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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2019)
OUR 112th Year December 6, 2019 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 Monitors provide easier viewing for audience members at Seaside’s City Hall. Sound, video upgrades debut at Seaside City Hall Testing, testing, one-two-three By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal R.J. Marx Cheryle Barker serves cider to help warm guests at the Parade of Lights in Seaside. PARADE OF LIGHTS inaugurates holiday season By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal H ow cold was it Friday night? The numbers were on the minus side of freezing. That didn’t stop hundreds of gloved, mittened and bun- dled residents, visitors and volunteers from enjoying the Annual Pacific Power Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting Cer- emony, Seaside’s iconic holiday event. This was no Mickey Mouse oper- ation. To be sure, Mickey was there, along with Minnie, Goofy and a few other Disney friends. Santa Claus was there to grant chil- dren’s wishes and “Baby Sharks” were the theme of the Hillcrest in and 94.9 the Bridge. Among many, groups from the Seaside Downtown Devel- opment Association, the Scouts, Sons of Beaches, Seaside High School, and of course Pacific Power lined Broad- way for Seaside’s most festive winter event. MORE PICTURES ON A6 Seaside has gone “big screen” at City Hall, boasting a new video projection and sound sys- tem in the meeting chambers. The new technology went into use at the Monday, Nov. 25 meeting. Along with the screen visitors were used to seeing on the wall on the Roosevelt Street side of the room, video monitors were mounted in front of the council table and overhead. “We have an 82-inch main screen and two 55-inch subscreens, both giving the lobby and the foyer area a level to see,” assistant city man- ager Jon Rahl said after the meeting. “Then we have a 42-inch monitor that’s utilized for the staff here, but primarily for the speaker as a prompt and also to engage with the council.” Presenters had never been “sure where to face,” Rahl said. “Now they can look ahead directly to the council and see the screen at the same time.” Audience members in the rear can now see via overhead projection. The upgrade comes with sound enhance- ments, too, with everything but the speakers completely redone. Controls at the dais allow staff to turn on microphones and adjust volume on the fly. The audio feeds directly into the micro- phone, later distributed and transcribed. “Some presenters are more accustomed to leaning in to the microphone,” Rahl said. “Some are going to lean back. This system gives us the ability if someone’s leaning back to lift that volume up a little bit, so it picks up a little bit further.” See Upgrades, Page A3 Seaside remembers ‘the day when history was altered forever’ By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Seaside’s long history of observing Pearl Harbor Day continues as the City Coun- cil passed a proclamation Monday night to remember Dec. 7, 1941, when more than 2,400 Americans were killed in the attack. “On that day, life changed in America, and the course of history was altered for- ever,” reads the proclamation. Delivered by Seaside veteran Bill Car- penter, the proclamation was unanimously endorsed by members of the council. Carpenter also announced this year’s remembrance to take place Saturday, Dec. 7, in the Seaside Civic and Convention Cen- ter lobby. A military flyover is anticipated at 9:55 a.m., the time at which the first shells hit American vessels in Pearl Harbor. Bill Thomas, a seaman on the USS Medusa, was “the impetus” for Seaside’s first Pearl Harbor remembrance. In the 1970s, Thomas moved to Seaside where he rallied for veterans and proposed a Pearl Harbor memorial on the First Ave- nue Bridge. The granite plaque in the center of the bridge was installed in 1991. With the dedication of the bronze plaque at the First Avenue northwest corner on Dec. 7, 2000, the bridge was renamed the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge. Last year, the city’s street department refurbished the plaque. The city’s proclamation recalls those who served. “On that day, life changed in America, and the course of history was altered forever,” it reads. “At the height of the conflict, the United States had ships on every ocean and troops on five continents. At home, millions more con- tributed to the war effort, laboring for victory in factories, on farms, and across America. “Those heroes hold a cherished place in our history,” the proclamation continues. “Through their courage, sacrifice, and selfless dedication, they saved our country and pre- served freedom.” R.J. Marx Remembering Pearl Harbor on the First Avenue Bridge in 2018. The men and women who kept the city safe Seaside’s longest-serving officer looks back By KATHERINE LACAZE For Seaside Signal Katherine Lacaze Lt. Bruce Holt discusses the history of the Seaside Police at the Seaside Brewery. Lt. Bruce Holt has learned a lot about the Seaside Police Department during his 36 years of service, but it required additional research to give him further insight into the history of the department and track its evo- lution from the late 19th century up to pres- ent day. Holt shared bits and pieces of his research during a History and Hops presentation, hosted by the Seaside Museum and Histor- ical Society on Nov. 21 at the Seaside Brew- ery, which used to house Seaside’s jail. Holt gathered his information from a variety of sources, including the Astoria Evening Budget; the Seaside Signal; the Polk City Directories; and relatives of for- mer officers. While there are “some discrep- ancies” among records, Holt said, he was still able to develop a fairly comprehensive timeline. According to Holt, the history of polic- ing in Seaside can be traced back to 1898 and reports of a sheriff and his deputy being killed in West Seaside, or the part of present day Seaside that is west of the Necanicum River. Constable Alvin E. Miller, who was involved in handling the case, also served as a city council member, street superintendent, and the mayor from 1902 to 1907. “That’s how city government ran back in the day,” Holt said. “You wore several hats.” In 1990, Jack Fosmark — who was a typesetter, columnist, and contributor to the Seaside Signal in the 1980s and ’90s See Police, Page A3