On the Street

The 2005 Missouri Governor’s Conference on Tourism is coming to Springfield’s University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in October. Missouri’s Division of Tourism selected the Springfield property over others in Branson and Joplin, based on available space, amenities and pricing, according to Tourism Monitor Online. The conference, which includes national speakers, tourism seminars and brainstorming sessions, was last held in Springfield in 1985.

SLS chosen in L.A.

Springfield-based SLS International is outfitting its speakers for portions of The Bubel/Aiken Foundation Gala Benefit Dinner in Los Angeles, the company announced Jan. 18. The company also reported that Travis Inc., the industrial staging and lighting company hired for the benefit dinner, utilizes the company’s speakers exclusively on all touring and corporate event productions.

Veterans coming to Branson

Organizers around the country are expecting about 100,000 Vietnam veterans in Branson this summer to be recognized for their heroic sacrifices in service to the country. The June 13-19 event, called Welcome Home … America’s Tribute To Vietnam Veterans, includes a traveling facsimile of Washington, D.C.’s Vietnam War Memorial wall, a parade, golf and fishing tournaments, and a grand finale concert at a 100-acre Saddlebrooke mountaintop.

The Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, the Doobie Brothers, the Supremes, the Oak Ridge Boys, Tony Orlando and others are scheduled to perform. Operation Homecoming USA, a nonprofit led by former presidential candidate Ross Perot and Jim Amos, UPS Stores chair, is organizer.

Attendees must register and may do so at www.operationhomecomingusa.com or by calling (888) 265-8387. Cost is $100 per adult and $50 per child above 12 years old.

Slice of Nice

Infants born at Branson’s Skaggs Community Health Center in 2005 will go home with a keepsake – an Oz adventure book, personally autographed by author Roger S. Baum.

Hospital officials have reached an agreement with Baum, great-grandson of “The Wizard of Oz” author L. Frank Baum, to donate and sign books from his Oz adventures series for each of the more than 500 babies born at the hospital annually. Baum, a retired banker and stockbroker from the Los Angeles area, has written a dozen books in the Oz theme, including “Dorothy of Oz” and “Lion of Oz and Badge of Courage.” He and his wife, Charlene, reside in Branson West and operate a book kiosk at Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex.