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OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 20, 2016 A calling to Cannon Beach SOUTHERN Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher EXPOSURE Cherilyn and David Frei pose for a por- trait with their dogs Angel and Grace at Providence Seaside Hospital. The Freis hope to bring a pet therapy program to the hospital. LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager B y R.J. M aRx HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Danny Miller EO Media Group T alk about a power couple. Cherilyn and David Frei combine charisma and credentials with the empathy and initiative to touch lives. Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2006 The U.S. Coast Guard had a busy weekend responding to a couple of cases off the Oregon Coast. The action prompted a warning to boaters to learn how to use their safety equipment. Three Oregon men clung to an ice chest for 6 1/2 hours in 65-degree water after their boat sank in the Paciic Ocean south of Tillamook, accord- ing to the Coast Guard. Astoria and its surrounding areas are getting a little more attention these days. While the last movie shot here has yet to be released, ilming of another motion picture, “Into the Wild,” is well under way. “Into the Wild” tells the story of a top Emory University grad- uate who abandons his privileged life and hitchhikes to Alaska, where his soul-searching journey into nature ends in death. His travels take him through Oregon — one reason for the ilm to be partly shot here, said Frank Hildebrand, head of production. “We picked Astoria because of the scenic aspects,” Hildeb- rand said. For many years, signs have popped up on the Youngs Bay Bridge, Lief Erikson Drive and other spots in Astoria to publicize local events such as the Scandinavian Festival and the Regatta. Now those signs are under attack by the Oregon Department of Trans- portation, the Astoria City Council heard Monday night. Dean Fuller, who recently took over as ODOT’s district manager, seems bent on enforcing the letter of the law, which bans non-trafic-related signs on state rights-of-way. However, Public Works Director Ken Cook said that for years there was an unwritten agreement with previous ODOT managers for posting the event signs. 50 years ago — 1966 The Freis arrived on the North Coast a little more than six weeks ago from New York City. Longtime vaca- tioners here, David Frei’s screensaver is his two Brittany spaniels running near Haystack Rock — a picture taken 15 years ago. Sorry if I sound a little starstruck. The Freis have masterfully combined a love of animals and compassion for humankind in a way that is real and not saccharine. Before all this sounds like hyper- bole, consider this about Cherilyn Frei. As director of family support services at Ronald McDonald House in New York City, she counseled families with dying children. She was called by the Ameri- can Red Cross as part of the grief recov- ery team in Newtown, Connecticut, after the shootings of 26 people in 2012. A scientist by training, Frei is an environmental chemist who worked in the soft drink industry. At Starbucks, she was on the original Frappuccino team. At Pepsi, she concocted Crystal Pepsi. In 2001, Frei left corporate life for a master’s degree at Seattle University. “I thought I was going back for an MBA,” she said. “It turned out to be a master’s in theology and ministry.” Her degree opened new vistas and brought her in touch with human trag- edy. Her irst week on the job — Sep- tember 2001 — she was called on to provide assistance for veterans suffer- ing from post-traumatic stress disorder in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. At Ronald McDonald House in New York City, she provided social, emotional and spiritual support ser- vices for an 84-bed residential facil- ity for pediatric oncology patients and their families. She developed the Care- giver’s Integrative Wellness Program and Angel on a Leash therapy dog program in 2006. It was through her efforts that Ronald McDonald House designed and opened an in-house well- ness center in June 2015. A certiied Catholic chaplain, Frei intends to bring this level of commit- ment to the North Coast community. Her job as director of mission integration and spiritual care at Providence Seaside Hospital enabled the Freis to envision and launch their dream life in Cannon Beach. The department’s mission is “tradi- tion, messaging and marketing” through the Sisters of Providence, who founded the health care ministry 150 years ago. “I’m responsible for volunteer services and outreach, representing the hospital in the community,” she said. “It’s a call- ing, a vocation.” The people of Seaside “love service to the poor, vulnerable and the disen- franchised,” she said. “They love seeing change in their community and keeping it local, learning and growing.” She plans to develop and train new leaders, provided needed services to the elderly and shut-ins and “engage the people in the community to engage with us.” The Freis hope to bring a pet therapy program to Providence