The spectacular colours of fall

In the newspaper business we have always told our customers that colour sells. Adding just a single colour to an ad increased the potential that it would be read by an increase of 50%. Putting something into the full rainbow of colours, almost every reader of a newspaper would be attracted to the advertisement.
Similarly the difference between a black and white photograph and a photograph in full colour is astronomical in increased attention.
I was reminded of this on my recent vacation across Ontario and the New England States.
As my wife and I drove from Parry Sound across to Ottawa through Algonquin Provincial Park we were amazed by the number of tour buses that were parked at pull offs on the highway with hundreds of camera toting tourists photographing the rich red, orange and yellow colours of the hills of the park.
Lighted by a brilliant sun and offset by a cloudless blue sky the leaves were breath taking. I had never seen the red forests of Ontario before and found myself overwhelmed by the colour.
As we booked rooms through the new England States we learned that they have three seasons. The first is off season falling from the last week of October through to almost Christmas and again in March, April and May.
It is followed by high season running from the first week of May through to the Second Week of September and again Christmas and the ski season. And then they have the leaf season from the third weekend of September through the third week of October. The leaf season demands room rates that are 20% greater than high season. Tourism expands as the US nation gravitates to the New England states to experience the colours of the hills of Vermont, New Hampshire, Northern New York, Maine and Massachusetts.
When you leave the interstate highways and travel the smaller highways, you again see the tourist buses. Parking lots of bed and breakfasts, motels, restaurants, and hotels were filled with cars from every state in the union. We even saw a plate from Hawaii.
This year the leaves were about a week late due to the warm weather of the season. The hills were just beginning to change from a deep forest green to shades of red, and orange.
The rolling hills of colour in Algonquin and the Appalachians are sold to attract tourists.
Yet travelling between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, those hills were ablaze in yellow and the yellows against the blue skies or the blue waters of Superior were breath taking.
I remember growing up and every September there was a car ride to Nestor Falls to enjoy the colours of the leaves or our area. The car ride included a stop for a meal at the Sabaskong Dining room at Helliar’s Resort and then coming home. It was always spectacular and a trip that was looked forward to by our family.
I think that we often forget about the beauty of our region and have to be reminded of it by visiting and experiencing other regions of the country.
Should we be promoting the colours of our region?
Jim Cumming, Plublisher