Visitors will be welcomed to Sackville with unique image

In an effort to set itself apart from other communities, Sackville is taking a unique approach to drawing in visitors off the highway.
The town's highway billboard signs, which currently feature a colourful image of Sackville's Waterfowl Park, will soon bear a distinct landscape photo of the Tantramar marsh - in black and white.
Graham Watt, a member of the town's tourism advisory committee and a retired marketing consultant, says the image will certainly "stand out" from other highway signs, and that's exactly what local tourism stakeholders are aiming for.
"Everything is in colour these days. Everybody wants to use colour and use the same things to attract people to their community . . . but we don't want to look like other towns," Watt explains.
The black and white photo - taken by Sackville's internationally-renowned photographer Thaddeus Holownia-will draw people's eye because of its distinctiveness, says Watt.
"I think it'll stand out because it's different," he says. "And when you look at it, it really is a piece of art."
The image will also be used in some of the town's other promotional material as well, including the Sackville tourism brochure.
Town council agreed during its April meeting to pay $5,000 for a photo license agreement for the use of Holownia's image for up to eight years.
The funds for the new Welcome to Sackville billboard signs will come from the tourism department's signage budget. The department is waiting on pricing from suppliers but the signs are expected to be installed later this month.
Watt, who designed the unique doctor recruitment brochure last year to attract new physicians to Sackville, says this is another step in the town's innovative marketing strategy to bring in new visitors.
Warren Maddox, Sackville's director of community economic development and tourism, is also excited about the new sign.
"It's going to be an incredible sign. There isn't anything else on the roads like it," he said.