November  2014                                                                                             Issue No. 1411

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Odessa Convention and Visitors Bureau 
Hot News

CVB News      

 

CVB Staff member Shelia Pippins attended the Rejuvenate Marketplace in Atlanta, Georgia, October 27-30. Rejuvenate Marketplace is an innovative, appointment-only trade show designed specifically with faith-based meeting planners' needs in mind. Shelia attended the event as part of Team Texas, and promoted Odessa as an ideal destination for faith-based events. 
 

Jeff Meyers, CVB Sport Specialist, will participate in the TEAMS Travel Showcase, November 10-13 in Las Vegas. Jeff will meet with event rights holders from across the country and sell Odessa as a sporting event destination. 

 

Congratulations to the Permian Basin International Oil Show on a successful record breaking year!  The Odessa CVB estimates the economic impact of the 3 day event to be over 6 million dollars!  

 

Tourism and Other News
 
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Arabia Harris, BCS CVB & Olivia Mancha, Odessa CVB at the Balloon Festival
TEAM TEXAS promoted Texas and its mid-sized cities to thousands of potential visitors at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico, October 4-12.  The Odessa CVB sent team member Olivia Mancha to Albuquerque to represent our city. Olivia spent four days promoting Odessa to visitors from Texas, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. TEAM TEXAS has been exhibiting at the Balloon Fiesta since 2004 with great success. 
 

PROS 2012 The Odessa CVB volunteer group, People Representing Odessa's Smiles (P.R.O.S.) had a work day on October 27 at the Chamber offices.  They assisted the staff with organizing convention group items, and helped get stuffed Jack Ben Rabbits ready for the holiday season. The P.R.O.S. are a great group of volunteers that help the Odessa Convention and Visitors Bureau with different tourism related projects, as well as assist with visiting convention groups throughout the year.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the P.R.O.S. please contact Lawanna Lambert at 333-7872.

 

Meaning of Thanksgiving - The Real Celebration

 

For many of us, the meaning of Thanksgiving usually includes feasting, four-day weekends, football games, floats, family reunions, or a forerunner to Christmas festivities. The "first Thanksgiving," however, was neither a feast nor a holiday, but a simple gathering. Following the Mayflower's arrival at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620, the Pilgrims suffered the loss of 46 of their original 102 colonists. With the help of 91 Indians, the remaining Pilgrims survived the bitter winter and yielded a bountiful harvest in 1621. In celebration, a traditional English harvest festival, lasting three days brought the Pilgrims and natives to unite in a "thanksgiving" observance.

 

This "thanksgiving" meal would not be celebrated again until June of 1676. On June 29 the community of Charlestown, Massachusetts proclaimed a day of thanksgiving for their good fortune. Ironically, this celebration excluded the Indians, as the colonists' recognized their recent victory over the "heathen natives." One hundred years later, in October of 1777, all 13 colonies participated in a one-time "thanksgiving" celebration which commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. It would take a span of over 150 more years to establish Thanksgiving as we celebrate it -- George Washington proclaimed it a National holiday in 1789, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November in 1863, and Congress sanctioned it as a legal holiday in 1941.
 
 

Information obtained from http://www.allabouthistory.org/meaning-of-thanksgiving.htm, October 27, 2014

 

In This Issue
CVB News
Tourism & Other News
Thanksgiving
Calendar of Events
Contact Us

  

  November 1

 
Free Community Art Day
Ellen No�l Art Museum


 

November 2

   

Flash Dance Musical
Wagner No�l Performing
Arts Center


 

 November 6-9


 Merry Marketplace
Ector County Coliseum


 

November 7-8, 14-15


 

Alicia in Wonder Tierra
Globe Theatre


 

November 11


 

Don Williams
 Wagner No�l Performing
Arts Center

  

November 18


 

George Carden Circus
Ector County Coliseum


 

November 22-23


 

Tejano Super Car Show
Ector County Coliseum


 

November 23

  


 

PB String Quartet
Death & the Maiden


 Wagner No�l Performing
Arts Center 


 

November 29-30


 

Tis' Christmas Holiday
Craft Show

Ector County Coliseum 

 

 

 Full Calendar

  

Contact Us  
CVB Director
Web Administrator &
Convention Sales
  
Sport Sales Specialist
  
Convention Servicing Specialist
  
Administrative Assistant
  
Odessa CVB
700 N. Grant, Suite 200
432-333-7871
    1-800-780-4678    
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