By Wendy Gragg

Tribune-Herald staff writer

CRANFILLS GAP — This tiny Central Texas town may not look much like Hollywood, but it’s getting the red-carpet treatment as it stars in an upcoming Las Vegas marketing campaign in which a third of the town will be whisked off for a Vegas vacation, footed by Sin City itself.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has deemed Cranfills Gap the quintessential American small town and the perfect subject for the new marketing campaign, “Vegas Bound.” Cranfills Gap was chosen out of about 125 other small towns as “a typical American city in urgent need of rest and relaxation,” according to a news release.

“I still can’t believe Cranfills Gap got picked, but I’m glad it did,” said Mayor David Witte. “It’ll put the Gap on the map.”

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• Cranfills Gap Web site

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Cranfills Gap, out of about 125 towns in the running, rose to the top as the quintessential small American town for Las Vegas to invite to come have some fun. (Jerry Larson photo)

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Robert Brooks smokes and relaxes at the Horny Toad Bar and Grill in Cranfills Gap. A pretty laidback fellow, Brooks said he's not excited about going to Vegas. But he wouldn't mind seeing a show with Cher. (Jerry Larson photo)

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Kyle Wheeler gets some B-roll in the Horny Toad Bar and Grill as customers eat their lunch. About one third of the town of Cranfills Gap, including the Horny Toad owners, will close up shop in a couple of weeks and head off to Las Vegas for a vacation. The town was chosen as the subject for a new marketing campaign by the Las Vegas visitors bureau. (Jerry Larson photo)

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Running through the project is a focus on the current economy. Las Vegas and Cranfills Gap officials hope the campaign will positively affect their economies. The campaign tries to emphasize that it’s important to make time for leisure, even vacations, despite the economic downturn.

“There are a lot of people losing houses and doing badly, but a lot of people aren’t. They’re working harder than ever, and need to take a break,” said Doug Finelli, creative director for R&R Partners, the advertising and public relations firm working on “Vegas Bound.”

The production crew has spent the last month getting to know the town and this week is filming Cranfills Gap folks in their everyday settings before they jet off to Vegas on Dec. 13. Out of about 350 residents, more than 100 will end up taking the trip. Though it’s a good chunk of the town, Witte says the Gap will be all right while they’re gone.

“It’s not like we’re rolling up the street,” he said.

In Vegas, Gap folks will be matched up with activities that suit their interests, which may include anything from golfing to fine dining or a trip to Hoover Dam.

Filming for a commercial

Residents seem to be getting used to cameras on the street and in businesses. The local lunch crowd Thursday at the Horny Toad Bar and Grill, in ball caps and jackets, eased onto barstools. The former gas station and feed store smelled of brisket — the day’s special — and was warmed by a wood stove.

The mood was subdued, the patrons focusing on their sandwiches, paying no attention to the large microphone hanging over their heads. The film crew from Synthetic Pictures trained its camera on the average lunch day, getting local flavor for the videos that will eventually air on the Vegas visitors bureau Web site and on commercials.

The Horny Toad, the only watering hole in town, will close up shop while the owners make the Vegas vacation a family affair. Misti Glass, 33, owns the establishment with her husband and her mom and dad. The bar and grill has been open for two years and is doing well. The family has put their all into the establishment, but it’s by no means their only job. Misti and her husband have a real estate company, and her husband also works for a glass company.

“We don’t spend much time at home, this is our home,” Misti said of the bar. “We don’t get to spend time as a family since we opened this place.”

Though Misti said she’s perfectly comfortable in a ball cap, with no makeup, playing dominoes, she’s looking forward to maybe some spa time in Vegas and getting dressed up and going out with the family.

Glass grew up in Cranfills Gap but moved around when she was in the U.S. Air Force. She’s got no qualms about flying to Vegas, but the decision hasn’t been so easy for everyone in town.

“Some people I’ve had to talk into going. There are some people who’ve never left Bosque County,” she said.

While “What happens here, stays here” is still embraced by Las Vegas, the convention and visitors bureau is temporarily suspending that campaign to focus is on short term projects to draw people to Las Vegas right now, said Terry Jicinsky, vice president of marketing with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The “Vegas Bound” campaign is a response to the beginning of an economic downturn in the Nevada city, Jicinsky said. Over the last eight months, the visitor count has been down by about 2.5 percent and hotel occupancy is down by about 3 percent. Tourism is the No. 1 industry in Las Vegas, with about two-thirds of the workforce connected to it either directly or indirectly.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about economic development, making sure our workforce stays employed,” Jicinsky said. “If the tourism industry hurts, a ripple effect is felt throughout the community. It’s huge.”

The Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has a long history of aggressively marketing the tourism industry, Jicinsky said. About $2.5 million is going into the first quarter of the “Vegas Bound” campaign. The Cranfills Gap trip is the campaign’s kickoff, with the video going up on the visitors bureau’s Web site in January.

Skeptical at first

When the folks from Las Vegas first came calling, Witte shared the same skepticism of several other residents.

“I told them, ‘If it’s a joke and makes us look bad, you can get back on the plane and go back to Las Vegas,’ ” he said.

But then Witte, and many of the residents, got to know the roughly 30 film and marketing professionals who suddenly became part of the town.

“You couldn’t ask for a better bunch of people,” Witte said. “I know it’s a job, but they seem to care about the town.”

Finelli, the creative director, said the production crew wanted to form that kind of relationship. That’s why they set up shop in an abandoned store in the middle of town. Finelli said the Cranfills Gap production is turning out to be even better than he imagined.

“Once you put faces to an idea, it always comes to life more,” he said. “I’m glad we chose the Gap, it’s just the quintessential small town.”

Featuring real people

Finelli said key to the Cranfills Gap production is that it will show real people having a good time doing different things in Vegas. It’s a third-party endorsement.

“Most people have a hard time identifying with actors in a commercial having fun,” he said.

Robert Brooks, 54, will put his horses, Patchie and Goldie, in the care of his son and a friend while Brooks and his wife, Elaine, head to Sin City. Brooks, at first wary of the whole Las Vegas offer, will be taking the trip, but he’s taking it all in stride.

“Ma’am, there’s nothin’ that excites me anymore,” he said.

A long-time cowboy, Brooks at first said he couldn’t imagine much that would interest him about Vegas except maybe the professional bull riding competitions.

But then he had to admit, a magic show might be cool, and maybe there is one singer he’d go see.

“I’d love to see Cher,” he said.

Witte is hoping the “Vegas Bound” campaign will mean more than just a good time for his town. He’s hoping for a little good press. The little town made headlines last school year when it nearly lost its school due to low enrollment. But enrollment is back up and Witte said he wants “The Gap” on the map. Witte said he doesn’t want the town to grow too much, but he’d love to have a new industry or two move in.

“Some people will say they know somebody from Cranfills Gap or they’ve driven through here, but they’ll know definitely where we are now,” he said.

wgragg@wacotrib.com

757-6901