Ritzville chamber does the best it can

After reading Miles Athey’s comment in the paper last week I felt I needed to reply or at least have a rebuttal. I once ate lunch at a restaurant a few years ago and I noticed something written on the front cover that I thought was good advice. It said, “If you enjoy your meal, tell your friends; if you don’t tell us!”

I believe this is great advice. As a former board member of the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce for two years and its president for four more I was greatly disappointed with Miles’ comments.

I guess Miles thinks the chamber has deep pockets but doesn’t care about promotions and advertising. That is about as far from the truth as one can get.

Yes, the chamber has membership dues, 110 funds and fundraisers to have as many dollars as possible to utilize for advertising and promotions.

When I was board president, we often negotiated with representatives from travel guides to get the best bang for our buck and to reach as many people as possible. You see, people need to know what you have to offer before researching begins on the Internet because a lot of people haven’t heard of Ritzville.

Does the RACC need an updated website? Sure it does but that also costs money to do it the right way and I believe the present board is working to get that project done.

One RACC promotion that is up and running and has had a positive influence on downtown traffic has been the Ritzville Art Center. I believe that in time it will be a destination stop for travelers and help to increase downtown traffic.

The RACC board is made up of volunteers and when I was serving on the board and its president, I was proud of the hard work and accomplishments this group made. Remember, all of these folks put in a 40-hour week and some were raising families. But they, like me, believe in this community and what it can still be.

I personally believe that the negative letters to the editor have been more detrimental to Ritzville than anything the RACC has done or perceived to not be done.

So if you don’t like what’s going on at the RACC tell them, or better yet put on your volunteer hat and become a board member. Maybe then you will know what the RACC is working hard to accomplish.

Dale Anderson, RACC president, 2005-2008