Information, please

The strangest question Pamela duPre

has been called upon to answer?

"Where can I get my gas mask

recharged in Reno?"

Like any lifelong resident of Reno,

duPre immediately knew an answer

Twin City Surplus on East Fourth.

Her ability to quickly answer questions,

both routine and strange, is being put to

the test more these days.

DuPre, a support services assistant at

the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce,

is on the front line whenever anyone

seeking information about moving to the

area calls the chamber.

Her business is booming.

In September, the chamber office

mailed 192 relocation packets. That's

more than double the number mailed in

the same month last year. And, duPre

noted last week, the September onslaught

of requests came on the heels of recordbusy

months during June and July. In

those early days of summer, she typically

hauled three carts a day filled with relocation

packets down to the mailbox.

The pace will only pick up, chamber

officials guess, when the fall edition of

Where to Retire magazine hits the stands.

The magazine describes Reno as a vibrant

place to live, where "festivals give Reno a

feeling that a party is always going on

somewhere in town."

Already, duPre said, requests for relocation

packets from seniors outnumber

other requests by a two-to-one mark.

How can she tell a caller is a senior?

Some, of course, say they plan to retire.

Another giveaway is the common query

whether Del Webb has built a Sun City

property in the region.

"They are moving here in droves," said

duPre. "My phone is ringing off the

hook."

Relocating retirees, she said, are particularly

curious about crime rates, healthcare

services, taxes and the availability of

gated communities in the area.

Cultural amenities, too, rate highly. As

one caller asked duPre, "Please tell me

that Gordie Brown isn't your only art and

culture."

Callers for business relocation packets,

meanwhile, are interested in taxes,

demography and growth rates. DuPre

refers many of those callers to the

Economic Development Authority of

Western Nevada.

No matter whether the callers are

retirees or businesspersons planning to

relocate operations in Nevada, the largest

number of calls come from California.

Texas is next, followed by Florida.

While duPre tries to answer every

question tossed her way, she deflects a few

that would require her to pick one chamber

of commerce member over another.

"Can you recommend a Realtor?" is one.

Another is, "Who has the best buffet in

town?"

The occasional caller who wants information

about brothels also sets duPre

back.

"I give them the Nevada Brothel

Association phone number, and let them

take it from there," she said.

The ability of duPre and her co-workers

to handle the rising tide of relocation

calls wins praise from chamber chief executive

Harry York, who called their performance

"superb."

It helps that duPre believes in the

mission.

"At the end of the day," she said, "I

know I've truly helped people."