By P.J. Tracy
Murfreesboro Diamond
The Murfreesboro Advertising and Tourism Commission was told by board member Caleb Howell that the Crater of Diamonds would be sending a local contingent to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show this Feb. 13-16.
The Crater employees will host a booth with information about the park, and will have on hand the Strawn-Wagner diamond along with a replica of the Esperanza diamond.
Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is billed as “the largest, oldest and most prestigious gem and mineral show in the world.” The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show has enjoyed international stature since the 1970s, and was the first gem and mineral show to bring the hobby enthusiast, the public, and the curator/professionals together for discovery and discussion. This year will be the 70th anniversary of the show.
Howell said it was hoped that the park and Murfreesboro would see results from their efforts, but noted the difficulty of measuring those results directly. To that end, the group is planning some sort of giveaway with the Esperanza replica to those that like and follow the Crater’s Facebook page.
He added that the group would be happy to share Murfreesboro-centric information and take along local brochures, and suggested that the commission purchase a diamond from a local vendor to be given away at the event under the same guidelines as the park to help draw viewership of the Chamber’s Facebook page and digmurfreesboro.com website.
He said the contest would be open to only residents of the 48 contiguous states, because shipping a diamond internationally was simply too time consuming.
The winners would be drawn after the contingent returns to Murfreesboro, and the commission approved the purchase of a yet-to-be-identified diamond for the venture with an up to $2,000 budget. Howell suggested something in the range of a quarter-carat diamond, perhaps yellow in color.
In other Commission business, the group was told by Howell that he is now seeing an increase in electric cars (two to three per week) that make the trek to the state park, and noted that there was a chance that the state would find a way to place chargers at the park.
However, the tourism commission has noted perceived value in having a small number of chargers at the former City Service station, essentially forcing users to enter local shops while they wait for the charging to complete.
Commission treasurer Jane Fugitt told the board she would apply for the 2025 round of grants via the Arkansas Transportation and Highway Department to help accomplish such a venture.
The group will also have the electrical meter at the former hospital turned off, presuming there would be no reconnection fee. The electricity was turned on to help provide power for the Haunted House efforts by the Chamber of Commerce last October.
Howell also discussed the Arkansas State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission meeting that will be held at the locally this Sept. 17-18. It was noted that it could include to up to a 40-member contingent, and that the Park really didn’t have a proper facility for that many attendees. Therefore the community room of the Murfreesboro Municipal Building could be utilized, and further updates will be given as the year progresses.
December was slower for local tourism, and the commission showed deposits of $5,460.23 for the month, now allotting them a balance of $94,962.24 at the end of 2024.