May 30, 2013– The Minot Area Council of the Arts announces an exciting line-up for the 6^th annual Integrity Jazz Festival. Headlining the event is the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, the most popular and sought after big band in the world today for both concert and swing dance engagements.

Nick Hilscher leads and directs the Glenn Miller Orchestra. In 1998, Nick became the featured male vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. His touring has taken him to all fifty United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Japan.

Music lovers can settle in at the Scandinavian Heritage Park for a full day of nonstop entertainment from 1 – 8 PM. The family friendly atmosphere includes artists and artisans, prizes, food and (of course), great jazz!

The award winning Pivetta Duo, a husband and wife team from North Carolina, will perform with extreme versatility, diversity and accomplishment.  “Bismarck’s Little Big Band” features top regional musicians and exciting Latin percussion styles.  The Swing Band of Minot and a Youth Spotlight round out the day. Glenn Miller Orchestra alum and festival director Steve Veikley has assembled the “Between the Acts” combo to insure a seamless musical day.

Seven’s Restaurant hosts the jam session at 9 PM, free with your festival wristband, come one come all!

Tickets, $15 in advance or $20 at the gate, are available at the Minot Area Council of the Arts office, 1809 South Broadway, telephone 701-852-2787 or on the website www.integrityjazzfestival.com.

Photo Credit : Nodak Speedway

While mother nature can be a race tracks best friend or worst enemy the Nodak Speedway is firing up their engines and ready for the summer sun to arrive.  This summer marks the 61st year of racing for the Nodak Speedway.  There is racing almost every Sunday evening and many great special race nights set up for the upcoming season. Nodak’s featured  race classes include IMCA Hobby Stocks,  IMCA Sportmods, INEX Legends, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Modified.

The Northern Outlaw Sprint Cars will be making their way to the Magic City this Sunday, June 2nd at 5pm.  With no rain in the forecast for Sunday it looks to be a great night of racing.  On the Fourth of July they will be doing a special night of racing followed by fireworks.  Also in the month of July they will be hosting the  Dakota Classic Modified Tour on Sunday, July 7th at 6pm.

The World of Outlaws will be tearing into town on Sunday, August 1st for their annual performance at the Nodak Speedway.

If you love racing we want to hear from you!  Tell us your favorite Featured Class at Nodak Speedway and we will put your name into a drawing to win two adult passes and two children passes for one race this summer.   Just leave a comment on our blog and your name will be entered into our drawing.  We will draw our winner on Thursday, June 6th.  Good Luck!

We’re Ready For You!

It can be a hassle to search hotel availability. Right here you can see hotel availability for all of Minot, ND. Looking for great Minot Restaurants, Entertainment, or Shopping in the Magic City? And of course COUPONS!  We have that too, all at VisitMinot.org.

HYATT HOUSE MINOT CELEBRATES OFFICIAL OPENING

130-room Hyatt House location marks North Dakota’s first Hyatt-branded hotel

Minot, ND (May 29, 2013) – Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and Interstate Hotels & Resorts today announce the opening of HYATT house Minot, North Dakota’s first Hyatt-branded hotel.

On top of Minot’s North Hill, HYATT house Minot overlooks the Magic City and offers the conveniences of hotel living with the comforts of home. Located near the Bakken Formation, three miles away from Minot State University, two miles from Minot International Airport and nearby to local shopping, HYATT house Minot is a refreshing choice for business and leisure travelers alike.

“We are proud to open the very first Hyatt-branded hotel in North Dakota, right in the heart of the Magic City,” said David Wick, general manager, HYATT house Minot. “We look forward to welcoming guests with the authentic hospitality for which Hyatt and HYATT house are known.”

HYATT house Minot offers:

·         130 residentially inspired upscale guestrooms in studio, one- and two-bedroom kitchen suites

·         Kitchen Suites feature real kitchens, living space and bedrooms 

·         Free Wi-Fi access and remote printing throughout the hotel

·         Complimentary full hot breakfast served daily, featuring made-to-order omelets and other rotating savory options like bacon, sausage, French Toast, waffles and more

·         Evening Social with complimentary savory bites, beer and wine and an H BAR featuring the Sip+Savor Menu – a delicious menu of home-cooked comforts and full bar

·         More than 400 square feet of flexible, high-tech meeting/function space for business or social gatherings

·         Range of public spaces, including a 24-hour workout room, Guest Market & guest laundry facilities in addition to indoor pool and a patio complete with barbeque grills, a fire pit, and lounge area

·         24/7 Guest Market, plus a complimentary grocery shopping available to our guests

·         Pet-friendly policy that welcomes dogs or cats

“With more than double the square footage of any hotel in Minot, we believe that HYATT house Minot will be a welcoming space where those who stay here feel like more than guests, they feel like residents,” said Barry Farah, managing member of North Hill Suites, LLC, HYATT house Minot’s owner. Farah functioned as the general contractor on the hotel project to ensure high quality finishes throughout.

