The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1913-12-11
NEW DIRECTORS
ARE ELECTED
COMMERCIAL CLUB PLANS WORK
Secretary Raylin Outlines Campaign for
Coming Year Tom Richardson
To Be Entertained


The annual meeting of the CONNER
cial club was held at the club room |
Monday evening, with q moderate at |
tendance. On account of the business |
session there was no social program |
arranged, except that the billiard hall |
was well patronized. all the tables be- |
ing occupied. and sharp checker game |
drew crowd of interested spectators. |
The meeting opened with DIR. j. F. |
Watt in the chair, and after disposing |
of a few routine matters, the secre-
tsry's report was read with close at
tention and accepted.
The following new directors were
unanimously elected: DIR. +. G. Bro
sius. G. +. Gilbert and R. +. Scott.
The retiring members are DIR. j. +.
Watt, c. X. Marshall and j. f. Rob-
ertson.
Nj. f. McCarty brought up the mat
ter that the fire department had no
comfortable .place of meeting. and
voiced the sentiment OF the club when
he stated that as the members of the
department gave their services without
pay to protect the property of the city.
it would be fitting for the club to ten
der them the free use of the assembly
hall once month for their business
meeting. A motion to that effect was
carried.
The entertainment committee was
instructed to meet Tom Richardson, of
the Oregon Development League, who
will come here next Thursday evening.
give him dinner at the hotel. and en-
tertain him as a guest of the club. A
smoker will be given in the evening,
to which all members of the club are
invited, and MIR. Richardson will have
something to say to the club that will
be of interest The members of the
fire department will also be invited to
attend the smoker.
Secretary Ravlin's report follows in
part:
The most important action the club
can take during the coming year is to
carefully plan complete and thorough
campaign to attract tourists during the
anticipated great influx in 1915 due to
the Panama Pacific Exposition in San
Francisco. Exposition officials and
| traffic managers of the various rail-
roads predict an attendance during the
nine months of the fair of from 20 to
80 million people. 1t is expected that
at least ten per cent of the travel can
be induced to pass through Portland.
| And it is in Portland that we should
exert our greatest efforts. Go after
the tourists. Let US begin to make an
asset of our scenery.
The counties of southern Oregon and
| the Willamette valley are already wide
awake to the situation and they are all
planning for the 1915 influx, as Tom
Richardson will personally tell you here
on the 18th. We have more to offer
the tourist in the line of scenery than
any other place in Oregon, and we are
in stragetic posi- ition to capture this
line of trade.
With an energetic campaign in Port
land we should be able to attract a
great deal of the travel to Hood River,
and the trip up the Columbia River by
boat can be made the most important
features of the Portland itinerary of
all tourists. There is no reason why
we shouldn't have from 100 to 500 tour
lists day during the spring, summer
and fall of 1915.
would suggest that we adopt some
slogan, such as "See Hood River, the
Most Beautiful Valley in the World. =
This may seem extravagant, but IL
takes something extravagant to catch
the public. We can certainly make
good with the tourists when we get
them here. When it comes to talking
the charms of Hood River valley we
~ 10 bsnY Ixf "a M n
deep. ! want to impress upon you at
this time that the 1915 campaign is
going to be the hottest that has ever
been waged in Oregon and it behooves
us to get into the contest with our
sleeves rolled up.
Regarding the Portland end of this
campaign suggestion was made to me
the other day by Charles Hall, which
was, TO use slang expression, a
"corker. The success of this plan,
however, depends upon the utmost
secrecy until just before ii is sprung.
and therefore | am not ut liberty to di-
vulge any of the particulars at this
time. Suffice to say, if ii is carried
out am confident ii will be the big
gest advertising and boosting stunt
that will be pulled off in Portland by
any county in Oregon.
The biggest single thing to insure
the success of this tourist campaign
will be the opening of the Columbia
River Highway as far as Hood River.
Multnomah county is bringing a mag.
nificent boulevard to our boundary
line. as wide as the upper part OF Oak
street, and with maximum five per
cent grade. 1t is absolutely beyond
Hood River to do anything like this.
If we can get through sixteen foot
road with a maximum grade Of from
eight to even ten per cent it Is about
all that can be expected of US. The
State Highway Commission is carrying
through the same survey In Hood
River county that they are elsewhere.
In view of this fact ii is believed
eventually that the state will take ovel
this road and reconstruct it in places
to comply fully with the requirements
of the present survey. | have made 8
suggestion to the Columbia River
Highway Association to have Colum
bia River Highway exhibit at the Sar
Francisco exposition, exploiting ths
scenic wonders of that trip. To show
you how other sections are going aftel
this sort of advertising one of the big
gest concessions in the amusement sec
tion of the exposition will be an i'm
Z mense reproduction of the Crane
Canon of Arizona. Eventually the Who'll,
state of Oregon will be made to Sc,
/ that the Columbia River Highway will
be the states greatest scenic asset an'
plans should be commenced at once t
/ exploit it to the world.
As one means of raising funds t
carry on our tourist campaign | woul'
suggest that we hold local taen
street carnival here next June, witt
a week of gaiety. possibly culminatinl
II .n.tAl, E.aaxtk ItsI.a