Contact:
Myrna George
President
South County Tourism Council
4808 Tower Hill Road, Suite 101
Wakefield, RI 02879
mgeorge@southcountyri.com

Touring South County

The sun shone on the South County Tourism Council during this spring�s newly created tour �South County: By Land, By Sea, and By Air� as part of Tour Rhode Island, which kicked off Tourism Week in Rhode Island.

This latest addition was another sellout, as well as our two established tours, �South County Art & Culture� and �South County, Where Nature Meets History.� For eight years, Tour Rhode Island has celebrated tourism�s contributions to the state and emphasized the value of tourism to all residents.

In early May, Ann Lessman, Tim Cranston and Jim Rugh guided visitors around the beautiful sights of South County, including the Nathanael Greene Homestead, Babcock-Smith House, Langworthy Farm, South County Museum, Gilbert Stuart Museum, Smith's Castle, US Fish & Wildlife, Carpenter's Grist Mill, Seabee Museum, Quonset Air Museum, and last but not least The Jewels of the Bay.�

The Tourism Council recognized Kristen Picard, URI volunteer who oversaw this year's Tour Rhode Island for South County.�

Picard coordinated the South County tours, and also organized a non-perishable food drive for the Rhode Island Community Food Bank in conjunction with the tours. Sightseers were simply asked to bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the food bank and responded generously. Rhode Islanders continue to struggle with record-high unemployment, the economy is lagging and demand at local food pantries has increased 30 percent in the past year. Food pantries are stretching their donations to help feed as many families as possible and drives such as this help keep the shelves stocked.

Myrna George, South County Tourism Council President and CEO, praised Picard for her dual efforts.

�Kristen went above and beyond while earning her stripes as a much appreciated South County Tourism Ambassador,� George said. �She has become a 'star' on the team of Tour Rhode Island.�

The South County Tourism Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the towns of Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, West Greenwich and Westerly as a leisure travel destination. For more information, please visit www.southcountyri.com.