Jack Gordon (official greeter)

Dr. George Nelson, a mission specialist on the space shuttle program was a special guest at the Restaurant Association's 1986 Pacific Int'l Hospitality Show.

Foreign dignitaries welcomed by Seattle's Official Greeter included Ethiopian Emperor Haille Selassie, Japanese Crown Prince Akihito, (now the Japanese Emperor), the President of Western Republic of Germany, People's Republic of China Premier Deng, the President of Iceland, Swedish King and Queen, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip of Great Britain.

An accident cut his flying career short and he was transferred to the Public Relations office where he soon became Editor-in-Chief of the NAS Pasco Sky-Writer, a weekly newspaper.

Among events he covered as editor and photographer while on Swan Island was the return of film star Tyrone Power, who was serving as a Marine in the Pacific.

After the war, he enrolled at Seattle College and became city news editor at the Catholic Northwest Progress, where he met Roberta May Walsh, whom he married on May 1, 1948.

[4] Jack created a nationwide campaign that helped win All-American honors for Johnny and Eddie O'Brien, the New Jersey recruits to the Chieftain team.

In 1952, in a game played at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the University of Washington Campus, the Chieftains, led by the 5'9" O'Brien brothers, became the only college team in America to beat the Harlem Globetrotters.

[5] Jack helped SU basketball coach Al Brightman, athletic backer Ralph Malone, and others recruit All-American Elgin Baylor.

[6] Gordon was named to the Seattle University Sports Hall of Fame on May 27, 2011[7] Service as editor of the state newspapers for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion led to a job as national press officer for the VFW in Washington, D.C. in 1949.

Each welcome included bands, movie stars, politicians, military leaders, and Barclay's "Can Can Girls" as well as the ever-present serpentine and parades along the piers and through downtown Seattle.

[13] During the rest of the 1950s, in addition to working for Greater Seattle, Jack helped bring Seattle into the international light by coordinating and emceeing visits by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and Crown Prince Akihito and Crown Princess Michiko of Japan, as well as taking part in planning the 1958 Colombo Conference, attended by President Eisenhower, Secretary of State Dulles, and representatives from 18 Asian nations.

In 1960, he served as Vice Chairman of the "Major League Stadium for King County Committee," the predecessor of the bond plan that built the Kingdome.

Building on his experience in Seattle, he created for Governor Dan Evans a patriotic setting for special observances saluting the history of each state of the union at Expo '74, the Spokane World's Fair.

[15] During Jack's 25 years as Executive, the association grew to over 2500 member companies, representing 4200 restaurants, with a multi-million dollar annual budget and 16 employees.