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Mammoth’s first tourism director returns to town to celebrate life and a birthday |
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Friday, 28 August 2009 |
Mammoth Times Staff
 Anita Hatter, Linda Thompson and Greta Boyer greet Ralph McMullen, who was Mammoth’s first Tourism Director, at the Chart House Tuesday evening.
Some may recall that McMullen was the first tourism director for the Town of Mammoth Lakes in 1990, with the task of establishing a visitors bureau and marketing Mammoth to its primary markets in Southern California and Northern California (summer only). According to McMullen, in those years Mammoth was strictly a winter resort.
McMullen worked to set up a trails system for mountain bikes, hiking and OHVs, so, he said, Mammoth would not be just a winter recreation area, but would develop into a summer recreation area as well (beyond fishing).
During the eight years he was director of tourism, the town increased its bed tax revenue quite significantly.
He also met with the U.S. Forest Service and put together plans to create a joint visitors center between the Town and the Forest Service. That visitors center was built after he left the position.
When McMullen left Mammoth in 1998, he went to Elko, Nev. as CEO of a new convention and visitors authority. Upon retirement he and his wife, Vicky, took a trip around the states and the world, landing in Reno, where he fought a bitter struggle with cancer for one and a half years.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 04 September 2009 )
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