Riverview-based Son-Rise Productions arranges tour packages with an emphasis on Christian ethics

A5

by Hanne Armstrong
This Week Staff

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

"Our biggest selling feature is that on our tours, shows we attend are just wholesome entertainment, and clients don't have to worry about foul language and suggestive subjects," explains Heidi Gorham.

Heidi is the owner of Son-Rise Promotions Ltd., an eight-year-old home-based Riverview business. Her day job is as Inventory Control Manager at the Downey Home Hardware, and she didn't plan to have this second career.

It all began when a few people from Riverview Baptist Church, where her husband Jonathan is the senior pastor, wanted to visit the Amish Country in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

"I said, let's get a group together and we'll get bus," Heidi recalls. "It was a big success, and it just grew. This November will be our fifth trip there."

Son-Rise Promotions also has tours to the Middle East. Heidi organized a ten-day tour of the Holy Land last year and has another planned for 2009. In 2010, Greece and Turkey are on the schedule, focusing on spiritual and religious sites.

"We also do one-day trips," says Heidi. "We go to PEI, for instance, and in May we filled a bus to go to Saint John to see the Gaither Homecoming Show."

Though Son-Rise Promotions doesn't cater exclusively to a Christian clientele, Jonathan does hold ecumenical church services on the bus and at appropriate local sites. A very memorable service was the one conducted at the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem.

Another company feature which many find attractive is that Heidi accepts payment by installment, as long as the entire fee is paid a month before the beginning of the tour. The majority of tour members tend to be senior citizens, and this policy accommodates fixed monthly incomes.

"I'm not really in this for the money," Heidi says. "Jonathan and I just like to travel. This might become full-time when we retire."

The tour which started it all, to Lancaster to see Amish quilts, is a favourite which is repeated every second year. A homemade Amish meal is part of each package, and this year's tour is sure to be both interesting and to spark the Christmas spirit.

The eight-day tour runs from November 16-23, with pickups in Moncton, Sussex, Petticodiac, and Saint John. Featured shows include performances of 'A Christmas Carol' at a dinner theatre in Lancaster, and the Voices of Christmas concert at the Living Waters Theatre.

Starting at $810 per person, the tour sounds like good value for money. The price includes taxes, hotels, transportation, breakfasts, entertainment, and four evening meals and four shows.

"You couldn't do it cheaper on your own," says Heidi.

Son-Rise Promotions doesn't as yet have a website, but Heidi hopes to have one up and running within a year. In the meantime, if you want information about upcoming tours, you can reach her at 386-7858.

On all her tours, Heidi is careful to use local guides who have been recommended to her and whose references pass muster. For someone with no background in the travel industry, Heidi has come a long way.

"It's been quite a learning curve," she says. "I've gotten to meet a lot of nice people along the way."