Seaside. Pio- neers in the ield, it was through their efforts that New York City’s Sloan-Ket- tering Memorial Hospital instituted its program for cancer patients. A new ‘leash’ on life “David Frei’s voice has become as familiar as the woof of a beloved fam- ily pet during his 26 years as the lead commentator of the Westminster Ken- nel Club Dog Show,” The New York Times wrote in February in announc- ing the broadcast announcer’s decision to sign with NBC and the National Dog Show, leaving Westminster, the nation’s premier dog show. When the USA Network and NBC went into a bidding war, NBC upped the ante and wagged the National Dog Show in front of him, with an audience three times the size. David Frei called his 27th and inal Westminster show in February. “NBC told me I could live anywhere and do my job,” he said. “When we’d lived in Seattle, we’d come down here and said we’ll retire here someday.” Frei’s interest in dogs began not as a child, but when he inherited an Afghan hound after a breakup with a girlfriend. “When my girlfriend and I moved into our irst house, my girlfriend said, ‘Let’s get a dog.’ I said, ‘What kind?’ and she said, ‘An Afghan hound.’ I said, ‘What the hell’s that?’ We got the dog. Three weeks later the girl left and the dog stayed.” Their athleticism and elegance appealed to Frei, and he “began dab- bling” as a breeder, owner and handler. Frei co-bred and co-owned many champion Afghans, including Ch. Stormhill’s Who’s Zoomin Who, the top Afghan in 1989 and the top-winning female in the history of the breed. Frei is a past president of the Afghan Hound Club of America. His second book, “Angel on a Leash: Therapy Dogs and the Lives They Touch,” a “best book” award-win- ner from the Dog Writers Association of America, details his work and observa- tions in the world of therapy dogs. As a consultant for NBC Sports, Frei’s broadcast schedule includes not only the National Dog Show, but the “Kitten Summer Games” on the Hall- mark Channel, and “The Kennel Club of Beverly Hills,” on NBC. “Kitten Sum- mer Games” features felines in athletic challenges. The program — featuring “cat-letes” performing kitten gymnastics — airs Aug. 5, hosted by Beth Stern with announcers Frei and his longtime West- minster partner, Mary Carillo. Back to the coast After 14 years in New York City, “Cheri had this job pop up in front of her,” David Frei said. “This job” was at Providence Seaside. Cherilyn Frei lew out ahead, while David and a buddy headed westward with Angel, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and Grace, a Brittany. Now the couple is biding their time in a hotel and hope to close on their condo any day. Cannon Beach is “like heaven,” David Frei said. “It’s a great place for dogs and a great place for my family. I’m excited about being here.” Meanwhile, Angel and Grace are slowly adapting to life on the left coast. “We’ve not put them in sand yet,” he added. “Their idea of a bird is a pigeon. Our bird now is going to be a seagull.” R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South County reporter and editor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette. Trump getting even Trumpier! By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service The Daily Astorian/File Photo Increased traffic volume and ferry service delays caused by low water in the ferry channel resulted in lines of cars like this at ferry landings in Astoria and Megler. Traffic jam will be eliminated by opening of the Astoria Bridge, expected late in July. When European settlers came to the new world, they were prone to name their new homes after the old familiar places. Homesick folks have been doing that ever since, all across the U.S. Presumably this is the reason why some of the people up on Navy Heights have taken it upon themselves to name the place “Emerald Heights.” The “Emerald” is a favorite in Eugene. They call it the “Emer- ald Empire” down there, there is an Emerald Street, and the U. of Oregon Daily Emerald. We presume that homesick U. of Oregon exiles decided the colony here ought to have a familiar name. We natives now ind ourselves in the position of the Indians who saw the white man calmly rename their rivers and moun- tains to suit himself. The Indians apparently resented this, so far as records remain of their reactions, and we ind it quite easy to sympathize with them. “Emerald” is a dandy name down around Eugene, but we aren’t yet ready to have our town named “New Eugene” or some- thing like that. We sort of like the old, familiar names. The Navy built Navy Heights, and it’s a good name to help us remember the long years of friendly association with the Navy here. So far as this newspaper is concerned, Navy Heights is the name and we will stick to it. Artillery shells are splashing into the Paciic Ocean with regular fre- quency at Camp Rilea during the two weeks annual training of the 2nd Auto- matic Weapons battalion. The ive- battery battalion is practicing with M-42 self-propelled guns, They started iring at ground targets Friday and will continue shooting at air and ground targets this week. 75 years ago — 1941 The