Port Orford News
THE MOST WESTERLY WEEKLY IN THE CONTIGUOUS 48 STATES
Volume 54, No. 41
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Inside
Buggy
Price - Fifty Cents
Port Orford, Curry County, Oregon 97465
City hires new police chief
Read the new
chiefʼs resume,
inside, on page 4
By Matt Hall
With the summer
ended, the local
garden spiders have
grown to enormous
size. Hereʼs a pix of
one from the quick
macro lens of
P.O. Photographer
Lance Nix.
— Page 4
PON staff writer
At the Port Orford City
Council meeting held Thursday,
September 15, City
Administrator Mike Murphy
announced the hiring of a new
police chief for Port Orford.
“We plan to have him here
November 2,” said Murphy in a
later interview. “He has 31 years
of service on the Deschutes
County Sheriffs Department,
where he started out as a patrol
deputy.
“He meets all criteria (for the
job), now, although there will
always be training. But he
comes fully equipped – no
assembly required.”
The new Port Orford police
chief will be Marvin Combs, 58,
a 31-year veteran of the
Deschutes Sheriff’s Department,
who spent the last two years
spent working two days a week
as a civil deputy.
“I was working part-time as a
civil deputy, semi-retired and I
was contacted by ASG, who
asked me if I would be interest-
ed,” said Combs. “I said I’d be
glad to take a look at it – it
might be a great opportunity.”
From there things happened
fast.
“It happened real fast – it’s
been right around 30 days (since
he was contacted),” recalled
Combs, speaking by phone from
his residence in Bend.
Combs and his wife, Lisa
came for a visit, and the couple
liked what they saw.
“We had a great time,” said
Combs. “The people were all
Sailing ...
A few shots by
Brandon OʼRourke of
Steve Roweʼs first
outing with his new
sailboat.
— Page 5
Photos ...
The photogaphic skills
of Port Orfordʼs Donna
Smith are celebrated
at the latest Port
Orford Rotary meeting.
— Page 8
See CHIEF, page 4
Coming up
Port Orford Rotary Club
The Port Orford Rotary Club meets each Thursday,
at noon, at the Port Orford American Legion Hall.
“Barefoot In The Park” will open its run at 7:30 p.m.,
Friday, October 23, at Theatre 101.
Pancake Breakfast
The POVFD will host its “All You Can Eat Pancake
Breakfast” from 7 -11 a.m., Sunday, October 25.
Theatre 101 opens with a comedy
Celebrated Neil
Simon comedy
stars local pair
By Stacey Romele
For the Port Orford News
Theatre 101 is proud to
announce it’s 2009-2010
Season of Shows with the
opening Friday, Oct. 23 of
“Barefoot In The Park” by
Neil Simon.
Barefoot in the Park fol-
lows the lives of newlyweds
Paul (David Smith) and Corie
Bratter (Morgan McKenzie)
as they adjust to married life
in a tiny Greenwich Village
apartment.
Paul is a buttoned-down,
straight-arrow lawyer who's
wound a little too tight, while
Corie is an effervescent free
spirit who won't let anything
disturb her romantic bliss.
Aside from the five-flight
climb and the hole in their
skylight, the Bratters must
also contend with eccentric
upstairs neighbor Victor
Velasco (Rick Antonio), who
must go through their apart-
ment to get to his. Corie
hatches a plot to get her
mother (Dianne Antonio)
together with Mr. Velasco,
See 101, page 8
POVFD set for “All You Can Eat Pancake Breakfast’
Annual event will
take place Sunday
By Gayle Wilcox
POVFD Chief
For the Port Oford News
Theatre 101 opening
PON photo by Matt Hall
Itʼs all innocent 1960ʼs action as Corrie (Morgan McKenzie) and Paul (David Smith),
a young couple adjusting to life in a small Greenwich Village apartment in Theatre
101ʼs “Barefoot In The Park, which opens Friday, October 23.
Members of the Port Orford
Volunteer Fire Department wiil
be cooking breakfast for you this
Sunday, October 25. Breakfast
will be served from 7 a.m. until
11 a.m.. We will be serving all
you can eat pancakes, ham, eggs,
coffee, milk, juice and tea. Our
past breakfasts have raised
money for extrication tools
(JAWS), the rescue truck and
additional equipment. We contin-
ue to upgrade our equipment as
funds allow. Additionally, we
have given a scholarship for sev-
eral years to a graduating senior
from Pacific High. All of this is
possible because of your support.
