Visitors and residents of Bowling Green can embark on different themed tours around the town through the Visitor Center to satisfy multiple interests from genealogy to health and lifestyle.

Visitor Center Supervisor and Marketing Coordinator Jamie Sands said the tours are a great way for people to experience different parts of Bowling Green, even those who have lived there for an extended period of time.

“Even people who have lived here for a long time will be like, ‘I didn’t know we had that,’” Sands said.

Visitor Center Administrative Assistant Jodi Rashley also said the tours are an effective way to draw people.

“I think that it’s a great way to bring visitors to the community and show them what we have,” Rashley said.

The tours are self-guided and brochures are available at the Visitor Center to guide people and show them all of the different stops. In addition, people can scan the barcodes on the back on each brochure to activate Google Maps for navigational purposes.

“The tours are broken off into different categories based off on what interests you,” Sands said.

Sands said one of the main reasons people come to Bowling Green is to study their genealogy, so people can do so by completing the family tree tour.

“Bowling Green is a hub for Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan genealogical archives,” Sands said.

Sands also said people from other countries have even come to Bowling Green to study their genealogy. One of these people was a man from Greece who was writing a book pertaining to his genealogy. An editorial feature about the tour was also included in Group Tour Magazine this past June.

The genealogy tour consists of places that people can visit in order to research their genealogy, such as the Wood County Courthouse, Wood County Public Library and the Northwest Ohio Great Lakes Research Center & Center of Archival Collections.

Once people have done research, they can venture to various locations such as Oak Grove Cemetery at the University, Wood County Memory Gardens, Plain Cemetery Wood County Health Department and the Wood County Historical Center & Museum to find more traces of their family name. In addition, the brochure lists several hotels where people on the tours can stay if they are traveling from out of town.

Another tour that people can participate in is the indulge tour, which is targeted towards different restaurants, bistros, spas, jewelers, gift shops and clothing stores throughout the city.

“Someone with discerning tastes would appreciate everything on the indulge tour,” Sands said.

Some of these places on the tour include Waddington Jewelers, Gallery Salon and Spa, Naslada Bistro and the Melt Shoppe.

In addition, people interested in nature can try the green-and-garden-themed tour this summer. However, the tour is offered in the spring and fall as well. On this tour, people can browse different gardens such as Wintergarden Nature Preserve and Simpson Gardens, but they can also do activities such as berry picking at Wolf’s Blooms and Berries and hayrides at Pumpkin Peddler.

A few other tours consist of the health and lifestyle tour where people can visit different fitness centers and parks and the dark tour that features places across campus and the town that have been presumed to be haunted.

In addition to the existing themed tours, Visitor Center workers are creating new tours to draw more people to Bowling Green attractions. People can anticipate a new geocaching tour in August and a treasure hunt tour in October.

History and architecture enthusiasts can also partake in the upcoming history and architectural tour that will begin in September. People on this tour will have the opportunity to see and learn about the historical and architectural context of buildings in the town.

“The tours are fun ways for people to engage with businesses and the community,” Sands said. “It’s like an adventure.”

For more information, visit http://www.visitbgohio.org/