Author Archives: Josh Palecki

Good Friends: Befrienders bring generations together

AUGUST 22, 2023 Befrienders is an organization that matches Bozeman seniors with volunteers from the area, helping the Gallatin Valley’s older population combat loneliness since 1993. It has created dozens of friendships between generations that last for years. Anne Kenney, 82, has been with Befrienders for the last two years and says that she loves […]

A Grand Re-Opening for a Grand Gift Shop

JULY 13, 2023 Contact: Rosie Breheny, Marketing Manager [email protected] Springfield, IL – ExplorUS, a hospitality management company specializing in America’s most beautiful parks, is excited to announce their grand re-opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum gift shop. First opened to the public in 2005, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum stands as […]

A Thousand Reasons for ExplorUS to Celebrate

JUNE 19, 2023 Hospitality company ExplorUS has been awarded a 10-year contract to operate concessions at Thousand Hills State Park in northeast Missouri beginning in January 2024. Thousand Hills State Parks surrounds Forest Lake, where ExplorUS will offer visitors the rentals of boat slips, kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, pontoons, fishing boats and bicycles. The marina store […]

New Retail Space Serves Campers at Lake Wappapello

MAY 18, 2023 We’ve all been there: You’re enjoying a camping trip and realize you forgot bug spray. Or maybe you want a T-shirt to commemorate your fishing excursion when you reeled in “the big one.” The new camp store at Lake Wappapello State Park in southeast Missouri has just what day-trippers and overnight visitors […]

New Concession at Tahquamenon Falls State Park

MARCH 28, 2023 Paradise, MI – A hospitality management company, ExplorUS, formerly known as Ortega National Parks, will manage the newly built café and gift shop in the lower falls of Tahquamenon Falls State Park located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Operating in parks across the country, ExplorUS has extensive experience in food, beverage, and retail. […]

Picture Worthy and Vacation Ready Starved Rock Lodge and State Park

JANUARY 19, 2023 “We’ve always assumed that Starved Rock State Park was one of the most beautiful places in America, but now that Travel Lens has completed a study ranking it the seventh most-instagrammed state park in the country we can brag about it.” Said Frank Pikus, CEO of ExplorUS. Starved Rock is located in LaSalle County, Illinois, along […]

Illinois Beach Hotel Welcomes New Manager

JANUARY 18, 2023 Zion, IL,  – The Illinois Beach Hotel is pleased to welcome Donald Hamilton as the new General Manager for the hotel located in the Adeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park.    Originally from Sonoma County California, Don earned a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Tisch School of the Arts at […]

New Company to Manage Echo Bluff Lodge Concessions

JANUARY 11, 2023 EMINENCE, MO, JAN. 11, 2023 – ExplorUS, formally Ortega National Parks, a hospitality management company operating in parks across the country, will manage the lodging, dining, retail and banquet facilities at the Echo Bluff State Park beginning this year. Echo Bluff started out as a summer youth camp called Camp Zoe over […]

Hawaii Volcano House | Halema’uma’u Crater

JANUARY 6, 2023 Hawaii Volcano House Hotel in Hawaii is a historical retreat with 33 guest rooms, 10 cabins and 16 campsites located in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Halema’uma’u crater continues to erupt here in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Our incredible staff at Hawaii Volcano House snapped the photo of the crater erupting. The […]