---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 9, 1993                   TAG: 9301090078
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

---

HOSTS LETTERS NOW STAND FOR SOMETHING

They call themselves the New River Valley HOSTS and insist on that last word being capitalized, but what do the letters stand for?

The question has been a thorn in the side of Bob Thomas since he was the group's first president, when it was formed in 1991 as Pulaski County HOSTS.

At that time, its full name was given as Hotel, Restaurant & Hospitality Association, which doesn't even correspond to the letters in HOSTS. Nevertheless, when newspapers referred to it, they tended to mention that as the meaning of the acronym.

When the organization expanded to cover the entire New River Valley, Thomas said the meaning was no longer applicable. So then newspaper stories began writing the name as "Hosts" since it didn't stand for anything.

So members of the group decided to come up with a name. Thomas told a reporter at its organizational meeting Thursday that it had indeed done so, and the new name was . . . uh . . . it was . . .

Kathy Mantz from the Christiansburg-Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce supplied it: "Hospitality Organizations Setting Tourism Standards," she said.

"That's it!" said Thomas. And so it is.

---