CenturyTel has opened its third Experience Center in Missouri. The Branson location, the 12th nationwide with the intent of increasing understanding of CenturyTel products, is at the junction of State Highway 248 and Gretna Road. Customers can sip coffee while trying out a satellite remote control or a touch-screen computer. The CenturyTel office at 3431 E. State Highway 76 has closed, so all services including billing are at the center, said Customer Care Manager Bryan Stallings. The Branson Experience Center also is open longer hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. Phone: (417) 339-1077.
Meanwhile, officials with Monroe, La.-based CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) are seeking regulatory approval to acquire Overland Park-Kan.-based Embarq Corp. (NYSE: EQ), a 2006 spinoff of Sprint Nextel Corp.
Though the smaller of the two companies, CenturyTel will exchange 1.37 shares for each share of Embarq under the merger terms. Officials said the deal was valued at $11.6 billion, with CenuryTel assuming $5.8 billion of Embarq debt.
The merger plan was revealed in October, and is expected to close in second-quarter 2009. Combined, the two regional communication companies would operate in 33 states with 2 million broadband customers.
Titanic survivors down to one
A small wicker suitcase belonging to the Titanic's only remaining survivor will be on display through Dec. 31 at the Titanic Museum Attraction. The owner is 96-year-old Millvina Dean, who was nine weeks old when she was taken onto the ship with her parents and older brother. Her father died when the ship went down.
Last month, the suitcase was auctioned for $18,790, purchased by an anonymous man in Belfast, Northern Ireland - the 1912 birthplace of the Titanic - to raise money for Dean's living expenses at a nursing home in Southampton, England. John and Mary Kellogg Joslyn, owners of Titanic Branson (www.titanicbranson.com), arranged with the new owner to display the artifact for two months. The Joslyns also will contribute to the costs of Dean's care.
John Joslyn has had a long relationship with the Titanic. He is a successful television producer, known for a landmark live TV event, "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault." In 1987, two years after the wreckage of the Titanic was discovered, he mounted an undersea exploration of the site and produced "Return To The Titanic - Live!"
Irish crooner on PBS
TVC Productions, a division of The Vacation Channel, recently shot a Public Broadcasting Service special of Irish crooner Daniel O'Donnell at a sold-out concert in the 2,600-seat Tri-Lakes Center. It will air Feb. 28.
For the high-definition shoot, TVCP hired more than 20 professionals from the Branson and Springfield areas including camera operators, hair and makeup artists, floor directors, grips, steady cam operators and more, said assistant director Robin Jackson of TVC. O'Donnell brought his own director from Ireland.
O'Donnell, who first appeared in Branson in 1999, will be back at Tri-Lakes Nov. 2, 2009. His shows always sell out, said group sales director Jane Gallaher. Since starting his career in the mid-1980s, he's been named Irish Entertainer of the Year, Country Music Artist of the Year in England, and he has 20 Top-40 albums. His song titles include "Red River Valley" and "Irish Eyes."
The 47-year-old entertainer attracts a primarily female audience, who follow him to Branson from all over the U.S. plus Great Britain, Australia and Ireland, Gallaher said. PBS uses his special for its pledge drive.
Unlikely hospitality hero
Joyce Dickens, who has worked at the Best Western Music Capital Inn for 12 years, is the first recipient of Best Western International's Heroic Hospitality Star Employee of the Year, and the only executive housekeeper in the U.S. to win it. Dickens oversees a staff of 15, said general manager Sue Gordy, who nominated Dickens.
"There was an elderly guest who was distraught because she missed the bus and was left behind by the tour group," Gordy said. "She was crying in the hallway, and Joyce calmed her down, and called and located where the group was going, and then drove her across town to reunite her with the tour."
Gordy said Dickens also has personally driven other guests to catch their departed buses.
The Best Western property is one of five Branson hotels owned by Myer Hotels.
Using Your Assets
The owners of Circle B Theatre (www.circlebchuckwagon.com) have built a name for themselves serving dinner and a show, "Circle B Cowboy Supper and Show." Now, the Horn family has a new enterprise: Showtime Catering, says co-owner Michael Horn.
The Horns are maximizing the use of a huge kitchen in the theater building, formerly the Dinner Bell restaurant, 200 Jess Jo Parkway. They prepare breakfasts for buses at Howard Johnson's and offer a box lunch/dinner program for delivery or pick-up. Specialties include freshly smoked items such as turkey breast sandwiches and salmon salads.
Kathryn Buckstaff, membership public relations manager of Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, can be reached at kbuckstaff@bransoncvb.com.
While a disruption in international trade has the capacity to hurt local farmers and ranchers, beef producers are having a good go of things at the moment.
