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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2016)
COMMUNITY THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016 1B IT’S PICKING TIME MESSAGE DELIVERED IS THAT YOU, SOPHIE? F L ast Friday there was a story about a message in a bottle, found in Ocean Shores, Washington, in 2010. It remained sealed until 2015, when it was given to Alan Rammer, who opened it. The message and drawing inside were from a Hilda Lahti Elementary School sixth grade student named Cameron, who requested to be notiied when the bottle was found. But Alan couldn’t ind Cameron to tell him. Debbie Twombley to the rescue. “That bottle came from a class project that I did the year after I retired!” she wrote after reading the story. “The class was fabulous — fairly small and really nice kids. I loved my teaching partner and we had a great year. “As part of our science class, we studied the Columbia River and what happens as it empties into the Paciic Ocean with the Davis and California Currents. I had done this project with third graders for many years at Astor School. We ended the study by writing messages, sealing them up in wine bottles (what a job, getting all those empties!), and sending them off to the mouth of the Columbia with my isherfriend, Blair Miner. “It’s always fun to get letters back and map where and when they ind land … I’ve contacted Cameron Westley, who … just graduated from Knappa High School, and says he remembers the fun project.” Mystery solved. Cameron does not want the bottle back, and it will remain on display at the old Coast Guard station in West- port, Washington. SPECIAL PEOPLE NEEDED ‘A ttention all you special peeps out there!” animal advocate Rita Smith of the River Song Foundation wrote. “We took Momma Porcupine in to be spayed in May, and to everyone’s sur- prise, she had babies in the kennel before they could get her on the table!” Mom and kittens are pictured. “Now the kittens are 9 weeks old,” she added, “and this family would like to get out of a crate and on to living the full life. So, we are hoping to bring about a small miracle, and that is to get these two precious kittens, Stella and Dallas, adopted together and have their feral-ish mom Porcupine go along, as well. We can’t release her, she needs a more controlled environment, and we would love for her to be able to stay with her kids, whom she adores.” Another kitty badly needing adoption is KiKi, a “beautiful 8-year- old Turkish Angora (pictured inset) that desperately needs a home. She is getting really depressed.” If you can’t give a home to the little fam- ily, surely someone must have a place in their home and heart for KiKi. You can make a miracle happen by offering to adopt one (or more) of Rita’s fabulous feline rescues by calling her at 503-861-2003. You can also lend a hand by donating at http://riversongfoundation.org BRIDGING THE GAP D aNita Maunu and her husband, Aaron, of the Vancouver, Washington, area, came to the beach for a visit on Sunday. As they were coming off the New Youngs Bay Bridge and heading into Astoria to get lunch, Aaron noticed the optical illusion (pic- tured) of the Astoria Bridge and the Northwest POINT bus design. “Quick, snap photos!” he said, and she did. “Kind of cool, don’t you think?” DaNita asked. Deinitely. D avid Davall wrote in asking for information about a shipwreck across the river, on the Washington side, near the Quarantine Station, aka the Knappton Cove Her- itage Center. His photo of it is shown. The Ear asked Nancy Bell Anderson, director of the Heritage Center, who has a long history with the area, about the mystery wreck. “We played ‘pirates’ on it when I was a kid, using the cattails that were growing in it for ‘swords.’” She referred me to her brother, Tom Bell. Tom said some time ago a local businessman approached him about the wreck, saying he believed it was the Sophie Christenson (pictured inset), a sailing ship that had once belonged to his uncle, Capt. J. E. Shields. He wanted to retrieve some of the ship as a yard ornament for a wealthy client in Santa Barbara, California, but nothing ever came of it. Is it the Sophie Christenson? A little research revealed the four-masted schooner, built in 1901, was initially used to haul lumber, then converted to catch cod in Puget Sound. She was 180.6 feet long, had a 38.9-foot beam and a 13.4-foot deep hold, and carried a crew of 44 (http:// tinyurl.com/sophiec1). According to HistoryLink.org, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the schooner was commandeered by the U.S. government for barge and transport duty in the North Paciic (http://tinyurl.com/sophiec2). Sophie eventu- ally wound up as scrap or a dismasted barge. Local lore says the wreck in Knappton was a barge being towed downriver as salvage after the war when the towing cable broke loose and it drifted ashore. It was just left there, not considered valuable enough to bother with. So yes, it could well be the Sophie Christenson. In the late 1980s, the trees growing in the wreck were only 8 feet tall, Tom noted; now they’re more like 80. Also years ago, the ribs of the ship stood 18 feet high. If you’re wondering why so little is showing now, he said a local isherman was salvaging it over the years. He would take metal pins from the wreck, collect them in a big pile, and sell the pile once a year for liquor money. Which only proves that old adage: One man’s trash truly is another man’s treasure. IF THE SHOE FITS rank Fritz (left) and Mike Wolfe (right), aka the American Pick- ers from the History Channel show of the same name, are com- ing to Oregon and Washington in August/September to ilm episodes of the series. The pair are pictured in a photo by Zachary Maxwell Stertz. According to a press release from casting associate Tamar Her- man, ‘‘We’re looking for leads throughout the region, speciically interesting characters with interesting items, and lots of them!” In case you’re not familiar with the show, Frank and Mike are “pickers” who scour the country looking for valuable antiques, and especially enjoy inding “sizeable, unique collections and learn the interesting stories behind them,” the press release says. They are looking for things like wind-up or cast iron toys, pinball machines, taxidermy animals, pottery, doorstops, decoys, old signs and dolls, juke boxes, wagon wheels, license plates and military items, just to name a few. We already know there are lots of “interesting characters” in this neck of the woods, so what’s tucked away in that old barn, attic or basement? Do you, or someone you know, have a large, private stash of antiques (no retail shops or lea markets) that Frank and Mike can spend most of a day poking through? If so, send your phone number, location and description of the collection (with photos) to american- pickers@cinelix.com or call 855-OLD-RUST (653-7878). BETTER LATE THAN NEVER T oday is the 90th birthday of the dedication of the Astoria Column, July 22, 1926. In case you didn’t know it, the art- ist who designed the mural artwork on column was Italian immi- grant Attilio Pusterla (1862-1941) of New York, who is pictured. Time was tight to complete such a large artwork when the art- ist and his assistants inally began working on the column July 1, according to http://astoriacolumn.org (which provided the pho- tos). A wooden structure circled the column and dangled from a 110-foot high platform at the top. Pusterla would haul his draw- ings up onto the scaffold, then start creating a section of the sgraf- ito mural, a long process involving many steps. If he wasn’t happy with the outcome from ground level, he had no qualms about trashing a day’s work and starting over. Needless to say, with such a painstaking approach, and so much surface to cover, only three bands of the artwork were completed by the time the column was dedicated. But apparently nobody cared, as 8,000 showed up for the event, and three days of festivities commenced with great fanfare. Pusterla inally inished his work on Oct. 29. With a big sigh of relief, no doubt. SHEEP VIEW 360 D A short time ago, this column mentioned Adidas x Par- ley, special shoes made out of plastic ocean debris — but only 50 pairs were being made. Just as admira- ble — and a whole lot more obtainable for those environ- mentally conscious folks who want to make a statement — is Rothy’s footwear of San Francisco, according to Gizmag.com (http://tinyurl.com/plasticfoot). Rothy’s, whose motto is “wear your trash on your feet” makes shoes with yarn created from recycled plas- tic bottles. Using a seamless 3D knitting process for the uppers (which only takes 6 minutes), the shoes also have carbon-free outsoles, and recycled insoles and packag- ing. It takes about three plastic bottles to make one pair of shoes, which can be recycled again when you’re done with them. A pair is pictured, courtesy of https://rothys. com Considering Rothy’s maintains that the U.S. con- sumes 1,500 water bottles a second, and over 40 billion end up in landills every year, they’ll never run out of raw material. urita Dahl Andreassen of the Faroe Islands (a self-governing island territory of Denmark) loves her country, and wants everyone to know how beautiful it is. But since the islands are in a remote part of the North Atlantic, and none of the streets are on the map, there’s no Google Street View. So, to let the world see how glorious her home is, and show Google what they’re missing, she came up with Sheep View 360. Since she says her home has 70,000 sheep who roam freely — twice as many sheep as people, actually — and many places are inaccessible by car, it’s a pretty clever idea to strap a 360-degree camera to a sheep’s back and let the sheep wander off. Powered by a solar panel, the camera takes a photo every minute, which can then be manually downloaded or livestreamed. Check it out at http://visitfaroeislands.com/sheepview360 “The Faroe Islands are one of the most beautiful places on earth,” Durita said, “and I really want to share that with my friends around the world.” Perhaps this should be iled under “Be Careful What You Wish For.” COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Sit and Stitch Group — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Custom Threads, 1282 Commercial St. Knitting, cro- cheting and needle work. For infor- mation, call 503-325-7780. Family Support Group, for anyone 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 Columbia Northwestern Mod- el Railroading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond. Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For information, call Don Carter at 503-325-0757. Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m., Seaside American Legion, 1315 Broadway. For information, call 503-738-5111. No cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor. Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Academy, 1296 Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel. For information, call 503-325-5598 or go to http://astoriaiberarts.com Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in- formation, call 503-325-3231. Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested do- nation $3 for those older than 60; $6.75 for those younger than 60. For information, call Michelle Lew- is at 503-861-4200. Scandinavian Workshop — 10 a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725 33rd St. Needlework, hardanger, knitting, crocheting, embroidery and quilting. All are welcome. For Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. Cost is $6. For information, or to have a meal delivered, call 503- 325-9693. SUNDAY National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Support Group — 2 to 3:30 p.m., Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway. Family to MONDAY information, call 503-325-1364 or 503-325-7960. Mothers of Preschoolers — 10 to 11:30 a.m., Crossroads Com- munity Church, 40618 Old Highway 30, Svensen. MOPS group is a time for moms to relax and enjoy each others’ company. For information, call 503-502-3118. 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 vol- unteer, call 503-861-3502 Monday or Thursday. Astoria Rotary Club — noon, second loor of the Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th St. Guests always welcome. For information, 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 play- ers 55 and older, but all ages are welcome. Mahjong for Experienced Players — 1 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in- formation, call 503-325-3231. theran Church, 725 33rd St. All are welcome. Donations of material al- ways appreciated. For information, call Janet Kemp at 503-325-4268. Diabetes Class — 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., Providence Seaside Hospital, Education Room A, 725 S. Wahan- na Road, Seaside. Free help man- aging diabetes from certiied diabe- tes educators. Topic is: “How Can I Manage My blood Sugar When I Eat Out?” All are welcome. For in- formation, go to www.providence. org/diabetes or call 503-215-6628. Do Nothing Club — 10 a.m. to noon, 24002 U St., Ocean Park, Wash. Men’s group. For informa- tion, call Jack McBride at 360-665- 2721. Line Dancing for Seniors — 3 to 4:30 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. Not for beginners. For information, call 503-325-3231. TUESDAY Stewardship Quilting Group — 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First Lu- Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested donation of $3 for those older than 60; $6.75 for those younger than 60. For information, call Michelle Lewis at 503-861-4200. Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. The cost is $6. For information, or to have a meal de- livered, call 503-325-9693. See NOTES, Page 2B