Tag: Chamber of Commerce

Marketing Early WhistlerMarketing Early Whistler

October 29, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Distributing a brochure to market your business or product might seem commonplace today, but for the Whistler Chamber of Commerce in 1976 the production of a pamphlet was a significant decision and undertaking.

At a speaker event in June, Drew Meredith, who joined the Chamber shortly after getting his real estate licence in 1975 and was later appointed as president of 1978, recalled operating the Chamber on a very small budget and even said, “I think it had a bank balance of 27 cents.” Meredith may have exaggerated, but in the late summer of 1976 the Chamber was reported to have a bank balance of $592 (adjusted for inflation that would be just over $3,000 today), which was not a lot of money with which to promote a ski resort.

Prior to 1977, the Chamber had produced rate cards for accommodation and services as well as other informational materials but had so far only talked about creating a ski area pamphlet. At the November 1976 meeting the production of a Ski Area Map was discussed and a committee was formed to look into it further ahead of the 1977/78 ski season. The Chamber was also working to promote Whistler as “a nice place to come to, with friendly people” by hosting special events such as WinterFest and May Day Madness and had a special committee to encourage all the businesses in the valley to participate in the Chamber and work together.

May Day Madness included quite a few events over the years, such as the Great Snow Earth Water Race, three-legged races, casino nights, and much more. Whistler Question Collection, 1983

On May 19, 1977, the brochure committee held a public meeting to promote the Whistler Rea Brochure. The brochure was going to be designed for both summer and winter and plans were to include a ski trail map, valley trail map, subdivision layouts, and general information about Whistler, alongside advertisement for businesses who chose to pay between $225 and $450 for a space. About twenty people attended the meeting and it was made clear that the brochure could only go ahead if enough businesses chose to advertise. The committee planned to print 200,000 brochures; one half would be distributed by the lift company, hotels, and at the Information Centre while the rest would be distributed at various ski shows and tours throughout North America. The committee described the project as “the only real multi-purpose and multi-season brochure to ever be attempted here.”

By mid-June, the committee was still chasing down businesses to advertise and was considering contacting businesses in Squamish and Vancouver in order to fill about 25% of the space that had not yet been spoken for. The Chamber also reached out to businesses for photos for the brochure, asking for “scenic and action shots” depicting Whistler in all four seasons as well as images of lodges, restaurants and other buildings.

The Whistler area is represented at the Vancouver Ski Show by the Whistler Resort Association in 1981. The Chamber of Commerce attended similar ski shows in the area prior to the formation of the WRA. Whistler Question Collection, 1981

At the August Chamber meeting, the committee drew advertising layout positions for those who wanted to be included in the brochure and floated the idea of an insert that would include advertisements for services available in the Whistler area. The insert, however, had very little interest from local service businesses who told the brochure committee that they “were so busy that they did not need the advertising.”

The goal of the committee had been to have the brochures printed and ready to go for September 17, when the first ski show of the season was held in California. 20,000 copies were sent by CP Air for distribution in the Los Angeles and San Francisco area, with distribution at ski shows in Portland and Seattle following soon after. In October, the Chamber attended the Vancouver Ski Show, sharing a booth with the Cheakamus Inn/Christiana Inn group, where they gave out 6,000 of their new brochures. Unfortunately, we do not currently appear to have a copy of the brochure in the archives but would love to take a look if anyone were to come across one!

Whistler’s Information StationWhistler’s Information Station

October 22, 2024 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

In 1974, a booth appeared on the side of Highway 99 near the base of Whistler Mountain and began providing visitors and passes-by with information about the area. According to some sources, the booth had once been a ticket booth for the lift company that was moved “under the cover of darkness” as its location had not been officially approved. At our Speaker Series event in June looking at the origins of the Whistle Resort Centre (WRA, now known as Tourism Whistler), Drew Meredith described the “gravel parking lot at Whistler where we built an uninsulated plywood information centre,” located across the highway from the gas station. This booth was operated by the Whistler Mountain District Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in 1966, nine years before the formation of the Resort Municipality of Whistler.

Puzzled? The Whistler Information sign and map took a tumble Friday, October 22 during high winds, just missing the info centre. Foundation posts had apparently rotted. Whistler Question Collection, 1982

In the early 1970s, the Chamber was involved in a wide variety of activities, from sponsoring the annual Easter Parade to supporting the building of trails to advocating for train station stops in the valley to presenting Whistler’s “Citizen of the Year” award at their annual dinner/dance (which they continue to do today). The Tourist Booth was a new venture to provide information about accommodation, activities, travel and more. At a meeting of the Chamber in September 1974, director Jack Bright presented the idea of an area reservation service which could be located with the tourist booth and during the 1975/76 winter season the Information Centre also gave out information on which hotels and lodgings had bookings available. The Chamber continued to operate the Information Centre from this spot into the 1980s, though its schedule varied depending on the year.