Oregon-Washington bridge board of trustees today decided to consider a new site to the east of the Tongue Point naval air station for the proposed Columbia River bridge. This decision was reached after Lieutenant Commander George H. Hasselman, commanding oficer at the air station, tes- tiied that erection of the bridge west of the air station would con- stitute a grave hazard for the operation of aircraft from the naval air station. oes anybody else have the sense that Donald Trump is slipping off the rails? His speeches have always had a rambling, free association quality, but a couple of the recent ones have, as the Republican political consultant Mike Murphy put it, passed from the category of rant to the category of full on “drunk wedding toast.” D Trump’s verbal style has always been distinct. He doesn’t really speak in sentences or paragraphs. His speeches are punctuated by ive- or six-word jabs that are sort of strung together by connections that can only be understood through chaos theory: “They want the wall … I dominated with the evangelicals … I won in a landslide … We can’t be the stupid people anymore.” Occasionally Trump will attempt a sentence longer than eight words, but no matter what subject he starts the sentence with, by the end he has been pulled over to the subject of him- self. Here’s an example from the Mike Pence announcement speech: “So one of the primary reasons I chose Mike was I looked at Indiana, and I won Indi- ana big.” There’s sort of a gravitational narcissistic pull that takes command whenever he attempts to utter a com- pound thought. Trump has also always been a little engine fueled by wounded pride. For example, writing in BuzzFeed, McKay Coppins recalls the fusillade of abuse he received from Trump after writing an unlattering proile (he called Mar-a- Lago a “nice, if slightly dated, hotel”). Trump was so inlamed he tweeted retaliation at Coppins several times a day and at odd hours, calling him a “dishonest slob” and “true garbage with There’s sort of a gravitational narcissistic pull that takes command whenever he attempts to utter a compound thought. no credibility.” The attacks ging loop. went on impressively for If you had to do a rough over two years, which must diagram of the Trump rank Coppins in the top remarks it would be some- 100,000 on the list of people thing like this: Pence … Donald Trump resents. I was right about Iraq … Over the past few weeks Pence … Hillary Clinton is these longstanding Trump a crooked liar … I was right patterns have gone into about “Brexit” … Pence … hyperdrive. This is a unique Hillary Clinton’s ads are moment in American polit- illed with lies … We’re David ical history in which the going to bring back the coal Brooks mental stability of one of the industry … Christians love major party nominees is the dominating me … Pence … I talk to statisticians … subject of conversation. Pence is good looking … My hotel in Everybody is telling Trump to Washington is really coming along fan- ratchet it down and be more sober, but tastically … Pence. at a rally near Cincinnati this month and Donald Trump is in his moment of in his Pence announcement speech on greatest triumph, but he seems more Saturday, Trump launched his verbal resentful and embattled than ever. Most rocket ship straight through the strato- political conventions are happy corona- sphere, and it landed somewhere on the tions, but this one may come to feel like dark side of Planet Debbie. the Alamo of aggrieved counterattacks. The Pence announcement was truly Maybe as Trump has gotten more the strangest vice-presidential unveil- successful his estimation of what sort ing in recent political history. Rico- of adoration he deserves has increased cheting around the verbal wilds for while the outside criticism has gotten more than twice as long as the man he more pronounced. This combination was introducing, Trump even refused is bound to leave his ego threat sensors to remain onstage and gaze on admir- permanently inlamed. So even if Can- ingly as Pence lattered him. It was like didate Trump is told to make a normal watching a guy lose interest in a wed- political point, Inner Boy Trump will ding when the bride appears. hijack the microphone for another bout The structure of his mental peram- of resentful boasting. bulations also seems to have changed. Suddenly the global climate favors Formerly, as I said, his speeches had a a Trump candidacy. Some forms of dis- random, free-form quality. But on Sat- order — like a inancial crisis — send urday his remarks had a distinct through voters for the calm supple thinker. But line, anchored by the talking points his other forms of disorder — blood in the campaign had written down on pieces streets — send them scurrying for the of paper. But Trump could not keep his brutal strongman. If the string of horriic events con- attention focused on this through line — since the subject was someone else tinues, Trump could win the presidency. — so every 30 seconds or so he would And he could win it even though he has shoot off on a resentment-illed brag- less and less control over himself.