Committee aims to cash in on Olympic gold

They're going for the gold.

"Stan/Camgold 2010" committee met last Tuesday to discuss plans to attract visitors traveling to and from the Olympic Games.

Sue Hunter, committee organizer, said it is vital the area not miss out on the opportunity presented by the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B C.

"We're right in the middle of a corridor that will see thousands of tourists come through on a daily basis," said Hunter.

The idea of developing a local marketing strategy gained momentum after representatives of Snogold 2010, Snohomish County's planning committee, came to a Design Stanwood meeting in early March, said Hunter.

"We were impressed by the statistics they had regarding the number of potential visitors to this area and the encouragement they gave us to make an effort in our community," she said. "(We) decided that it would be worth the effort to at least try to pull an ad hoc group of city and business people together from both the Stanwood and Camano communities."

Hunter said the committee hopes to include input from representatives from Stanwood, Island County, local lodging owners, mer- chants, farms, artists and both Camano Island and Stanwood chambers of commerce.

"This group agreed that it was definitely worth the effort to set some goals for increasing tourism around the Olympics," said Hunter.

Most importantly, the initiatives created should have shortterm and long-range benefits to the community, she said.

Since they began meeting, the group has defined several areas in which they've set some goals.

Also, Port Susan Snow Goose and Birding Festival and Harvest Jubilee representatives have joined the movement, said Hunter.

Bill Boring, of Island County Economic Development Council, said attracting people should be the group's number one task.

"We have to figure out a way to get people involved," said Boring. "What we really need to do is come up with a business plan."

The committee has centralized on the first annual "Stan- Cam Snowball Hunt" that would be a main component of Stan/ Camgold 2010.

The group is organizing a scavenger hunt that would entail people collecting small balls hidden throughout the area.

People locating the specially marked balls could then turn them in for a special commemorative glass ball created by local glassblowers.

Mark Ellinger, renowned glass artist and owner of Glass Quest studio in Stanwood, said the scavenger hunt idea has been done successfully in other communities across the nation.

"It becomes a really big event," said Ellinger. "People flock to these kinds of events."

Artist Jack Gunter said he would like to create a mystique about the area themed around the Olympic Games.

"Something along the lines of 'Camano on the edge,'" said Gunter.

Gunter offered to create a visitor's map especially marked for the scavenger hunt and suggested that the secret balls be hidden inside area businesses.

"That will bring people into that business," he said.

The group discussed developing marketing around a faux-winter sports connection to Camano Island.

However, most members of the committee stated that they'd like to focus on the scavenger hunt project.

Doris Platis, director of Seagrass Gallery on Camano Island, said Stan/Camgold 2010 is a key step in boosting the local economy.

"It's aimed at increasing the usage of overnight lodging and people spending time here," said Platis. "We need to bring the outof town visitors in."