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Mission Ridge skiers score wine discounts in Wenatchee Wine Country!

This morning Seaport Airlines announced it will start service on March 1 from Pangborn Airport to Yakima and Portland.  Service will include three round trips each weekday and one weekend round trip.  This is great news for our Valley, central Washington, and Pangborn Memorial buy viagra online Airport. 

Before I go any further, time for full disclosure.  In addition to my job as Chamber Director, I am an elected Chelan County Port Commissioner (since December 2006).  The Port of Chelan County jointly owns and operates Pangborn Memorial Airport with the Port of Douglas County.  One of my primary responsibilities as a Commissioner is Pangborn airport.  I am very familiar with Pangborn and the impacts of this news. but shouldn’t be considered totally disinterested.

Let me start at the beginning of the Chamber’s support of Pangborn (at least since I have been Director).  In October of 2004 a great conference Read More »

Since the AARP named the Wenatchee Valley one of its “Best Places to Retire” in late July, requests to the Chamber for relocation information have spiked.  Here are the numbers:

Average monthly relocation requests, Jan – July 2011                     30

Relocation requests, August 2011                                                            107

Relocation requests, September 2011                                                      91

While the number of requests fell in September from the month before, the rate was still 3 times higher than the monthly average this year prior to our Valley making the list.  Traffic to the relocation page at the Chamber website, wenatchee.org, has also seen a similar spike.

The major component of the relocation information provided to requesters

is the Membership Directory and Relocation Guide which is published by the Chamber annually.  Copies of the Guide are available at the Chamber offices, 2 South Mission, and are a conveninet guide to Valley facts and Chamber members.

Here is an excerpt from an email we recently received from an exasperated would be visitor to our region:

Are you looking for something fun for the family to enjoy this summer? Visit the Rocky Reach Dam!

For my weekly adventure, last week I visited the Rocky Reach Dam. The first thing I noticed when pulling into the visitor parking lot was the beautifully landscaped Rocky Reach Park. The park includes a playground, picnic areas, a turbine exhibit, and of course Petunia Island. Petunia Island consists of 8,000 colorful annuals carefully planted to form a design. This year, the design is a hot air balloon.

The first thing I did was head to the fish viewing room where you can see salmon and steelhead making their way through the fish ladder. There are thousands of chinook salmon, sockeye salmon and steelhead that travel the fish ladder every year, but they are seasonal so I only saw salmon during my visit.  I was amazed on the size of some of the fish that came through! The viewing room is evidently a popular place to be, with several people surrounding the five windows.

Then, I headed across the forebay deck to see the museum in the powerhouse. It seemed to be field trip day in the museum, as kids lined up to try a few hands on activities like turning a handle to see how much human energy it takes to power a light bulb. The Museum of the Columbia walks visitors through the history of the Columbia River; including geology, first people, and recent history. There are large windows throughout the powerhouse to allow visitors to view the powerhouse floor.

Afterward, I enjoyed a hamburger from the Rocky Reach Café.

The Rocky Reach Dam is a great place for people of all ages to tour. There is something for everyone to enjoy. If you have not visited the Rocky Reach Dam, I highly suggest it. Guided tours are available.

Pictures of my visit are available on our Facebook page: Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce.

~Celia~