The famous faces of Mount Rushmore remain in western South Dakota -- not in North Dakota as one vacation mailer sent to people in our area claims.
The AAA advertisement for “Great American Vacations” features a postcard of the chiseled presidential visages of Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington and Teddy Roosevelt emblazoned with “North Dakota.” The Mid-Atlantic AAA club sent the mailing to thousands of members in Delaware; Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Club spokesman Lon Anderson tells The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead that he's embarrassed about the mistake, and the marketing team is “humbled by the error.” He says he didn't see the ad before it went out and would have noticed the mistake.
The mistake is fairly common, according to North Dakota Tourism Director Sara Otte Coleman. Officials in her office field questions related to Mount Rushmore quite often, she said.
"This just goes to show people still think of us as the Dakotas," she said.
Most people have been good-humored about the ad, AAA North Dakota spokesman Gene LaDoucer said.
For example, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem posted the ad on his Facebook page and quipped, "I would like to thank our good friends in South Dakota for this very generous gift to North Dakota!"