As the ebb and flow of economics through the years left the Montpelier economy depleted, many were scratching their heads in the 1980's to recover from loosing the Union Pacific Rail Road. Union Pacific still has a presence but the jobs are only a quarter of what used to be there.....(that's another story for another day.)
So the dream of the National Oregon/California Trail Center took shape. In 2000 the center opened to the public. I give you this small history to give context to the quilt show. In our mission statement it states that we are all about economic development for our community.
In 2007 we needed to get more people to visit the center. The visitation was about 5,000 to 8,000 on a good year. The center only saw about nine motor coaches between May 30 and Sept. 1. So not having tons of money to decorate about 4,000 sq. feet, we decided to showcase the talents of our local quilters.
Long story short, our visitation now is about 48,000 to 50,000 people per season. The quilt show has been a huge success in that it has brought many people in, and the quilters can sell their quilts if they so choose. In 2010 over 94 quilts were shipped all over the world. 94 Bear Lake families had money to pay bills. It is an honor to be involved with the great quilt artists of the Bear Lake Valley.
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