This past summer, three entrepreneurial women Angela Fletcher, Christie Wanderer and Sara Letourneau opened a walking tour business in downtown Stillwater. The three have known each other for several years and have enjoyed participating together in fitness classes offered at Pioneer Park as well as challenging themselves on the Stillwater stairs. It was during a stair climb workout that Fletcher mused about how she’d enjoy working for a local walking tour company. That’s all it took to inspire the trio to launch Rivertown Tours.
Letourneau laughs about how the three are not Stillwater natives. She’s from New York, Fletcher is from Michigan and Wanderer is from California. But, she says, “The three of us love Stillwater and we want to show off our town, its businesses and its history.” They spent last year researching the background of historic houses and local architecture through engagement with Discover Stillwater and the Historical Society. “Then, [COVID-19] hit, and everything was put on ice,” Letourneau says. “But, as things began to open up in June, people were looking for things to do outside, so we got going. We weren’t 100 percent ready, but we figured it out.”
They started by offering two different tours twice a day on Saturdays and Sundays. One was a Main Street tour that took participants along the river and through a few alleys. The other was a south hill tour near the historic courthouse and through the neighborhood. They later added a lumberjack tour about logging, ending with guests throwing axes at Stillwater’s Lumberjack ax-throwing bar.
Check out what tours are available this fall at rivertowntours.com.
