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About The North Coast times-eagle. (Wheeler, Oregon) 1971-2007 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1995)
PAGE 13 : a n o uMirk W Northwest Indians ' UNEXPECTED CHANGE As I walk out into the bright light of a crisp, newborn day my image of a nice clean world is instantly shattered like a vase thrown against a brick wall. For upon opening the front door of my living quarters, a sickeningly dense smog invades the privacy of my nostrils. It is so dominating I need to let out a sputtering cough several times in order just to gasp one measly breath. Walking to my car is even a complete hassle, in order just to get to the dang thing I end up tripping and slipping upon at least a dozen pieces of garbage that lay cluttering what was one a beautiful green lawn The engine of my clunky and awkward Pinto sputters to a start. I don't feel too bad o w in g a junky little car, the money problems among America are growng by the second, so the vast majority of my social friends drive them. Only a few Donald Trump type people are privileged enough to even touch a car that costs over $5000 I turn slowly onto the four-lane freeway that runs from Seaside to Astoria. So many cars are smashed on that it reminds me of a woven blanket. Sounds of honking horns and obscene vulgarities hover around me and my car Some gangs from Portland have transferred to our territory, so I become routinely uneasy as I pass the comer vtfiere they converse. Their mark is everyvtfiere, like a constant reminder to all that they are in our presence. They are here to dominate over those who are not as "tough" as they are, and wreak havoc. I am approaching downtown Astoria now. The homeless problem is also growing like a blob. Driving by the Burger King, I spot a homeless woman and her young child picking hungrily at a bag of leftovers some fortunate person just threw out. A sad feeling overcomes me. The traffic is regularly backed up, I have now been sitting for at least 15 minutes. One holdup is the newest road construction project. The men on the roadside make clinkity, clankity noises with their big boy toys. It is easy to become annoyed About a fourth of a mile ahead a herd of workers are tearing d o w i the old Hunt's Home Furnishings. I imagine they will be creating either more housing apartments or a mass of stores. That's all there really is around here. Nothing fun to do. No amusement parks, ice skating rinks, roller skating rinks, there | isn't even a bowling alley any more. It is now a mini mall parking lot. The worst of all this tragedy is the war on drugs. Our country is losing terribly. You see them on the comers, in malls, at the beach, in the parking lot. There is no escape from them. They seem to multiply, for everyday I notice more and more. The dealers that is. I view them as predators hunting their prey. I pull into the parking lot of my work, passing a few possible dealers. As I walk through the w de double doors, relief washes over me. Then I realize I still have to make it home. -KIMM BALZER Seaside High School and in supporting new projects. I will also use my knowledge to serve as an active member of the community. Of all these contributions, the most important one I can make will be to raise my family here My future children will be brought up in an environment full of people who care how they are. They will learn the important lessons of right and wrong. Most importantly, they w ll leam to love the place where they were bom: Clatsop County. -TREVOR FITCHA Warrenton High School Clots op 3. A Í j omú 4* Bridge ounîy —opooiBi J m » ISRAEL JURICH, HILDA LAHTI GRADE SCHOOL attitude here. I'll work to keep our scenery free from all the pollution. And most importantly, I'll teach my children what this county in the Pacific Northwest did for me. -ELIZABETH BOBEK Clatsop County, I would go help it the best I could. The people of Clatsop County would tell the rest of the world about how to take care of animals because I would teach them the right things. Warrenton High School When I grow up I hope I can make enough money so I can donate at least $1,000,000.00 to the City of Astoria so that stairways going up to people's houses can be more like esca lators and when it starts to rain, the escalator automatically makes a glass shield. This is so everyone won't get wet because of the rain. -CHRIS CROSBY Star of the Sea School (Astoria) If I live in Clatsop County, I will be in the Coast Guard and be the chief of the Coast Guard. I will try to be a good chief if I become chief of the Coast Guard. I would be in charge of the Air Station, and the Iris and Venturous, as well as the station across the river at Cape Disappointment. I w ll help people by saving them from drowning and keep weapons and drugs out of Clatsop County. If I don't become chief of the Coast Guard, I will try to be a firefighter and help put out fires and save people's lives and homes. -ALEXANDREA BRANDON Star of the Sea School I hope that when I grow up I may be able to make a big contribution to Astoria. It would be a park where the old mill is now.The millpond would be turned into a duck pond and it would have grass and trees and maybe even a playground. There will be walkways and bushes and little stone bridges and flowers, lots of flowers: everything that makes a park beautiful. It would be kind of like a Japanese garden Maybe there would even be a part-glass and part-metal walkway that went down underneath the water so you could see things coming past, such as seals, the bottoms of boats, and other things. Hopefully, there would be some wild animals, such as otters, geese, a couple of ducks and fish in the pond I would like to do this so Clatsop County could become a more beautiful place. -LUKE YDSTIE Star of the Sea School -CHRISTOPHER MclNTOSH Star of the Sea School When I grow up, I will be a sailor and I will get a boat and take it out to go fishing. I will have a great time going fishing and then I will go and sell my fish. Then I shall earn some money and then I w ll buy myself a dog and I will have a good life in Astoria and Clatsop County. -DENNIS JOHN REYNOLDS My contribution to Clatsop County in the future directly relates to its involvement in my past. Therefore, I pondered the question, what has Clatsop County done for me? Then I realized it welcomed me. Four years ago I moved here. I knew no one, nothing. Coming from a metropolis, I realized that people just didn't openly address a stranger, but here they did. I understood that pollution and filth were common occurrences, but here they weren't. I thought that people were out in the world for themselves. Here, even that didn't seem so. Coming to Clatsop County taught me another side to life that I couldn't have imagined before. That special smile from a complete stranger, that instant when I looked from the Astor Column into the beautiful countryside of daybreak, the sound of laughter as I cruised Seaside for guys on a lonely Friday night - this is what Clatsop County was. And so I'll answer the dilemma of what I will do for Clat sop County in the future. I'll fight to keep the small town "I care" 66 Star of the Sea School I will be a veterinarian when I grow up. I will take care of as many animals as I can so they w m 't go hungry again and so they have good homes. I also hope they stop killing dogs, rabbits, and cats at the pound. I w>uld take animals in my house and take care of them and it would be my very own animal hospital for the sick and injured animals. I would try and get good homes for them. I would also w ite to the zoos and animal parks and pounds and talk to them about how to take care of their animals. If there was an animal that was ill anywhere in IMPROVE CLATSOP COUNTY There are things that could be done to make Clatsop County better. To improve Clatsop County we need to save the salmon. People are fishing so much salmon in Clatsop County that the fish are becoming XTINCT. Soon the fish w ll be gone and the people will have no fish left. If we save the salmon we might have a lot more salmon in the w ild . We need more rules about fishing to save the salmon. We need to plant more trees in Clatsop County. People that cut down trees should plant the trees back so Clatsop County has more trees. If we let people cut down trees without replanting trees there are going to be fewer and fewer trees. We should plant trees Clatsop County would look a lot better with more trees. -TAMI KELLER Cannon Beach Elementary njjEfOMMVNiTYgro]^ B U C K ’S BOOK BARN ★ USED BOOKS & RECORDS ★ 738-4246 1023 BROADWAY • SEASIDE jÏÏÜRlA. OREGOl &ÍC1974 -5 COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM CdltOAA V IS IT THE M U SEU M SHOP IN A S TO R IA , OREGON AMANDA RAY, SEASIDE HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY 1389 V u a w
