COMMUNITY
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2016
1B
DOING WHAT’S RIGHT
ALL BOTTLED UP
WHAT A RELIEF
W
enda VorceSLFWXUHGDOZD\VZDQWHGWR¿QGDmessage in
a bottle. She was searching for beach glass on the Washing-
WRQVLGHRIWKHULYHU$SULODQGZDVRYHUMR\HGZKHQVKH¿QDOO\
found one. “(It was) nestled on reeds in a tree trunk that always
provides me with treasures,” she explained.
The message inside was dated Monday, Oct. 19, 2009, and
signed by Chris Wiley (pictured inset) of Portland. “I live on
my sailboat on an island off the coast of Portland, Oregon, in the
USA,” he wrote. “I have lived on my boat for many years. It’s fun
living on the water with water toys to play with.
“My friends and I ... philosophize about life, the universe and
everything. We’re not sure what the answer is; but it’s sure fun to
spend time with good friends in such a beautiful place. Maybe that
is the answer.”
He included his address and included some photos, and asked
that whoever found the bottle write to him and tell him where and
when it was found.
Of course, Wenda contacted him right away. “How cool is
that!” he replied “It’s been years since I’ve thrown one of these in
the Columbia River. I think I did about half dozen of them. I’ve had
one or two found — it’s been years since anybody contacted me
about one of these.” Yes, she can keep the bottle, and he hopes they
can meet for lunch one day.
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EHIRUHZLWKDIULHQGLWZDVOLNHZHSODQWHGWKHVHHGIRUPHWR¿QG
it ...” Wenda noted. “I am still walking on air.”
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW?
rom the Pay It Forward Department: “There’s no substitute for
doing what’s right,” Thomas Colvin (pictured inset) posted on
his Facebook page. “Found this wallet (pictured) and a cell phone in
the middle of the street leaving work, right at Wireless Road.
“Was I tempted? Kids need braces, chance to get ahead on bills.
Maybe for a second, but I know what it’s like to live paycheck to
paycheck. And I also know what it’s like to be the recipient of gener-
osity and goodness. That’s why I’m at where I’m at right now.
“After a couple calls, I got hold of the owner through his girlfriend.
The guy’s name was Brian, and he was so grateful, yes, he offered me
cash, which I politely declined. Instead I made him promise the next
time he had the chance to help somebody, remember this moment.
“If you were in doubt, there’s still plenty of good people in the
world, and six days out of seven I happen to be one of them.”
“... After 18 years in Phoenix, I’m truly happy to be home, and it’s
for reasons like this. As a community we’re not without our short-
comings, but this is the best place in the world to grow up, best place
to raise a family, and best place to live.” Especially with people like
Thomas Colvin living here.
F
enny Tibbetts of Berkeley, California, visited the Asto-
ria Column recently, and wanted to know the story
behind the bronze relief map donated by the Angora Hik-
ing Club in 1966. A portion of the map is pictured, courtesy
of Astoria Daily Photo (http://tinyurl.com/columnmap).
Bob Westerberg, chief guide of the hiking club, explained:
The club was founded July 4, 1920, “on the summit of Saddle
Mountain, long before easy trails and highway access. A log-
ging railroad took them out to the base of the mountain, and
hikers pretty much scrambled directly up the south slope.
“In the 1930s the club had built a cabin on the north face of
Tillamook Head on a parcel of land acquired and later sold to
Oregon State Parks for the coast hiking trail ... Later the cash
windfall of that sale provided the money for several generous
projects ... (including to) the city of Astoria for the brass relief
map at the column.
“The map was the dream of Ruben Jensen, an Astoria
High School photo and mechanical drawing instructor ... Jen-
sen designed the map with all the inscriptions, including the
‘new’ Astoria Bridge.”
And now you know the story, too.
D
WHO IS JAMES EGAN?
DOGGONE HERO
ermot Blake ZKR OLYHV LQ 'XEOLQ ,UHODQG ZDQWV ¿QG RXW
more about his grandfather, James Egan (1871 — 1923), pic-
tured, who died in Astoria and is buried at Ocean View Cemetery
in Warrenton.
