City council approves tourism grants

The Shelton City Council on Nov. 5 approved awarding $97,000 in tourism grant requests to local organizations for 2025

The council gave preliminary approval at its Oct. 15 meeting. The money comes from taxes collected from motels in the city. The city's Local Lodging Tax Advisory Committee met on Sept. 18 to review the tourism grant applications, with local groups requesting $164,426.

The committee recommended Kristmas Town Kiwanis receive $9,000 for the annual Bluegrass from the Forest festival, the Mason County Forest Festival Association $12,000, and Northwest Event Organizers $12,000 for Christmas Town Marketing & Events, $2,000 for the Overlook Park mural installation and $6,500 for the event power box in the Cota Street parking lot. The Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce would receive $18,000, the Mason County Historical Society $20,000 for the museum, the City of Shelton $10,500 for the Creative District branding and wayfinding, Shelton Downtown Merchants $5,000 for the Shelton Art Walk and $1,000 for the Cookie Stroll, and the Skookum Rotary Club $2,000 for OysterFest. The group MWSO Miracle, Inc requested $10,000 for the Miss Christmastown USA Scholarship Competition, but it was declined "due to lacking of driving tourism."

With the funding requests granted, the committee has a reserve of $14.589.