HYATT house Minot LEADERSHIP

HYATT house Minot is under the leadership of General Manager, David Wick and Director of Sales, Lorena Starkey. In his role, David Wick is directly responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the hotel, including overseeing the hotel’s associates and ensuring guests encounter the purposeful service for which HYATT house is known. Wick is joined by Starkey, director of sales, who is responsible for providing sales service and support to travelers and meeting planners frequenting the Minot area.

ABOUT HYATT house

HYATT house, a brand of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, launched in 2012. Inspired by extensive research of guest experiences, HYATT house is designed to welcome guests rather than residents and offer services, amenities, upscale spaces and a casual, comfortable environment that reminds guests of home. Residentially inspired studios, one- and two-bedroom suites feature contemporary full kitchens, living space with flat panel HDTVs and bedrooms with a plush bed. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel. The Morning Spread, a complimentary full hot breakfast featuring a made-to-order Omelet Bar, is served daily as well as a complimentary Evening Social with savory bites, beer and wine at some locations. In lieu of the Evening Social, some locations have an H BAR featuring the Sip+Savor menu and full bar. Public spaces include a 24-hour workout room, Guest Market and laundry facilities. A friendly House Host is available to check-in guests, provide directions or help with other needs to help guests feel at home. The brand is committed to helping guests keep their real-life routines rolling while on the road. HYATT house earned the top spot in the upscale extended stay category in Business Travel News’ 2012 Hotel Chain Survey, based on a survey of corporate travel buyers. Additionally, the brand was named one of the 10 Best Hotel Chains for Families by Parents Magazine. Chosen amongst more than 70 hotel chains, HYATT house was recognized for its convenient, functional, and family-friendly amenities, with separate parent and child sleeping areas topping the list.

To learn more about HYATT house or to book a reservation, visit http://www.hyatthouse.com or call 866-XS-HYATT (866-974-9288).

About Interstate Hotels & Resorts

Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of a 50/50 joint venture between subsidiaries of Thayer Lodging Group and Jin Jiang Hotels, is the leading U.S.-based global hotel management company, operating branded full- and select-service hotels and resorts, convention centers and independent hotels worldwide.  Interstate and its affiliates manage 352 hotels with nearly 67,000 rooms in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, including six wholly owned hotels.  In addition, Interstate has executed agreements to manage 38 hotels with 7,300 rooms under construction or development throughout the world.  For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts worldwide, please visit www.interstatehotels.com. Connect with Interstate at www.linkedin.com/company/interstate-hotels-resorts, www.facebook.com/InterstateHotels, and http://jobs.interstatehotels.com.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality. The Company’s subsidiaries manage, franchise, own and develop hotels and resorts under the Hyatt®, Park Hyatt®, Andaz®, Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Hyatt Place®and Hyatt House®brand names and have locations on six continents. Hyatt Residential Group, Inc., a Hyatt Hotels Corporation subsidiary, develops, operates, markets or licenses Hyatt Residences^TM and Hyatt Residence Club^TM. As of March 31, 2013, the Company’s worldwide portfolio consisted of 508 properties in 46 countries. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MINOT, ND – MAY 22, 2013) – Visit Minot’s 2013 Travel Rally will be held Wednesday, June 5 at 5:30 PM in the Scandinavian Heritage Park.

The annual celebration will include live entertainment by the band, “Tin Star”, free food, activities for children and a showing of the movie, “Brave” at dusk, which was the top choice of Visit Minot’s Facebook fans. 

Visit Minot will also be honoring community partners by presenting the second annual “Minot Tourism Awards” with honorees being named as “Favorite Restaurant”, “Favorite Accommodation”, “Favorite Attraction” and “Favorite Event”.   You can put in your vote for the tourism awards here.

“Tourism is very important part of our community. Visitors come to Minot for a variety of reasons and leave dollars behind in our businesses and through sales tax which benefits the entire community,” says Wendy Howe, Visit Minot Executive Director. “This event is an opportunity for us to remind the community how important the tourism industry is and also of the many great events we have happening in our own backyard.”

# # #

CONTACT:    Elly DesLauriers

Visit Minot

(701) 857-8206

elly@visitminot.org

It’s a weekend full of celebrating the wonderful person in this world you call mom.  You can start with a wonderful Mothers Day Buffet at the Grand International Inn.  Then you can head down to Main Street Books for a Fancy Nancy Tea Party starting at 11:00am.

You can take mom out for a little shopping at the Dakota Square mall for the afternoon or maybe spend it with a walk through the newly reopened Roosevelt Park Zoo.   We hope all the moms out there have a wonderful Mother Day.

