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Southern Idaho Tourism
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Buzz Langdon Visitors Center in Twin Falls Is a Must-Stop for Tourists
Volunteers such as Perrie Freestone share their extensive knowledge of the area with tourists who stop at the Buzz Langdon Visitors Center in Twin Falls.
An energetic and dedicated cadre of volunteers staffs the Buzz Langdon Visitors Center in Twin Falls‚ known as one of the best places in the area for a look at the dramatic Snake River Canyon.
Volunteers at the visitors center are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge of the region where they live‚ as well as their interest in the visitors they serve.
The popular center – some 33‚000 visitors from around the world stopped there in 2005 – adjacent to the Perrine Bridge is primarily a tourist information center‚ says Judy Harr‚ visitors center manager. “We have literature on the area and maps of the state. We have just about everything a person would want to know about the area.”
The visitors center also stocks Twin Falls- and Idaho-made items and souvenirs.
Perhaps the most valuable product the visitors center offers‚ however‚ is the knowledge its volunteers share.
“If you need to find someone or something in Twin Falls‚ go to the visitors center‚” Harr says. “If the people working at that time can’t answer your question‚ somebody on the staff can answer it.”
For volunteer Sue Langdon‚ widow of the namesake of the Buzz Langdon Visitors Center‚ work at the visitors center began as a way to continue to support her husband’s vision.
“He believed that we needed a visitors center desperately‚ and that it should be located somewhere on the rim of the canyon.”
Buzz Langdon was head of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce at the time of his death at age 53. The center was dedicated in 1989‚ just a year after Langdon’s death.
“I just felt like it was something Buzz wanted so desperately that I would be remiss if I didn’t volunteer‚” Langdon says. “It has been one of the most pleasant experiences. You meet the nicest people. If they’re interested enough to stop‚ generally they’re just great‚ great people.”
Perrie Freestone‚ a volunteer at the visitors center for the past 12 years‚ says he started helping out to fill the time between fishing trips.
“I retired early and didn’t have anything to do‚ really‚ except fish‚ and you can’t do that all the time.”
Born and raised in the Twin Falls area‚ Freestone has lived and worked here all of his life. The self-described reluctant traveler enjoys the diversity of the people who stop at the center. He likes learning about the places people come from‚ a topic visitors are happy to discuss.
“You ask people who come in here what it’s like where they’re from‚ and I tell you‚ they’ll talk to you all day‚” Freestone says.
His 17-year-old grandson‚ Jacob Goicoechea‚ who volunteers at the center with his twin brother‚ Justin‚ offers a similar assessment. “I learn a lot from the people I work with and the people who come in.”
Story by Sue Lenthe
Photo by Greg Emens
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