Golf-RV Trip Winner Named
Gerald Smith of Maple Valley in Washington won the Golf-RV
package that was offered jointly by the Seattle RV Show and the
Seattle Golf Show when they were staged simultaneously at the
Qwest Field Event Center in February. The prize included a free
round of golf at three courses in the Pacific Northwest and free use
of a motorhome from Tacoma RV Center for four days.
Show director Dave Helgeson said the Seattle RV Show attracted its best attendance in 10 years, aided in part by the presence of
the golf show in the same building. By offering a joint prize, the
two shows sought to highlight how well golf fits into the RV
lifestyle. “Traveling in an RV allows you to stop and visit some of
the greatest spots in the world, including some of the most amazing golf courses in the country,” Helgeson said. John Tipping, event
producer for the Seattle Golf Show, added, “We believe there is a
synergistic connection between the two lifestyles that benefits both
the golf and RV industries.”
GMAC to Finance Thor RVs
Thor Industries, whose brands include Damon, Four Winds,
Airstream, Dutchmen, Komfort and Keystone, has selected GMAC
Financial Services as its preferred lender for retail customers. In
expanding its auto financing franchise to recreation vehicles,
GMAC said it intends to hire employees who have been managing
Thor Credit services.
GMAC will offer retail financing initially to dealers in 14 high-volume states, but plans to extend the service nationwide to all
1,200 dealers in the Thor network.
Winnebago Reopens Factory Tours
Winnebago Industries reopened its free factory tours in April
and will offer them twice daily through October 29 and once daily
in November before closing for the winter. The factory is located in
Forest City, Iowa.
The tour begins at the company’s visitor’s center with a 20-
minute video and includes a tour of the grounds and visits to the
chassis weld facility and the main production area, which is named
Big Bertha because it is the size of eight football fields. Visitors may
also tour the Winnebago Industries Museum, which chronicles the
company’s history. For tour information, call (641) 585-6936 or
visit Winnebagoind.com/company/visit-us.
Outdoors RV Reaches Milestone
Outdoors RV Manufacturing, which began producing travel trailers in La Grande, Oregon, last year, has presented its 1,000th unit to
Gary, Terry and Heather Sinkler at their dealership, U-Neek RV
Center. The 1,000th trailer was a TimberRidge model, part of a line-up of rugged, four-season travel trailers being produced for the
Northwest, mountain states and western Canada. U-Neek RV Center,
with stores in Vancouver and Kelso, Washington, serves southwest
Washington and the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area.
Cheyenne to Host Adult Spelling Bee
Cheyenne, Wyoming, is inviting people to visit a spell when it
hosts the 15th annual AARP National Spelling Bee, June 18-19, at
Little America Hotel and Resort. More than $1,000 in gifts and
prizes will be offered to competitors, age 50 and older. In addition
to the spelling bee, visitors will find other attractions at the event,
including trolley tours of the city, horse-drawn carriage rides, afternoon teas at a historic mansion, a free concert, a gun fight reenactment, and the Wyoming Brewer’s Festival, offering beer, music and
food. For information, visit aarp.org/spellingbee, Cheyenne.org,
and wyomingbrewersfestival.com.
BoatU.S. Offers Online Guide Locator
BoatU.S, the nation’s largest association of recreation boaters, is
offering an online service to allow anglers to find fishing guides
and charter operators. The website also offers a bait shop locator,
and a calendar for fishing tournaments and shows. The website can
be found at BoatUSAngler.com/services.
NEWS BRIEFS
Vancouver: a Tale of Two Cities
The tourism agency in Vancouver, Washington, has embarked
on an effort to differentiate the U.S. city from Vancouver in British
Columbia by unveiling a new logo with the slogan: Visit Vancouver
USA/Discover the Original.
Vancouver in southwest Washington was settled first but has a
smaller population than the Canadian city (164,000 to 578,000).
The two cities have often been confused and the problem was
heightened when Canada’s Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics.
“We received numerous calls from travelers who mistakenly
thought they were calling the
other Vancouver,” said Gerry
Link, general manager of the
Hilton Vancouver Washington.
The Southwest Washington
Convention & Visitors Bureau
has changed its name to the
VancouverUSA Regional
Tourism Office to promote the
new brand. Officials said
tourism in Vancouver and elsewhere in Clark County provides
more than 4,000 jobs and generates $421 million in spending
in the local economy.
Prize Aids Blind Climbers
A snapshot of Peter Green of
Eugene, Oregon, making one of
his many mountain climbs as a
member of Team Sight Unseen
has won $10,000 in the Gore-Tex Experience More
Challenge. Team Sight Unseen
is a climbing team that includes
blind and visually impaired
mountaineers.
Green plans to use the
money to help fund Team Sight
Unseen’s climb of Gannet Peak
in Wyoming. Green and three
other sighted climbers will
guide one blind and one visual-
ly impaired climber on the
8,100-foot vertical climb.
Green said people often ask
why someone would make the
climb when they are unable to
appreciate the view from the
summit, but he points to the
team’s motto: “It’s not the desti-
nation, but the journey that
makes the trip worthwhile.”
Participants in the
Experience More Challenge
were invited to submit photos
of themselves “experiencing
more” outdoors. Visitors to
GoreTex’s website at myexperi-
encemore.com helped pick the
winner. ;
