Author: Peter Beare
The Wilson County Convention & Visitors Bureau is the official destination management organization for Wilson County, Tennessee, including all of its incorporated cities Lebanon, Mt. Juliet and Watertown.
Claim You CVB Listing
We are pleased to announce that you can now claim & update your CVB listing on the VisitWilCO website! This will help provide more information to prospects and members searching our Membership Listing and also long term allow Google to be able to index your listing for improved search engine results.
There are 4 steps involved in claiming your listing and getting your listing updated. If you can use Facebook then you can claim your CVB Listing! This process should take between 15-30 minutes to step through and you will always be able to update your information in the future once you have ownership of your listing.
Step 1 – Register on VisitWilco.com (use your primary e-mail)
When you are filling out the fields please ignore the Logo and Evenbrite Key…. you will receive a verification e-mail making sure that you are the owner of the e-mail you used and then the CVB will approve you account and you will be notified that your account is setup!
Step 2 – Find your CVB Listing – using Advanced Search
Step 3 – Claim Your Listing (Select Claim on your CVB Listing Page and we will confirm ownership)
Step 4 – Update your Listing (Add Information about your organization, your website and your profile photo…
When complete you will have a great looking page that will help you promote yourself to potential visitors to Wilson County.
Tours and Experiences
Looking for a new destination experience for your next group event? WilCo has it all with a brand-new Exposition Center, diverse dining experiences, accommodations for every size or budget, and only 15 miles from the hustle and bustle of Music City! With the perfect blend of Tennessee’s scenic beauty, rich musical history, agricultural experiences and authentic southern fare and hospitality, WilCo is the perfect destination for your next group adventure! The WilCo cities of Mount Juliet, Lebanon and Watertown, Tennessee are conveniently located within a day’s driving distance to 75% of the United State’s markets and is within 650 miles of 50% of the United States’ population making it an ideal and cost affective destination for your group. Take your group on an outdoor adventure at one of our gorgeous state parks, create a farm to table dining experience at Breeden’s Orchard, explore a historic village at Fiddler’s Grove, or experience an authentic drive in movie at the Stardust Drive in for an evening your group won’t soon forget! Ready to hit the honkey-tonks and historic music scene in Nashville? The Visit WilCo team can work with your group to arrange transportation and excursions to some of Music City’s top must-see’s!
Group Experiences in WilCo
Fiddler’s Grove Historic Village
Step back in time as you stroll thorugh this historic village and experience the homes, schools, and businesses that once served our American dreams
Capitol Theatre
This historical theatre located on the Lebanon square is home to theatrical productions, movie showings, concerts, and more!
Stardust Drive-In Movie Theater
Experience all of middle Tennessee’s double feaature movies under the stars! This theater comines all of the nostalgic era of entertainment from the past combined with the latest sound and projection technology to create a movie experience your group won’t soon forget!
Breeden’s Orchard
Originally opening in 1974, this family-run working orchard and store is the perfect setting for your next group event. With a full line-up of fresh produce, preserves and fresh baked goodies, this is a savory farm to table experience for your next group event!
Long Hunter State Park
This 2,600-acre State Park offers a variety of recreational activities including fishing, hiking, boating, camping and more!
Cedars of Lebanon State Park
Named for its eastern red cedar trees, this 1,139-acre park with multiple event spaces offers hiking, horse-back riding, cave exploring and more!
Wilson County Veterans Museum
The Wilson County Veteran’s Museum and Plaza pays tribute to those who have served in the armed forces. With uniforms, artifacts and educational videos representing over 200 years of history, this is a must-see in Wilson County!
Group Experiences in WilCo
Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage
This historic mansion and plantation that President Andrew Jackson called home offers tours, exhibits, special events and more!
Cheekwood Estates
With 55 acres of cultivated gardens, a woodland sculpture trail and an art museum, there is so much to see and do at Cheekwood. Make sure to check out any special events happening at Cheekwood during your visit!
