Merchants group to mark 50th

The Downtown Merchants Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary Wednesday at its annual luncheon, set for noon in the Mount Olympus room of the Wells Fargo building.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is expected to deliver his "State of the City" address at the event, at which the association will name its 2004 executive board and the winner of its "Friend of the Retailer" award.

The Utah Arts Festival is the association's 2004 "Friend of the Retailer." Carol Dibblee, DMA director, said the festival was chosen because it draws attention to downtown Salt Lake City and attracts thousands of people annually to the area.

"It calls attention to the downtown area and adds to the economy of the area," Dibblee said. "People come from all over, they bring their families and children into downtown. That filters into the downtown area, to downtown businesses."

Past winners of the award include the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Downtown Alliance, the TRAX light rail system and the Downtown Alliance/Salt Lake City parking token program.

The association also will name its leadership board. Tony Weller, owner of Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore, will serve as DMA president. He succeeds outgoing president David Wright of Zions Securities.

The association's executive board also includes Judy Reese, Gastronomy Inc.; Reuel Ware, Reuel's Art & Frame; Pam O'Mara, Utah Artists Hands; Vasilios Priskos, InterNet Properties Inc.; Mel Pearson, ZCMI Center; and Eric Shapiro, Shapiro Travel Goods.

In its 50th year, the DMA is the "oldest organization ever concentrated wholly on the (Salt Lake City) downtown area," said Dibblee, who estimated the association's membership at more than 450.