On October 6-8, 2006, the First Annual Knott County Ride-A-Thon was held. During the three day event, two surveys were conducted by We Make Things Happen Corporation. The first survey was an analysis of the vehicle license plates of those in attendance. The second survey was a questionnaire distributed Saturday afternoon which asked seven questions.
License Plates:
172 cars/trucks were counted between 9 am and 12 Noon on Saturday and approximately 100 horse trailers. Of those, 9 had license plates from Virginia, 2 from Indiana, 1 each from Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Mississippi. Those from Kentucky (*) included:
Knott County (15)
Floyd County (9)
Perry County (9)
Letcher County (3)
Clay County (2)
Leslie County (2)
Johnson County (2)
And one from Wolfe, Round, Franklin, Knox, Jessamine and Morgan Counties
(*) the remaining Kentucky vehicles did not include counties on their license plates
If one figures there was, on average, two to three people per car and four horses per trailer, one can estimate there were 344 to 516 people* in attendance and 400 horses.
* Please keep in mind, this only takes into account those who were at the event Saturday morning from 9 to noon. A number of people cam either Friday night for the Governor's presentation or Saturday for the music which could easily increase those numbers to somewhere between 400-550 people in attendance.
Questionnaire:
75 people filled out a questionnaire. Below are the questions and responses.
1. Where do you live?
Individuals from five states and 26 different communities across Kentucky filled out a survey.
2. How did you hear about the event?
Television reached the greatest number of people. 30 responded they saw it on television, 20 heard about it on the radio, 14 heard from word of mouth and 9 read about it from the newspaper.
3. How many in your group?
The groups varied in size from 2 to as large as 25 with the average being 6 to 7.
4. Where are you staying?
Of the 72 people who responded, 27 lived close by and therefore spent the night at home, 22 camped out in tents, 17 camped out in an RV or trailer, 2 spent the night with friends and 7 did not say.
5. How many days will you be staying in the area?
The average person stayed 2.5 days in the area.
6. How much do you anticipate spending on food, lodging, gas while in the area?
52 people responded to this question. The amount of money spent varied from $20 for someone living in the area to $300 for people living out of town. 2 people reported spending in access of $600. On average, people anticipated spending $139.73 during the event.
7. What would you like added to the event or offerings next time? Overall everyone loved the event! A few suggestions and/or recommendations for next year included:
Electricity for the campsites (7)
Riding ring (5)
Tie ups or hitching posts for horses (both at food booths and at campsites) (5)
Running water (5)
More tack sales and commercial booths (2)
Bathhouses (showers/restrooms) (2)
Wagon Trail Ride as an added event (2)
Band shell for dancing and platform for dancing (2)
More food booths
Stalls for horses
Not hold it same time as Boonville's event
Shade for horses
Maps of trails
Some event or activities to entertain children
ATV trail rides
Wagon rides
Horseback riding for kids
Less mud and more gravel
More firewood
Advertise more
Great the way it was
Loved it
Do it again soon
WMTH CORPORATION PO BOX 51153 BOWLING GREEN, KY 42102 PHONE (270) 781-6858 FAX 781-2949
