Covered Bridges vs. Wineries

I like covered bridges as much as the next guy, but it's time to give wineries around here a little more credit. I am referring to the lengthy and detailed coverage of the covered bridges of Douglas County in the most recent issue of our local phone book: Twelve double-sided pages with photos and write ups on all the bridges!

In the same phone book our local wineries got one side of one page!
UH? Seems that the fact that we are the oldest and most varied wine region in Oregon means little to the editors of the phone book. It appears that our wonderful tourist attraction of world class wine plays second fiddle to covered bridges to many around here.

We need to work a lot harder to promote this hidden gem of tourist dollars so badly needed in our town. I don't know how covered bridges add to the economic growth of Umpqua Valley, but wineries attract hundreds of visitors to their tasting rooms and events. I can't remember any "covered bridge event" bringing in hordes of people. Mostly the covered bridges are solo events like the photo of Diane above.

Covered bridges don't require staff to maintain on a daily basis. Wineries, on the other hand, employ plenty of locals to run them. So it would behoove the editors of our local media to better support our growing wine industry. We have a magnificent tourist resource that needs all the help it can get to help us return to our former glory. Remember: 40 years ago ALL the wine grapes in Oregon where grown right here!