CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Here in the desert's resort towns, people name-drop even when giving directions:
Take Bob Hope to Frank Sinatra. Cross Dinah Shore. No, Gene Autry won't take you to the airport. Yes, Gerald Ford will drop you off at the golf course.
But Cathedral City's plan to allow motorists to say "let's make a left" on Monty Hall Drive has created a flap over just who should be honored with a thoroughfare.
The street pegged to bear the moniker of the game show host is now named Van Fleet Drive after one of Cathedral City's four founders.
Van who?
Mayor Gary Amy is anxious for his city to have a road sign more likely to inspire tourists--including the influx of snowbirds from Canada each year--to whip out their cameras.
"Monty Hall is of the stature of Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra in terms of name recognition," the mayor said of the man who once bid contestants to choose between doors No. 1, 2 or 3.
The mayor cited the "Let's Make a Deal" star's local charity work and longtime civic involvement as a part-time resident as reasons for the honor. Plus, he said, "We're a tourist-based economy, and tourists are fascinated by celebrity, especially Canadians." Hall is a native of Winnipeg, Canada, which already has a Monty Hall Street.
Bob Hillery, Cathedral City's first mayor and the town's unofficial historian, and his supporters have packed city meetings to demand that founder M.V. Van Fleet keep his street.
"They're trying to erase our heritage," Hillery said. "I really get upset when City Council members say things like 'Oh, this was a dirt street town back then and no one even remembers who Van Fleet was. We're thinking about the future.'
"Well, Shakespeare said 'History is a prologue to the future,' and I don't think we ought to trade a city pioneer for a game show host."
Cathedral City (population 35,000) is sandwiched between affluent Rancho Mirage--where the streets have known names such as Sinatra, Hope and Ginger Rogers--and Palm Springs, whose movie star heritage is evident in streets named for actors William Powell and Ralph Bellamy.
A working-class town by desert resort standards, Cathedral City is trying to get in on the name game as part of an effort to add glitz to an entertainment-themed downtown redevelopment.
In 1998, the city changed 2nd Street to Buddy Rogers Drive, for the actor who appeared in the Academy Award-winning film "Wings" and was active in local charities.
