05/04/07 New Director At Clore Center

New director at Clore Center. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser has a new executive director. Patrick McFarlan has a background in marketing and tourism and sees the Clore Center as playing an important role in bringing the tourism divide together. MCFARLAN: I think 509ers and 206ers, certainly Cougs and Huskies and all of those things have really created a divide in the state which makes it very difficult to connect the two sides. I believe the future of tourism in the state of Washington revolves around agri-tourism and it revolves around culinary and wine tourism. According to McFarlan, in the past legislators in Olympia have not been very receptive to helping support eastside tourism. MCFARLAN: What they are listening to now is the entire development of the wine industry and the attachment of culinary if you would to the wine industry so you can tell by their body language that they like the lifestyle products of culinary and wine. So how does McFarlan see the Clore Center in the big picture? MCFARLAN: Walter Clore truly is the father of Washington wines, he created the wine industry for the state of Washington and the center is still the library if you would. Now at the end of the day not only do the folks in Prosser need to be proud of this facility, but everyone in the state needs to be proud of it again as a spokesperson for agriculture, culinary and wine. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.