During the summer of 1976, the Information Centre was open on weekends and holidays from 12-4pm under the care of Judy Johnston. As of the Labour Day weekend in September, Evelyn Cullen took over the running of the Centre, which offered rate sheets from the 1976/77 winter, information about the different specials offered by various hotels throughout the week, and a booking service. At a September meeting, Evelyn reported that the Centre had brought in $22,380 in the past year, which was about three times the cost of the operation of the Centre, which was supported in part by a grant from the BC Department of Tourism. Despite what would appear to be a small budget today, the Chamber had difficulties funding the Centre on fees from the relatively small business community. In 1977, the Centre received a total of 5,823 phone call enquiries and spoke with 5,143 walk-in customers.

Viv Jennings outside the Information Centre. Philip Collection

Over the years the services and staff of the Information Centre expanded, partly due to programs such as the Canada Works Grant. The Centre continued to offer brochures, as well as local publications such as a Whistler hiking guide produced by Vicki Vogler and Laura McGuffin that was sold at the Centre in 19979 for 75 cents. The building was also used to distribute community news, as in 1984 when a banner reading “It’s a girl” was hung outside to announce the birth of Chamber employee Sonya McCarthy’s daughter and in 1986 when the Chamber used a similar banner to wish Myrtle Philip a happy 95th birthday.

In 1984, the Chamber purchased an 1836 BC Rail caboose for $1,500 with plans to restore it and connect it to the Information Centre as an expansion. These plans were never completed, however, and the building remained quite small.

Caboose 1836 rolled into Whistler last Tuesday and was promptly lifted off the BC Rail track onto an abandoned sidetrack at the Sabre Trucking yard at Mons. Once refurbished the caboose becomes the new home of the Chamber of Commerce Information Centre. The Chamber purchased the old car at the bargain basement price of $1,500. Whistler Question Collection, 1984

It is unclear when exactly the Information Centre was shut down, but the duties and focus of the Chamber changed significantly as the WRA became more established and took over projects such as the marketing of Whistler and distribution of information, though the Chamber of Commerce continues to support and promote businesses and organizations in the area, as it has done since 1966. The building of the Town Centre also shifted many activities from the Creekside gondola base to the site of the Whistler Village. Today, the Whistler Visitor Centre and central bookings are operated by Tourism Whistler and see far more than the 11,000 visitors that had questions in 1977.

Bringing the First Television to WhistlerBringing the First Television to Whistler

March 17, 2020 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Bringing television access to Whistler was no easy feat before cable and satellite, but Walter Zebrowski can be credited with bringing it to the valley.

The Chamber of Commerce apparently began discussing television at its first meeting in 1966, and members wrote letters to the provincial government in Victoria asking for the installation of antennas or a TV cable. But they heard nothing back from their queries.

Walter feeding the fish at Eva Lake Park.

Zebrowski eventually asked the Chamber members to give him free rein to attempt to bring television to the Whistler valley. He was determined and eager, and the members approved. In 1970, Zebrowski took a trip to Vancouver and with his own money purchased a TV antenna and a small battery-operated television set.

Next came the challenge of finding a location for the antenna where it would receive a TV signal. Zebrowski spent months exploring the surrounding mountains be snowmobile and helicopter for the right location. Between the two peaks of Mount Sproatt he found a signal.

Zebrowski ordered the rest of the equipment that was needed to put up the antenna and it was erected with the help of Jon Anderson. Next to the antenna, Zebrowski proudly hung a flag of Garibaldi Lifts Ltd.

A few days later, however, when a storm passed over the mountain, the masts were all destroyed. Zebrowski described the main antenna as looking like “a swan with a broken neck,” so they started all over again with smaller masts that were more resistant to the wind.

At the annual December Ball of the Chamber of Commerce, Zebrowski put a TV set in the corner of the hall and covered it. After the usual complaining about the lack of TV, he turned the set on and embraced the astonishment and joy of the other Chamber members.

The Sproatt antenna required regular snow clearing during the winters. George Benjamin Collection.

The antenna originally received three different stations.

Along with the TV antenna, Zebrowski also founded the Whistler Television Society, which helped maintain the site and collected a fee from members to help fund the service.

In the late 1990s, the antenna was struck by lightning and one of the devices stopped working. From then, there were only two channels available. By the time this happened, most people in the valley were using cable or satellite TV and no one was around who knew how to, or was willing to, repair the primitive technology.

Zebrowski passed away in 1996, leaving a lasting legacy in Whistler.

Whistler T.V. Society members Floyd Eclair, Richard Heine and Albert Bryjack went up to adjust the society’s channel 6 antenna atop Sproat Mountain. Whistler Question Collection, 1984.

The television signal captured by Zebrowski eventually became redundant and by 1999, it was unknown if there was anyone still using the Sproatt signal. The municipality decided to stop collecting taxes to fund the Whistler Television Society and when the CRTC licence expired in 2000, the signal was no longer usable.

The site of the Sproatt antenna was an ideal location, as it was later proposed, to build an internet connection structure. Paul Burrows, who had acted as a caretaker for the society and helped shovel snow off of the repeater in the winter, claimed that “You can see clear all of Whistler from that site.”

This Week in Photos

This Week In Photos: December 13This Week In Photos: December 13

December 13, 2018 Whistler Museum 0 Comments

Before you got a parking spot or parking pass for being Citizen of the Year, the lucky winner received the Citizen of the Year plaque. Can you spot which year they rearranged the names to fit more on?