Ex-State Official Advocates Sprucing Up Eastern Washington Gateway

For millions of passersby on I-90 - tourists, entrepreneurs with an eye to business opportunities, retirees looking for a new way of life - the first, and often the last, impression one gets of Spokane is the freeway.

Upon entering Washington from North Idaho, observes Lud Kramer, a former Washington secretary of state and retired businessman who now drives I-90 daily, travelers are greeted by a nondescript small sign that reads Welcome to the Evergreen State.

“But there are no evergreens to be seen,” says the Liberty Lake resident. “The state flower is the rhododendron - but there are no rhododendrons either.

“There are no blooms of any kind. No greenery. No beautification at all.

“We’re vying with other states and other cities for business and trade. We’re trying to attract industry,” says the volunteer publicity chairman for the Spokane/North Idaho chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). “But what motorists see is a stretch of roadway all too often littered with refuse.

“It it not a pretty sight.

“Sure it would cost a few dollars to dress up our freeway, but good grief, we’re trying to compete and be successful here.

“Instead of a gateway that says, ‘Wow - we’re proud of this state,’ we just ignore visitors. Seattle can have attractive freeways. Olympia can have attractive freeways. Even Tacoma can have attractive freeways. But not Spokane.

“Why not Spokane? Why not a decent sign? Why not some evergreens? Why not a few beautification touches?”

I asked the State Department of Highways why not. Departmental spokesman Al Gilson in Spokane said that what Olympia, Seattle and Tacoma have in the way of freeway beautification comes just naturally to them.

Their climate simply supports lush vegetation naturally. There is no money for planting, watering, and maintaining landscaping along Eastern Washington highways, he said. That includes I-90 and the Spokane Freeway.

Is this a project that the Spokane citizenry could take on, like many communities across America, who care enough to extend a warm welcome to their visitors?

Lions club pushes diversification

Some 1,000 Lions wrapped up a three-day convention in Spokane over the weekend, and hospitality officials say delegates spent $650,000 with local businesses.

Actually, that figure might be on the low side, considering that, unlike the old days when such conclaves were all-male gatherings, today’s sessions are family affairs.

Indeed, convention co-chairs Patricia Wilson of Cheney and Bill Brewer of Spokane both underscored in separate interviews the 80-year-old service organization’s new emphasis on diversification.

Declining membership opened up the all-male club to the ladies about 10 years ago. “We have 12 chapters in the greater Spokane area now,” said Wilson, “and probably 20 percent of their membership is women.” She estimated 70 percent of her own chapter are retirees, but a drive is under way to attract young blood.

Chapters in other parts of the country are experimenting with bringing youngsters to meetings, where working moms and pops take turns attending the session and babysitting, said Brewer.

The mission of the Lions is service to the sight-impaired and blind. Today’s members hail from all walks of life - laborers, housewives, business types. “We get everybody,” said Wilson, “from janitors to judges.”

Historic preservation awards presented

Spokane is a military town. The armed forces are part of the community’s cultural heritage, and Fairchild Air Force Base is Spokane’s largest single local employer.

“‘This is the biggest jackpot Spokane could hit,” announced The Spokesman-Review when Fairchild Air Force Base first opened. From that day on, Fairchild and the development of Spokane have been inexorably linked.”

So begins a lesson plan for fifth-grade students at Blair Elementary School on base. It is the winner of the State Historic Preservation Office’s 1997 award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Education.

The lesson plan, which employs educational methods that range from games and crossword puzzles to base-related math problems and instructional tips on taking a field trip to Fairchild, is available for all area schools. Fairchild Heritage Museum has copies for the general public.

Teachers Kathy Schroeder, Ron Stipe and Jackie Kaminski; base cultural resource manager Jerry Johnson; Senior Airman Stacey Adkins; and Spokane Historical Preservation Officer Teresa Brum collaborated on the project.

Also in Spokane, overseers of the Hutton Settlement received an award for Outstanding Achievement in Stewardship. This recognizes the special effort caretakers have exerted over a long period of time to protect and preserve the home for displaced and orphaned children founded by Levi Hutton in 1919.

Elsewhere in Eastern Washington, the Lincoln County Commission was recognized for Outstanding Special Achievement in saving the courthouse in Davenport.

That majestic structure, which will be 100 on Aug. 1, was ravaged by fire in December 1995. Commissioners Ted Hopkins, Deral Boleneus and Bill Graedel acted quickly to restore the historic seat of government in time for the county’s centennial in Davenport this summer.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes a notes column each Wednesday. If you have business items of regional interest for future columns, call 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

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