Redbud awards—

Yes, we are proud and brag, but we also want to thank 701Corp.com who took our ideas and the vision we had in our heads and made it work. To our families who had to live with us while we changed, corrected, read out loud, discussed and then changed it again. To the inventor of Post-It –Notes, yep, that is how we organized our content and buttons---everything we wanted we wrote on separate Post Its, then organized them into file folders representing the pull downs (buttons).

Our website is the hub or our social media, where we can refer customers to find everything about us and even where we can check on ourselves. We feel the way we set it up makes it easy to look around and explore from our Bistro menu, to wine terms. Please check it out for yourself at Summersidevineyards.com.

Helping to make tourism in Oklahoma better, and then to put it in a format to be judged can only help us to improve.

Watch out because  in 2013 we, at Summerside are planning a clean sweep of all Redbud Awards, oh yea, a clean sweep. OK, maybe we will not win them all but there are things we know we could be doing better---so, let the games for 2013 begin.

OKLAHOMA TOURISM & RECREATION DEPARTMENT

NEWS RELEASE

May 9, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sandy Pantlik

Phone: 405-230-8402 or 405-990-4054 (cell)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

(Photos of Redbud award and merit winners are available upon request.)

2012 Redbud Awards Honor Oklahoma's Top Tourism Entities

(Oklahoma City, Okla.) – Oklahoma's top tourism attractions, events, programs and organizations were honored during the annual Redbud Awards held Tuesday, May 8 in Oklahoma City. The awards represent the highest honor given in the Oklahoma tourism industry.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and Discover Oklahoma television show host Jenifer Reynolds presented awards to 32 winners during a special evening gala held at the Oklahoma History Center.

More than 100 Redbud entries in 16 categories were evaluated by a slate of out-of-state tourism industry and marketing professionals. Judging criteria covered customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness, media relations, variety of audiences reached, value, and overall creativity. The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department partners with the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association to present the annual Redbud Awards.

The Redbud Awards were held during National Tourism Week (May 5 – 13) which recognizes the importance of tourism to the national and local economies. Direct travel expenditures in Oklahoma generate more than $6.2 billion for the state's economy annually and support jobs for 74,900 residents.

A full list of 2012 Redbud Award winners by category is included below.

2012 Redbud Award Winners

Outstanding Agritourism Attraction

Redbud: Country Cottage Primitives and Lavender Farm, Shawnee

Best Social media Campaign

Redbud (Tie): The American Banjo Museum

The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum

Best Brochure or Publication: Trifold or Single Sheet brochure:

Redbud: Ardmore Convention and Visitors Bureau

Best Brochure or Publication: 11 pages or more

Redbud: Frontier Country Marketing Association

Best Overall Marketing Campaign

Redbud: Muskogee Chamber of Commerce and Tourism

Best Website

Redbud: Summerside Vineyards, Winery & Meadery, Vinita

Outstanding Media Coverage: Broadcast

Redbud: Craig Day, KOTV News on 6

Outstanding Media Coverage: Print

Redbud: The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa

Best Partnerships

Redbud: Arbuckle Simpson Nature Festival, Tishomingo

Outstanding Attraction

Redbud: Oklahoma City Zoo

Outstanding New Attraction

Redbud (Tie): Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center, Enid

Chickasaw Nation, Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur

Outstanding Lodging Property

Redbud: Pine Lodge Resort, Grand Lake

Outstanding Temporary Exhibit

Redbud: Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, Duncan

Outstanding Event

Redbud (Tie): Ponca City Herb Festival

Okie Noodling Tournament, Pauls Valley

Outstanding New Event

Destination Claremore, Claremore Convention & Visitors Bureau

Redbud: Legends Weekend, Stillwater Convention & Visitors Bureau, Stillwater

Tourism Organization of the Year

Redbud: Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau

It is that time of year to get in the mood for the Renaissance Fair in Muskogee, Oklahoma. As for the last several years Summerside Vineyards will be there. Each year we suggest our Ambassadors use Old English and in 2010--Betty S. attended The Castle Dialect Class, shared her notes with us. Also, here you will find a few keys points from Renaissance Web Reference.  

