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Show HI HO, AQUALANTES 179 The Upper Basin promoters soon learned, however, that planning a publicity campaign and obtaining the money to carry it out were two different things. Getting their fingers into the state tills wasn't going to be easy, so they conceived what they termed a "mass partici- pation campaign." In plain language this meant putting people on street corners with tin cups and asking the Upper Basin citizens to cough up a buck each. Calvin Snyder, manager of the Denver Chamber of Commerce, took the helm.201 The name of the promotional organi- zation: Upper Colorado Grass Roots Committee.202 What were the people who gave their dollars to sup- port the campaign to be called? Aqualantes. That meant "protectors of water re- sources." The Aqualantes would wear badges, patterned after a sheriffs star, and the membership goal would be 100,000. If anyone wanted to contribute more than one dollar to buy a badge, there was nothing in the Aqual- antes' by-laws to prohibit him from doing so. A Salt Lake public relations firm was retained to handle the campaign. First off the press came a slick paper booklet about Echo Park entitled "Tomorrow's Playground for Mil- lions of Americans." It contained a series of "before and after" photos retouched to show what magnificent lakes would be formed by Echo Park Dam, and there were pictures of gigantic trout and girls in bikinis on water skis. Look what Lake Mead had done for recreation, said the booklet. And there were pictures of happy fishermen and vacationists enjoying the blue waters be- hind Hoover Dam. President Eisenhower's open support for the project |