Nashville Shores
This waterpark and marina located on Percy Priest Lake is a must-see during the summer! Nashville Shores even has a treetop adventure park perfect for teambuilding or a fun challenge for the competitive ones in your group!
Country Music Hall of Fame
The museum, lovingly referred to as the “Smithsonian of country music” is unrivaled with its collection filling 350,000 square feet of galleries, stores, restaurants, event space and more.
General Jackson Showboat
The General Jackson Showboat offers an experience unlike any other where your guests can set sail on the Cumberland River and enjoy dining and entertainment on one of the biggest showboats ever built!
Grand Ole Opry
Known as country music’s most famous stage, the Grand Ole Opry houses concerts and tours to honor country music legends as well as some of the most famous artists of today. Check out upcoming events, concerts and tours during your stay in WilCo!
Custom Tours and Experiences
Tennessee Grapes and Grains
Experience some of Tennessee’s best breweries, distilleries and wineries as you sip the day away on this group experience!
WilCo Farm Trails
Your group will love this group experience designed with Tennessee’s rich farming heritage in mind as you explore gardens, interactive farm fresh experiences, and enjoy a customized farm to table meal complete with entertainment your guests will never forget!
Explore Tennessee
Explore the beautiful Tennessee outdoors on this scenic group tour. With horse-back riding, canoeing, hiking, caving, golfing and more – we have plenty of outdoor adventures awaiting your next group adventure!
Pathways to the Past
Discover Tennessee’s rich history on this tour of historic places that helped shape the future. With tours of historic homes, businesses, museums and monuments, this tour can be customized for any length of time or areas of interest.
Un-Wind in WilCo
Craft, shop and pamper your way through the day on this relaxing and hands-on experience in Wilson County. Begin your day with a DIY craft (this can also be themed for your group!), then enjoy lunch and boutique shopping and end with spa services to rejuvenate your closet, mind and heart!
Ready, Set, Glow! 5 Unique Summer 5K’s in Wilson County
Are you an early bird or a night owl? A fun runner or in serious marathon training mode? Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, you can glow, dance, and crawl your way through Wilson County this summer all while giving back to some great causes.The growing trend of themed fun runs and glowing nighttime 5Ks is hitting Tennessee hard this summer with hundreds of local and out of town teams already registered for the slew of courses glowing through the Volunteer State.
5K’s used to be associated with getting up way too early, lacing up your Nikes, and hitting a local park or busy street in town to raise money for a cause within the community. They often coincided with a popular holiday like St. Patrick’s Day or Thanksgiving and catered to those already fairly active in the sport of running. Over the past 5 years however, there has been a noticeable shift in the scale and mood of 5K races as well as what type of runner that the events
are catered to.
Themes, outfits, after parties, and obstacles all play a big party in the new event style production 5Ks touring across the country this summer. Local races are following suite and often pull in just as large of crowds as the nationwide events. Here are our top 5 picks for fun run that will get you going, glowing, and giving back in Wilson County this summer.
The slogan on the Night Nation Run tshirts is “I run for the after party” and with good reason. This event combines a 5K with an EDM music festival. The race portion of the evening is just a warm up because the real cardio comes in with all that dancing at the after party.
The official charity partner of Night Nation is I Stand Up to Cancer. A portion of all proceeds benefit this cause and if you are running in honor of friend or loved one affected by cancer, you can purchase a customizable race bib for a $1 donation. The bib says “I Stand Up For __________ “ so you can use the race to honor someone specific.
This event is held at The Fairgrounds. Packet pickup begins at 4, the first DJ goes on at 7, race starts at 8, and how long this festival rages on is up to the runners (and city ordinances).
Foam Glow brings the bright aesthetic of races like The Color Run to a nighttime timeslot by setting the colors aglow in a knee deep, neon sea of foam. Race participants come armed with bubble guns and navigate a course filled with neon foam shooting cannons. The aerial view of this race looks like a scene from Ghostbusters, with runners wading through a glowing, foam filled street.
