Their styles differ, but these two have helped put $2B Morris tourism on the map

S. Dillard Kirby and Patricia Sanftner were honored by the Morris Tourism Bureau. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
S. Dillard Kirby and Patricia Sanftner were honored by the Morris Tourism Bureau. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Morris County Tourism Director Leslie Bensley is flanked by honorees Pat Sanftner and Dillard Kirby, at the Morris County Tourism Bureau 2014 awards. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Morris County Tourism Director Leslie Bensley is flanked by honorees Pat Sanftner and Dillard Kirby, at the Morris County Tourism Bureau 2014 awards. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

 

There are many reasons why tourism is approaching the $2 billion mark in Morris County.  Two of them were honored on Thursday.

Patricia Sanftner wears bright colonial costumes and sings the national anthem at public gatherings.

S. Dillard Kirby is more comfortable behind the scenes, away from the spotlight.

Different styles, same passion.

“They have in common a genuine interest in seeing our heritage and cultural integrity honored,” said Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris Tourism Bureau.

Morris Freeholder Kathy DeFillippo presented Sanftner and Kirby with awards on behalf of the bureau, at its 16th annual meeting and cocktail reception, inside the Washington’s Headquarters Museum in Morristown.

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Sanftner is conservator of the 1760s Schuyler-Hamilton House  in Morristown. She also is a longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a popular historical re-enactor.

That seemed like a natural progression for Sanftner.  After earning a master’s degree in costume design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, she joined the costume departments of TV- and stage shows, and movies.

“I had to learn about every period of man,” she said.

Sanftner worked on The Sopranos  (the late James Gandolfini was a “big Teddy bear”),  and One Life to Live, and a revival of The Music Man, and The Preacher’s Wife, starring the late Whitney Houston.  Other projects starred Mel Gibson, Téa Leone, Ben Stiller and the late Madeline Kahn, “one of the best human beings on earth.”

‘GOT TO GET IT FROM SOMEWHERE’

Kirby, president of the F.M. Kirby Foundation, also has a film background of sorts.  He and his wife Adrienne were major backers of Morristown: Where America Survived, a public television documentary based on a book about the Revolutionary War by the late historian John Cunningham.

Another of Kirby’s projects, Open Spaces & Historic Places in Morris County, debuted on NJTV earlier this year.  The lifelong Morris County resident also donated to the tourism bureau’s wayfinding program, which includes new signs for area tourist sites. The Kirbys also have been generous to the Mayo Performing Arts Center, which draws 200,000 visitors to Morristown every year.

Tourism keeps growing in Morris County, according to a study by Brian Tyrrell. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Tourism keeps growing in Morris County, according to a study by Brian Tyrrell. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Education about our history is important, Dillard Kirby said after Thursday’s ceremony.

“We don’t get it in our schools, so we’ve got to get it from somewhere,” he said.

He enjoys finding historical connections that are relevant today.

“Sometimes making that connection is a little bit of a puzzle. But when you do make it, it’s an aha moment.”

Disclosures: Dillard Kirby was an early backer of MorristownGreen.com, and a supporter of the MG Film Festival. Sanftner has brought historical authenticity to the MG contingent in several parades. Our congratulations to them both for their tourism awards.

Other speakers on Thursday included Anthony Minick, director of marketing for the state Division of Travel and Tourism, and Brian Tyrrell, a professor at Stockton College and president of Travel & Tourism Research & Training Associates.

Anthony Minick, director of marketing for the state Division of Travel and Tourism, at the Morris County Tourism Bureau 2014 awards. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Anthony Minick, director of marketing for the state Division of Travel and Tourism, at the Morris County Tourism Bureau 2014 awards. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Recruited from Hudson County to play basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Minick entertained the audience by fondly remembering the historic moment when his college roommate introduced him to Friendly’s in Morris Township, home of the Jim Dandy sundae.

Tyrrell, meanwhile, said Morris County is likely to surpass last year’s nearly $2 billion in tourism revenue for hotels, restaurants, transportation, recreational and entertainment programs.

That performance represented the best annual growth rate — almost 7 percent — of any county in New Jersey, he said.

“The Morris Tourism Bureau should be unabashedly proud of these efforts,” Tyrrell said.

 

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