WEST VANCOUVER’S Art Cameron has a circle
of friends that stretches around the world, the best
of which is Vancouver itself.

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

From 1929 to 1979,
Cameron stood on the front
lines of the city’s hospitality
industry as key clerk,.desk
clerk, assistant manager, and
resident manager of the
Hotel Vancouver. His Muid
grace with personages royal
and pedestrian, his intuitive
knowledge of their
peculiarities and needs, his
white-glove diplomacy and
roguish sense of humor have
earned him and his city a per-
manent place in a thousand
hearts around the world.

On March 27, in recogni-

tion of his contributions to
the image of the hotel in-
dustry and the cause of Van-
couver, the Greater Van-
couver Convention and
Visitors Bureau (GVCVB),
awarded Cameron fhe
Harold J. Merilees Memotial
Award, -which celebrates
outstanding contributions to
the awareness of the Greater
Vancouver area to the world.

Though in failing health,
Cameron retains the crackl-
ing spark of humour and the
gracious manner that
endeared him to so many and
spread the reputation of Van-
couver area hospitality so
far. The man is a reservoir of

HOSPITALITY AIMBASSADOR

50 years of spreading goodwill

anecdote, a storehouse of
famous acquaintance.

Says Art Jones, President
of the GVCVB, who has
known Cameron for over 40
years, ‘‘He is one of the
legends in the business.*’

Cameron takes a moment
to warm up, but with a casual
“let's see’’, he unleashes a
cavalcade of memories dot-
ted with such leading figures
of the 20th century as Lord
Louis Mountbatten ( ‘‘a real
gentieman’’), Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Phillip
(‘‘very charming*’)and Baron
Von Rothschild (‘fa man with
eccentric table manners’’)

However, the personages
Cameron has become most
synonymous are Bing Crosby
and Bob Hope. In 1951,
Cameron became the fall guy

of an incident seized upon
and sent roaring over world
newspaper wire services when
Bing Crosby, attired i in scruf-
fy fishing gear, was any
refused accomodatign
nervous desk clerk
Hotel Vancouver. Cameron
was the hotel's assistant
manager. St

The incident resulted in a
lifelong friendship between

Cameron and Crosby.

nemesis, Bob Hope, who im-
mediately wired congratula-
tions to Cameron on expos-
ing der Bingle ‘‘for the bum
he really is’’,

In reflection, Cameron
says, ‘I've been very lucky in
my life, I've enjoyed every
day and, unlike a lot of peo-

ple, I have loved my work.”’ .

NEWS photos lan Smith

REVEALING THE BEAUTY of Vancouver to the rest of the world as Captain Vancouver did before hin, Art Cameron holds
up the eward recognizing his lifelong contribution to opening the eyes of the wortd to the beauty of Lower Maintand area.

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gre News

43 - Sunday, April 28, 19

Courtesy
a

must
PAGE 44

ART CAMERON letting fly with his warehouse load of
reminiscence accumulated over 50 years in the hotel trade. in
the foreground, Cameron pictured with his lifelong friend,
Bob Hope.

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