Chamber honors Catalina Express
Catalina Express won the Harvey Cowell Award of Excellence for the “Free Pass on Your Birthday,” promotion. The award recognizes a business’s contribution to encouraging tourism to Catalina Island.
Catrina Awalt, past chair of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce, presented the award to Elaine Vaughan, vice president of sales and marketing for Catalina Express, at the Chamber Installation Dinner in August.
Chamber honors Catalina Express
Catalina Express won the Harvey Cowell Award of Excellence for the “Free Pass on Your Birthday,” promotion. The award recognizes a business’s contribution to encouraging tourism to Catalina Island.
Catrina Awalt, past chair of the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce, presented the award to Elaine Vaughan, vice president of sales and marketing for Catalina Express, at the Chamber Installation Dinner in August.
The Business of the Year Award is given in honor of Harvey Cowell, one of 15 businessmen who on June 2, 1949 founded the Avalon Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce. Cowell was the proprietor of the Island Pharmacy, a prominent leader of the business community, and served as Avalon councilman and mayor. Cowell remained active until he died in March 2011 at age 98.
Twelve businesses were nominated for the prestigious award. A committee of Chamber board members selected Catalina Express based on the nominations. Many of the nominations mentioned the success of the Happy Birthday program.
According to Vaughan, the program has registered over 100,000 people to get free passage to Catalina Island. The Catalina Express birthday promotion had been credited with being a major force for raising cross-channel carrier counts for 25 straight months.
As the Islander reported last week, the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau said June 2012 visitor counts were up 9.2 percent from June 2011 and up 10.2 percent for 2012 to date. The Chamber reported that June 2012 cruise ship visitor counts were also up 1.8 from June 2011.
“I definitely have noticed more people in town wearing the Catalina Express (birthday) ribbons,” said Gene Eubank of the Cookie Company. “We decided a couple of months ago to offer a free cup of coffee to the people coming on their birthday and we know they are spending money. A lot of them seem to be visiting Catalina for the first time and many will probably come back again.”
Catalina Express has extended the free ride on your birthday promotion to April 2013.
Catalina Express recently opened its new San Pedro terminal, which is designed to be not just a place to wait for a boat but a destination in itself.
“The amenities of this port will boost the reputation of the long time Catalina seaport here in San Pedro,” said Vaughan. “The new, upgraded, modern facility with all of its outdoor charm and its refined food service should impress and bring business to the area.”
“It’s a relief to know that we have a stable position on a deep water harbor for the next 25 years. I look forward to working to establish this port in the community and to present the enhanced passenger experience that we built here,” Vaughan said.
Meanwhile, the Island business community has also been offering birthday-based discounts to encourage birthday tourists. The Descanso Beach Club, for example, will rent birthday tourists a pair of chaise lounges and throw in a second pair for free (when available). For more information about birthday specials, visit www.catalinachamber.com/specials/birthdaycatexp.
Bravo’s earn softball title
Bravo’s Landscaping earned the title. Bravo’s came into the final game of the softball season with a half game lead on Straight Up Builders.
Bravo’s Landscaping needed to defeat Catalina Express to claim the title. It looked like Catalina Express was going to forfeit, but the seventh player showed up just in time.
During the first half of the inning, two more Express players arrived to even it up. Kenny Engel robbed Chuy Sillas of an extra base hit with the catch of his hard line drive. Dave Hubert made a great snag at third to rob Eddie Hall and end the inning. Bravo’s Landscaping came up to bat and was definitely looking for the League Title.
Bison hurts boy, 9, at Little Harbor
A bison injured a 9-year-old boy at the Little Harbor campsite on Saturday evening, Aug. 25. According to Leslie Baer, spokeswoman for the Catalina Island Conservancy, an unconfirmed report suggests other individuals may have frightened the animal and the boy got in the way.
Lt. Doug Fetteroll, commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department station in Avalon, confirmed the boy’s age and the location of the incident.
Fetteroll said the incident was handled by the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
He said sheriff’s deputies helped Catalina Island Conservancy rangers shoo the animal away from the boy.
Fetteroll said the boy was taken to a mainland hospital and, last he had heard, the boy was in stable condition.
Drivers Ed saved
As the Long Beach Unified School System began to outsource Drivers Education in 2010, Avalon residents rallied together and saved the program. Outsourced Drivers Education programs can cost families as much as $300-$400. The Island program only charges a minimal $40 which is waived in hardship cases. Avalon is one of the only High Schools in California to retain its own Drivers Education program.
Councilman Tim Winslow helped raise money to purchase a blue Ford Focus to be used in the program. Avalon resident Tom Sutherland has been teaching drivers’ education to students in Avalon for 13 years.
“Preventing the program from being outsourced took tremendous effort. Everyone from the Mayor, City Manager, Tim Winslow and other locals put a lot of work into this,” Sutherland stated. “The Women’s Forum also donated funds to help with the effort.”
Councilman Tim Winslow was able to raise enough money to purchase a blue Ford Focus for the Drivers Training program. Students named the vehicle “The Blue Hornet,” and have enjoyed training in this new vehicle, making the program even better.
Administrated by Sutherland, local students are trained in a 10 hour course that emphasizes fundamentals such as starting the car, turning, breaking, signaling, as well as parallel parking and three point turns. After students complete the course, they take the DMV test and most students pass the test and they are ready to address the challenges of driving within the City of Avalon’s City limits. Additional practice is needed for the traffic lights and driving on the freeway, which are not part of Island Driving.
