Comets run to state championship: Newman wins 1A cross country title in Peoria
Created: Saturday, June 6, 2009 4:01 a.m. CST
Updated: Saturday, June 6, 2009 5:24 a.m. CST
FONT SIZE:

The post-movie payoff

By SVN STAFF - news@svnmail.com

So what’s the greatest payoff for the community that hosts a filmmaker? Tourists who just don’t quit.

Dyersville, Iowa, is the hometown of “Field of Dreams,” an ‘80’s baseball movie starring Kevin Costner.

Although it’s been 20 years since the film was shot in a Dyersville cornfield, Chamber of Commerce employee Bette Kuboushek said folks still make pilgrimages to the spot.

“There’s people here every day in the summertime,” Kuboushek said. “During the winter, I’m sure there’s still two or three people a week that want to go out and just look at the field.”

Tammy Ellwanger, executive director of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said she sees the same thing.

“The Bridges of Madison County,” starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, was filmed there in 1994. Tourists from across the nation stop by daily to ask for directions to the movie’s famous bridges, she said.

“Last month alone we had over 1,400 visitors,” Ellwanger said. “The first thing they want to see about the county is the bridges.”

saukvalley.com Multimedia

AP Video

Reader poll

All right, be honest: How fast do you drive on Illinois’ rural two-lane highways?
55-59 mph
60-64 mph
65-69 mph
70 mph or faster

This is not a scientific poll. This poll reflects the views of website visitors who voluntarily answer the question.
www.saukvalley.com on Facebook

Blogs

» Grammar Moses
Grammar Moses

Reports of Medical Conditions Are Making Mose Unstable

NPR has been reporting all morning that the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre is in "stable condition."
» Simply Digital
Simply Digital

كوم

No, that's not an error in the headline. With new developments scheduled for 2010, the Internet will really go global.