A10
Hood River News, Wednesday, January 28, 2015
B REWERIES
like the winegrower’s al-
liance, is that something you
guys would be into?’ She sent
out e-mails and made it hap-
pen,” said Jon Warszynski,
tap room manager at Double
Mountain.
The coming-out party for
Breweries In The Gorge will
be the annual Zwickelmania
event, Feb. 14, held at brew-
eries around the state, in-
cluding several in Hood
River. Whiteman said BITG
will give incentive to Zwick-
elmania visitors to also
check out the Washington
side breweries while they’re
in town, or at a later date.
“That will be our first op-
portunity to showcase what
we’re doing as Breweries In
The Gorge,” Whiteman said.
“As we become a more for-
mal organization, we’ll do
more things, including a
beer festival, possibly this
fall.”
The map will include a
passport for brewery patrons
to get stamped and, in time,
receive a BITG mug.
“The idea as well as hold-
ing events, is to provide a
conduit for communications
relative to the beer commu-
nity in the Gorge, opportuni-
ties for pooled advertising,
and drive people to visit
more than one brewery,”
Whiteman said.
Several members are three
years old or younger: Thun-
der Island, pFriem, Acadian,
and Backwoods; two of the
alliance members – Big
Horse and Full Sail – have
been in existence 25 years or
more; Walking Man, Every-
body’s and Double Mountain
started 10 or so years ago,
C OUNCIL
See Jan. 31 edition for de-
tails on the housing presen-
tation.
Continued from Page A1
Continued from Page A1
lands inventory” study. All
this will create a basic set of
information to help the city
make policy decisions, along
with other agencies, to im-
prove the affordable housing
picture, according to plan-
ning director Cindy Wal-
bridge. She has convened a
community-based technical
committee to begin looking
at specific measures involv-
ing zoning, fees, and changes
in ordnances. Options also
include changes to ordi-
nances governing vacation
rentals, which affect long-
term rental availability and
are believed to drive up
rental rates.
Meanwhile, Wheeler said
he has reached out to 30
building contractors in the
area for their perspectives on
how the public and private
sectors can work together to
create more affordable hous-
ing. Local builders Doug
Beveridge and Mike Kitts ap-
peared Monday, and asked
for time before council next
month to present their ideas.
“It finally feels like we’re
getting somewhere on this,”
councilor Kate McBride said.
■
The infor mation-filled
meeting was also the first
time the full council had met
in public session since the
election that brought in
Peter Cor nelison, Becky
Brun, and Susan Johnson,
along with new mayor Paul
Blackburn.
“It’s great to be at full
power,” Blackbur n said.
“Last meeting only four of us
were able to meet.”
Each council meeting,
“council call” comes at the
end of the agenda, giving
councilors and mayor the
chance to talk about whatev-
er they want.
Returning member Lau-
rent Picard, who had missed
the previous meeting, limit-
ed his remarks to welcoming
the newcomers. “It’s good to
be with you all, and I wel-
come those of you who are
new. I’m really looking for-
ward to working with you,”
he said. Brun used her time
to clarify her committee po-
sitions – she’ll share Visitor
Council with Blackburn –
and Johnson noted it was her
first meeting and had noth-
ing to report.
Cornelison used his time
Photo by Kirby Neumann-Rea
BREWERIES In The Gorge includes all seven Hood River County
breweries, including Thunder Island in Cascade Locks. Just as Thun-
der Island serves as a recreational information hub for the western
Gorge, Breweries In The Gorge will tie together beer businesses
throughout the region.
BITG FACT SHEET
Web site address (coming soon): breweriesinthegorge.com
Members: Acadian Farms, Carson; Backwoods, Carson; Big
Horse Brewery, Hood River; Double Mountain, Hood River;
Everybody’s, White Salmon; Full Sail, Hood River; Logsdon
Farmhouse Ales, Hood River; pFriem, Hood River; Solera, Park-
dale; Thunder Island, Cascade Locks; Walking Man, Stevenson.
Leadership: president Christine Ellenberger, Everybody’s;
vice president David Murrell, Double Mountain; secretary
Tabitha Wiggins, Walking Man; treasurer John Hitt, Solera.
This April, BITG will host a visit by national Craft Beer Con-
ference, meeting in Portland.
Solera is in its fourth year
but it existed as a brewery
(Eliot Glacier) for 15 years
before that; Logsdon Ales is
five years old but its owner,
Dave Logsdon, is a craft beer
industry charter member
Warszynski said organiz-
ing will give an off-season
boost to all the breweries,
most of which double as
restaurants.
‘The idea is to promote the
off-season, getting people
stoked about our beer and
our town,” Warszynski said.
“People definitely do that in
the summer time, but we
were trying to get more peo-
ple to come through, and also
to promote each other.
Warszynski said the rela-
tionship between breweries
“is not competition, it’s the
totally opposite.
“It’s just nice to get to
know each other in the in-
dustry. We get together once
a month, we talk an hour, we
do it at different locations,
drinking each others’ beers,”
Warszynski said. “I have
made some amazing connec-
tions with people I didn’t
know who were in the indus-
try, which I thought was pret-
to make a three-part request
for the council to take steps
as a group and as individuals
on the subject of global
warming: joining the group
Safe Energy Leadership Al-
liance, passing a council reso-
lution asking for carbon tax
or cap-and-trade legislation,
and to consider joining the
advocacy group Climate Com-
munications, which focuses
on enacting federal funding
on energy and climate issues.
“I also want the city to real-
ize what its carbon footprint
is – and know how to deal
with it,” Cornelison said. “I
would also like to find out
what other cities are doing,
perhaps via a group such as
Climate Change Action Net-
work” (CCAN, formed last
year in Hood River).
Blackburn said he wel-
comes such information, if it
came with the assistance of
an outside organization,
rather than devoting staff
time.
Blackburn, who served on
council from 2004-08, said, “I
want each of us to have
agenda items that are impor-
tant to us, things that you
want to get talked about —
and work with Steve Wheel-
er on ways to get those dis-
cussed. It’s about agenda ac-
cess. I want to make sure you
all feel you have access to the
agenda.”
Recycle Tips
BATTERIES
-Recycle any/all
batteries at our free
hazardous waste events.
-Hazardous ingredients
may include: mercury,
lithium, nickel
or cadmium.
- Alkaline batteries are
recycled into rebar in
Seattle area.
-Go to our website for
schedule of hazardous
waste events.
www.tricountyrecycle.com
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