George Donahoe service, and his “advertorial”

There will be a memorial service for George Donahoe at Shores Fellowship church, Saturday, January 28 from 2-4 p.m.

Here is an extended version of the Jan. 18 Locals Only on George. This version contains his full “advertorial,” with some sage advice for Ocean Shores:

The last time I saw George Donahoe, he seemed exactly the same as when I first met him, four years ago: Full of energy, wisecracks, opinions and plans.
This was on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 7. Two days later, George passed away, with a suddenness that stunned his family and the scores of people that were his friends.
George was one of those few people who knew just about everything about the history of Ocean Shores, not by reading about it, but by living it. He lived and worked in Ocean Shores for nearly 50 years, selling real estate, brainstorming plans for promotions, observing (and, often, criticizing) the ways of local government . . .
I had stopped by his office to thank him for putting “NO DEER HUNTING IN OCEAN SHORES” on his sign; the electronic sign is outside the Donahoe Brokers Real Estate office, just outside the city gates. After someone sent me a photo of a deer with an arrow sticking out of it a few weeks ago, I called George and asked him how much it would cost to put a notice on his sign. After expressing disgust over the incident, he had the information on his sign by the time we ended our phone call, and at no cost.
Another reason I stopped by to see George on that Saturday was he had recently mentioned something about an “advertorial” for the paper. He gave me a copy of it . . . I took a quick look at it and realized it was filled with great ideas, but far longer than the Guest Editorials normally published in the North Coast News. Plus, there was a section dealing with his own business interest.
We were going to talk about cutting it as an editorial, or if he wanted to talk to the advertising department about paying to run the whole thing. That never happened, sadly.
So here is what George wrote:

Almost daily I have visitors come to my office to talk about what is happening to our City of Ocean Shores. These conversations are less than helpful. You and I need to make something happen and that only comes with action, not just talking about it.
Many people go to City Council meetings and whine, complain and bitch and that does not help. The City Council and the Mayor are going to do the best they can. Every one of them, through the years, ran for their office because they wanted to make something happen that is positive for Ocean Shores. Unfortunately, something happens when they are sworn in.
We have a new City Council and new Mayor now and their first order of business is to get our finances in balance. They need a balanced budget.
We all have our opinions on what really needs to be done to make the City work. That is not the reason for this letter. The reason for this letter is to tell everyone who lives at the beach or who is a frequent visitor to the beach that we have to let the City Council do what they are going to do and we, you and I need to do what we can do to make things better in Ocean Shores.
Ocean Shores needs help and it is not only up to the City Council and Mayor, it is up to us. We need to figure out what we are: a retirement city or a tourist city. The real world is that we are both. And yes we can be both a retirement city and a tourist destination. Ocean Shores can be a terrific place for retirees mostly because once the retirees get tired of being retired they can actually become involved with the Community and have something to do and think about.
We need more involvement by the Residents. We need to invest in Ocean Shores and that doesn’t mean just the investment of cash. It means the investment of brain power and maybe more important the investment of time.
New construction is a major item that needs attention. In 2005 we built 225 new homes and everyone was working and things were looking up. In 2011 we built a total of 46 new homes. We need a record year for building homes.
There are a total of 12,000 lots in Ocean Shores and 5,000 have been built on, leaving approximately 7,000 lots. Half of those lots are being held for long term investment. That leaves about 3,500 lots owned by people who have thought about having a beach house, a lake house, a bay front house, a house in the woods or a condominium. They will build eventually and all we need to do is encourage them to build now. If only seven percent (7%) of those lot owners would build in 2012, we would build 245 new homes. Prices have never been lower and if you want to save money now is the time to do it. How can you help?
Encourage your friends, neighbors and relatives to build now. Then write letters to the City suggesting that some if not all of the building permit fees need to be lowered, if not forever, then at least for the year 2012. Also write letters to Rick Lovely the general manager of the PUD. The PUD fee for hooking up a new home is approximately $4,500. Just a few years ago the PUD fee was $1,500.
We can also use some new commercial development, there is great property available at incredibly low prices. What we need are doers, not talkers. Remember, enthusiasm is caught not taught.
Did you know that the number one thing to do on vacation is to shop? Ocean Shores brings visitors to the ocean and shopping keeps them at the beach. We need new and exciting retail stores, a common theme that I hear is we have to do something to keep residents shopping in Ocean Shores.
I think that if we had more shops with a wider variety of products and services that more people who reside or visit Ocean Shores would shop in Ocean Shores.

One complaint that I hear from potential retail shop owners is that they really do not want to work seven (7) days per week. Here is a potential solution: find a partner and each partner work three or four days per week. Even more important both you and your partner need to take a minimum of two vacations per year every year.
Retail stores need to be open seven days a week, taking Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day off. If you are going to open a retail store the one thing that you must remember is that you need to post hours of operation and then observe those hours. If a customer comes to visit your store and you are not open, they may come back once but they will not come back again if the shop is closed, or even opens late. In the summer months visitors will shop after coming off the beach or just riding around.
What kind of retail stores should be opened? We have a lot of great shops, however, we need to have many new shops in order for the visitors to really have a great shopping experience. Following are a few ideas for shops: T-shirt shops, gift shops, an Ocean Shores memorabilia gift shop, artist studio/shops, a shoe store, a Taco Bell or the like with inexpensive prices, a broasted chicken shop where customers may pick up a box or a bucket of chicken and take it to the beach or home, a Take and Bake pizza shop especially for people who cannot afford to spend $20 for a pizza, a fishing supply store, a map shop, a sit down soda and shake shop, a sit down coffee shop and a hoody shop.
What about a store named Sasquatch Shop featuring a large carving of a Sasquatch where the customers may take their picture with the Sasquatch. The same goes for a store called Pirates Bounty, with a huge Pirate where pictures can be taken and treasure chests are sold and all the different items that you expect to find in a Pirate’s treasure chest. We need to get creative, if you can come up with an idea give me a call and I will put it on a list.
What about Artist’s studios and shops? We have a developer who is developing a group of artists’ studios and shops called the “Ocean Shores Art Walk Shops” and eventually there will be 65 artists exhibiting their art. These shop owners do not all need to be artists, they just need to sell art of some type. We need many photographers, painters, sculptors, we need a mat and frame shop, we need someone to sell glass art, we need someone to operate a chainsaw carving shop, what about a wood carver or a candle maker?

In the 1960s and the 1970s we had entertainment, maybe they were “B” class entertainers but visitors came to Ocean Shores to see the shows and to have fun. There were three locations where dancing was available, to live music. We need to bring back those years, we need to sing, dance and have fun. If we have fun so will our tourists and they will come back again, again and again.
Last week I was shocked to hear that the Jazz Festival was cancelled for 2012. The apparent reason is a lack of funding. I think the reason is the lack of volunteers. Maybe the type of music needs to be changed, why not include all types of music in a minimum of 10 different venues. It can be done, Ocean Shores just needs your time and fresh ideas.
Ocean Shores does not need fewer events we need more events, events bring Tourists and income to the City of Ocean Shores.
The events bring Tourists to Ocean Shores, so do Art Shops, Gift Shops, so does new construction, it brings family and friends and that is the way to solve the problems that presently the City of Ocean Shores is facing.
Ocean Shores needs your help, make it happen, do something now. Make the call and get involved.

We’ve lost one of our “doers,” but perhaps others will run with his ideas. He would love that, I’m sure.

Rest in peace, George.