Catch the Crane Craze coming to SLV

MONTE VISTA— The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce and Monte Vista Crane Festival committee are asking San Luis Valley businesses to get creative when it comes to Sandhill Crane-related merchandise this coming March.
Sandhill Cranes descend upon the San Luis Valley each spring in one of Colorado’s most amazing wildlife phenomena, drawing wildlife lovers from all over the country. “Local businesses offering Sandhill Crane items even outside of festival dates could help grow interest, bringing more birders and more business to the Valley for longer,” says Jerry Apker with the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce.
Examples might be coffee shops serving “Marsh Madness” lattes; breweries with crane-themed beers and restaurants with cleverly-named menu items such as “Crane’s Nest” soup. Retail stores could sell Sandhill Crane T-shirts, mugs, jewelry and holiday ornaments. Businesses could host wine tastings, art shows and music performances centering around cranes.
Del Norte’s Wild West Wine & Spirits is already preparing for the great spring migration. Owner Gary Sabrowski ordered wine with custom “Crane Your Neck” labels, which will be available for purchase in March.
As an added incentive, the chamber and festival committee will list participating businesses and a brief description of its crane products on the chamber’s and committee’s websites. Participating businesses may also be included in crane festival press releases.
For more information, email Jerry Apker at [email protected] or Deb Callahan with the festival committee at [email protected]. Callahan can provide Sandhill Crane images for use on custom-order items such as mugs, T-shirts and wine labels. Festival dates are March 9-11, 2018.