User:Rob Fischer/sandbox

'''

George LaMoureaux
'''

Overview
George A. Plein (junior) was born on 14 September, 1956 to George A. (senior) and Mia Plein in Alameda, CA. George (junior) was their firstborn. George’s mother’s maiden name was Polin. Before George’s sixth birthday, his father died on August 15, 1962 in Alameda, CA.

About a year later, George’s mother married Jerome C. LaMoureaux and George took on his step-father’s name to become George LaMoureaux. Jerome (Jerry) LaMoureaux hailed from Dumarce Township, Marshall, SD and was born September 13, 1930. Jerry C. LaMoureaux died on May 26, 2012, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Business Career
When he was 19, George LaMoureaux built, opened and operated an A&W Root Beer Restaurant with an investment partner. Under his leadership, this A&W became the largest, highest volume A&W restaurant in the world at that time.

A short time later, George sold his share in the A&W franchise and purchased two Church’s Fried Chicken restaurants. He also launched Rich Limousine service in 1984 with his brothers Max, Jerry, Bart and sister Mia.

In 1984, at the age of 28, Mr. LaMoureaux decided to sell his restaurants in search of a more exciting venture. His pursuit led him into the nightclub business. First, he bought a downtown Anchorage bar called The Monkey Wharf featuring about 40 monkeys in a glass cage behind the bar. The Monkey Wharf was located at 529 C Street, Anchorage, Alaska and operated at the height of the Alaska Pipeline years in the 70s and 80s. When LaMoureaux bought The Monkey Wharf, it had been a profitable bar, nightclub and strip joint.

Shortly after LaMoureaux bought it, he got rid of the monkeys and the strippers and created an entirely new environment. He gutted The Monkey Wharf and refurbished it elegantly, naming it The Ritz.

The Ritz was designed as an upscale nightclub—a disco-tech—and restaurant done up in a “Roaring ‘20s” theme. The male personnel wore tuxedos and spats, while the female personnel wore flapper dresses. Mr. LaMoureaux also purchased former nightclub Spendardo DiVinci’s and reopened it as Bogie’s [sic Bogey’s] Mr. LaMoureaux closed both nightclubs in 1987.

In 1988, George LaMoureaux launched The Cartoon Channel (known also as Toon TV), the world’s first and only 24 hour cartoon channel. The Cartoon Channel began airing in Anchorage, Alaska, on February 8, 1988 on independent, UHF, channel 14.

The Cartoon Channel’s slogan was, “Laughter and Adventure Coming Your Way, 24 Hours a Day.” The Cartoon Channel studio was on the top floor of the Frontier Building, Suite 1400, 3601 "C" Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99503.

On January 31, 1989, Jerry LaMoureaux, George’s brother who served as registrant for the company, filed the name, The Cartoon Channel, along with its logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Serial number: 73777882 and Registration number: 1604981).

Initially, The Cartoon Channel featured 12 hours of continuous cartoons without a repeat and then replayed the 12-hour set. But the goal was to purchase an ever-increasing library of cartoons so there would be no repeats within 24 hours.

Almost overnight The Cartoon Channel became a success in Alaska, Western Canada and the eastern Soviet Union. The Cartoon Channel drew its animated programming from every available cartoon library in the world. The Cartoon Channel targeted both children and adults. The adult crowd was wooed with cartoons that featured adult humor such as: Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, Tweety Bird & Sylvester, and Tom and Jerry.

By 1989, The Cartoon Channel also featured such cartoon favorites as: The Pink Panther, The Jetsons, The Flinstones, and Yogi Bear. The Cartoon Channel also ran newer popular animated series such as: Robotech, Captain Harloch, Thundercats, Comic Strip, and Silver Hawks with a host of other cartoons.

The Cartoon Channel was funded through commercial advertisements. From its inception, ads for children’s products “including several cereals and a toy company” had been obtained.

“Channel 14 [The Cartoon Channel] has a potential of 16,000 spots (commercials) every month. The majority of these are sold to sponsors who range from Marston Property Management to Arctic Self Storage, from JD’s Bar-B-Que Pit to Kern’s Jet Boat Repair. National sponsors include Baskin Robbins, Kellogg Fruit Loops, Hershey Twizzlers, Matchbox Talking Pee Wee, Tonka Pet Store Pals, Tyco Dino-riders, and Quaker Oats Crunchberries Cereal.”

By August, 1988, just a few months after its launch, Nielson ratings reported that 1,168 Anchorage households watched The Cartoon Channel every 60 minutes. LaMoureaux saw The Cartoon Channel as a venue for making a formal commitment to family values. He accomplished this by programming wholesome entertainment, emphasizing public service announcements and endorsing community events. To this end, he ran numerous public service announcements on a variety of topics including: Alaska’s drunk driving law, drug and alcohol abuse, the Lung Association’s Stoll-a-thon, and the Boy Scouts.

