CANDISC impacts local communities with fun and funds
CANDISC impacts local communities with fun and funds
By ALLAN TINKER
It was good news and good news, CANDISC, Cycling Around North Dakota in Sakakawea Country, will be through Mc-Clusky in early August. There was no bad news.
The fun event, both for riders and the host communities, is a welcome break in the hot summer activities in central North Dakota. Creativity stirs; laughter sounds across the spaces; the smells of good home cooking fill homes and local restaurants, buildings and park facilities get a quick once-over to prepare for many guests.
The towns are challenged to add their personal touches to the visiting bikers, who welcome the down home atmosphere and ethnic diversity they find in the small communities they travel through. The financial impact of the stays is nothing to sneeze at either, Dick Messerly, the ‘main brain’ of the event, estimates that $91,000 is added to the economy if the seven days of the tour, with $13,000 per day average in each community visited.
