[Vision2020] Life on Wheels, Dead at the U-I

[lfalen]

Right on, B. J.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "B. J. Swanson" bjswan at moscow.com
Date: Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:02:54 -0800
To: "'v2020'" vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Life on Wheels, Dead at the U-I

> How much more negative publicity can the U-I and Lloyd Mues generate before
> the U-I administration gets a clue.  And we wonder why student enrollment
> and everything else at the U-I is spiraling downward.  The last sentence
> says it all.  
> 
>  
> 
> B. J. Swanson
> 
>  
> 
> 
> RV Life on Wheels Conference takes its business elsewhere
> 
> 
> Annual conference will take place at Lewis-Clark State College instead of UI
> 
> 
> By Hadley Rush, Daily News staff writer
> 
> Saturday, March 8, 2008 - Page Updated at 12:00:00 AM
> 
> An event that has annually brought an estimated 400 people and $500,000 to
> Moscow for the past 13 years will take place in Lewiston this summer.
> 
> The RV Life on Wheels Conference is scheduled for July 6-11 on the
> Lewis-Clark State College campus. The event previously took place at the
> University of Idaho, but organizers opted to seek a new location because of
> a contractual discrepancy with the UI, according to a LCSC news release.
> 
> Moscow Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Darrell Keim said local
> businesses looked to the event for an economic boost during a slow time of
> the year.
> 
> "That is unfortunate," Keim said. "I know it's been a big" economic boost.
> 
> Lloyd Mues, UI vice president for finance and administration, said the
> conference simply didn't renew its contract with UI.
> 
> "We would love to keep Life on Wheels in the Moscow-Pullman area, and at the
> same time we do have to follow certain protocols when it comes to contract
> arrangements," he said. "As public stewards we can't allow an operation to
> occur on UI property without a contract. This year we just didn't have a
> contract."
> 
> Mues said there was no fallout between UI and Life on Wheels.
> 
> "There was no debate, there was no arguing over anything, it just boiled
> down to we have to get it on paper and it didn't happen," he said. "We look
> forward to the potential of having them back again next year, but we'll
> see."
> 
> Gaylord Maxwell, founder and director of the Life on Wheels conferences,
> stated in a news release sent to the Daily News on Friday that the event was
> founded at the UI as a joint venture between himself and the university's
> now-defunct community enrichment program in 1996.
> 
> In addition to the UI, four other college campuses around the United States
> host the event each year.
> 
> This year, the conference in Lewiston will offer more than 100 seminars to
> RV travelers from across the nation, many of which will be presented by
> authors of RV books and magazines.
> 
> Courses include RV cooking ideas, how to work from the road while traveling,
> prime RV travel locations, how to park an RV and how to properly repair and
> maintain one.
> 
> Maxwell stated that he's disheartened the conference won't be in Moscow this
> year.
> 
> "Moscow has been my 'hometown' for many years ... the attendees at our
> conferences have enjoyed the friendly reception merchants have given them
> and they've appreciated the barbecue the chamber of commerce provided every
> year," he stated. "And I and the staff of Life on Wheels have enjoyed and
> appreciated the wonderful assistance we have received from many of the UI
> staff. It is with regret that we must leave."
> 
> Keim said local grocery stores, restaurants, hotels and even hardware stores
> will suffer a loss now that the conference will be in Lewiston. Any time an
> event as significant as Life on Wheels stops coming to a town there's bound
> to be decreased economic activity, he added.
> 
> "Especially tourists (who) come with money to spend," Keim said. "I don't
> know about you, but when I go on a vacation I bring money (planning to)
> spend it there."
> 
> Keim said he hopes the event's relocation won't have a detrimental effect on
> local businesses, although he said that's a likely outcome.
> 
> "It could have a fairly substantial impact."
> 
> LCSC President Dene Thomas said the campus and Lewiston community are
> looking forward to the conference.
> 
> "I am very excited about the RV Life on Wheels coming to Lewis-Clark State
> College," Thomas said. "We will be able to highlight our wonderful college
> with its beautiful campus."
> 
> Thomas said Lewiston will benefit greatly from the flood of vacationers who
> will be traveling to the area.
> 
> "The RV people will substantially benefit the local economy with purchases
> of everything from gas and food to souvenirs and memorabilia," she said.
> 
> Thomas said the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers make an ideal
> setting for travelers to "stop, rest, and learn about the area."
> 
> "I plan to greet each and every one personally and welcome them to the
> valley," Thomas said.
> 
> --------------------------
> 
> Hadley Rush can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 239, or by e-mail at
> hrush at dnews.com.
> 
>  
> 
> 
>