To affirm the financial viability of The Cartoon Channel, its board of directors hired the accounting firm, Coopers & Lybrand. In a letter from Coopers & Lybrand dated March 31, 1990, the accounting firm concluded: “In our opinion, the balance sheet referred to above presents fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of The Cartoon Channel, Inc. (a development stage company) as of December 31, 1989, in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.”

On February 18, 1992, a little over four years after George LaMoureaux launched The Cartoon Channel with plans to take it nationwide and worldwide, Turner Broadcasting System announced their intentions to launch the Cartoon Network. This move brought an untimely death to The Cartoon Channel.

So, in 1992, George LaMoureaux launched Alaska Glacier Beverage, Inc., becoming its CEO. The company targeted the growing market of New Age beverages. Alaska Glacier Beverage offered four flavors of sparkling water: Arctic Cherry, Wild Raspberry, Polar Blackberry and Glacier Wildberry. The product was sold in 10- and 28-ounce glass bottles under the slogan, “So cold, it’s hot!”

The beverages’ source came from the glacial waters of Lake Eklutna north of Anchorage in the Chugach Mountains. Alaska Glacier Beverages tapped its water from the glacial lake before it was processed through the Anchorage municipal water system. The water was then shipped to an A&W bottling plant in Everett, Washington where it was flavored and bottled. The labels touted it as "the world's finest water."

Beverage Industry quoted LaMoureaux saying, “Everybody that deals with us thinks we’re crazy to insist on this kind of security and quality control, but it’s the only way we will use the water, and it gives us a clear stamp of authenticity for our products. This is water drawn from a pristine glacial lake deep in a protected wilderness, not out of some well near a highway a thousand miles from the mountains.”

The Alaska Glacier water was priced at a level near competitors, which supported “some of the most sophisticated pumping, transportation, quality control and security measures in the beverage business.”

By April, 1993, Alaska Glacier Beverages were already being distributed in California, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Ohio, Alaska, Wisconsin and Michigan. By June, 1993, the company added a plain bottled water to the selection of Alaska Glacier Beverages in preparation for world-wide distribution. At that time, 25,000 cases of Alaska Glacier sparkling water products were being sold weekly from San Diego to the Bahamas.

Based on the sale of 1.5 million cases of Alaska Glacier water, annual revenues were originally projected at $16 million. But by June, 1993, distributor orders placed demand at a projected four million cases, yielding revenues of $42 million.

In addition to selling bottled water, LaMoureaux cut a deal with the Saudi’s to sell them water from the same source. The Saudi’s were retrofitting an 800-foot ship with a 350,000-gallon tank to ship the water to Saudi Arabia at a rate of 15 million gallons, four times a year.

By 1993, Alaska Glacier Beverages had attracted distributors all across the US with orders for more than four million cases of Alaska Glacier water.

In 1998, George LaMoureaux formed the Prince William Resort LLC and bought the Buckner Building from Alaska property developer Pete Zamarello. At the time, the picturesque town of Whittier nestled on the Prince William Sound was difficult to access without a road. Plans were laid to complete a 2.5-mile-long tunnel to Whittier by April 2000. Experts in the tourist industry estimated an influx of 1.4 million visitors to Whittier once the tunnel was completed. Whittier, then a town of 300 year-round residents, only had guest rooms for 50.

LaMoureaux decided to capitalize on this opportunity and turn the defunct military barracks into an upscale resort. Plans for the Prince William Resort included 467 condos and hotel rooms, a mall, spa, theater, shooting and archery range and space for conventions.

At the beginning of World War II, the Army Corp of Engineers had built Whittier as a military supply and shipping port. In 1953, the Buckner Building was added as self-contained military installation that could house up to 1200 personnel. In the late 1960s, the military abandoned Whittier and the Buckner Building.

“Although state highway officials predicted an explosion of growth in visitors to Whittier when the tunnel was modified for cars, the hordes have yet to show up. About 100,000 people traveled to Whittier each year by rail before the tunnel could handle cars. Officials predicted that figure would swell by up to 650,000. But the projections were way off. From April 2001 to March 2002, about 119,000 people visited Whittier, state officials said.”

In February 2003, a New York investment firm announced its intentions to buy the Bucker Building from Mr. LaMoureaux for more than $21 million. The New York firm planned to invest $70 million into the Buckner Building to transform it into a 476-room Ramada Plaza Hotel.

As of 2014, Mr. LaMoureaux was deeply engaged in a number of very large business transactions focusing especially on procuring funding for major projects. Some of these projects include: the development of the Pebble Gold Mine in Alaska—an $8 billion undertaking; funding for the Chakachamna Hydro Electric Power Plant (also in Alaska) at $5 billion; and the Trans-Alaskan Gas Pipeline at an estimated cost of $65 billion.

Humanitarian Initiatives
The September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on our country left Mr. LaMoureaux deeply troubled about its impact on children and their families. So, Mr. LaMoureaux initiated contact with Sherry Friedlander, founder of the non-profit organization, A Child Is Missing (ACIM). Ms. Friedlander created ACIM as a community-based program for locating missing children, the disabled and elderly (often with Alzheimer's) during the crucial first hours of their disappearance.

