And the Beat Goes On!

 This from a recent news article:

"The push back that we’re getting is [from] some people in the industry, which is why we did the extensive research so that we were comfortable with it,” Koerner (ED of the FG Chamber of Commerce) said in a recent article.

It's nice to know they are comfortable.  But I will continue to stir up the dust as I defend our own Richard Sommer and his legacy.   They are intent on ignoring the facts and pleased with their rewriting of Oregon wine history to suit their marketing goals. 

Here's just one example of my own "extensive" research:
"The wine industry’s modern era was ushered in by pioneering winegrower Richard Somner of Hillcrest Vineyard in Roseburg in the Umpqua Valley. He planted Riesling (and Pinot Noir, my note)  in 1961 and was the first to produce commercial quality wine in Oregon."  Read the whole article. 
And: "Coury chose Oregon as the best place to prove his hypothesis and in 1965 planted Pinot Noir in his vineyard there."

The Forest Grove people can be comfortable but they have a hard time with dates.  Let's review for them:  1961(Richard) comes before 1965 (Coury).  Now then, which of these two arrived in Oregon first?  If your from FG you answer Coury.  The rest of us pick Richard.

The problem is simple.  All of FG's justifications and evasions are not present in the slogan itself.  So, unless they issue their "extensive" research to each and every person (sic tourist) every time they utter the slogan then I believe they are knowingly lying.

Again, I ask my readers to help by contacting Jeff King (jking@forestgrove-or.gov) , the economic development coordinator for FG, and telling him to remove the false slogan.