Patch Gets To Know Deana Clark

MARIETTA, OH — Once upon a time, the armory in downtown Marietta served as the departure point for soldiers leaving Washington County for World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. Afterward, it sat in ruins for years and years before it was finally renovated. Now, Deana Clark runs Marietta’s tourism industry out of it.

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Clark is the Executive Director of the Marietta/Washington County Convention and Visitor Bureau (or CVB), and was one of the people who convinced her board to move the CVB into the armory. “So many people wanted us to be here. I thought it was a great place, it’s right downtown, it’s right by the river. We have plenty of parking, we’re right by the bike trail.” Since the city owns the building, she was able to help secure a good deal and rent the space from them.

But Deana Clark doesn’t just live to promote tourism in Marietta. She’s only been with the local CVB for three years. Born in Parkersburg, she grew up in Athens County and went to school in Amesville. She met and married her husband in Morgan County. They’ve lived there, just a couple of miles from the border of Washington County, for 30 years.

She and her husband are musicians and have a show in McConnellsville called the Ohio Valley Opry. “We did music for a living for a long time, with our kids. We had a bus and traveled the country doing fairs, festivals, churches, concert halls and such.” Clark describes the music they do as positive, Christian country, Appalachian based.

They established a permanent residence in McConnellsville back in the year 2000. They host mainly country, bluegrass, and gospel artists and have brought in nationally known acts. They haven’t had any shows since 2019, as their season starts in March. They should be having live shows again soon.

Because of her standing in Morgan County, Deana Clark was invited to be part of the group that started Morgan County’s CVB. She was subsequently asked to become the group’s director. “I was the director there in Morgan County for several years.”

One of the biggest challenges she faced was in 2011 when the state wanted to tear down the lodge at Burr Oak National Park. “They wanted to spend $2,000,000 and get rid of the lodge. So I was Morgan County’s CVB director at the time and I worked really hard to get the state to change their mind. Thankfully they did.” Clark says that instead of spending $2,000,000 to tear it down, they spent $2,000,000 to renovate it.

This led to her being hired to manage Burr Oak’s lodge. According to Clark, this was never the plan. “I’ve never done anything like this in my life. It’s not anything that I was even comfortable with. Somehow, I got that job.” She was there for five years, but she said her heart was always in tourism. She said she never had ambitions to manage a hotel and restaurant and thought of herself as more of a mother to her 80 employees instead of their boss.

Clark said that when the position with Marietta tourism opened up she applied to immediately, “and by the grace of God I got it.” She says she loves where we live and telling people about it, “I love southeast Ohio, I love Appalachia, I love everything that comes with it.” Even though Deana Clark lives just outside of Washington County, she and her husband consider Marietta to be their town. “This is where we go shopping for Christmas, all our kids were born in Marietta.”

She says that since she’s a people person, her favorite part of the job is going to trade shows and talking to everyone. “I love making that direct connection with someone. Because I feel that if I can connect with them, I have a greater chance of them coming and visiting our area.”

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