The Mathews LOVEworks Project Committee is holding a raffle to help raise funds for the county’s first official Virginia Tourism LOVE sign, to be placed at Liberty Square.
The raffle prize is a two-night summer weeknight stay in a deluxe suite with private patio at The Inn at Tabbs Creek in Port Haywood. The stay includes use of kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, and bikes; a charcuterie box; a bottle of wine; chocolate truffles; and a full breakfast each morning.
Tickets are $5 each or five for $20 and will be sold until Saturday, June 1. They will be available at the Mathews Farmers’ Market on June 1 and at The Inn at Tabbs Creek. The drawing will be held right after the farmers’ market closes on June 1, said a press release from inn owners Greg and Lori Dusenberry.
Any tax-deductible donations for the project may be sent to Mathews Loveworks Project, P.O. Box 581, Mathews, Va. 23109.
For more information, email mathewsloveworks@gmail.com.
About the sign
Designed by Amanda Robinson, daughter of Mathews residents Tom and Dale Robinson, the proposed LOVEworks sign uses images of items that are typical of life in Mathews to form each letter of the word LOVE, including the lighthouse and island for the L, an oyster for the O, a crab with outstretched claws for the V, and kayaks for the letter E. It will be six feet tall and made of durable and weatherproof material.
The sign was approved by the Mathews Board of Supervisors in 2018, said committee chair Lori Dusenberry, but the project fell by the wayside. Now the newly-formed committee has revived the project and is in the process of getting a final quote from a sign company on implementing the design.
The fundraising goal for the project is $7,000, said Dusenberry, and $1,000 of that amount has already been raised.
Create your own sign
Dusenberry said the committee is dedicated to helping secure materials and funding as needed for any LOVE signs that might be placed on county property, but committee members are also encouraging local businesses, organizations, and churches to create their own LOVE signs. While the main county sign will be professionally done, she said, other signs can be designed and created to be unique and special on their own. They can be 3-dimensional or painted, and repurposed materials can be used.
The committee will help sign creators run their proposed designs and locations by the head of the LOVEworks division of the Virginia Tourism Corporation to see if they would qualify as official VTC Love signs, said Dusenberry. If so, they would be placed on the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s website and map. VTC is dedicating a large part of its 2024 marketing budget to promote the LOVE signs and LOVE road trips to encourage tourism, she said, adding that the only official LOVE sign in Mathews thus far is the one at The Inn at Tabbs Creek.
“We are missing out on a great opportunity for not only free advertising on our state tourism platform,” said Dusenberry, “but for the economic impact that can come, as the LOVE signs have a big following among tourists.”
