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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 28, 2015)
GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a • food • fun NW word nerd By RYAN HUME Vesper >YܭVSܬU@ The Flavel House Museum Contributor Matt Love takes a self with some of his Astoria High School students while on a fi eld trip at the Flavel House Museum in Astoria. A G LIMPSE I NSIDE An occasional feature by MATT LOVE Th e Flavel House Museum The bus rolled north into town. Destination: the Fla- vel House Museum. It was a sunny morning in May, and I was riding herd over my English Credit Recovery class from Astoria High School. From time to time, they can be a challenging bunch to engage, but I love their rock and roll hearts in an age when rock is dead. I polled the students and discovered that 14 of 16 stu- dents had never set foot inside the Flavel House — and most have lived in Astoria their entire lives. That’s why I take fi eld trips. As I tallied the sad numbers and commented, the bus driver turned to me and said, “I’ve lived in Astoria for 50 years and have never been either.” I invited her to join us, but she had another pick up. It was a mob scene at the house; a cruise ship had landed earlier. We ventured inside Capt. Flavel’s former do- micile, and I let the students fi nd their own way through deep-paneled history. “Just be cool,” I said. They were. At one point, I bumped into Luis, and he told me, look- ing at the high ceilings, “Mr. Love, I think I’d be smarter if I lived in this house.” Another student, Shayla, said, “You’ll be sure to get some ghost shots in here; they’re attracted to me.” Two other students, Leoba and Becky, shared the sto- ry of the other Flavel House in town with several tourists and delighted them with the tale. Several of us rallied in one of the parlors and found ourselves standing in front of a huge oval mirror. Naturally, one of the students wanted to take a selfi e. To liven things up, I threw us all in the frame together for posterity … or at least 15 seconds of fl eeting fame. A few minutes later, we Matt Love is author/editor of 12 books about Oregon. They are available at all coastal bookstores or through www.nestuccaspitpress.com. He lives in Astoria. noun 1. East of Seaside, a current- ly unincorporated and once isolated agricultural communi- ty that could only be reached by ferry up the Nehalem River, which separates the locale from Jewell. Vanguard attempts to carve automo- bile-passable roads in 1900 would result in some of Clatsop County’s most expensive infra- structure repairs circa the early 20th century 2. Old 77 Vesper Lane: a historic gravel road that slips alongside the Nehalem River 3. Oregon Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus affi nins): An Oregon Conservation Strategy-status subspecies of P. gramineus that breeds west of the Cascades, winters in the Southwest U.S. or Northern Mexico and rings in the spring in the Willamette Valley; pred- ators include fi re, agricultural practices, domestic cats and other invasive species Origin: 1400s. Related to the Greek ਦı ʌȑȡĮor Hespera, one of the three sunset nymphs in Greek mythol- ogy, whose name means, “Light of Evening,” and is commonly associated with the planet Venus, this particular off shoot comes into English through a Latinate of the same spelling by way of the Mid- dle French, vesper, both meaning, “evening star.” In some branches of Catholicism, Vespers is the name of the evening prayer service, and is colloquially known as the vesper hour. The date on which Irish immigrant William Johnston named the area in Clatsop County for the evening star is unknown, though Johnston established the fi rst U.S. Post Offi ce there in 1879 and would go on to build the town’s fi rst church out of good, local Douglas fi r. “Vesper is not now a post offi ce, although it had been in the past. —Lewis A. McArthur, “Oregon Geographic Names,” Oregon Historical Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 2, June, 1927, p. 195 “The late storm has caused the Clats- kanie-Mist-Vesper mail carrier a considerable amount of trouble, as travelling was very diffi cult between Mist and Vesper, owing to the rapidly rising river, bridges out, etc. But Tom is not a fellow to give up and he managed to get Uncle Sam’s mail through to Mist from Vesper, when he pressed L. O. Vadnais into service by having him bring the mail over the mountain by auto.” —Chief, “Clatskanie.,” St. Helens Mist, Friday, De- cember 31, 1915, p. 3 Maritime Museum off ers Friday and Sunday events ASTORIA — Join the Co- lumbia River Maritime Muse- um for our First Friday Nights series from 7 to 9 p.m. June 5 at the Barbey Maritime Center. Plunder some fun at the First Friday Pirate Bash. Assist a landlubber in walking the plank at One-Eyed Willy’s dunk tank. Test your range of skill at the Buccaneer bag toss. Sway to the melodies and rhythms of Port- land-based musicians Robin Ba- cior and Chris Miller. Relax with a tankard of grog and some grub at the “Hogshead Tavern” cash bar, courtesy of Fulio’s. Come dressed as your favorite pirate persona and win the title of best dressed Swashbuckler. First Friday Nights are enter- taining, casual and social. This series is held from 7 to 9 p.m. on WKH ¿UVW )ULGD\ RI HDFK PRQWK and includes a mix of live music, JDPHV ¿OP VFUHHQLQJV VNLOOV demonstrations and hands-on ac- tivities. A cash bar and inspired snacks will be available. CRMM First Fridays are free of charge. Courtesy Columbia River Maritime Museum Kids enjoy hands-on activities at the Co- lumbia River Maritime Museum. um’s 3-D movies: “Galapagos” and “Turtle Vision.” Investigate our Crittercam footage of Galapagos residents like the giant tortoise, Galapa- gos sea lions, albatross and the Galapagos Reef octopus. Create your very own ocean in a bottle complete with a unique species RI MHOO\¿VK (QMR\ RXU *DODSD gos story time led by a Colum- bia River Maritime Museum WHDFKHU ,QÀXHQFH QDWXUH ZLWK our Animal Adaptation Magnet Board. Get into character with N C H I L L I Prem ier Purveyors of O N LY T H E FI N E S T B O U T I Q U E C A N N A B I S M r. D oobees only stocks ’ M R . D O O B E E S S T Y L E ! P U R E H A P P I N ESS First Sunday Family Program The Columbia River Mari- time Museum celebrates the next First Sunday Family Program June 7. The programs are a time IRUIXQ¿OOHGIDPLO\H[SHULHQFHV and are inspired by the muse- our Blue Footed Booby dance lessons. Test your Ring of Fire knowledge in our mapping ac- tivity. First Sunday activities run from 10:30 to 3:30 Sunday, June 7. Included with paid admission, members are free. This w eeks featu red grow er/processor B LE W E T T P A S S F A R M S O PEN D AILY sum m er ho urs: 10 AM - 8 PM O n H w y 101 betw een Raym o n d & So u th Ben d Find us on 2870 O cean Ave Raym o n d W A 98577 (across from the sm all cem ent plant) B U Y 3 G RAM S O R M O RE O F AN Y STRAIN & REC EIVE D ISC O U N T TO O N LY $12.5 0/ G RAM A 5 0% + D ISC O U N T / G RAM ! ...BU T O N LY IF Y O U M EN TIO N THIS AD m rd o o b ees@ g m a il.co m 360-875-8016 This pro d uc t ha s into xic a ting e ffe c ts a nd m a y be ha bit fo rm ing . M a rijua na c a n im pa ir c o nc e ntra tio n, c o o rd ina tio n a nd jud g m e nt. D o no t o pe ra te a ve hic le o r m a c hine ry und e r the influe nc e o f this d rug . The re m a y be he a lth risk s a sso c ia te d w ith c o nsum ptio n o f this pro d uc t. F o r use o nly by a d ults tw e nty-o ne a nd o ld e r. K e e p o ut o f re a c h o f c hild re n. May 28, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 23