THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015
NORTH COAST
3A
Swimming with the stars
Gearhart’s elk
herd will be
featured on OPB
By ANDREW R. TONRY
For EO Media Group
The elk that roam through
Gearhart are about to become
the stars of their very own
television program.
Well, at least a segment
of a program. They will be
featured on Oregon Public
Broadcasting’s show, “Ore-
gon Field Guide” at 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 5.
“One of the things that
attracted me to the story was
that I know these animals to
be very majestic and beautiful
to look at,” said the program’s
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search, she was inspired by
a video on YouTube showing
the elk bathing and frolicking
in the Necanicum River estu-
ary and ocean surf.
“It’s beautiful footage,”
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‘Wow, this is really some-
thing.’”
“So I just kept research-
ing it and realized also that
there was somewhat of a
controversy in that area,”
she added. “Some people
think the elk are just fantas-
tic, and other people think
they’re a nuisance. Some
people are worried about
safety. There were just vari-
ous issues that came up, so I
grabbed a photographer, and
we went down last August
and interviewed folks.”
The elk herd that visits
Photo courtesy of Neal Maine
Nature photographer Neal Maine captured another shot
of elk strolling on the beach near Gearhart. The elk will be
featured in a segment on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s
“Oregon Field Guide” Feb. 5.
Photo courtesy of Neal Maine
The sight of an elk herd in the Necanicum estuary inspired a producer from Oregon Pub-
lic Broadcasting’s “Oregon Field Guide” program to shoot a segment on the phenome-
non in Gearhart. This photo of the elk herd, shot by Neal Maine of PacificLight Images,
is on exhibit at Fairweather House and Garden, along with several more images by the
local nature photographer.
Gearhart sparked enough
discussion last spring to
warrant a town hall meeting
where residents discussed
possible methods of dissuad-
ing the elk from coming to
town. So far, they haven’t
been dissuaded.
“We were kind of rolling
the dice,” Gilfillan said. “I
was like, gosh, I wonder if
we’re going to see the herd.
But we need not have wor-
ried, because they were right
there.”
Gilfillan was taken aback,
however, by the Gearhart
herd’s comfort in proximity
to humans.
“I have crawled along the
pumice plain inside Mount
St. Helens to try to get cov-
ered with elk urine so that
I’m not smelling like a hu-
man in order to get close to
elk,” she said. “They’re very
skittish. They’re very aware.
They have great senses of
smell, and they know when
a human is around.”
The Gearhart herd was
different.
“These elk, I guess, are
habituated enough to being
in the midst of human ac-
tivity that they really didn’t
scare at all,” said Gilfillan.
“And that was so unusual,
according to my experi-
ence.”
Along with a cameraman,
Gilfillan followed the herd
closely for two days last Au-
gust.
“They were in the dunes
area, then they made their
way into a neighborhood
and then made themselves at
home on a golf course,” said
Gilfillan. “We just got amaz-
ing footage.”
“We met one poor woman
who was chasing them out of
her yard,” Gilfillan added.
The incident presented the
issue in a nutshell.
“There are legitimate
safety concerns, I just feel
that way personally,” said
Gilfillan. “I think I wanted
to honor all the opinions that
I did hear, because I want to
represent the community’s
Sunset Empire Transportation
District offers funds, free day
Sunset Empire Trans-
portation District recently
announced the opportunity
for eligible parties in Clat-
sop County to apply for two
funding programs allocated
by the Oregon Department of
Transportation for the 2015-
17 biennium.
Eligible parties include
counties, cities, transporta-
tion districts, public or private
agencies, Indian tribes, indi-
viduals or any of these joined
in cooperative agreements.
Only applications that
provide transportation ser-
vices for older adults and
people with disabilities will
be considered.
The two transportation
program funds — the Special
Transportation Fund and the
5310 Program Grant — are
separate programs requiring
separate applications.
For more information,,
visit the SETD website at
www.ridethebus.org or con-
tact Diane Moody at 503-
861-5363 or DianeM@ride-
thebus.org.
Application packs may be
picked up at the Astoria Tran-
sit Center, 900 Marine Drive,
open daily from 7:30 a.m.
to 6 p.m. and will be mailed
upon request.
Applications are due by 5
p.m. Feb. 6.
In addition, Sunset Empire
Transportation Services will
host its annual “Ridership
Appreciation Day” Thursday
to show appreciation to bus
riders and the community for
their support.
The Ridership Apprecia-
tion Day coincides with the
Project Homeless Connect
event at the Seaside Conven-
tion Center from 10 a.m. to 3
p.m..
For more information
about Ridership Apprecia-
tion Day or Project Homeless
Connect, contact Elisabeth
Pietila at 503-861-7433 or go
to www.ridethebus.org
The public is also invit-
ed to attend an open house
at the Astoria Transit Cen-
ter from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Refreshments, prizes and
transit information will be
available.
