by Richard Uhlhorn
Turning Manson into an exceptional destination is the goal of Manson’s One Voice Coalition. The coalition held its second community forum on Thursday, June 5 with an estimated 25 in attendance.
Dan Eermisser, the coalition’s consultant directed the meeting and said, “People have a lot of different opinions. We are trying to define that ideal and move toward some consensus.”
A part of the ongoing effort is to build a collaborative effort with Chelan. Kim Ustanik remarked that it is important to cooperate and collaborate with the City of Chelan who are also in the throws of defining their future priorities.
Both tourists and residents or a combination of both is considered important. “The front door is tourism… the end game is becoming a resident,” Eermisser said. “I think you have a delightful downtown strip that needs to be highlighted.”
A part of making the village exceptional will collaboration with 12 Tribes, maintaining a great park system and highlighting the recreational opportunities.
The village prides itself on its natural beauty of the lake and surrounding agricultural lands and mountains. Its strengths include a wide variety of recreational destinations. With world class Wapato Point adding numerous out-of-area visitors to the community throughout the year, Manson becomes a ready made visitor ship attraction.
Wineries and other agricultural amenities like Manson Grower’s Cider Press, Rootwood Cidery and Rootwood Cidery along with Chelan Valley Farms.
Future opportunities:
The coalition is looking at restoring Manson as a stop off location for the Lady of the Lake. Developing a relationship with the City of Chelan and 12 Tribes. Developing agritourism events in the off-season around Manson’s agriculture.
One major effort is to secure a decent share of Lake Chelan’s/Chelan County lodging tax fund. Manson is a major contributor to the County’s lodging tax receipts.
As with any effort, losing momentum and community support could lead to failure by the coalition to realize the opportunities available to make Manson an exceptional destination.
A little history:
Manson, the Village on the Bay, didn’t used to be a wine destination and tourism onclave. It used to be a working town with 6,500 acres of world class apples that were exported to world markets, mostly Mexico and the far East.
It had that small town feel with several gas stations, a hardware store, a feed store, a meat storage locker and several store fronts catering to the local community. As kids, we worked in the orchards, thinning, pruning, propping and picking apples during harvest. In those days in the late 50s, there wasn’t much tourism.
Things began to change when Howard S. Wright Construction Co. received a 99 year lease from the Wapato’s to develop Wapato Point into the world class resort it is today. Eventually, the Colville Confederated Tribe added to Manson’s allure with the current casino.
In the late 90s, when the Asian economic crisis hit, banks were hard pressed to give farmers growing loans and many went bankrupt. This opened up land development opportunities.
It was a time when the valley was looking for a new way forward. In 1998, the first grapes were planted and the Kludts were the only apple/cherry producers to buy into the winery idea and opened up the popular Lake Chelan Winery in 2001.
From that point on, Manson changed from a strictly agricultural community to a tourist town at the end of the road. The downtown area of Manson began to change with more tourist type activities.
Fast forward to 2025 and Manson, that Village by the Bay, now attracts visitors and tourists to come and enjoy its wineries and other amenities,along with recreational opportunities.
It is still an apple and cherry producing area but much of the apple producing land has been turned into vineyards or residential developments.
Managing growth is of paramount importance to the Manson community.
All Things Lake Chelan 