The Fremont County Board of Commissioners filled three seats on the Fremont County Tourism Council during a special meeting called on January 3rd. The Commissioners reappointed Beth Katchmar of Pizza Madness and the Royal Gorge Brewing Company to another three year term along with Dan Brown of the Fremont Community Foundation to a second term. Charlotte Henager of Florence was newly appointed to a three year term to replace Rudl Mergelman who chose not to seek reappointment after serving six years on the council.
District 3 Commissioner Ed Norden said he regrets to see Mergelman leave the council because of the leadership he has provided over the past six years. Norden said while the bylaws of the Tourism Council do not require any regional representation from around the county, the Commissioners have always felt it is important to have a representative from the Florence or Penrose area. Norden said Henager will bring some new marketing ideas to the Tourism Council particularly in strengthening efforts to market Fremont County through social media.
Henager is involved with Frog Dawg productions which staged the first Americana Music and Arts Festival in downtown Florence last year.
At their 2013 organizational meeting on January 8th, Larry Oddo of the Abbey Winery was elected as the new Chairman of the Tourism Council with Beth Katchmar being elected as Vice Chair. Glenn Hayes of the Royal Gorge Route Railroad was elected Treasurer and Peggy Gair of the Royal Gorge Bridge was elected Secretary.