Dermot sent an undated clipping, which reads as follows:
“Whitman Leases Rooms At Merwyn, Secures Property Located
on Corner of 12th and Duane. The announcement was made yes-
terday that F. N. Whitman, proprietor of the Weinhard Hotel, had
leased a portion of the Merwyn Hotel from James Egan, the wood
man. Egan recently purchased the property on the corner of 12th
and Duane Street, which includes all the space in the Merwyn on
the south side of the stairway on 12th Street.”
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was located on 12th Street.
If you know anything about James Egan, please email Der-
mot at dbaf@eircom.net. Dermot’s aunt, Angela Egan, and his
late mother, Kathleen (Egan) Blake, both attended Star of the Sea
School as children, if that jogs anyone’s memory.
“I know nothing much of my grandfather’s activities other than
he had a lumber yard,” Dermot noted, “and so I would be delighted
WR¿QGDQ\WKLQJDWDOO´
D
ou want to see something really scary? No, it’s not the “Twi-
light Zone” movie, but almost. GCaptain reports that Rolls-
Royce — who has been on the forefront of making drone ships
hauling cargo across the world’s oceans a reality — has unveiled
its vision for the land-based control center that would be needed
to make the concept work (http://tinyurl.com/dronepanel).
Seven to 14 people would monitor and control the vessels,
using “interactive smart screens, voice recognition systems,
holograms and surveillance drones to monitor what is happen-
ing both on board and around the ship.” A screen shot from the
demonstration video is shown, courtesy of Rolls-Royce.
This isn’t some far off in the future concept, either. Rolls-
Royce plans to design and build a remote operations test center
before the end of this decade.
Y
HOPES AND DREAMS
o you remember The Barefoot Bandit, Colton Harris-Moore
(pictured), who stole a $450,000 boat in Ilwaco, Washington,
and left it in Warrenton during his 2-year crime spree? He’s still in
jail, but he’s back in the news.
The Herald of Everett, Washington (http://tinyurl.com/barecryo),
reports that Moore has started a crowd-funding account to have his
mother, Pamela Kohler (also pictured), who is terminally ill with
lung cancer, cryonically frozen by Alcor Life Extension Founda-
tion (www.alcor.org) in the hope that after she dies, someday she can
be brought back to life. He is desperately trying to raise $308,000 at
www.gofundme.com/SavePamK to pay for Alcor’s services.
“As a son, I regret that her hopes and dreams never came true,”
he wrote. “And her goals are easily reached. If we get her to Alcor,
someday she will realize her dreams. That’s a fact as sure as you
reading these words right now.”
He may be a bandit, but he’s also a devoted son.
D
rriving home one Sunday, we found the front door had
blown open,” Kathleen Fitzpatrick of Warrenton wrote.
It was a blustery March afternoon. “We rushed in and searched
for our beloved Jackson, a black and white Shitzu. We were con-
cerned, as the rain and wind had picked up considerably. He gets
scared when it blows hard, and he hates being wet.”
He was nowhere to be found in the house, so her husband,
Gale, went out with the truck, and Kathleen set out on foot to
search for him. As visions of Jackson being soaked, scared
and shivering ran through her head, she began to cry.
After searching unsuccessfully for a while, Gale picked
Kathleen up. He started heading for home, but Kathleen
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son, David often goes to visit with Jackson,” she reasoned.
“Maybe he went there.”
“On the porch of the store there were two men standing
in the rain I jumped out and ran towards them,” she wrote.
They saw the look on her face and asked her if she was look-
ing for a little black and white dog. Yes, they had found him,
and he was safe.
One of the men had taken wet and scared Jackson to his
camper and toweled him dry and comforted him. When he
handed Jackson to Kathleen, the pup “was full of wiggles,
and happy to see me,” she said, “I was still crying, so happy
to have him safe.” Gale, Kathleen and Jackson are pictured.
She wanted to reward the man, but he said no. Later, she
went back to the trailer park store to leave him a reward, and
found out his name is Darryl Hall. The manager told her
that Mr. Hall, who is the maintenance man, would not want
a reward, and she wasn’t going to go against his wishes and
accept one for him.
“I argued, and told her he was robbing me of blessing
him,” Kathleen wrote. “I really wanted him to have it.” The
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But surely he can’t refuse Kathleen’s written thank you,
so here it is: “Mr. Darryl Hall, Space No. 46, Sunset Beach
Trailer Park, thank you. Bless you and all the other good peo-
ple there. There are many!”
