Club invites public along on ski trips

January 11, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

The Good Times Ski and Snowboard Club invites the public to join its members on two ski trips to Holimont in Ellicottville, N.Y.

Holimont is a private ski slope near Holiday Valley that is open to the public only on weekdays.

The two trips will be taken on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 19, and Presidents Day, Feb. 16.

For these trips, a chartered bus will leave from the Wal-Mart parking lot on Elm Road, Warren, at 6 a.m., will stop for a hot breakfast in Erie, and will leave for the return trip at 5:30 p.m. A potluck lunch will be served.

Children are invited to attend when accompanied by a parent.

Cost is $70 for club members and $80 for nonmembers.

For more information or to register, call Terry Shifflet at (330) 638-0513.

For more information about the club and a list of 2009 ski trips, visit www.goodtimesskiclub.com.

New Orleans officials keep watch on tourism

NEW ORLEANS — A spokeswoman for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors’ Bureau is optimistic about 2009 but says officials early in the year will be watching whether the national recession affects tourism numbers.

Mary Beth Romig says no conventions have canceled so far but companies may send fewer attendees to meetings.

Major sporting events and tourist staples such as Mardi Gras and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival brought crowds that got 2008 off to a strong start.

This year, Mardi Gras takes place Feb. 24, and the Jazz Fest is scheduled for April 24-26 and April 30-May 3.

Officials are still taking stock of 2008, which included a citywide evacuation for Hurricane Gustav over the typically busy Labor Day weekend.

June and July of 2009, typically slower months because of the hot, sticky weather, include seven citywide conventions. Romig says tourism officials would typically count themselves blessed if they had two conventions, plus the Essence music festival, scheduled this year for July 3-5.

‘Idol’-like attraction to open at Disney World

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — An attraction inspired by the “American Idol” TV show officially opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Feb. 14.

Walt Disney World guests can register to audition in front of a Disney casting director for a chance to take part in the theme park show. Contestants who make the cut must then audition for a Disney producer.

Those selected by producers will perform in front of an onstage panel of judges and an audience of park guests who vote on each show’s winners.

Performing guests with the highest votes compete in an end-of-day grand finale show at the attraction.

The winner of that competition gets a guaranteed reservation, with no waiting in long lines, for a future regional audition for the real “American Idol” TV show.

Details — including age restrictions and other eligibility requirements — are available at www.disneyworld.com/idol.

Associated Press