AQS and Paducah show

I always wondered why AQS was located in Paducah to begin with??? There's no airport that's handy to Paducah and Paducah *is* just a small town. Period. How can hotels, restaurants, etc. justify building huge facilities to be used just once a year for a few days??? I would have thought that starting something like the AQS- altho I imagine the founders never realized how BIG this would get!- would have been better started in a larger metropolitan area. I have been thinking for years now that the Nashville AQS show was begun with the intent of moving out of Paducah. The town of Paducah will die without the quilters and the revenue they/we bring in. IMO And that would make me sad if AQS abandons Paducah- it's a nice 4 hr. drive from where I live!

Leslie & The FOUR Furbabies in MO.

WOW I can't believe it.

I went to Paducah about 2 years ago. Personally, I loved the charm of the city & the fact that they made such a fuss over the quilters. Fortunately, we stayed at the Marriot - I thought the outside of the Executive Inn looked like it was run by a slum landlord. I was glad we didn't have the misfortune of staying at the "hosting hotel". I hope they can pull it together & keep the show in Paducah. The museum would really suffer if they pulled the show from Paducah.

I've been to Houston & given a choice, I'd rather go back to Paducah if I travel to see a show. (No offense to Houston at all - we took a wonderful tour of the city & had fabulous food & stayed in an awesome hotel! It just didn't have that hometowny charm that Paducah has. Plus, I live near Santa Clara, so I go to PIQF every year & PIQF feels like a junior Houston show to me - big convention center, lots of vendors, lots of quilts!

Pauline Northern California

Howdy!

Ojalá!

The existing facility, even w/ working a/c, isn't big enough for the show. I remember the vendors in the basement (under the swimming pool) hoping the leaking pipes didn't ruin their merchandise. Climbing up, down, around, over, back behind, go in circles, find the secret door,to find the quilts: very disorganized. That quilt show deserves better. Altho' Paducah is on a big highway & close to a couple of others), and has had (in the past) a charming downtown, there's not enough there to bring in the revenue to renovate or bring in new biz. Most of those shops that are open downtown for the quilt show are only open for the show week; after the quilters leave, the lights go out and the old buildings return to deteriorating. Sad. Would be nice to have that fabulous show in a city w/ accommodations (beds) for everyone who wants to see quilts.

R/Sandy

Paducah has worked so hard to revitalize the downtown housing areas and populate the area with artists of all kinds. It would be a shame to lose the momentum now. joan

I was fortunate to visit Paducah last November while staying with a friend in Nashville. Is that the closest airport? We made it there and back in a day, and it was a pretty drive, but what DO people do who don't drive?

The museum was wonderful, and I spent a chunk of money at HoP, but nothing much was happening anywhere else. We did a quick walk through the town center and were about the only customers wherever we stepped in! Roberta in D

"Nann" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

Very interesting! I've never been to Paducah and knew it was hard to get reservations. I once considered the river cruise that goes there and you stay on the boat for lodging. I guess I won't try to schedule that show in for a while.

I usually flew to Memphis and then took a puddle-jumper to the Paducah airport.

joan

On Jun 11, 8:55=EF=BF=BDam, "Roberta Zollner" wrote= :

snipped-for-privacy@25g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...

I heard that the city had given the convention center a whole bunch of money last year for renovations, and the center did not do the reservations. It doesn't look good, unless Holiday Inn can take over and save the day.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

And a google news search shows this:

WKYX) A copyright story in today's Paducah Sun says the alternate site that's trying to lure the 2009 American Quilter's Society Quilt Show from Paducah is Springfield, Missouri. The Sun reports that tourism officials in Springfield have confirmed that they are in discussions with AQS about next year's show, and are awaiting an answer to a proposal they have made by the end of the month. City and AQS officials met Monday with the new investors of the Executive Inn, who offered an update on the progress at the hotel. The new investors say an agreement on an improvement plan for the hotel could be reached by the end of the month.

Cool! Springfield, MO is only 2 hrs. from me!!! I could handle that!

Leslie & The FOUR Furbabies in West Plains, MO.

I am deeply saddened, Nann, to read this news. I have not been to AQS for several years (since Robyn Wimmer's travel company closed) but I thought it was a perfect place for a quilt show. Their membership saw to it that we had rides every place, food was provided informally or dressy, plenty of choices in town and out for non-quilting evenings. As I said, I really loved it and we also had great motel to stay in thanks to Robyn's handling of the tours. I miss that lady too in addition to going to AQS. I'd swing into action if she went into business again.

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