Maryland Office of Tourism staffers joined forces with Maryland guides, outfitters and charter captains to represent the state at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA. The Maryland delegation manned a booth highlighting hunting and fishing opportunities across the Old Line State. While attendance figures are not yet available, the show drew more than 173,000 attendees in 2014 and organizers expect similar totals for this year’s show. The event included a sika deer hunting seminar by Brian Eyler of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources as well as other Maryland presentations.

In addition to the impressive collection of Maryland game, attendees were drawn to the Maryland booth by the opportunity to win Maryland hunting and fishing excursions, and came away impressed with the variety of game experiences on display. “It was a great show, the collaboration between our public and private sector partners is impressive,” said Rich Gilbert, Travel Trade Sales Manager for the Maryland Office of Tourism. Sandy Turner, Vice Chair, Sportsmen and Women Marketing Initiative Steering Committee and Tourism Coordinator, Cecil County Tourism was also pleased with the Maryland product on display, “The work of our partner, the Isenberg Group, in helping us put together our booth as well as our new outdoors website, fishandhuntmaryland.com, just blew people away,” said Turner. “The site will be a big asset for outdoorsmen and women with unique features allowing visitors to search by region as well as by species.”

In preparation for the upcoming 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, members of the Maryland Office of Tourism staff toured sites along the escape route of Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Maryland’s “On the Trail of the Assassin” tour will take visitors to Southern Maryland for commemorations and remembrances of the tragic event that took place on April 15, 1865. Office of Tourism staff joined Tim Morgan, Chief of Tourism and Special Events, Charles County Government and Matthew Neitzey, Executive Director, Prince George’s County CVB in touring historic Ford’s Theater and the Surratt House Museum in Clinton. Additionally, staff is preparing marketing, mobile app and web materials in addition to the Escape of the Assassin Civil War Trail Guide for the anniversary.

National high school recitation competition Poetry Out Loud marks its 10th anniversary this year. Co-created and co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation, the program helps students build confidence and public speaking skills, while learning about their literary heritage through the analysis and memorization of poetry. The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) and local arts councils around the state held local and regional competitions, and 2015 is the most successful year to date with 16,000 students and 258 teachers representing 16 counties and 52 Maryland schools participating. The 2015 Maryland State Finals hosted by WYPR's Aaron Henkin, with ukulele sensation Victoria Vox, is on Saturday, March 7, 1-3 p.m. at The Baltimore Museum of Art. The event is free and open to the public.

Challenge America grants support projects that extend arts experiences to populations whose arts opportunities are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. The deadline for applications is April 16. For more information about the National Endowment for the Arts’ Challenge America Grants and to complete an application, follow this link.

The Maryland Tourism Monitor’s six months of data through December, 2014, shows impressive growth over the previous year. Unique web visitors were up 80 percent to nearly 1.7 million, advertising clicks increased 60 percent, and requests for travel kits were up more than a third to nearly 11,000. Maryland’s social media accounts showed similar gains posting a 29 percent increase of Facebook fans and 38 percent increase of Twitter followers. These gains coincided with a gain of four percent in leisure and hospitality employment, a 24 percent uptick in gaming revenue and an increase of adjusted tourism sales tax revenues of 7.6 percent.

Station North, Baltimore’s first designated Arts and Entertainment District, was recently nominated by USA Today as one of the nation's top arts districts. Station North, the only Maryland district to be nominated, currently stands at number two on the list and needs your help to reach number one. Anyone can vote up to once per day here.

Each week, the Maryland Minute provides highlights and insights on this weekend’s events around the state. Maryland Minute is featured on CBS radio stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and on Baltimore’s WBAL-AM 1090.