The Cariboo's Hills Health Ranch founded by Pat and Juanita Corbett in 1982 is among the first inductees into the new Spa Hall of Fame launched by the Washington Spa Alliance based in Washington, D.C.
The inaugural “Class of 2015” includes founders, visionaries and distinguished contributors will be recognized for lifetime achievement during Washington Spa Alliance’s 5th Annual Symposium on March 17 at the National Press Club.
The Spa Hall of Fame, which will live as an virtual museum at www.washingtonspaalliance.com, will feature photos and bios of inductees as well as an archive of timelines and history as a way to publicly recognize a select group of leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the modern spa experience.
Future inductees will be chosen and announced at the WSPA’s Annual Symposium each spring.
The other inaugural inductees are as follows:
• Deborah Szekely, 1940, Rancho La Puerta (co-founder); 1958, the Golden Door (founder).
• Sheila Cluff, 1977, The Oaks at Ojai (owner and founder).
• Jerrold Cohen, 1979, Canyon Ranch (co-founder).
• Pat and Juanita Corbett, 1982, The Hills Health Ranch (co-founders).
• Professor Mary Huddleston Tabacchi, 1984, First University Course on Spa, Cornell University.
• Clodagh, 1984, Clodagh Design (founder).
• Ruth Stricker, 1985, The Marsh, A Center for Balance and Fitness (founder).
• Bernard Burt, 1989, historian & author, Fodor's Health & Fitness Vacations; 1991, ISPA (co-founder).
“This induction ceremony will represent the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together centered around spa – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson took the waters alone in Warm Springs, Virginia in 1818,” noted the museum’s pro-bono curator, Mary-Elizabeth Gifford (referencing President Kennedy’s oft-quoted welcome to Nobel Prize winners who were hailed as unmatched in the White House since Jefferson dined there alone).
Washington Spa Alliance is located at 1602 28th St N.W., Washington, D.C., 20007, and can be followed on Facebook and on Twitter @WASpaalliance and on March 17, on Twitter using #WSPA2015.