Eager to relive one of
the most beloved coming-
of-age stories of the 1980s,
fans will flock to historic
Astoria and surrounding
area to celebrate the 30th
anniversary of the cult clas-
sic film “The Goonies,”
June 4 to 7.
During the four-day
event, Goonies fans can tour
iconic film locations, bowl
at “Chunk’s Bowling Al-
ley,” attend costumed quote-
a-long film screenings, sip
Truffle Shuffle Stout from
local Fort George Brewery
and adventure on a scaven-
ger hunt supported by Geo-
caching.com
Using Lego blocks, the
Virtua-LUG builders group
recreated iconic scenes from
“The Goonies,” which will
be on display. In the spirit
of One Eyed Willie’s trea-
sure-filled ship in the film,
the tall ships Lady Washing-
ton and Hawaiian Chieftain
will be offering tours and
sails in Astoria during the
celebration. Official mem-
orabilia, including T-shirts,
hats, glassware, collectibles
and more, will be available
at the event, primarily in
Astoria and Cannon Beach.
The Astoria-Warrenton
Area Chamber of Com-
merce will sell weekend
passes as well as individual
tickets for specific events.
Tickets are anticipated to
go on sale March 1. The
detailed event schedule and
prices will be announced
early this year.
The chamber offers sev-
eral sponsorship options,
including placement on the
event website and social
media, signs at the events
and ways to get products
into people’s hands. Spon-
sorships enable the cham-
ber to keep costs for at-
tendees down. Sponsorship
funds also boost its ability
to bring in cast members
and other special guests,
which will further increase
excitement around the
event.
Businesses can partici-
pate in celebration activities
like ’80s Night Out, or sim-
ply by offering a themed ex-
perience to visitors during
the celebration (or all year
long).
Individuals who would
like to assist during the cel-
ebration as a volunteer will
be able to sign up online
this spring when details on
those roles and shifts are
available.
Contact Marketing Man-
ager Regina Willkie at
503-836-5147 or regina@
oldoregon.com for more in-
formation.
By The Daily Astorian
Prepare for Goonies in June
Portland Chamber Orchestra’s
Photo courtesy of Gail Como
Gail Como, Gearhart city treasurer and administrative as-
sistant, shot this photo of the elk herd as it marched down
Pacific Way in front of City Hall.
opinion authentically. So we
found people with lots of
different views.”
“I don’t think we take a
stand,” she added. “But we
explore the issue of how the
community is going to grap-
ple with it. I have a feeling
this is not an uncommon
experience in communities
all over, particularly in the
American West, and likely
to become more so, because
wildlife is more protected
in some areas and that has
allowed them to reproduce
more, and we are also build-
ing in habitat.”
After the initial airing
Thursday, the episode will
be repeated at 1:30 a.m. and
at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8, on OPB.
Seaside PD
prepares for seatbelt
enforcement blitz
SEASIDE — Oregon
law enforcement agencies
are teaming up across the
state Feb. 9 through 22 to
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looking for seatbelt and
child-restraint
violations,
using mobile devices (cell-
phones) without a hands-free
device and speed violators.
In the 100-car surveys
conducted in 2014, Sea-
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cent of drivers are buck-
ling up. The goal remains
to have 100 percent of all
occupants buckling up.
Statewide, among those
killed or injured were 938
child passengers under
the age of 8, and a third
of those were riding un-
restrained or in the wrong
type of safety restraint for
their size. Child seats re-
duce the likelihood of in-
fants under 1 being killed
in a crash by 71 percent,
and the fatal risk for tod-
dlers age 1 to 4 by 54
percent, and 58 percent
for infants and toddlers in
SUVs, pickups and vans.
Oregon law requires
children less than 40
pounds be restrained in a
child seat. Children under
the age of 1 or weighing
less than 20 pounds must
be restrained in a rear-fac-
ing child seat. A child
over 40 pounds must be
restrained in either a child
seat or a booster seat ap-
propriate for their size un-
til they reach age 8 or are
4-feet, 9-inches tall and the
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them correctly.
A couple rules of
thumb: is the restraint
going across the child’s
waist and not the abdom-
inal area. In the event of
a crash, you want the re-
straint to hold the child in
their seat and not cut into
their internal organs. Is the
restraint going across the
child’s shoulder and not
on their neck. We look to
see if the child is elevated
in the booster to the level
of being able to see out the
side window to give us an
idea they are in a proper
booster for their size.
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Anthony Kearns
Daily Astorian file
Goonies fans Steve Simmang, right, of Hemet, California,
dressed as Brand, and Kelly Doule, left, of Brooklyn, New
York, dressed as Chunk, pose for a photo taken by Doule’s
wife, Kasia, following the Truffle Shuffle gathering at John
Warren Field during the 2013 Goonies Day.
' /0 # 1)..
Call us to schedule your next vacation!
433 13th St., Astoria
503-325-1531
