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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2015)
LOCAL LIFEGUARDS Wise to the ways of the ocean, these JXDUGLDQVVFDQWKHVXUIDQGNHHSVDIHW\¿UVW A A big draw for locals and tourists during the warm months in Cannon Beach, Seaside and Gearhart are the miles and miles of pristine sand and, depending on the day or the hour, the moody Pa- ci¿ c 2cean¶s gently lapping or churning white-capped waves. In Cannon Beach and Seaside (and not too many years ago in Gearhart), lifeguards scan the horizon, making beaches safer places to recreate. Mostly men but a smattering of women, athletically able and safety savvy, these lifeguards make summer beach visits feel like, well, more like summer. 2n the Mob from Memori- al Day through Labor Day, a lifeguard¶s employment re- quirements are impressive. To qualify for the Mob, ¿ rst and foremost, guards must be able to swim well and swim far. In Cannon Beach, lifeguards op- erate under the auspices of the district¶s police department. Applicants must swim through the surf, out and around Hay- stack Rock and thread through “The Needles,” a nearby out- cropping of tall, spiraling rocks. Then using surfboards, they must maneuver north to Chapman Point. For those who make the cut, training takes place the ¿ rst two weekends in June. Meeting the mini- mum age to lifeguard, 18-year-old Seaside High School gradu- ate Calvin Pollard is spending most of his summer working as a ¿ rst-year Cannon Beach life- guard. His name may sound familiar he¶s one of the area¶s 1 2regon (ast-:est Shri- ner All-Star football standouts. Pollard lifeguards 10 hours a day, four days a week, rotating with ¿ ve other guards four men and one woman, who, this season, range in age from 18 to almost 50. There are also two guards on call. A lifeguard tower rises on the beach in front of Haystack Rock. In additional to the perch, the team has an SUV equipped with a rescue board and a kayak, and there are two ATVs. “It can get pretty windy up in the tower. Being on duty is kind of like being a ¿ re¿ ghter on call. <ou¶re up there, scan- ning the beach with binoculars and a scope, best for cutting through fog,” Pollard says. “The ocean¶s water tempera- ture usually varies between 51 and 55 degrees — though one day it reached . :e wade out each day to a knee-deep depth and drop a thermometer into the ocean to take the read- ing. It¶s chilly. If we¶re in the ocean, we wear wet suits.” Lifeguarding in Cannon Beach isn¶t new. Gail McCor- mick was a full-time Cannon Beach lifeguard for ¿ ve sea- sons in the 1970s. It ran in the family; her brother, Mark, was a Seaside life- guard. Mc- Cormick was the ¿ rst wom- en hired as a guard on Can- non Beach¶s ¿ ve miles of sandy beach. “(arly in the season we would swim and train at Fort Steven¶s Cof¿ n- berry Lake — the ocean was too cold,” she recalls. “To stay in shape, as the weather grew warmer, we would swim around Haystack Rock and ‘The ocean’s water temperature usually varies between 51 and 55 degrees.’ 4 | August 20, 2015 | coastweekend.com Surf’s Up: Wisdom from lifeguards Coastal Life Story by MARILYN GILBAUGH • Go into the surf with a pal – never alone • Beware of sneaker waves and tidal changes • Stay off of logs Submitted photo • Find a vantage point on the shore, it provides a bearing when you drift Left: 21-year- old Bill Palmer spent a sum- mer lifeguard- ing on Seaside’s beach in 1932. His daughter, Pat McDonald, now lives in Gearhart. • If caught in a crab hole, exit laterally. • If you see someone in distress, fi rst call for professional help • If you are knocked under by waves and become disoriented, follow your air bubbles to the surface. do long runs from Haystack Rock north to Chapman Point Creek. :e hung out together because we worked six days a week. Getting two days off in a row was a big deal. ” A strong swimmer, after her life- guarding years McCormick went on to swim the (nglish Channel. For over 100 years, Seaside lifeguards have scanned the beaches using binoculars and telescopes. They sit high in the tall white lifeguard stand located Must down from Sea- side¶s landmark Turnaround, and they drive two vehicles up and down the beach. In the 1930s, one such lifeguard was Bill Palmer, a 21-year-old Baker City resi- dent who took a break from attending the University of 2regon law school to be a summer lifeguard in Seaside. His daughter, current Gearhart Photo by Joshua Bessex A lifeguard tower stands tall on the beach at Seaside. Photo by Joshua Bessex Ralph Davis, 94, worked as a lifeguard in Seaside in the 1950s with his wife, Betty Davis, before moving to Gearhart and lifeguarding there for 10 years. resident Pat McDonald, and her four siblings continued to summer in Seaside, and their father passed along his knowl- edge of the ocean. “:e were raised with a very, very strong respect for the ocean,” recalls McDonald. The Seaside lifeguards are employed by the Seaside Fire Department. “2ur lifeguards respond to everything from the ocean up to the Prom,” says David Rankin, who was a lifeguard in Seaside for two years before becoming division chief of operations and training of the lifeguarding program in 2012. “Shifts vary; some are 10 hours, and some are six hours. :e overlap to bring in more coverage in the afternoon. “:e try as best we can to have two guards always on and three on weekends,” he says. “:e¶ll also cover Gear- hart if we get a call that we¶re needed.” Gearhart used to have life- guards of its own the legend- ary Ralph and Betty Davis. Lifeguards in the Seaside for ¿ ve years in the 1950s, the couple moved on to guard the Gearhart beaches for 10 years. “2ur whole family — Bet- ty, me, along with our assis- tants who Must happened to be our two sons — scanned the beaches in Gearhart,” Ralph Davis recalls. “From the time they were 10 and 11 the boys were out there with us. “Gearhart didn¶t have a lifeguard tower,” he says. “:e sat high up on the dunes where we could also keep warm in the tall grass when a cold wind was blowing.”