Have you ever wondered if having a disc golf event in your area has any sort of impact on your community or the people that visit your community? With the growth of the Glass Blown Open over the last few years, we have heard from local businesses in Emporia about the impact this event has on their bottom line. From putting people in beds at hotels, people eating at restaurants, and people gassing up cars, there is no doubt that the influx of people in the town of Emporia is felt.
One of the unique aspects of Emporia is the overwhelming support of those local businesses and the people that live in Emporia. The main streets of Emporia are filled with signs welcoming the disc golfers. We often hear stories of players going through the drive-thru window and getting a quick word of encouragement as they grab a bite to eat on their way to the disc golf course. This feel-good impression was experienced by Nikki DiSalvo and prompted her to write a letter of appreciation to Jamie Rusco, Dynamic Discs’ National Sales Director.
Jamie,
In speaking with your brother Jeremy during the GBO retailers dinner, he asked that my wife write a few words on how she came to choose Emporia State as her grad school. I don’t seem to have his email, so I figured you would know how to get this to him, if you wouldn’t mind.
“It was only on a whim that I looked into the graduate programs in counseling offered at Emporia State University. My husband, Derek, was in Emporia for the 2015 Glass Blown Open and really enjoyed his stay. His overwhelmingly positive experience plus descriptions of the thriving disc golf community in Emporia caused me to add ESU to my list of prospective schools. I had little expectation that this small town school would actually meet (let alone exceed) the standards I had for where I would want to live and work while in grad school. I was very surprised to find that the Teacher’s College at ESU is consistently so highly ranked; the program looked like exactly what I was trying to find.
There was no way my husband was going to let me miss the Glass Blown Open this year. He knew I would fall in love with Emporia through the experience. Our stay was phenomenal. I was able to schedule an interview for the grad program I applied to in Clinical Counseling to coincide with our week in town. With the guidance of the Dynamic Discs staff and the promotional materials they provided, we explored the town’s restaurants and various other shops and attractions. We began to imagine ourselves moving the 1,200 miles from New York to live in the hometown of Dynamic Discs.
The atmosphere created by the Glass Blown Open made us feel right at home and very warmly welcomed. It was amazing to see the town pulling together behind this influx of over a thousand disc golfers, whether by offering helpful directions or just a friendly hello. I couldn’t have dreamed of a better introduction to Emporia than that provided by Dynamic Discs and the GBO. My husband and I greatly look forward to being one of those people welcoming disc golfers to Emporia next year, and hopefully convincing some of them to stay.”
-Nikki DiSalvo
