Ely remains in media spotlight

Ely’s reputation as a prime tourist attraction continues to grow.Just days after the area was featured on NBC’s ‘Today’ show, Ely was the subject of a feature story on the front page of the New York Times’ travel section.In the Times’ Sunday, July 25 edition, travel writer Barbara Lazear Ascher detailed her trip into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.The piece was also featured prominently on the newspaper’s internet site.Ascher wrote about canoeing on South Hegman and North Hegman lakes and visits to Ely’s Piragis Northwoods Company and the Chainsaw Sisters Saloon. She was part of a group of eight Amherst graduates who visited the areaCoupled with the national television exposure, the New York Times piece can only boost Ely’s status as a tourist destination, according to Ely Chamber of Commerce Director Linda Fryer.“Anytime we get publicity like that it helps,” said Fryer. “More and more people are being introduced to Ely, and that means more and more people are thinking about Ely for a vacation.”Other area entities and businesses that were mentioned in the piece include the North American Bear Center, International Wolf Center, Ely Chamber of Commerce, Northern Grounds Cafe, Blue Heron Bed and Breakfast, the Ely Steak House and Burntside Lodge.On July 22, NBC’s ‘Today’ ran a two-minute segment on Ely that was taped earlier this month.It included a feature on Ely’s Steger Mukluks, dogsledding at Wintergreen Dog Sledding Lodge and canoeing in the BWCAW.