And the Winner is...

Let the bells ring out in celebration: Jefferson is Iowa’s number one rural tourism community for 2024! That’s right, last week at Travel Iowa’s Iowa Tourism awards, Jefferson was named “Outstanding Community”. They give out one of those trophies, and it is the top honor of the entire event. To say this is a big deal would be an understatement.

Not only did the community at large win, but The Centennial also won a big award: “Outstanding Dining Business”. Another huge honor! A big congratulations to owner, Sara Ostrander for her hard work in providing an ever-changing menu of delicious lunches and deserts that have people talking from afar and traveling to Jefferson to experience The Centennial. The rest of the community benefits from the success of The Centennial, as most visitors aren’t just here to eat, they also spend money elsewhere around the community. Congratulations also goes to the ladies of Why Not Us who’s vision, hard work, leadership, and collective efforts brought the building that is home to The Centennial back to life for this community. This is far from the first special recognition The Centennial has received at the state level, and it won’t be the last. If you have plans to eat at The Centennial, make sure to call ahead, because as word spreads about this high honor, people will be showing up in even bigger numbers this year. 

To keep the playing field a bit more level, Travel Iowa splits all award categories in two – “Metro” and “Rural”. Rural is defined as a city with population of 10,000 or less, or a county that is among the 33 least populated in Iowa. 

Receiving the honor of “Outstanding Community” speaks to the collection of efforts from a number of entities, businesses, organizations, and volunteers across the entire community. All working together to build a community that is not just great to live within, but also a welcoming place where people travel to for the experiences we offer in Jefferson.

The research from Travel Iowa says that people will travel one hour from home for every four hours of things to do at a destination. How many hours worth of things to do would you guess we have around Jefferson and Greene County? Between seeing the Rooftop Art up in the Bell Tower, shopping at our fun retail places, hitting Deal’s Orchard late summer through early winter, taking a tour at RVP~1875, hiking around one of several conservation areas, playing games at the casino, biking the Raccoon Valley Bike Trail, floating the Raccoon River, bird watching and exploring nature in a local park, prairie pothole, or river bottom, touring public art and history around the Jefferson’s historic square, eating at a local restaurant, spending time smelling the roses at Thomas Jefferson Gardens….to name a few… how many hours could a visitor spend here? 

What about the extra time and money spent here when visitors come for a special event? Things like live music performances, Art In the Garden, Cruisin’ to the Square, Bell Tower Festival, Porch Fest, craft shows and other events at the fairgrounds, a show at History Boy Theatre Co, Porch Fest, Market to Market Relay, BRAG (Bike Ride Around Greene County), Winter Festival, any number of sporting and performing arts events at the schools, programs at the Greene County Historical Society museum, special events at a number of local businesses that attract visitors, etc etc etc.? These are all some of the ingredients that have gone into being recognized at the 2024 “Outstanding Community for tourism.

Visitors often tell us how surprised they are with how much there is to do here, and that they will be back. Jefferson Matters and other entities are working hard to continue to grow our presence on visitors’ maps. When people come here, they want to come back. We just need to get them here. We will be doing more of that that and doing it well. Stay tuned on that front. 

Beyond everything I just listed, one of the things I hear most from visitors is, “Gosh, everyone here is just SO friendly!” From local business owners to people they encounter out and about, the people of Jefferson make visitors feel welcome. This is the culture we are cultivating here. This is a sign of happy, content residents. This is Jefferson. 

It can be easy to take for granted what we see and experience every day. Let this be a reminder to us all that what we have here is special, and that we are doing so many great things throughout the community that make people want to Experience Jefferson, Iowa.