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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2015)
Tillamook Head Gathering Coastal Life Story by KATHERINE LACAZE Renowned area author to speak, event to benefi t Seaside High School students L Literature, music and visual arts will be celebrated at the inaugural Tillamook Head Gathering designed to benefit Sea- side High School students participating in those activities. The event will start at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Seaside Civic and Conven- tion Center with a silent auction featuring about 25 works by local artists. Karl Marlantes, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and Seaside High School graduate, will be a guest speaker. Marlan- tes, a former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, will discuss his book, “Matter- horn: A Novel of the Vietnam War,” a New York Times bestseller published in 2010, and his memoir, “What It Is Like to Go to War,” published in 2011. Bill Moyers featured Marlantes in con- nection with his nonfiction work in 2012. Mark Mizell, a Seaside High School English teach- er and one of the event orga- nizers, praised Marlantes’ work, saying his memoir is “incredibly frank, incredi- bly unbiased.” Writer Pe- ter Lindsey, a Cannon Beach author who also graduated from Seaside High School, will accompa- ny Marlantes as a guest speaker. Lindsey was teaching at the high school and working as a lifeguard in Can- non Beach in the 1960s when he, too, was drafted to fight in Vietnam. The men will share and discuss their writing and then hold a question-and-an- swer session with the audience. In addition to literature, the event ‘All the proceeds from this will benefi t literary, visual and musical arts enrichment at Seaside High School’ 4 | January 15, 2015 | coastweekend.com will highlight music with performances by several people, including local talent Dave Quinton and Jackson Andrews; John Mersereau, of Arch Cape; trio Sydney Morrisson, Alyssa Smith and Seaside High School Choir Director Vanessa Unger; and Kelsey Mousley, accompanied by her band. Mousley also is a Seaside graduate, and her band is based in Portland. Mizell’s son, Mike Mizell, will emcee the event. Local restaurants will provide hors d’oeuvres. The cost to attend is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets are available at Beach Books, Seaside Cof- fee House and the high school. “All the proceeds from this will bene- fit literary, visual and musical arts enrichment at Seaside High School,” Mark Mizell said. Enrichment funds will go primar- ily toward helping individual students at- tend field trips and have access to various opportunities, such as performing in Disn- eyland with the choir or attending festivals and competitions, he said. “Back when I first started teaching at Seaside High School, there was an actual field trip fund, and now there is no fund for that kind of stuff,” Mark Mizell said. “We’ve just had to cut back. ... It’s become tougher and tougher to come up with mon- ey for enrichment.” The Tillamook Head Gathering Organi- zation Committee has been meeting since April to plan the event. The committee is informal at this point, Mizell said, al- though members hope to eventually build up an enrichment fund so it becomes self-perpetuating. The committee intends to make the Photo by Alex Pajunas Karl Marlantes, a graduate of Seaside High School, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Marine who fought in the Vietnam War, will speak at the Tillamook Head Gathering at the Seaside Conven- tion Center Saturday, Jan. 17. Tillamook Head Gathering Submitted photo Seaside High School graduate and local artist Stirling Gorsuch created this blockprint of an iconic Seaside view for the Tilla- mook Head Gathering event. Saturday, Jan. 17 6 p.m. doors open for silent auction 7 p.m. program begins gathering an annual event and the fund’s primary revenue source. Tillamook Head was chosen for the ti- tle because “when people think of a partic- ular place that sort of epitomizes the area, Tillamook Head just seems to be it,” Mark Mizell said. “There is something near and dear about that rock formation for a lot of peo- ple,” he added. “It’s kind of cool because people in Seaside see it, people in Can- non Beach see it. ... It’s a good symbol for what us north coasters are.” For more information, call the school at 503-738-5586 or visit the Tillamook Head Gathering Facebook page. Seaside Convention Center 415 First Ave., Seaside 503-738-5586 $10 advanced tickets available at: Beach Books Seaside Coff ee House Seaside High School $15 at the door