Your department is dedicated
to providing the best possible
service and response 24/7. We
complete hundreds of hours of
training annually, respond to
more calls than ever and train
with Sixes and Langlois Fire as
well as Port Orford Community
Ambulance and other Emergency
Services agencies.
The Pancake Breakfast is a
wonderful opportunity to show
your support for your hardwork-
ing volunteer firefighters. You
will be able to meet your fire-
fighters, see your fire department
equipment, apparatus and the
Fire Hall. We will have
Halloween Safety gifts for all
children who come to the break-
fast.
We will deliver breakfast to
those of you who want breakfast,
but cannot make it to Fire Hall.
Phone 332-9066 during breakfast
hours for a hot breakfast deliv-
ered to your door! If you cannot
attend, but would like to show
your support with a donation;
you may mail it to POVFD, P.O.
Box 1258, Port Orford, 97465 or
drop donations by to Gayle
Wilcox, Chief, at Sea Breeze
Florist in Port Orford (542-332-
0445).
Thank you for your support
and we look forward to seeing
you on Sunday!
Project Graduation to hold initial meeting Monday at PHS
Also inside
Rays Food Place, McKayʼs Market
News briefs
Parents, family and friends of seniors of
2010 are encouraged to attend the October
Project Graduation meeting. The meeting
will be held on Monday, October 26 at
6:30 p.m. at Pacific High School in the
library.
This month’s topics will be raffles,
breakfast fundraiser, bottle drive and any
other fund raising ideas. Please attend and
help out with this year Project Graduation.
For Don West, life was all about logging and the woods ...
By Brice Wagner
POORT to host workshop Sept. 20
The Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT) has
teamed up with SeaWeb to strengthen our outreach efforts.
SeaWeb is a communications-based nonprofit organiza-
tion that uses a science-based approach in connecting poli-
cy-makers, business, and society to advance ocean conserva-
tion.
POORT and SeaWeb have partnered on some exciting
opportunities for our community. We will be hosting an
interactive workshop on managing the Port Orford
Stewardship Area while balancing the needs of humans and
the environment on Tuesday, October 20, from 5:30 to 7:30
pm in the Community Building.
All community members are welcome and should come
prepared to share their perspective on coastal management.
In order to tailor our outreach, POORT and SeaWeb want
to hear from you about your concerns for the community
and our natural resources. To aid in this endeavor, we will
be coming door to door in the Hamlet neighborhood to dis-
tribute a survey and discuss your concerns and perspectives
on coastal management on Monday, October 19. This will
be an opportunity for residents to ask any questions and give
us feedback in person on the management of your local
resources.
And a big thank you to every one that
gives us their grocery receipts it really
helps out. Collection cans are located at
the Post Office, Chetco and the Library.
See you on the 26th!
ʻLife With Briceʼ
PON staff writer
Don West - Lifetime timber cutter,
choker setter in high lead, choker setter
cat logging, and ‘General Bull of the
Woods’
Except of two years prior to him riding
into Sixes country with his parents, Don is
a lifetime North Curry County native (born
November 6, 1928).
Don’s father Orin West was the first
man drafted from Curry County for duty in
Very
nice
the Army Infantry WW I. Don’s father suf-
fered many years from the effects of mus-
tard gas which drastically shortened his
life.
Orin West, Don’s father was a timber
faller. Don had to quit school too soon as
his father passed away at the age of 46
from the effects of being gassed in France,
WW I.
Don went to work upon his father’s
death to bring in dollars for his mother and
sisters at home. He worked on ranches
locally such as the Hughes Ranch, both
Wagner ranches Clyde and Paul Wagner
ranches, Elk River, Raymond Capps
Ranch, Sixes, and Donaldson’s at
Denmark.
Before we get too far, Don went to
School at Sixes which was located approx-
imately a quarter of a mile up Sixes Road
See LIFE, page 6
catch
Have a say about the Redfish Rocks
Pilot Marine Reserve
Apply to be on the Redfish Rocks Community Team. The
Team will serve as advisors to the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and as liaisons to the community
regarding issues relating to the Redfish Rocks Pilot Marine
Reserve.
As mandated by House Bill 3013, ODFW has created a
Draft Marine Reserves Work Plan that outlines both their
See BRIEFS page 5
PON photos by
Brice Wagner
The salmon were
running up the
mouth of the Elk
River over the
weekend with lots
of fishing action.