By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
WALDPORT – A revitalized Waldport Chamber of Commerce held its first in-person meeting in at least two years Tuesday, recounting recent accomplishments, handing out a $1,000 check and vowing to help make the area the center for cultural activities in south Lincoln County.
The breakfast meeting drew 40 people, ranging from business owners to public officials to tourism promoters.
Chamber president Kevin Battles presented a $1,000 check to Greg Holland, president of the Alsea Bay Center for the Arts, to help support the four-year-old group’s programs in 2022.
Holland, who is also Waldport’s mayor, said the nonprofit group hopes to find a building next year where it can use the space for music, dance and all kinds of classes.
“We want it to be an active place for anyone to use,” he said. “The cultural economy is being built in Waldport … and that means people are going to stop, shop and stay.”
Chamber executive director Tom Fullmer ticked off a long list of changes and projects the group has undertaken the past two years, including:
- Rebranding its slogan to “Find Yourself in Waldport” that is now on all of its marketing materials and the name of the chamber website;
- Opened a chamber office and visitor center at the corner of U.S. Highway 101 and Hemlock Street, and helping staff the city’s new interpretive center and museum;
- Ramped up tourism-related marketing in local and regional publications like Oregon Coast Today and 101 Things to Do magazine;
- Sponsored events like the Waldport Gravel Epic, a golf tournament, crab festival and car show, and, along with Beachcomber Days, a December holiday lights tour of the community.
In addition to Christmas lights put up by homeowners and businesses, Waldport City Manager Dann Cutter said people will notice more lights and decorations on city property and downtown light poles this year. The city has authorized spending $5,000 on holiday lighting “so when people come through town they can tell the community cares,” he said.
The city has also taken over the community Christmas tree at the Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center at the south end of the bridge this year and will replace the former metal tree with a real tree, he said.
Chamber members also heard from Dave Price, vice president for engagement and entrepreneurship at Oregon Coast Community College, who walked the group through the college’s 34-year history culminating in its independent accreditation last year.
Price said the college’s building on Crestline Drive in Waldport is back to hosting community education classes after closing in 2019 because of the pandemic and then being used as a child care facility last school year by the Lincoln County School District. It is also available for community meetings, he said.
Price said the college, which saw an increase in enrollment this fall after a steep drop in 2020, caters to working adults because of the small number of high school graduates in the county, and the number of graduates who want to go elsewhere for higher education.
