By LIBBY CLUETT
A reminder to Mineral Wells businesses and citizens that an estimated 3,500 out-of-town students appraisers, parents, teachers and supporters will be descending on Mineral Wells High School Saturday for the Destination ImagiNation Greater Fort Worth Regional Tournament.
Like last year, competitors and their respective entourage will take breaks and visit restaurants, businesses and other local venues.
“Based on our experience last year running the welcome table at Destination ImagiNation, the competitors and their families are some of the most delightful people you will meet,” said Mineral Wells Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Beth Watson. “We know there are a lot of them coming and we were so excited last year when one of our restaurants told us it was the busiest day they had, to date. Many hotels were full as well.”
The chamber will set up a welcome table at the high school.
“This is a good economic boost,” Watson added. “Both Mineral Wells ISD and the chamber worked hard to make sure this event came back for a second year.”
Site director for the Mineral Wells DI Regional Competition Jacki Bandy said there were many DI teams excited to compete again in Mineral Wells. She added that students especially liked visiting the Mineral Wells Fossil Park during their extended breaks.
There will be an estimated 200-plus teams, with about seven students each ranging from elementary to high school. Teams will compete in a variety of creative challenges.
In addition to five teams from Mineral Wells ISD, competitors will hail from Abilene, Weatherford, Fort Worth, Northwest, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Brock, Springtown, Weatherford, Breckenridge, Wylie, Burleson, Castleberry, Cleburne, Mansfield, Midlothian, Red Oak, Venus and Waxahachie ISDs.
Anyone who plans to volunteer will check in at the DIme store on the MWHS cafeteria stage. For those wanting to learn more about DI or volunteering for the tournament, contact Bandy at (940) 328-5375.
Bandy encourages the community to come out and watch the competitions. She said there will be 18 competitions going on every 20 minutes.
DI Challenges begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. Awards for the Rising Stars (elementary) start at 5 p.m. and the competitive awards (elementary, middle and high school teams) begin at 7 p.m.
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