Almost from the start, Vetter became involved in city activities. He was a member of the design review board, the planning commission, City council and the Chamber of Commerce board and committees, serving as chamber president 28 years ago. Last year, Vetter took on the role as president again after former chamber president Mark Pisciteli resigned and moved to Portland. He has seen the chamber, with some new board members, rebuilt committees and a new director, go from near collapse a year ago to becoming a sparkplug that's igniting citywide interest in reviving local events attracting more visitors. "I'm the kind of person that, when I walk it the room, I sit in the front row," Vetter said. "If it's worth my time, then I need to give it all my time, and the most influence I could have is to be president."
Honduras RPCV George Vetter entrepreneur, photographer focuses on Cannon Beach, Oregon
Everyday People: George Vetter entrepreneur, photographer focuses on Cannon Beach
By NANCY MCCARTHY
The Daily Astorian
CANNON BEACH - George Vetter has his eye on Cannon Beach. Or more appropriately, a camera lens. The professional photographer, gallery operator, entrepreneur and chamber of commerce president rarely travels without his Nikon. And the scenes he captures range from mundane City Council meetings to catch-your-breath landscapes of sunbeams slicing through forests.
His own profile - longish curly hair under a floppy hat, a vest or jacket with lots of pockets, the Nikon around his neck and a tripod in tow - is ubiquitous throughout town. If he's not at his FotoArt gallery on Hemlock Street, he may be arranging his European or Alaskan photos in his Arriba Gallery upstairs. Or, he may be attending one of numerous Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce committee meetings, or sitting in the circle of tables at the Wednesday Morning Meeting of business operators at Mo's Restaurant.
If he's not in any of those places, Vetter is tramping along the beach, trying for a spectacular sunset shot or hiking through the woods, scanning the light for a one-of-a-kind nature scene.
Vetter arrived in Cannon Beach in 1975, selling handicrafts from Mexico and Guatemala. The Ohio native had already spent two years in Honduras as a Peace Corps worker and lived for six months in Southern California, plying his crafts at street fairs and university campuses. But California, he said, was "too dry and too crowded."
"It didn't feel quite right. People told me, 'You want to go to Oregon.'"
So he moved to Tualatin, where he belonged to a community food co-op and sold the handicrafts at the Skidmore Fountain market in downtown Portland. But someone suggested he might try Cannon Beach.
"I immediately fell in love with Cannon Beach," he said. He rented a 100-square-foot storefront facing West Second Street for $33 a month. "It was a phenomenal rent."
He had already begun recording life with photos and developing black-and-white prints in his own darkroom. He took classes offered locally, and the camera became a constant companion.
By 1998, Vetter owned and operated El Mundo for Men, and he set up one of the first websites in town: (www.cannon-beach.net) Many of his photos, as well as links to other local websites, are available on the site. On peak days, the site may get 10,000 to 12,000 page hits.
"It's surprising how many people use it across the world," he said.
In 2004, Vetter opened his FotoArt Gallery. With his digital camera, he took photos of Cannon Beach every day for several years and posted them on the website.
Almost from the start, Vetter became involved in city activities. He was a member of the design review board, the planning commission, City council and the Chamber of Commerce board and committees, serving as chamber president 28 years ago. Last year, Vetter took on the role as president again after former chamber president Mark Pisciteli resigned and moved to Portland. He has seen the chamber, with some new board members, rebuilt committees and a new director, go from near collapse a year ago to becoming a sparkplug that's igniting citywide interest in reviving local events attracting more visitors.
"I'm the kind of person that, when I walk it the room, I sit in the front row," Vetter said. "If it's worth my time, then I need to give it all my time, and the most influence I could have is to be president."
Despite his role in the chamber, Vetter worries that Cannon Beach's small-town ambience may be harmed by too much outside attention.
"I'm not a big 'event person,'" he said. "I would rather see people come to Cannon Beach because it is a beautiful place. But events keep Cannon Beach in the news."
Even though Vetter won't photograph weddings, except, perhaps, a portrait of the wedding couple, he said he hopes Cannon Beach "would become the world's No. 1 spot for weddings. That's the potential No. 1 event in peoples' lives. That's what they remember. And a wedding attracts their friends from all over the world."
But Vetter's photographs continue to attract people, too. They give him a reason to take up his Nikon at sunrise and sunset and capture the light that makes Cannon Beach special.
"Ideally, what photography does for me is that it takes me out to appreciate the beauty of our area," Vetter said.