The Castle in Muskogee is a wonderful time for all ages. So get your costumes ready, start practicing on your Old English so a merry time at the fair will be had by all. Summerside will again be located in the Clock Tower (wine and mead tasting) and also the Italian Quarter (Italian sandwiches, fruit trays and Wine-A-Ritas). The fair is open every weekend from April 28^th through May 28^th.

When to Use "Thou"

1. Those below you on the chain.
2. Those to whom you are especially close (family members, best friends, lovers, etc.).
3. Those of your own rank whom you wish to insult.
4. God, because in Period thought, there is nobody closer to you than God.

Use "you" with the following:

1. Those above you on the Great Chain. Always call the King and Queen "you!"
2. Those with whom you are doing business.
3. Those to whom you wish to show respect for any reason (admiration, personal threat, etc.)

How to Use "Thou"

Contractions

Avoid using modern-sounding contractions:

• don't
• can't
• won't
• ain't
• I'll
• it's

Use instead the un-contracted forms ("do not," "can not," etc.)

Other contractions that can be used, however:

• 'tis
• 'twill
• 'twould
• is't
• was't
• shan't
• to't (that's "to it")
• e're
• ne're

The Dreaded Letters, and Other Things to Avoid

Substituting a Period term, such as "'tis well," "most well," "very well," "goodly then," or even "all right" and not use “OK.”

Avoid: the word "fun" use "merriment" or "merry"; the phrase "you guys," and all "-up" expressions ("put up," "clean up," or especially "shut up").

Forming Negatives

 "Explode" the contraction to "do not" or "will not.” OR simply insert the "not" into the sentence almost anywhere after the verb.  "Give me not an ale."

Imperatives

 "Give you me that," or "Give thou that unto me," depending on whom you are speaking to.

Reflexives

 "aye" for "yes"

 "nay" for "no."

“pray” for “please.”

Drop "to"

Adding "Do"

Greetings and Farewells

A simple way of adding a Period flavor to your speech is the use of a proper greeting. Period greetings include:

• Good morrow!
• Good day!
• God save you!

A proper farewell is also useful. Remember, this is the last thing the patrons will hear from you, so it is always good to leave them with a Period phrase in their ears!

• Farewell!
• God speed!
• God save you!

Pick a greeting and a farewell for your character. You can use one of the above, or create one that reflects your character's profession (for example, a tavern maid might open conversation with "'Tis a good day for drinkin'"). 

A few guidelines for fair foods and wine/mead pairings.

It's that time of year again—Fair Time. We love pairing our great wines and meads with the untypical fair foods. The following are some foods that one might find at the OKC and Tulsa State Fairs or any fair for that matter, paired with Rt 66 Summerside Vineyards Wines and Meads. As always we will have our $5 off a 4 pack of wines and meads.

Deep-Fried Mashed Potatoeson a Stick and Summerdside Rt66 Riesling dry to sweet, or Rt 66 Red or even Rt 66 Kicksass. Bacon-cheddar mashed potatoes are formed into balls before being beer-battered, fried and served on a stick and of course with ranch dressing.

Krispy Kreme Hamburgers pairs with Summerside Rt 66 Kickass Wine. We paired this one last year at the Tulsa State Fair—perfect. A quarter-pound hamburger patty, bacon, cheese and two glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts in place of a bun. It really was very good.

Chocolate Covered Bacon on a Stick, try this with Summerside Rt 66 Raspberry Wine. “A muddy pig.”

Fried Pickle on a Stick pairs with any of our Rieslings (dry to sweet). A whole dill pickle, battered and deep-fried on a stick. (Read about the frozen pop below.)

Fried Beer try this with Summerside Rt 66 Dam Red or Rt 66 Kicksass. Yes, you can deep fry anything. in pretzel dough.

Fried Butter Balls go with any Summerside Rt 66 Wine or Mead—yum. Yep, you read it right, deep-fried butter balls. Not much I can say about that.

Pickle Pop pair this with any of Sumersides Rt 66 semi-dry to semi-sweet wines. This is a freezer pop filled with sour pickle juice—is  chilling and super sour.

Note one really can’t go wrong pairing Summerside Rt66 Rieslings, Red, Dam Red, Kicksass or Raspberry with any foods.

Our mascot “Dobson” will be at the fairs, don’t you just love that face? Come by take his picture and give him a kiss.