We’re Ready For You!

It can be a hassle to search hotel availability. Right here you can see hotel availability for all of Minot, ND. Looking for great Minot Restaurants, Entertainment, or Shopping in the Magic City? And of course COUPONS!  We have that too, all at VisitMinot.org.

For a second year in a row, Visit Minot (Minot Convention and Visitors Bureau) and the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce will host two customer service sessions facilitated by nationally renowned speaker and customer enthusiast Steve Curtin.

“Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary” will provide insights and techniques into optimizing each customer’s experience. Two sessions will be held Wednesday, May 22 at the Holiday Inn. The morning session is scheduled to run from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM with an afternoon session scheduled from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Attendees may choose one of the two sessions.

“Good customer service is not only important to one’s business, it’s also important to the continued growth of our community,” says Wendy Howe, Visit Minot executive director. “The Chamber and Visit Minot are partners in making sure that the Magic City creates as welcoming a culture as possible for those who do business here.”

Howe says that Curtin is back by popular demand, stating that the reaction to Curtin’s presentation last year was so popular that organizers decided to invite him back.

The training is free to all Chamber members and Visit Minot partners. There is no limit on the number of staff members that can attend. Please RSVP by May 20 to info@visitminot.org.

You may also contact Visit Minot at (701) 857-8206 or info@visitminot.org for more information.

The past three months I have had the privilege to spend sometime at the Roosevelt Park Zoo and with their staff.  I have learned a lot about the animals, their habitats, their personalities and their keepers.  The care that these  keepers provide their animals is second to none.   It’s pretty unique to see a 500 plus pound brown bear walk up to her keeper/friend Becky like a long lost friend she hasn’t seen in awhile.   Or when Keeper Mitch walks by the Reindeer and they seem to smile through their eyes.  They know them, they are familiar, they are home.

You can’t truly know how much love the Zoo staff has for these animals until you see them try an make it through an interview while holding back tears telling us what it means to have the zoo back open.  Imagine having someone send away your family pet for a year and half and the excitement and emotion you have when they finally made it back home.  It is much the same for these keepers and the staff.

Having  Roosevelt Park Zoo back means so much to so many people.   We are so excited for the Grand Re-Opening this Saturday starting at 10:00am.  Come out and celebrate the animals, the staff, the volunteers and the community of Minot.  

After two years of recovering from the 2011 Flood, Roosevelt Park Zoo is excited to finally re-open. Due to the long winter and large amounts of snowfall, the Zoo will not be at 100% but will continue to improve throughout the season. Despite the delays caused by weather, Roosevelt Park Zoo staff feels it is incredibly important to open on May 4th with more animals being brought back and exhibits opening throughout the summer.

Because of our limited collection, Roosevelt Park Zoo will be offering the following discounted prices for regular admission for the first 3 weeks of the season ( May 4th – May 24th). Visitors may pay full price as a good will offering during this period. The Grand Re-Opening will consist of special festivities including a live band, bouncy castles and food. We are very excited to be open to the public once again, and can’t wait to see everyone on May 4th!

Discounted Regular Admission Prices (May 4 – May 24)
Adults : $3.50
Military Adults/Seniors: $3.25
Children (Ages 4-12): $2.00
Children (3 & Under) : Free

Spring is always a welcomed time in North Dakota but this year it seems to be taking even longer to arrive.  But don’t let the long winter get you down there is still plenty to do to get you ready for spring!

Take a trip to the Splash Down Super  Slides at the Sleep Inn & Suites.  The water park features three large slides, one of which is completely enclosed and branches outside of the building, allowing guests to do the “polar bear thrill” in the winter.  Guests can enjoy four pool areas, as well as a 45-person cloverleaf hot tub.

MSU Symphonic Band Concert will be on stage at Ann Nichole Nelson Hall tonight at 7:30 pm on the MSU Campus.

The 3^rd Annual Spring Craft Show will be taking place at the Sleep Inn & Suites. Admission is $2 at the door which goes directly to the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Minot Bands Together will be rocking  out this Saturday, April 20^th at the Udder Place.  Local bands reuniting to raise money for a great cause.  The music will start up at 7:30 and make sure to bring your dancing shoes.

The Minot Symphony Orchestra along with Pops: Saxophone Extravaganza will also be  underway Saturday at Ann Nichole Nelson Hall on MSU Campus at 7:30 pm.  Admission is a free.

Its a great weekend to be in the Magic City!

We’re Ready For You!

It can be a hassle to search hotel availability. Right here you can see hotel availability for all of Minot, ND. Looking for great Minot Restaurants, Entertainment, or Shopping in the Magic City? And of course COUPONS!  We have that too, all at VisitMinot.org.