Bush: The Outdoor President

I know a few folks who would have liked to sit in on this meeting...

From the Coleman PR Desk:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 19, 2006) -- Building on The Coleman Company, Inc.'s 106-year history of bringing Americans outdoors, Gary A. Kiedaisch, the company's President and CEO, met with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office on Monday to pledge the company's and the outdoor industry's support in connecting America's youth with the great outdoors, and to express appreciation for the president's ongoing support for recreation.
The reasons for the meeting were threefold. First, to thank President Bush for his commitment to outdoor recreation, proclaiming June as Great Outdoors Month, bringing focus to the outdoors as a national priority. Second, to draw attention to the president's stewardship of America's magnificent outdoor recreational resources. And third, to encourage a greater partnership between the government and the outdoor industry in bringing Americans -- especially young people -- back outside.
"Outdoor recreation gets us off the couch, out of our sedentary lifestyle, and back outside to enjoy all that nature has to offer," Kiedaisch said. "Coleman would like to work with business and government to come up with sustainable solutions to getting Americans back outdoors and recreating. As the world's largest outdoor company, we are already working with outdoor advocacy organizations to reach the public with the message that spending time with nature is the best way to revitalize mind, body and spirit. But there is much more that can be done."
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At the meeting, Kiedaisch delivered a commemorative lantern -- one of more than 60 million fuel lanterns produced by the company since 1900 -- and a letter to President Bush (attached) discussing the industry's interest in partnering with government to get people off the couch, away from their computer and TV screens, and back into the outdoors.