News : Vinton area under consideration for Country Travel Discoveries tour

Iowa Ann Van Hamme and Country Travel Discoveries Pres. Steve Uelner tour Villa Comagena.

Country Travel Discoveries President Steve Uelner visited Vinton on Tuesday, considering the area and some of its attractions for possible inclusion in the company's 2016 tour schedule.

Uelner visited the Iowa Braille School campus, where Nancy Beckman presented some of the story about the school and its most famous student, Mary Ingalls.

Accompanied by VU director Melissa Schwan and local volunteers Brenda Hackbarth, Iowa Ann Van Hamme, Phil Borlesky and Frank Kruse, Uelner then visited Brian Parr, who discussed the corn statue project as well as some of his chain saw art. Also in the planning stages is a 60-foot tall ear of corn that organizers eventually hope to place near the depot, on the former site of the corn canning facility that employed hundreds of people over several decades.

The final stop on the tour was Villa Comagena, the home and shop of tour organizer Inge Schminke, who has led dozens of trips to Europe, and plans another for this summer. Schminke gave the group a quick tour of her shop and served refreshments from her Austrian roots.

Uelner seemed interested in many of the local attractions, especially Villa Comagena. He told leaders that tour schedules for 2016 will be finalized in August of this year; the publication with the schedule will be made public in September.

Schwan and VU leaders and the Destination Vinton Committee have made tourism a priority, inviting people from throughout Iowa and beyond to visit some of the area's historic and unique attractions.