The new face at the Washington- Wilkes Chamber of Commerce has a new name and a new phone number to go with the Chamber’s new office.

Tourism Director Ashley Turner is now Ashley Turner Barnett, having wed Ames Barnett December 9, and the Tourism office’s phone number is now 706-678-5111.

“It’ll help separate strictly tourism calls from all the calls coming into the Chamber,” Barnett said. “Some people have tourism-type questions but don’t think to call the Chamber of Commerce. This way, they’ll be able to find the information they need more easily.

The Chamber of Commerce and Tourism office moved across The Square two week ago to larger offices in the Lindsey Building, the former home of Curves. A new sign now advertises the Chamber and visitor center to anyone on The Square, and both tourists and local people have been flocking in to see the new home.

The Chamber’s Executive Director Donna Hardy, the tourism director, and Chamber volunteers have been asking visitors to the office to record their visit in the Chamber’s guest book in an effort to document the hundreds of people who visit the facility. “We hope to become a statedesignated official Visitor Center, and keeping track of visitors is very important because it determines how much money we get from the state of Georgia.”

And visitors are coming more and more, said Barnett. The tourism director has been placing print and television advertisements in carefully selected markets to draw more visitors to the city. “Bradley Barber of Hanna’s House Productions has done a wonderful 30-second commercial,” Barnett said, “and it’s airing on Comcast cable all over the suburbs of Atlanta. We expect to see lots of interest from those ads.”

So now, everyone with tourism business in Washington-Wilkes can contact Ashley, the new girl with the new name and the new phone number, at the new office.