— by Margie Doyle, corrected Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. —
Lance Evans, Executive Director of the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce, greeted another standing-room-only audience of Chamber members and guests at the Chamber’s annual dinner at Rosario Resort’s Beach House on Thursday, Oct. 20.
Evans quipped that the traditional line about local Chambers of Commerce goes, “If you’ve been to one Chamber meeting, you’ve been to one Chamber meeting,” a redundant way of saying that all chambers are unique. Evans added, “I know full well individual Orcas Island businesses are another version of us.”
San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau
San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau Barbara Marrett echoed Evans’ statement, and said that the Orcas Chamber stands out among the three county Chambers of Commerce.
Marrett explained her role as being three-fold: responsible at the Visitors Bureau for stewardship, film-making and communication. She emphasized the focus on stewardship in her remarks, saying that protected wildlife and natural areas and adequate restroom, parking and trash collection are all significant in maintaining sustainable tourism. Inattention to these matters takes the “small” out of “small town” and “quiet” out of “quiet season” she observed.
“It’s impossible to go back in time. Restoration is very expensive and often unsuccessful. Preservation is the right thing to do,” Marrett said. She noted that San Juan County was the first in the country to voluntarily subscribe to the “Leave no Trace” ethic; and that the Council has requested a Tourism Master Plan so that the county doesn’t become “too well-loved.”
“Tourism needs to be a leader in conservation efforts,” she said, and invited audience members to comment on a rough draft of the tourism plan that is expected in 2017. Beyond that, she also asked that business owners share statistics about their visitors; promote stewardship principles; use locally-made amenities, and promote activities that don’t use carbon: hiking, walking, kayaking, swimming and the like.
Vision for Eastsound
Jim Jonassen presented the Vision for Eastsound initiative to the group, after asking for a show of hands on those who have read the document: https://orcaslibrary.org/docs/vision4eastsound.pdf and those who have taken the survey: https://goo.gl/forms/RhcmmatHN9MrTrym2.
“We’re all seeing a lot of changes,” Jonassen said, and outlined some of the issues addressed by the project, which held its first public meetings on Oct. 13 and Oct. 20:
- vision itself: what do we want Eastsound to be be?
- density; with half the residential growth on Orcas Island to be located in the Eastsound Urban Growth Area (UGA)
- character; described not as a “themed” village such as “Bavarian” Leavenworth or “Scandinavian” Poulsbo, but with elements such as permeability between streets and porches
- infrastructure and “greenscapes,” such as the Eastsound Village Green, newly opened Fern Street Park between North Beach Road and Prune Alley, and potentially, the Crescent Beach road closure
Jonassen announced that 50 people had committed to participate in continuing workshops addressing these and other issues over the next 12 months, and thanked Chris Rost, David Kau, Fred Klein and John Campbell who took up Bob Maynard’s challenge to envision Eastsound into the future.
Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce 2016 Awards
Community Spirit
Red Rabbit Farm, Bruce and Christina Orchid won out over nominees:
- Tony Geifer of Orcas Medical Center
- Tom Fiscus
- Susan Malins of Score! Nifty Thrifty
- Rick Hughes, County Councilman
- Ron and Mary Rebman of Orcas Village Store
- Island Market
Environmental Excellence
In accepting their award, Shayne Vinagre and Justin Adams of Beach Haven Resort said, “This island’s such a beautiful place, there’s a lot of things we can all do, let’s all protect it.”
Nominees for the Environmental Excellence award included:
- Jeff Zbornik and Tom Carter of Shearwater Kayaks
- Paul Kamin of Eastsound Water Users Association
Island Friendly Spirit
Random Howse, Clyde and April Duke won the award. In accepting the award, April said “Going from a roofing company to a restaurant/club is all new to us. This is Clyde’s vision and I love him.”
Nominees included:
- Anne Marie Schultz of Centerworks
- Judy Lindgren of Island Market
- Country Corner employees
- Suzie Phillips of Suzie’s Barbershop
- Nate and Hailey Averna of Deer Harbor Charters
- Alyson Stephens of Zumba!
Business Innovation and Creativity Award was given to Doe Bay Resorts
Nominees were:
- Andrew Youngren of NW Printshop
- Sean O’Brien and Theron Soderlund of Token Herb
- Sarah Cooper and Donna Riordan of 376 Group
Business Marketing award went to Audra Lawlor of Girl Meets Dirt, who praised the island’s fruit orchard heritage. Also nominated were:
- Madie Murray, graphic designer
- Rosario Resort and Spa
Lance Evans thanked Chamber staff and volunteers for helping to organize the evening. business members for the wealth of door prizes, Island Hoppin’ Brewery for providing libations and Rosario Resort for hosting the event and providing the evening’s meal.
