Spokane Gets Second Chance To Strut Its Stuff

If you and your spouse are 55 to 70 years old and moved to Spokane from out of state to retire within the past five years, your faces could grace a national magazine cover.

But you must be “vigorous, active members of the community.” And you “should be photogenic.”

Those are the qualifications couples must meet to become candidates for interviews and possible publication of their profiles on the cover and inside pages of “Where to Retire” magazine.

The editors are open to the idea of featuring Spokane, but have been frustrated in efforts to line up candidates for interviews. Consulting Editor Dick Fox and his wife spent a day in Spokane last summer.

But arrangements he made with a Spokane seniors organization to round up candidates for interviews failed to pan out, he learned too late. With the time running out before their scheduled visit, Fox phoned me from the couple’s home in Winston-Salem, N.C. He said an interview team was coming to Spokane in a couple of days en route to Coeur d’Alene, where interviews also had been scheduled. He asked for help.

This is a fine magazine, with a national circulation of 155,000. It could afford Spokane valuable national exposure.

But I had to tell Fox his call came too late. Had he called a week or two earlier, there would have been time to alert readers to his visit and ask those interested in achieving 15 minutes of fame or doing a good deed for their community to contact me.

Recently I talked with Fox again. Coeur d’Alene came through and will be in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Spokane won’t, as things stand now.

The editor said the magazine had done what it could to include Spokane. He said he, too, was disappointed.

But he offered me a deal.

He would send a copy of the prequalifying criteria for profile candidates, along with a list of questions.

“We would like a cassette tape and snapshot for each of three couples,” Fox explained in an accompanying letter. Each interview normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour - though it may take you longer since you are unfamiliar with the process.

“I cannot offer assurance that Spokane will be featured - nor a probable timetable for when it might be,” he said. “But I will weigh any evidence available that tends to support Spokane’s desirability as a retirement destination.”

He made no commitments.

Nor did I.

But I wonder, is his proposition worth the effort? If so, who should do the work?

And does Spokane have what it takes to be a retirement center anyway? Or, for that matter, does the community want to be a retirement center?

With the oldest Baby Boomers turning 50 this year, and the largest seniors marketplace in history gathering steam, “economic developers in cities and counties all over the country are courting retirees,” said editor Fox. “Your city, however, may choose not to compete in this market.”

The Spokane metropolitan area, Fox said, is at the upper range in size of communities attractive to most people looking to retire. “The great majority of retirees,” he said, “favor smaller communities - many even rural areas.”

Whatever, if Spokane is to get featured in “Where to Retire” magazine, Fox told me, “First you will have to convince me that retirees are moving into your city from out of state.”

I would be interested in hearing from readers on this. And would welcome contact from couples who would like to tell their story in a national magazine.

Learn how to double your savings in just five years, protect yourself from con artists, maintain your course on the road to independent living, all free during a three-hour seminar sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons this Friday, Oct. 11.

Three widely recognized experts on Social Security, scams and money management will present the seminar at the West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt, from 9 a.m. to noon.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes on retirement issues each Sunday. He can be reached with ideas for future columns at 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review