Turns out they were looking for a manager at the Center at the time, and after applying, Jane got the job.“ I thought,‘ Hey, this is pretty good, I could spend all day talking to people and talking about Brown County,’” she says. She used her time at work to hone her skills and increase her knowledge of the area, and spent her own time driving around Brown County to learn even more.
Jane quickly learned that her job was much more than giving out brochures and pointing tourists towards places to eat and shop.“ There were no computers for people at the Visitors Center back then, we didn’ t have a website. The printed Getaway Guide was our crown jewel at the time,” she says, so the staff had to rely on their own knowledge to answer questions.“ People would call and expect us to know not just what was here, but which stores stocked what, so it was really involved.”
Within a few years, Jane was promoted to Interim Executive Director of the Brown County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the organization that oversees and operates the Visitors Center; in 2012, she was awarded the position permanently. For Jane, it was the ideal match.“ I realized, I’ m selling my community here,” she says.“ I really like talking to people, and I get to talk about all the great things to see and do while they’ re here.”
By 2018, the Visitors Center had moved a few blocks south on Van Buren Street to a beautiful new space, and plans were underway for the new Brown County Music Center. Everything was running along smoothly, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.
As Indiana began grappling with the lockdown that followed, Jane’ s first impulse was to help the
Jane Ellis giving a tour of the new Visitors Center in 2018. photo by Cindy Steele
community she serves. She got on the phone and, along with other public, private, and nonprofit partners, helped form Brown County’ s Community Organizations Active in a Disaster( COAD) response group. By leveraging the staff and resources of its member organizations— including the Convention and Visitors Bureau— COAD aims to respond directly to the human needs of the community in the wake of the global pandemic.“ In a county like ours, we really do have to depend on each other, so we needed to help people fast,” Jane says.
And now, after most of the precautions and restrictions have been lifted, tourism is booming again, she says.“ People want to get out of the house, and with our outdoor destinations, Brown County is made for social distancing. We’ re coming back,” says Jane.“ I look forward to the Music Center’ s rescheduled shows, the rescheduled John Hartford festival, and the Blues festival.”
When I ask Jane to recommend a few more of Brown County’ s not-to-bemissed experiences, she doesn’ t hesitate: Bill Monroe Music Park, Browning Mountain, Farmhouse Cafe. Then she chuckles.“ Those are just a few, though. I’ m not giving away all of our best-kept secrets.”
The Brown County Visitors Center is at 211 South Van Buren Street in Nashville, Indiana. They may also be contacted by phone at 812-988-7303 or 800-753-3255, or by email at < visitorscenter @ browncounty. com >. •
July / August 2020 • Our Brown County 27