Local residents will have time to enjoy being "tourists" in their own town this weekend since
the annual event has been expanded to two days.
The hard part will be narrowing down their choices for both Saturday and Sunday from the array of
offerings in three distinct areas, downtown, Bowling Green State University and sites outside the city.

"Be a tourist in your own town," hosted by the Bowling Green Convention and Visitors’ Bureau,
and sponsored by KeyBank, is coinciding with BGSU’s Family Weekend. The two events give visitors and
local people an opportunity to familiarize themselves with what the city has to offer, with the hope
they will share it with others. (Photo: Curits Eldrige (left) and Phil George look at a 1933 Cadillac at
Snooks Dream Cars, located on Country Home Rd. (Andrew Weber/Sentinel-Tribune))
Participating businesses will determine their own hours of operation and the days they will participate.
They have been encouraged to have discounted entry fees – some are offering free admission – plus
giveaways, raffles, entertainment and special promotions.
One distinct grouping for visitors includes many of the downtown merchants. Downtown Bowling Green is
offering "Fun on Main!" Saturday from 3 to 7 p.m., with free entertainment, restaurant
specials and sidewalk sales. At least 20 stores are participating in the event.
People participating in the "Go Raven Mad" over the Edgar Allen Poe scavenger hunt, which
includes visits to downtown businesses, can drop off their forms at the library on Saturday.
Two downtown sites are kicking off the weekend early, offering specials on Friday. Cla-Zel Entertainment
is hosting a 70s and 80s Retro party from 7 to 11 p.m., while Radiance Healing in Motion, in South Main
Common Space, will have an African Dance Family Style at 5:30 p.m. and bellydance basics at 6:30 p.m.
Each of its seven weekend classes is $10, with special weekend pricing of two people for the price of
one.
There are five BGSU venues, including the Little Red Schoolhouse and the Fine Arts Center galleries which
are currently showing two free exhibits. The remaining three are for the athletic-minded: Sunday free
admission from noon to 8 p.m. in the Student Rec Center; annual trick-or-treat Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30
p.m. in the ice arena, with free admission for children in costume; and a free bucket of balls at the
Forrest Creason golf course’s driving range, dawn to dusk both days.
Fifteen sites in and around Bowling Green are offering specials to encourage visitors to visit them.
Several are free, including the Slippery Elm Trail, Simpson Garden Park, National Construction Equipment
Museum (free admission both days, 1 to 5 p.m.), BG Wind Farm (on U.S. 6 West), BG Training &
Community Center, Arts in Common art gallery and the Black Swamp Herb Society. Stone Ridge Golf Club is
letting guests have free driving range balls Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.
Also free is the 4 p.m. Saturday "Community Reads" event at the Wood County District Public
Library. Guest Stephen Rachman of the Poe Studies Association will speak on "Unhappy hour at the
library: Why does Poe continue to haunt us 200 years after his birth?" Children can watch
"Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" on film in the Children’s Place.
Offering half-price admissions are Snook’s Dream Cars, Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the Wood County
Historical Museum, both days, 1 to 5 p.m. Guests to the historical museum will have the opportunity to
meet Tom Boltz of rural Perrysburg, author of "North Baltimore & its Neighbors."
Sites offering other specials include Al-Mar Lanes, art-a-site! Gallery & Studio, Arts in Common
Gallery, additional dances at Radiance Healing in Motion and beverage specials at the Cla-Zel.
For $15 on Saturday only, Arts in Common Gallery will host a Halloween mask-making workshop, where guests
can create and decorate a mask custom-fitted to their face.
A listing of downtown businesses participating in "Fun on Main!" can be found at
www.visitbgohio.org. Additional information can be picked up at any of the participating venues. Or
guests can take the "tourist" guide published in Wednesday’s Sentinel-Tribune.