Dome Tour Sparks Charitable Contribution

October 29, 2003

by Kris Garrison

The third Annual Monolithic Dome Tour, cosponsored by the Monolithic Dome Institute (MDI) and the Monolithic Dome Builders Association (MDBA) was held on October 17, and October 18, 2003. Hundreds of domes were open for touring pulling in thousands of visitors nationwide. Domes homes and businesses at various stages of development participated in the tour.

Dome owner, Mark and Mary Henrikson used the dome tour as an opportunity to raise money for the local hospice organization. Since Mark's father passed away in September, he wanted to repay them for all their kindness. Mark and Mary charged $10.00 per person to tour Yumadome. They greeted over 450 people and at the day's end, donated $2200 to Hospice of Yuma. Hospice workers were on hand all day to help with tours and hand out literature.

Compared to last year, the number of visitors in some areas was lower due to several factors. However, there were many dome homes on the tour that received a lot of media attention-- and more visitors. Some of the newspapers that accepted press releases and wrote articles include:

Daily Oklahoman
Orlando Sentinel
Houston Chronicle
Arizona Republic
Spokane Spokesman-Review
Reno Gazette Journal
Gainesville Sun
Potpourri and Tomball/Magnolia Tribune (Houston suburbs)
Pensacola News Journal
Stuart News
Yuma Sun (Arizona)
Durant Daily Democrat (Oklahoma)
Daily Armoreite (Oklahoma)
Red Rock News (Sedona)
Cottonwood Journal (Sedona)
Trenton Tribune (Texas)
Hutchinson News
Anderson Independent Mail (Georgia)
Sherman Herald Democrat
Channel 9 - Columbus, Georgia

Billy Elkins and Deborah Razete-Elkins of Stuart, Florida were hosts to over 500. They received excellent coverage from NBC Channel 5 and The Stuart News. Deborah said that many people had the front page in their hands on the tour. Their county commissioner Sarah Heard also stopped by to see the dome in person. For more about the Elkins successful day, visit the bulletin board.

Even though they did not have TV coverage, Mark and Valerie Sigler still received over 600 visitors. Valerie said they worked 8 1/2 hours straight with non-stop talking about domes and answering many questions.

A friendship between Bob and Amy Brooks and Dan and Karen Tassell was kindled due to the publicity they both received in the Houston Chronicle. Since then, they've had many occasions to spend time together. The Brooks, from Houston were pleased to give tours to over 140 visitors. And just down the road from Houston is Magnolia, Texas where the Tassells opened their home to approximately 150 visitors. Tassell commented, "I think at least 25% of them were planning to or thinking seriously of building a dome.

Anne Sutherland, tour coordinator, said, "This year we had many participants comment that the visitors who toured their domes were much more serious about building than in years past. They seemed to be more educated about Monolithic Domes. We found the same to be true here at Monolithic headquarters. We had over 100 visitors and a large percentage already had a good foundation of knowledge about domes and were ready to pursue their dome building plans."

Many dome show participants have posted results on the bulletin board. Next year's dome tour is yet to be scheduled. Be sure to visit our website often for further information.

Dome Tour Sparks Charitable Contribution

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