WILLOW CREEK — The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously this week to establish Willow Creek’s first-ever tourism committee, a five-member advisory body charged with developing a formal strategy for attracting visitors to town.
The vote was 3-0, an unusual show of consensus on a board more often divided along growth-versus-preservation lines. Even Stu Peller, who has been publicly skeptical of tourism as an economic anchor, expressed support for the committee’s formation.
“I still believe a town needs a working mill more than it needs a gift shop,” Peller said during public comment. “But I’ve come to accept that the mill alone is not going to support 40 families forever. If this committee can bring in business without turning Main Street into a theme park, I’m willing to see what they come up with.”
The committee will be composed of five members appointed by the selectmen: one selectmen liaison, one representative from the Recreation Commission, one downtown business owner, one resident with a background in marketing or hospitality, and one at-large member.
First Selectman Arthur Pendelton said the committee’s first task will be to inventory the town’s existing visitor assets — the trail, the Dry Dock, the Ice-Out, the mill tours — and identify gaps.
“We have pieces of a tourism economy, but no one has ever assembled them into a coherent picture,” Pendelton said. “The Dry Dock is a success. The trail pilot was a success. But we don’t know how those pieces fit together or what’s missing.”
Town Clerk Margaret Hollis, who will serve as staff liaison, said the committee’s initial meeting is scheduled for April 25 at the Community Hall. Applications for the two resident seats are available at the town office.
Dean Moreau of the Dry Dock said he plans to apply.
“I came back to Willow Creek because I believed this town had something worth sharing,” Moreau said. “A committee formalizes that belief. It says we are serious about being a destination, not just a place that people pass through on the way to somewhere else.”