The Great Bend Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) board teamed up with the Be Well bicycle group, with the help of Public Works Director Jason Cauley, to create new signage directing people to the Bicycle Campground behind Central Baptist Church, CVB Director Sara Arnberger said.

“We were able to utilize some Bike Share dollars to add to our way finding theme.” The words “bike campground” were added to one of the signs that had some extra space at the bottom. Additional small signs that match the style of other way finding signs will replace some of the yellow, diamond-shaped bicycle signs located on streets near the campground. Mark’s Custom Signs handled the design.

The signs were one item in Arnberger’s monthly report to the Great Bend City Council.

She noted that Great Bend is located on several national bike trails. The CVB is happy to be involved in promoting the campground because it does lead to people spending the night in Great Bend. Even though most of those are campers, some do stay in hotels and many spend money when they come through.

Funding was from a Bike Share program through the Be Well Barton County group, “so it didn’t come out of the CVB budget; it didn’t come out of City dollars. It was just money that we needed to find a good use for, and we feel like it matches and looks great.”

In other CVB news, the latest issue of Kansas magazine is out and Great Bend is on the back page again. The city had a back-page ad earlier for Air Fest that resulted in a lot of people contacting her office.

State conference coming to Great Bend

The next big announcement is a partnership project between the CVB and Barton Community College’s Shafer Art Gallery. Working together, CVB put in a bid for the Kansas Museum Association conference in 2026, Arnberger said.

“But they loved our bid so much they wanted to come in 2025, and it worked with our calendar. The Shafer Art Gallery staff went to the Kansas Museum Association conference earlier this month and they were able to announce that we are going to be the 2025 host for this conference in November of next year.”

Great Bends pitch invited conference goers to “Meet in the Middle.” Shafer staff went to the conference, bringing goody bags put together by the CVB to say, “We can’t wait to welcome you to Great Bend.” The bags had a little Rosewood wine, a Red Barn dog treat and a cookie that said “Explore Great Bend.”

CVB also created a video showing off Great Bend. That video can be viewed on the Explore Great Bend Facebook page.