Mountain Lifestyle-Nov 2020-Crestline-Lake Arrowhead edition

The finished mural below the Lake Mud Pottery Studio on Lake Drive in Crestline. Photo by Louise Cecil
Murals: from front page
funds in sprucing up the community
with murals to create more amenities
for visitors to enjoy while in
town and to offer some opportunities
for community pride to grow
in the residents and to help upgrade
the visual image of the community.
The murals themselves
should attract some additional tourists
to Crestline, the chamber hopes,
and it intends to create a brochure
with a map so visitors may drive to
each location. When all the murals
are completed, it has been suggested
that they should design QR Codes
for each mural, enabling visitors to
understand the background story on
each one and how to find the locations
to pursue each activity. There
will be seven new murals when this
entire project is completed.
These first two murals in
Lake Gregory Village are coincidentally
on walls where previous
murals had been painted in the
1990s. The first mural painted is on
the west wall of the Liberation Therapies
building at 23794 Lake Drive.
It can be viewed while traveling
eastward just past Manzanita drive,
on Lake Drive or from the patio of
the Higher Grounds Coffee House.
Previously, The Mulberry Tree
Restaurant had a mural of Victorian
ladies enjoying a tea party that had
been painted over when a Mexican
restaurant opened in the space several
decades ago. The new mural is
of a lone hiker on the trail between
Heart Rock and Lake Gregory and
was fully described in last month’s
Across
from Lake
Gregory
issue of Mountain Lifestyles.
Genesis Mural Company is
designing and painting the murals
for the chamber for the community.
There are already several murals
that Genesis has painted in town.
Initially, it did the action-packed
bowling alley sign across the street
from this newest mural. Genesis
also painted the handball courts at
the Lake Gregory Education and
Community Center for the Rim
Recreation and Park District.
It appears, weather permitting,
Genesis will be completing
one mural a month in this series of
seven murals. All the murals are intended
to promote outdoor activities
that people can do and love about
the mountains, including fishing,
sailing and other lake activities and
hang-gliding, (the topic of the next
mural), which is tentatively scheduled
to painted in the Top Town area
of Crestline. It will be acknowledging
the Forest Service’s Teddy Bear
Launch Hill, which is a destination
location for hang-gliders and paragliders.
They come from around the
world to jump off the mountain and
fly down to Andy Jackson landing
field in San Bernardino. Because of
the elevation, the views are spectacular
from that spot and it is also
a popular location with photographers
to photograph sunrises and
sunsets, year-round. From Teddy
Bear, the views of Catalina Island,
which is 90 miles away out in the
Pacific Ocean on a clear day are
amazing.
Some community members
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have shown a great interest in the
mural program and others want to
offer their buildings and ideas on
topics for future murals. If your
businesses has a wall appropriate
for a mural, let the chamber know
of your interest at (909) 338-2706.
The Crestline Chamber of
Commerce is accepting donations
for materials to help continue this
project, at its office at 24385 Lake
Drive on the north shore of Lake
Gregory during its office hours of
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday. If you have any questions
on this project or the dozens of other
activities that the chamber of
commerce sponsors or if you want
to join the chamber or want to donate
time or energy, stop by the office
and introduce yourself.
Running Springs Area Chamber of
Commerce Moves Near the Top Digitally
When the Running
Springs Area Chamber
of Commerce started
adding events and comments
to its newly rebuilt
Facebook page, it was
at the bottom of each of
the mountain chambers
here locally in Southern
California. So starting in
March of this year, with
the TOT (Transient Occupancy
Taxes) funds in
place from San Bernardino County,
the chamber set upon a course to
market Running Springs, Arrowbear
Lake, and Green Valley Lake to the
rest of Southern California.
The popularity of Facebook
was used to link both the chamber
and the Running Springs Farmers
Market in a time when most businesses
were either cutback on or
closed during the COVID 19 pandemic.
During this time, the Running
Springs Area Chamber of Commerce
rose to #3 out of 274 chambers
throughout Southern California. The
previous spot was #147 when the
marketing program was started.
In likes (signaled on Facebook
by a thumb’s up), the chamber
has grown to the #1 Facebook liked
chamber in San Bernardino County,
and the #1 liked chamber Facebook
page in Southern California located
in an unincorporated area. With
both magazine and newspaper print
adding to the mix, the primary focus
was to bring the digitally aware
portions of Southern California to
take another look at our mountain
communities. The small Running
Springs Area Chamber of Commerce
also produces a local magazine that
is mailed to all the post office boxes
in its community as well as drop
off locations on the mountain as well
as several locations throughout San
Bernardino County below the mountain
area.
The chamber started marketing
in March of 2020 as the chamber
Facebook page with the fewest
likes on the mountain. It went from
a rank of 147 out of 274 chambers
all throughout Southern California to
now being ranked #3. Since March,
it has surpassed big name chambers
such as: Los Angeles Area Chamber
of Commerce, Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce, West Hollywood
Chamber of Commerce, Beverly
Hills Chamber of Commerce, Santa
Monica Chamber of Commerce, San
Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce,
and the Irvine Chamber of
Commerce.
“It’s not just about likes either;
our tourism has increased exponentially
this year. We have found
a way to grow (safely) during these
tough times. Our chamber growth
has drawn more visitors, new businesses,
and increased foot traffic
at our local farmers market.” states
Jordan Zarate, webmaster and chair
of the Media Committee of the Running
Springs Area Chamber of Commerce.
“This success is thanks to our
chamber president, Kevin Somes, our
board’s dedication, and the county’s
Pilot Tourism Grant Program that
bring a portion of TOT dollars back
to the communities from which they
originated.” he further states.
The chamber has been an excellent
steward of these dollars, and
100% must be spent on promoting
overnight tourism. This is the end
of the three-year pilot program, but
the chamber remains dedicated to
growing the Running Springs area
into a premiere tourism destination in
Southern California.
The counties constitute all
of Southern California from Ventura
and San Luis Obispo County to the
north including Imperial County, and
San Diego County to the south.
Page 10 Mountain Lifestyle (C) November 2020