Mr. LaMoureaux soon established a philanthropic relationship with A Child Is Missing (ACIM) and became a National Advisory Board Member for the organization. In particular, he formed the organization, Climb for America’s Children in an attempt to promote and help fund ACIM. Mr. LaMoureaux assisted Ms. Friedlander in the expansion of ACIM.

Mr. LaMoureaux invited Ms. Friedlander to Anchorage, AK and conducted a press conference on March 19, 2002 helping establish Alaska as the third state in the country to implement the ACIM program. At the press conference were: Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin, Anchorage Police Chief Walt Monegan, Sherry Friedlander, and George LaMoureaux.

Under the auspices of Climb for America’s Children, Mr. LaMoureaux organized two climbing expeditions for the purpose of raising funds and eventually creating a telethon fund-raising event for ACIM. The first climbing event took place in June of 2002 on Mt. McKinley (Denali).

Mr. LaMoureaux received letters from the following individuals endorsing his Denali climb: President George W. Bush via Bradley A. Blakeman, Deputy Assistant to the President; Alaska Governor Tony Knowles; Congressman, Mark A. Foley; former Alaska Governor William J. Sheffield; former Alaska Governor, Walter J. Hickel; Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush; Col. Norman D. Vaughan, Explorer; Simon Fryer, Program Manager for American Mountain Guides Association; and Richard Baranow of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska.

According to the records from the National Park Service, the members of the climbing team in June 2002 were: George LaMoureaux, Ginger Southall, DeAnna Capps, Eric Oakes, Patrick McIntyre (photographer), Les Lloyd (Guide), Richard Baranow (Assistant Guide), Carl Oswald (Assistant Guide).

At 17,000 feet, the party was pinned down in a snow storm for about a week. When the weather broke, half the party decided to descend, while the other four members summited, including George LaMoureaux.

Ms. Friedlander says, “George [LaMoureaux] was instrumental in showing me that expansion of the [ACIM] program was possible. George helped introduce us to politicians on the hill. He was very, very helpful in our expansion. He helped raise money to continue the work nationwide.”

Today, the services of A Child Is Missing are provided free of charge to law enforcement personnel in all 50 states, 24/7, 365 days a year.

In 2007, Mr. LaMoureaux went to the doctor for treatment for a cold he couldn’t shake. Instead, following some testing, the doctor confirmed that Mr. LaMoureaux had stage four, squamous cell carcinoma. Over the next few months, Mr. LaMoureaux endured five surgeries grueling surgeries.

On returning home, Mr. LaMoureaux sought the assistance of Steve Planté, owner of the Organic Oasis in Anchorage, Alaska, to rebuild his immune system and regain his strength through nutrition.

Only three months after his fifth cancer surgery, Mr. LaMoureaux set out to climb Mt. Everest for the purpose of promoting the work of A Child Is Missing.

Joining an assembled team through Peak Freaks guiding service, LaMoureaux at age 51, was the oldest member of this Everest expedition.

The members of this Peak Freaks Everest climb included: Team Leader Tim Rippel (USA), Dominique Gilbert (Canada), Larry Williams (USA), Michael Scott Mortensen (photographer, USA), Nabil Lodey (France), Farouq Alzouman (Saudi Arabia), Saad Naseer (USA), George LaMoureaux (USA), Sultan Al-Ismaili (Oman), and 18 Sherpa guides.

This Everest expedition, along with others planned in the spring of 2008, was in jeopardy. This was due to the fact that the Chinese had shut down the mountain to all climbers except their own who were attempting to light the Olympic torch on the summit and carry it back for the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing.

The Chinese contingency eventually succeeded in lighting the torch on May 8, 2008 and the Peak Freaks team was able to continue its acclimatization process and bid for the summit. Finally, on May 21, 2008, members of the Peak Freaks team were able to summit. Those who summited included: Dom Gilbert, Larry Williams, Michael S. Mortensen, George LaMoureaux, Farouq Alzouman, and Leader Tim Rippel. Seven Nepali Sherpa guides also summited with them.

Private Life
In his teen years, George LaMoureaux began studying martial arts. In Anchorage, he trained first in Tanaka’s Martial Arts Academy, but soon moved over to study under Robert Alejandre in the Alejandre Martial Arts Academy. In May, 1984, George LaMoureaux was awarded the rank of 1st Degree Black Belt in Karate by The Alejandre School of Karate.

Mr. LaMoureaux is never one to merely stand by as a spectator. On August 24, 2013, he took immediate action when he witnessed a small aircraft crash shortly after takeoff at Merrill Field in Anchorage, AK. Mr. LaMoureaux made his way to the airfield, climbed the fence and ran to the crumpled plane.

As the first one on the scene, Mr. LaMoureaux realized that there were two, unresponsive people in the plane and that the plane was on fire. He called to others for fire extinguishers putting the fire out and extracting the two victims from the plane.

Police and firefighters arrived then and performed CPR on both victims, but both had apparently died instantly in the crash. Mr. LaMoureaux had done his best to save them and was grieved that he could not do more.