Drumroll: Drawing nears for Live Local Fallon car

Prior to Saturday night’s in-the-park-concert, Rick Gray knows the tension in the hot August air will be thick.

All eyes will be glued toward Centennial Stage and a white car advertising Live Local Fallon, a campaign to keep residents in town to support the local businesses. Gray, executive director of the Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority, said a member from the community will select the winning passport page, and the lucky winner will be able to drive home the 2013 white Toyota Corolla, which was purchased from Fallon Auto Mall.

As executive director of the FCTA, Gray saw the program begin slowly a year ago and then take off like a rocket as word of mouth encouraged more people to become involved. Every month, a passport holder had to fill the page and then send it in for monthly prizes and a chance at the grand prize.

“We’re happy with the evolution of the program,” he said. “It gained momentum and did peak (late spring) before leveling off at the end.”

The final day of the program was June 30.

Then the tally of pages began.

“We received about 3,000 passport pages, but we also had about 250 dedicated individuals who sent in multiple pages,” Gray said.

Hundreds of businesses also became active participants, and because of that, Gray said the Live Local Fallon program planted itself in the community’s conscience.

“It did affect businesses and residents’ actions every day,” Gray said, when decisions focused on shopping locally.

Additionally, Gray said it was exciting for him and his staff to see the scores of Live Local Fallon banners waving around town on building facades promoting the year-long campaign.

The big question, though, centers on the future of the campaign.

“At this point, we’ll do an analysis for businesses and cost analysis assessments,” Gray said. “We need to see benefits and successes.

Gray did not rule out the city doing the Live Local Fallon again or something similar in the future.