during the Fairport Harbor Community Day event in Memorial Park.

"And last year, we purchased an eight-passenger golf cart to give tours of Fairport Harbor Village," Spivak said.

Morse, who also talked about the council's programs and accomplishments, said visitors are encouraged to call and book tours, which are given from Memorial Day through the month of September.

"We've had people from Brecksville, the state of Michigan, central Ohio, Chardon, lots of folks from all over, who've gone on our golf-cart tours," she said.

One the council's current projects is a Fairport Harbor destination sign, where visitors can pose alongside for cellphone pictures and post them on social media accounts.

Morse said the tourism council has gotten approval from the village Planning Commission to place the sign in Finn Hollow Park, which is located next to the Finnish Heritage Museum at 301 High St. It's anticipated that the sign will be installed this fall.

The sign will actual consist of three elements: 5-foot tall "F" and "H" letters with a 7-foot tall lighthouse in the middle. Various colors are now being considered for the sign, Morse said.

Over the past 15 years, the Fairport Harbor Tourism Council's has raised "probably $250,000 or more" to promote the village through tourism, while "thousands and thousands of man hours" have been devoted by the group's volunteers, Morse noted.

"Fairport Harbor Tourism Council always is in the background and helping, and trying to get the trajectory stronger, higher, taller and quicker," she said.