‘A
SAY ‘CHEESE!’
IY Photography reports that an octopus at an aquarium in New
Zealand named RamboLVWKHZRUOG¶V¿UVWoctographer (http://
tinyurl.com/octoshot), and it only took her (yes, Rambo is a female)
three tries to learn how to use the camera. She is pictured in a screen
shot courtesy of Sony New Zealand, who designed the camera.
Rambo charges $2 a pop for a visitor to her tank to have their por-
trait taken, and the fees are used to offset aquarium expenses. Hope-
fully they at least toss her a fat, tasty crab or two now and then for
her efforts.
D
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m., Sixth
Street parking lot. South Slough (Fort Clat-
sop) hike. For information, call Jan Cough-
lin at 503-791-3521.
Community Beach Cleanup — 9:30
a.m., report to volunteer any one of the
seven major beach approaches on the
Long Beach Peninsula in Washington to
pick up supplies. Soup feed after cleanup
at the Moose Lodge, 25915 U St. in Ocean
Park from about noon until the pots run
dry. For information, to gather a group and
adopt a section of beach to clean up, or to
donate, email Shelly@OurBeach.org. For
information, go to http://ourbeach.org
Sit and Stitch Group — 11 a.m. to 1
p.m., Custom Threads, 1282 Commercial
St. Knitting, crocheting and needle work.
For information, call 503-325-7780.
Columbia Northwestern Model Rail-
roading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond.
Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For in-
formation, call Don Carter at 503-325-0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Asto-
ria Fiber Arts Academy, 1296 Duane St.
Bring a spinning wheel. For information,
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berarts.com
Dinner and Silent Auction — South
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er, “It’s Raining Cats & Dogs,” 4 to 7 p.m.,
Chinook School, 810 U.S. Highway 101,
Chinook, Washington.
SUNDAY
National Alliance on Mental Illness
(NAMI) Support Group — 2 to 3:30 p.m.,
Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway.
Family to Family Support Group, for any-
one with friend or loved one suffering
from a serious brain (mental) illness. For
information, contact Myra Kero at 503-
738-6165, or k7erowood@q.com, or go to
www.nami.org
Authentic Spiritual Conversations
— 3 to 4:15 p.m., Seaside Public Library
conference room, 1131 Broadway. Explor-
ing spiritual questions, doubts, practices
and longings in a space where everyone’s
needs are respectfully held. All faiths, in-
cluding “spiritual but not religious,” agnos-
tic and atheist are welcome. For informa-
tion, email info@cgifellowship.org or call
916-307-9790.
Scandinavian Workshop — 10 a.m.,
First Lutheran Church, 725 33rd St. Nee-
dlework, hardanger, knitting, crocheting,
embroidery and quilting. All are welcome.
For information, call 503-325-1364 or 503-
325-7960.
Mothers of Preschoolers — 10
to 11:30 a.m., Crossroads Community
Church, 40618 Old Highway 30, Svensen.
MOPS group is a time for moms to relax
and enjoy each others’ company. For infor-
mation, call 503-502-3118.
MONDAY
Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., Bob
Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A,
Seaside. Suggested donation $3 for those
older than 60; $6.75 for those younger
than 60. For information, call Michelle
Lewis at 503-861-4200.
Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to
9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Ex-
change St. For information, call 503-325-
3231.
Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30
a.m., 1111 Exchange St. Cost is $5. For
information, or to have a meal delivered,
Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m., Sea-
side American Legion, 1315 Broadway.
For information, call 503-738-5111. No
cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor.
call 503-325-9693.
Warrenton Senior Lunch Program —
noon, Warrenton Community Center, 170
S.W. Third St. Suggested donation of $5
for seniors and $7 for those younger than
60. For information, or to volunteer, call
503-861-3502 Monday or Thursday.
Astoria Rotary Club — noon, second
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St. Guests always welcome. For informa-
tion, go to www.AstoriaRotary.org
Knochlers Pinochle Group — 1 p.m.,
Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside. Cost is $1 per regular
session per person. Players with highest
and second highest scores split the prize.
Game is designed for players 55 and older,
but all ages are welcome.
See NOTES, Page 2B