COEUR d’ALENE — It was 30 years ago today that The Coeur d’Alene Resort opened to the public.

“It was really an exciting and wonderful day,” said Hagadone Hospitality president and Resort co-owner Jerry Jaeger, who remembers that historic day in 1986.

It was a drizzly day, he said. People stood in the rain for hours to be some of the first to explore the fancy new resort on the north shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene. Jaeger said he and his wife, Ellen, went on a company tour with Duane and Lola Hagadone. They stayed in the back of the tour, welcoming visitors and shaking hands with everyone they met.

“There were 25,000 hands that we shook,” Jaeger recalled Tuesday. “I can tell you, at the end of the night, we all had sore hands.”

In the three decades since it opened, Jaeger said The Resort has impacted the community in many positive ways.

“It’s a real tribute to the vision of Duane Hagadone and our team,” he said. “I think people have started to realize that tourism is one of the quickest ways to stimulate an area’s economy. People come in, they spend their money, which creates jobs, and the people who work in the industry buy cars, insurance for their houses, groceries. It’s called a ’multiplier effect.’ ”

His longtime involvement with The Resort is just one example of Jaeger’s passion for promoting tourism and recreation in his community and throughout the Gem State. That passion is a large part of why Jaeger has been selected as the 2016 recipient of the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement in Recreation and Tourism Award.

“Mr. Jaeger was selected by the governor based on this longstanding champion he has been for the tourism industry,” said Idaho Department of Commerce director Megan Ronk, who presented the award to Jaeger Tuesday evening in a ceremony in Moscow. “When I saw his name come through this year as one of the nominees, I was quite surprised that he hadn’t already received it. He’s been such a longstanding institution throughout the state in tourism and recreation.”

Ronk said Jaeger was chosen to receive this award for numerous reasons. He was a leader in establishing the statewide tourism program and the 2 percent lodging tax that goes back into the state. He was a founding member and the first chair of the Idaho Travel Council. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Coeur d’Alene Convention and Visitor Bureau, among the many other things he has done to boost Idaho tourism.

“At a local and at a state level, he has been a true leader in growing that industry in our state,” Ronk said. 

Jaeger said he appreciates the efforts of those who have invested in the tourism industry throughout the state, and that forming the ITC was the “single most important thing we’ve done from a statewide promotional standpoint.”

“I’m very proud of that and of all the people who have worked with the ITC through the years,” he said.

Jaeger received the Governor’s Lifetime Achievement in Recreation and Tourism Award at the opening of the Idaho State Conference on Recreation and Tourism. Ronk said recognizing someone who has done so much for the state of Idaho was a great way to start the conference.

“I feel just really honored,” Jaeger said. “I’ll accept it on behalf of the Hagadone family, my family and the company family of 1,800 members.”