2008 Celebrate

Media Release

May 2, 2008

         Daytripping’s Oil Heritage District Tourist Guide

                                 Will Reach a Lot of Ontario        

Daytripping, a free publication for visitors to Southern Ontario, is publishing a special Oil Heritage District Travel Guide in mid-May which will reach people as far away as Windsor, Niagara Falls, Owen Sound and Barrie.

Tourists will be flocking to the area this year to take part in the many events planned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first commercial oil well. In 1858, James Miller Williams kick-started the modern oil industry in Oil Springs, Ontario when he made a business of selling oil from North America's first dug oil well.

Wyoming-based publisher Mark Moran says 10,000 copies of the guide will be inserted into the regular July-August Daytripping that are picked up within a one-hour drive of the Oil Heritage District. This includes Chatham, Forest, Grand Bend, Sarnia and London. An additional 5,000 guides will go to travel information centres throughout Ontario and 5,000 more will be distributed in many shops, motels, restaurants and gas stations within the Oil Heritage District.

"This is such a unique area and it's well worth promoting," says Moran. "Visitors from near and far will be able to stop at a gas station or restaurant and walk out the door with a guide that they can use to explore the area."

Stories include detailed driving and walking tours of Petrolia and Oil Springs, historical attractions such as Victoria Playhouse Petrolia, The Petrolia Discovery, The Oil Museum of Canada, and The Bothwell Zone Oil Museum. The issue is crammed with photos and historical information about the three places where the oil boom of the 1800s flourished - Oil Springs, Bothwell and Petrolia. In true Daytripping fashion, this guide will include tidbits of information throughout, and little-known facts at the bottom of each page.

The guide is expected to quickly become a collector's issue. Many area residents will want to keep it as a handy reference for their own use and for their visitors.

The regular Daytripping is issued six times each year and has an annual circulation of 350,000 in Southern Ontario.  

 
To find out more about the 150th anniversary, go to www.2008celebrate.com

To find out more about this media release,

Contact Pat McGee, pat.mcgee@ciaccess.com