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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us April 7, 2005 Closed booking agency still owes By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland’s tourism industry took an unexpected financial hit this winter when Southern Oregon Reservations, a booking agency that packaged lodging accommodations with tickets to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, shut down its operations while owing at least $12,000 to several local businesses. Michael Gibbs, co-owner of the Winchester Inn, and John Caurin, CEO of the Windmill Inn & Suites, both confirmed that Southern Oregon Reservations closed its operations even though the business owes them $8,500 and $4,892, respectively. Terry and Henry Koerner, who owned Southern Oregon Reservations, sold their Third Street home this winter, from where the business was run, and have relocated to Uvaldi, Texas. Terry Koerner, who with husband Henry ran the business since 1992, said financial difficulties resulting from her husband’s pulmonary fibrosis forced her to leave despite her outstanding bills. “My resources got a little more pinched than I had hoped before we left,” she said, when contacted at her new job as executive director of the Uvaldi Chamber of Commerce. “I had hoped to meet all of my obligations before I left, but I could not.” Koerner said she is actively trying to set up payment plans with the businesses to which she still owes money. She estimated her outstanding balance to be between $12,000 and $15,000. Gibbs, who said he worked with Koerner for more than 20 years prior to her departure, disputes her claim that she is trying to set up a payment schedule. “I haven’t heard from her in over a month,” Gibbs said. “We’re looking into hiring a lawyer to resolve this.” Koerner said her current financial difficulties would require her to file for bankruptcy if legal action were taken. The couple moved to Texas this November to live in a drier climate for the 78-year-old husband’s illness, she said. “If we would have stayed in the Rogue Valley I’m not sure he would have made it,” she said. “It’s not like we skipped town and tried to disappear. I certainly wouldn’t have taken a high profile job at a chamber of commerce if I wanted to be secretive.” “We’re doing everything we can. We are honest hard-working business people who owe some money,” she said. Koerner said her company still owes money to approximately 12 Ashland-area tourism-related businesses. She said the amount is no more than $15,000. In addition to the Winchester and the Windmill Inn, she said she also owes money to the Plaza Inn and Suites and Wolf Manor. Wolf Manor is no longer in business and the general manager for the Plaza Inn declined to comment. Southern Oregon Reservations was given advance room reservations at several Ashland area lodging facilities. SOR would package the rooms with tickets to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and sell the package at a profit. OSF, as well as several other lodging facilities, always required that SOR pay for their product at the time of purchase. Paul Nicholson, the executive director of OSF, said the theater is not owed any money. “We would give them a block of tickets and they would draw on them,” Nicholson said. “They paid us on a monthly basis.” Koerner said all of her outstanding accounts stem from October, which she said was a particularly slow month for the tourist economy. “It wasn’t a huge amount because October was slow; that’s why I couldn’t pay them,” she said. Gibbs and Caurin confirmed that they were only owed money from October. Gibbs said Southern Oregon Reservations booked 14 rooms “for four or five nights in September” of 2004, as well as a $1,000 dinner for the guests. He said the total bill for the stay was approximately $10,000, some of which is rightful profits for SOR. Greg Thompson, manager for the Lithia Springs Hotel, said Koerner and her business always paid his hotel on time. “She did a good job with us,” he said. “She was never flagged.” Nancy Grabner, manager of the Ashland Springs Hotel, said she was not aware of any outstanding accounts owed by Southern Oregon Reservations. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Slippers Women's & Men's Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks heloc libor rate Calenders 2005 Calender 2005 Accelerate Weightloss Products Memory Foam Mattress afsa home equity loans teleconferencing W2 Forms Homeschooling Tatoos student loans Matchmaking & Dating Scripts African Safari Conference Calls - $50/Month Security Systems student loan consolidation diamonds Currancy Exchange Online Casinos Community Fasa Student Loans Tatoo Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams