LINCOLN - When it comes to drawing tourists into Logan County, Geoff Ladd is promoting the area and work-ing hard to get more "hot spots" in the county.

It's why Shirley Bartelmay, a member of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County and volunteer coordinator with the Postville Courthouse and Route 66 Heritage Foundation, agrees Ladd - the bureau's executive director - should be one of the Pantagraph's 10 to Watch in 2007.

"Ladd has done so much. He has had such a big impact on this county," said Bartelmay. "He tries to get to all sites and attend as many functions as possible. He's fair and is for all of us. He's ready to help anyone promote this area."

Ladd started working for the tourism bureau little more than a year ago, and recently formed the Route 66 Heri-tage Foundation to help bring more into the county. One such project is the restoration of the former Mill restaurant into a Route 66 museum; that work is underway.

"No one thought that Mill could be saved, and after seeing Ladd's plan, everyone is just so excited about it," said Bartelmay. "He's definitely got a lot he's working on and is just so aggressive with all his endeavors."

Bartelmay said Ladd also was instrumental in getting up a sign pointing to Mount Pulaski as a historic site, since that location is not adjacent to the interstate. The sign directs tourists to the landmarks in that area.

"I don't know how he does it all, but we're just so pleased to have him," said Bartelmay.

John Sutton, board director of the heritage foundation, said Ladd "sees roadblocks as opportunities to explore alternate roads to a positive solution. He doesn't view it as 'that's the way we do it,' as a mandate to continue as the only way we can do it."

Sutton said if Ladd sees a good idea, he'll just run with it. He always sees the better side of things.

"Sometimes it's frustrating to still talk about something rather than move on, but Ladd always sees the possi-bilities, and really, in 2,000 years, what's another 10 minutes?" said Sutton.

Five interesting facts

About: Geoff Ladd

Job: Executive director, Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County

Timeline: Moved to Lincoln in October after living in Broadwell for one year

In current position: One year, three months

Interesting stuff: Co-host, "Fly Over Zone" for WQNA, Springfield; he's a paranormal investigator.

Quote: "I enjoy this job because I can make a difference in a visible way for our community by creating and fine-tuning tourism opportunities that directly benefit tourists and residents of the communities in Logan County for which I serve."