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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2017 Heroes: ‘It’s been challenging, but it’s been rewarding’ Continued from Page 1A Community recognition The winners were each short on words after being paraded through an applaud- ing, largely flannel-clad crowd at the lumberjack-themed ban- quet. Afterward, though, each spoke of the satisfaction at being honored for their work behind the scenes. “I’ve always felt like I was in the background, and to have this recognition is huge,” Bruner said. After retiring as secre- tary at Astoria Middle School, Bruner took a lead role in col- lecting holiday meals for hun- dreds of local families as part of the Christmas Food Bas- ket Program. Bruner volun- teers with the Clatsop Cruise Hosts, Scandinavian Midsum- mer Festival Association and First Lutheran Church, while she and her husband deliver for the Meals on Wheels pro- gram. Bruner deferred to the larger corps of volunteers around her. “There are a lot of people out there doing things that are unsung heroes,” Bruner said. “I know that’s a silly term, but you can’t put on an event without backup.” Meyer, co-owner of Com- pleat Photographer with her husband, Chuck, for more than 30 years, has amassed an extensive volunteer resume since moving to Astoria in 1971. She has volunteered for The Harbor, which com- bats domestic violence, and local schools, the Ameri- can Association of Univer- sity Women, Clatsop County Health District, the chamber, Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, Astoria Riverfront Trolley and a state commission on youth, among other endeavors. “Community is really spe- cial,” Meyer said of the vol- unteerism in Astoria, “and it takes volunteers to make community.” Flavel famous Newenhof, a co-owner of City Lumber, volunteered with the Astoria Regatta, Rotary, school district and other groups. But Newenhof stayed largely under the radar until he purchased and began restoring the Flavel family’s dilapidated mansion at 15th Street and Franklin Avenue last year. “I don’t know who people are, but they know who I am,” Newenhof said of his new- found notoriety. Chamber Executive Direc- tor Skip Hauke, presenting Newenhof’s award, said he’d originally come into the man- sion as a volunteer with the Clatsop County Historical Society, but fell in love with the building. “Since he bought the home, this individual has poured blood, sweat, tears, time, elbow grease and just a little money into bringing this stun- ning building back to life,” Hauke said. Warming Warrenton In her day job, Warren is an agent with Farmers Insurance in Warrenton. Outside work, she serves with the Warren- ton Business Association, Warrenton-Hammond School Board, Kiwanis Club of War- renton and nonprofit Warren- ton-Hammond Healthy Kids Inc., among other groups. Recently, after volunteer- ing with the Astoria Warm- ing Shelter and hearing about the need for such a service in her home city, Warren and several others helped start the Warrenton Warming Shelter, which this winter started tak- ing in the homeless at Cal- vary Assembly of God on Main Street during inclem- ent weather and temperatures below 38 degrees. “It’s been challenging, but it’s been rewarding,” Warren said. “Our biggest challenge, probably, has been pulling together volunteers.” Warren said the center has 40 to 60 volunteers, but proba- bly needs a pool of about 150. “We need 10 to 12 people a night.” Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian LEFT: Greg Newenhof, co-owner of City Lumber, was honored with a George Award, As- toria’s citizen-of-the-year honor, for his volunteerism and restoration of the Flavel man- sion on 15th Street and Franklin Avenue. Presenting the award was lumberjack-themed Skip Hauke, director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. RIGHT: Com- munity volunteer Myrle Bruner was emotional coming through the crowd to collect her George Award, Astoria’s citizen-of-the-year honor. LEFT: Sara Meyer, left, was honored for her prodigious volunteerism with a citizen-of-the- year George Award, presented by Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear. RIGHT: Kelsey Balensifer, right, who organized her third Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce banquet a day after her birthday, was honored by former chamber board President David Reid. Q&A: ‘We’re facing housing challenges’ Continued from Page 1A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Friends, family and community members gather at Warrenton City Park for a candlelight vigil Sunday. Vigil: ‘He was there to protect everybody’ Continued from Page 1A mother. “He was there to pro- tect everybody. I still expect him to wake me up at night and say, ‘Mom, someone needs help.’” Secord’s friends, who played football and baseball and also wrestled, echoed his mother’s sentiments. Ethan Johnson, a 17-year- old from Seaside, remembered one occasion when Secord came down to comfort him. “No matter what your issue was, he’d be there to help,” Johnson said. “He would carry the world on his shoulders and he still wouldn’t break. I just hope that everybody remem- bers him the way I do, as that little kid with a smile on his face.” Lizabeth Rehnert, a 15-year-old Warrenton High School