DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2016
143RD YEAR, NO. 248
ONE DOLLAR
Weyerhaeuser donates 80 acres to Seaside schools
Land gift could lead
to new bond to build
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — The school in one of
the most dangerous locations in Amer-
ica could ind a new home. Seaside High
School, located in the tsunami inundation
zone, will receive an 80-acre gift from
Weyerhaeuser Co. for a new school cam-
pus located in a safer area.
“Weyerhaeuser is generously donating
80 acres of land to Seaside School District
to relocate its schools,” Doug Dougherty,
Seaside School District superintendent. said
on Friday. “We will own the property that
meets the Oregon Department of Geology
and Minerals Industries’ safety recommen-
dations prior to going out for a bond.”
Dougherty said ownership of land out-
side the tsunami inundation zone was a con-
dition many community members requested
before voting to fund a new school bond.
A 2013 bond to move the Seaside schools
out of the inundation zone failed at the polls
when voters rejected a $128.8 million bond
proposal.
According to Dougherty, there are only
four public K-12 schools in Oregon within
the tsunami inundation zone. “Weyerhae-
user understands that Seaside School District
has three of these four schools and that there
is no other suitable land available,” Dough-
erty said. “A Cascadia earthquake off of our
coast will cause large portions of these three
antiquated schools to collapse and then be
submerged by the Paciic Ocean. The aver-
age age of these schools is over 63 years and
See SEASIDE, Page 10A
Doug Dougherty
TROLLS AND HEXES AND PRINCESSES, UFF DA! Mental
health
agency
turns to
veteran
Interim director
to step in after
leadership shift
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
While many dressed in traditional
clothing Friday night, one festival-
goer, who has been a memorable part
of the weekend for the last 20 years,
had a very different type of outit.
Perry Browning stands over6-
feet-tall but in homemade troll cos-
tume with a bright wig and fake feet,
it’s hard to get his exact measure-
ments. Browning explained that par-
ents tell myths about trolls to children
for disciplinary reasons in Scandina-
vian cultures, but his character is just
there to celebrate. Kissing the troll is
considered good luck and by the end
of the weekend many women at the
event wore a pin that said, “I kissed
the troll.”
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care has turned to an experi-
enced administrator to steer the
mental health agency out of a
leadership crisis.
Amy Baker, the direc-
tor of prevention and trauma
informed systems at Greater
Oregon Behavioral Health Inc.,
will serve as interim execu-
tive director while the men-
tal health agency searches for a
new director.
Baker will take a leave of
absence from GOBHI, which
oversees mental health services
in Clatsop and several other
counties.
Kevin Campbell, the CEO of
GOBHI, said Baker has years of
leadership experience in com-
munity behavioral health and
the Oregon Health Authority.
Sumuer Watkins resigned as
executive director and Michele
Crump-Hart stepped down
as clinical director of Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare after an
internal investigation and an
Oregon Health Authority review
of management.
The results of the inter-
nal investigation have not been
made public, but the state review
documented several manage-
ment issues and recommended
additional regulatory oversight
until the agency’s management
has stabilized.
Jeremy Rust, a Seaside attor-
ney who serves as chairman of
the agency’s board of directors,
said Saturday that the board
expects to inalize a formal con-
tract with Baker this week.
“Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care remains committed to serv-
ing our community and pro-
viding our clients with the very
best care,” Rust said in a state-
ment. “Amy is an outstanding
leader and has been intimately
See FESTIVAL, Page 10A
See AGENCY, Page 10A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Miss Scandinavia Megan McCall-Devos is escorted by Dave Ladd, right, as the torchlight parade begins during the opening night of the 49th
annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival on Friday at Clatsop County Fairgrounds in Astoria. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com
Miss Norway is
crowned Miss
Scandinavia at
the 49th annual
festivities
navian heritage, this weekend marks
Mathews’ 45th year volunteering for
setting up, taking down and making
sure that the weekend’s activities run
smoothly.
Mathews said his wife, who is
Norwegian, offered their services to
help out all those years ago. As the
festival has grown, so has the couple’s
involvement. “We have so many great
volunteers,” Mathews said, “To see it
grow and keep the tradition alive is
the best part.
By ELI STILLMAN
The Daily Astorian
he 49th annual Scandina-
vian Midsummer Festival got
underway Friday with polka
dances, sausage with kraut, and
many other traditional customs at
the Clatsop County Fair and Expo
Center.
To kick off the festivities, hun-
dreds packed into the arena’s bleach-
ers to watch the coronation of Miss
Scandinavia. Four young women
in high school or recent graduates,
represented the Scandinavian coun-
tries that their ancestors had immi-
grated from including Sweden, Nor-
way, Denmark and Finland. Dressed
in homemade traditional clothing,
the teens were asked to come to
the microphone and talk about their
heritage.
Kissing the troll
T
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Miss Norway Megan McCall-Devos is crowned 2016 Miss Scandina-
via during the opening night of the 49th annual Scandinavian Mid-
summer Festival on Friday at Clatsop County Fairgrounds in Astoria.
Each researched their families’
ancestry. In the inal count, Miss
Norway, Megan McCall-Devos,
claimed the silver crown.
“I feel honored to represent my
family, lodge and the festival,” said
McCall-Devos, just after being
announced the winner. “This is
something that I want to participate
in the rest of my life.”
Volunteering
Families and community mem-
bers who keep coming back to the
Scandinavian festival have helped
keep the event alive for nearly half
a century.
And for most of those years,
Loran Mathews has, in some way
been, involved with organizing the
festival. Despite having no Scandi-
Marsh caps 37-year career at Ilwaco High School
‘Mama Andrea’
steps out of the
ofice and into
retirement
ILWACO, Wash. — Pres-
ident Jimmy Carter was pre-
siding over the Iranian hostage
conlict, Pink Floyd was prepar-
ing to release “The Wall,” and
Andrea Marsh had just accepted
her irst position at Ilwaco High
School. The year was 1979.
Thirty-seven years — and more
than 6,000 school days later —
Marsh’s remarkable career will
come to a close Tuesday at the
same place it all began. In a ten-
ure that began with her worrying
she was unqualiied, Marsh will
walk out unparalleled.
Coming to Ilwaco High
A native of Ilwaco, Marsh
was never a stranger in the com-
munity. But at one time she was
the newest addition, a fresh face
among the faculty at Ilwaco
High.
It began after a decade
of running her own daycare,
Marsh’s irst profession before
applying at the school.
“I was grasping for adult
Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
“I like being around people, the kids,” Andrea Marsh said
regarding her favorite part, “It’s like family, and I think it’s
important you treat people that way.”
conversation,” Marsh recalled
laughing. Her cousin, Nancey
Olsen, a teacher at IHS at the
time, irst mentioned an open-
ing as a teacher’s aide to Marsh
in 1979.
“I didn’t think I would get
it,” Marsh relected. Soon, she
was walking to her new job.
“I lived right across the
street,” Marsh recalled adding
that she was an aide in one of
the irst alternative classrooms.
When luctuations in funding
soon followed the pilot pro-
gram, she sought stability in the
front ofice.
“It started changing, and each
year you didn’t know whether
the funding would be there or
not,” said Marsh, “It was a bet-
ter step for me to go into the
ofice.” In 1991, a departure
left an opening for secretary.
See MARSH, Page 10A