This event has already attracted over 350 team sign ups for the Nashville event and raised close to $6,000 in donations. Foam Glow gives back to Children’s Cancer Research and is still looking for volunteers for the July 30th event held at The Fairgrounds.
This down and dirty day caters to participants or all ages and abilities from the fun runner to the serious competitor. The 5K course has 18 obstacles while the 10K course has 25 30 obstacles. Be prepared because almost all of the obstacles contain water and mud.
Some people take this mud run very seriously. If that’s you, you may chose to enter the Competition group section of the 10K which is timed, requires you to wear boots and pants, and of course qualifies you to place. There are waves for kids and even dogs at this events as well.
This event is held at Taproot Farm in Franklin and begins at 9:00am. Cost of registration ranges from $20 $55 depending on which event you choose.
Sherry’s Run is a local favorite in it’s 13th year of racing across Lebanon. As depicted in the picture of the starting line last year, the race kicks off with a balloon release and encourages race participants and spectators to attach the name of a loved one they wish to honor with their donation or participation. What’s really neat about this is Sherry’s Run hosts an online forum for people who find the balloons to write in, telling participants where, when, and by whom their balloon was found. Check it out.
There are additional fundraising events surrounding the run such as an auction and the Paint Your Town Green campaign in which donors purchase green bows to place on their homes, mailboxes and trees. The race starts at 8:00am on West Main Street in Lebanon. Runners can choose to be chip timed or not and registration fees range from $30 $ 35.
About Katie (our guest Blogger)
Katie Dillman is a Communications Coordinator with Premier Glow , an online retailer of glow products. She enjoys working with businesses through copywriting to share ideas that connect with their audience.
National Junior High Finals Rodeo – By The Numbers
Lebanon, TN – In a few days, a huge crowd of people and animals will be converging at the Ward Agricultural Center for the National Junior High Finals Rodeo from June 19 – 25, 2016. Besides the expected 50,000 competitors and visitors, you might be surprised to find out that hundreds of livestock are required for the competition. Here’s the breakdown from the organizers of the rodeo, the National High School Rodeo Association:
- 80 Bulls
- 100 Chute Dogging Cattle
- 90 Tie-Down Calves
- 180 Break-a-way Calves
- 200 Goats
- 80-100 Team Roping Cattle
- 100 Bareback and Saddle Bronc Steers
Reigning THSRA Queen Summer Weldon, an 18-year-old from Martin, Tenn., will be reporting from the competition, showing you the action, excitement, and fun. Summer has been competing in barrel racing, pole bending, and ribbon roping since she was ten, so she will be uniquely qualified to give you the inside look as your behind-the-scenes reporter at the National Junior High Rodeo Finals. You’ll see updates from Summer as the excitement builds before the finals and during the competition, at www.visitwilsoncounty.com.
The National Junior High Finals Rodeo consists of seven days of rodeo competition with more than 1,000 young people from sixth, seventh, and eighth grades vying for college scholarships. The event is expected to provide a large economic boost to Wilson County and surrounding areas, with about 50,000 attendees and nearly $10 million dollars in economic impact.
About the NHSRA’s National Junior High Division
Created in 2004, the NHSRA Junior High Division was established to bring the excitement of the sport to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and to serve as a feeder system into the high school ranks of the Association. Today, all 48 states and provinces that belong to the NHSRA also produce a Junior High Division as well, with over 2,500 members in total now competing. Junior High Division students compete in a variety of events, including barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, tie-down roping, chute dogging, team roping, ribbon roping, and junior bull riding, bareback steer riding and saddle bronc steer riding.
Each summer, the “best of the best” from each state and province qualify for the National Junior High Finals Rodeo. Approximately 1,000 competitors show off their talents in the event and compete for thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes. For more information, visit http://www.nhsra.com.
Media Contacts:
Wilson County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
615-453-9655
James Higginbotham, Executive Director
National High School Rodeo Association
1-800-466-4772