student, organized the vigil. “It was just to find hope,” she said. “No one wants to be alone for these kinds of things.” Rehnert met Secord a few years ago when they were stu- dents at Warrenton Middle School. She remembers him as a great athlete, a funny person and a good friend. “He was really nice to everyone,” she said. “Everyone just loved being around him.” Brenda McKune, Sec- ord’s grandmother, remem- bered his chivalry as a young boy. She coordinates an annual scrapbooking, crafting and card-making event in Warren- ton called Scrap Hunger. Each year since he was 9, Secord would insist on carrying wom- en’s tote bags for them. “He’d tell them, ‘You’re a Originally from Michi- gan, Sullivan moved to Clat- sop County in 2007. She has been active in a number of local groups such as the Astoria Budget Committee and the Astoria Visual Arts Board and was a leader in the campaign against the Oregon LNG project in Warrenton. Sullivan, who represents the eastern portion of the county, sat down Thursday for a conversation with The Daily Astorian Q: Were you politically active in Michigan, before you moved out here? I’ve always tried to keep up with current events. I think my activism against the (Ore- gon LNG project) was pretty much the start of it. I learned a lot about public meeting law and regulations and regula- tory bodies and how citizens can make change. Q: What is it that prompted you to take this on? Some people go horse- back riding; I do other things. I go to meetings; I like hearing ideas. A lot of the things that I’m going to, I would probably go to even if I wasn’t county commis- sioner. But I am going to these things because I’m a county commissioner also. Q: Over the next four years, what are the major goals that you have set in mind that you’d like to bring to the countyas commissioner? I’ve lived in this commu- nity for probably about 10 years. It’s a real special part of the world, and I would like us to maintain a quality of life here in the different ways that we do that. We’re facing housing challenges. We’re facing transportation problems. In the summer- time, sometimes we have gridlock here in Astoria, Sea- side, Cannon Beach. What are we going to do about that? We also need to get our communities prepared for a possible major earthquake and tsunami. I didn’t know about that when I moved here. How do you prepare a population for something like that? Q: What was your mindset going into that meeting? Yeah, it was quite a first meeting. I’ll say that. That lawsuit had been out in the public eye for almost a year, and I was elected in May. So, it’s something that I’ve been paying attention to even though I wasn’t in office. That was my first meeting, but I have four years ahead of me that I want to learn as much as I can and be as helpful as I can, because I believe the government belongs to us. We’re priv- ileged in this county with home rule that citizens can run for office. We don’t have to be millionaires. We don’t have to be attorneys. So I feel honored to be in a position like this and I take it very seriously. Duncan: Official hopes to make people more aware of public health issues Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Students place their candles on the ground during a candlelight vigil to remember the life of Trevor Secord on Sunday at Warrenton City Park. Secord, a 15-year-old Warrenton student, died late Thursday after he was struck by a car near Gearhart. lady. You shouldn’t be carry- ing those heavy bags,’” McK- une said. Oregon State Police said Friday they were investigating whether alcohol contributed to Secord’s actions. McKune said she has filed numerous complaints to War- renton Police in recent years about adults providing alcohol to underage drinkers. She said she made her latest complaint Thursday night a little more than three hours before Sec- ord’s death. “These adults have got to stop feeding our kids alcohol because things like this hap- pen,” she said. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian A memorial for Trevor Secord is outside the Warrenton Post Office on Friday in Warrenton. Continued from Page 1A food quality — as at least equivalent to advancements in medicine for the overall health of a population. “The main reason a population has good health or bad health is public health,” he said. “The high-tech stuff is fun, but most of the big gains in a general population have all been through public health.” Duncan’s contribu- tions, for which he receives a $100 monthly stipend, are extremely valuable to the county, Public Health Director Michael McNickle said. “We’d have to hire a consultant to review all this stuff,” McNickle said. “I bet it would be difficult to find someone who does what he does for $100 per month.” Compared to some other countries in the world, pub- lic health in the United States is stable, Duncan said. As a result, the topic of public health usually only arises when a major health crisis occurs. “It’s tough to talk to peo- ple who are well-dressed, well-fed and well-housed about public health,” he said. As he continues his role as health officer, Duncan hopes to make residents more aware of public health issues. “We’re like mothers. Everybody likes their moth- ers, but they don’t get them anything until Mother’s Day.” — Jack Heffernan