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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015 Masons: ‘The stewardship of these scholarships will fall apart unless we get new blood’ Continued from Page 1A Marsch will study an- imal sciences at Oregon State University, with hopes of one day working at a zoo. Gateway Lodge JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian A family walks down to the beach from the WorldMark Seaside Resort Saturday. The Seaside Visitors Bureau gets more than 20 percent of the lodging tax collected there. Tourism: Seaside Visitors Bureau gets 20.1 percent of whatever lodging tax is collected Continued from Page 1A Klein said employment in the tourism industry started picking up about a year lat- er than spending. The report found that industry employ- ment tied to travel spending, dominated by the lodging and food service sectors, has LQFUHDVHGRYHUWKHVDPH¿YH year time frame by 10 per- cent, from 3,520 in 2010 to 3,880 in 2014. Filling rooms “The bottom line for my community is bed taxes, how many people are here,” said Jon Rahl, the tourism market- ing manager for the city-fund- ed Seaside Visitors Bureau. Rahl said one of the easiest statistics to track is transient room taxes, used to fund the bureau and similar commu- nity improvement programs around Clatsop County. Ac- cording to the Dean Runyan study, Clatsop County has had a 30 percent increase from 2010 to 2014 in local and state taxes collected from the tour- ism industry. “We have 13 consecutive quarters of year-over-year growth,” Rahl said of Seaside’s SHUIRUPDQFH ,Q WKH ¿UVW WZR ¿QDQFLDOTXDUWHUVRIWKH ¿VFDO \HDU 6HDVLGH HDUQHG $2.5 million, equal to what it earned in the entire 2010-11 ¿VFDO \HDU ZKLFK UXQV -XO\ to June 30. And that doesn’t in- clude the revenue Seaside will collect during one of its busiest quarters. Rahl said he hears anec- dotally from Seaside-area businesses that winter week- ends are increasingly becom- ing like summer weekends used to be. Caroline Wuebben of the Holiday Inn in Astoria, which recently announced the expan- sion of its 78-room hotel by an- other 20 rooms, said her loca- tion is at full capacity between Memorial Day and September, with rates charged for rooms in- creasing across the county. Looking into reports from the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Wueb- ben said she’s noticed the Oregon Coast is driving the state’s increase in occupancy rates, including a 15 percent increase for this February over a year ago. Wuebben and Rahl both credited the milder weather and lack of snow in the mountains WRWKHLQFUHDVHGFRDVWDOWUDI¿F But they also noted the exten- sive regional marketing cam- paigns local chambers, the vis- itors bureau and other groups are using to lure visitors. Marketing the coast The Seaside Visitors Bu- reau gets 20.1 percent of whatever lodging tax is col- (FRQRPLFLPSDFWRIWRXULVP LQ&ODWVRS&RXQW\ 7RWDOGLUHFWVSHQGLQJSHU\HDU 0LOOLRQVRIGROODUV 8S IURP Some members of the Gateway Masonic Lodge estimate the average age of its 50 members at around 70 years old. “The stewardship of these scholarships will fall apart unless we get new blood,” Worshipful Master Archie Cook said, adding that the lodge doesn’t ap- peal for new members, but that people are more than welcome to join. $ERXW ¿YH \HDUV DJR Cook enticed one of the lodge’s youngest members, 27-year-old Sean Morgan, who said he didn’t know much about the Masons be- fore joining Seaside’s chapter. JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Guest speaker Steve Berk, a professor emeritus at Cal- ifornia State University in Long Beach and an adjunct history professor at Clatsop Community College, talks about the history of the Masons during the banquet. “We are just another volunteer organization,” Morgan said. “The com- mon bond we have is ma- sonry.” Morgan said the organi- zation has taught him stew- ardship and management skills, as well as exposing him to a group of commu- nity-minded people with a storied history of members. “Lewis and Clark were Ma- sons.” For more informa- tion on Gateway Masonic Lodge, visit http://gateway- lodge175.org/ ,QFOXGHVWUDYHODUUDQJHPHQWVUHVHUYDWLRQVHUYLFHV DQGFRQYHQWLRQDQGWUDGHVKRZRUJDQL]HUV 9LVLWRUVSHQGLQJE\FRPPRGLW\LQ 0LOOLRQVRIGROODUV )RRGVHUYLFHV )RRGVWRUHVRU 7UDQVSRUWDWLRQJDV RU RU $UWVHQWHUWDLQPHQW DQGUHFUHDWLRQ RU 5HWDLOVDOHV RU JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian Proud parents try to get photos of their students after the 55th annual Warrenton High School Honor Student Banquet. $FFRPPRGDWLRQVRU For online updates: www.dailyastorian.com ,QGXVWU\HDUQLQJVLQ 0LOOLRQVRIGROODUV 7UDQVSRUWDWLRQRWKHUMREVVXSSRUWHG $FFRPPRGDWLRQV IRRGVHUYLFH 5HWDLOVDOHVJDV MREVVXSSRUWHG $UWVHQWHUWDLQPHQW DQGUHFUHDWLRQ MREV VXSSRUWHG MREV VXSSRUWHG /RFDODQGVWDWHWD[UHYHQXH 0LOOLRQVRIGROODUV $! !!% " "#!#' " '$! "#!#" "&!&#'$# 8S IURP $#!"" "!%&""""# 6RXUFH'HDQ5XQ\DQ$VVRFLDWHV (GZDUG6WUDWWRQDQG$ODQ.HQDJD(20HGLD*URXS lected in a given year, Rahl said, spending between $250,000 and $300,000 of it promoting Seaside through- out the region. For the past four springs, the bureau has partnered with the Astoria-Warrenton Area and Cannon Beach chambers of commerce on the “Ore- gon’s North Coast” campaign, advertising online in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia. ³:H¶UH GH¿QLWHO\ ¿QGLQJ that our core demographic is still young families,” Rahl said, adding that the demo- graphics coming to Seaside are expanding in tandem with the culinary offerings and events. Since 2010, the Asto- ria-Warrenton Area Cham- ber has partnered with Maxwell PR and Robeson Communications on its own regional marketing efforts. It’s taken multiple iterations, from several different tar- geted campaigns to www. travelastoria.com. This year, the focus is on family travel, motorcyclists, beer aficiona- dos, foodies and, of course, Goonies fans, Account Man- ager Sara Stewart from Max- well said. "$%! ##!"""# !!!" #!%& !# !" #"#!#& !%"# Already have a job but want new skills? Goodwill can help! $!!!#!" !%#!# '$%'$!!!" """'$!$#' !$#$!#! !!"##&! ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily Astorian File Alerted by the blast of the 951-foot Star Princess’ horn, hundreds of seagulls say their goodbyes and help the visiting cruise ship push off from the face of the Port of Astoria’s Pier 1 in September 2013. &&&#& &&!
