COMMUNITY
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016
1B
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FILMMAKER
YES, YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN
NEIGHBORS, COAST TO COAST
ur feature ilm, ‘Haunted Shore’ (aka ‘Crimps’) is inally
available for online download via Amazon,” writer/director
and native Astorian Mick Alderman posted on Facebook. “It’s been
a long, rocky road of distributors’ false promises, contract issues,
technical glitches, etc. It was only recently that Amazon made HD
quality available for self-distributed titles, and it’s free to watch for
Amazon Prime members.”
Set in Astoria, the ilm features an old curse, ghosties, witchcraft,
and of course, lots of local landmarks, not to mention local citizens
as “extras.” When it premiered at the Liberty Theater in 2011, the
audience had a grand time, clapping and cheering as familiar faces
and places appeared on the screen.
Walt Plummer, who plays the lead role of Eddie Hooper, began
learning to act in the mid-1980s with the Astor Street Opry Com-
pany. Detective Webber is played by Bill Honl, another Astor Street
veteran, as is Lori Wilson-Honl, who plays the museum tour guide.
Tom Berdine was a hoot as the bum, Malcolm. And, there’s a cameo
by retired Astoria Police Chief Rob DeuPree. Behind the scenes,
the costume designer is Astorian Susi Brown, and Karen Bain pro-
vided some special effects makeup artistry.
Want to check it out? Go ahead and support your local ilmmaker
— you can ind “Haunted Shore” at http://tinyurl.com/hauntedshore
‘O
WHO IS THAT?
he Ear has heard the whispers that veteran Astoria artist Bill W.
Dodge (pictured) is returning home after a three-year retirement
hiatus in Portland. But now it can be conirmed he is back perma-
nently, and plans to remain here “forever.”
“I’ve really missed all my friends in the area and realized they are
my family,” Bill said. “At almost 83, I don’t have many blood line
relatives left. I had to come home.”
After all, he claims Astoria as his adopted home, even though he
was actually born in the Charlie Chaplin Motion Pictures Studios in
Hollywood, where his father was on the noted actor’s lighting crew,
and he was raised in Hollywood. “But that’s another story, though,”
he says, about how he almost came this close to being teen ilm star
Troy Donahue.
Since arriving locally in 1990, his well-known artwork has depicted
life here in Astoria, and has gained a wide following. The Columbia
River Maritime Museum store has represented the bulk of his efforts.
His arrival is, yes, “another story.” He discovered Astoria after
a romantic break up with Joan Fontaine — yes, that Academy
Award-winning Joan Fontaine, he told the Ear, calling the interval
“just another chapter of my fascinating life” —which he may write
a book about, one day. Just don’t ask him to tell you the one about
being the “boy toy” to a Pulitzer Prize-winning authoress.
In case you’ve missed him, he appears at the Sunday Market the
irst Sunday of the month, and will do so for the rest of the market
season at the CRMM’s Dodge-sponsored booth. He says he’s look-
ing forward to more Sunday Market appearances next year, and also
doing the Cruise Ship markets.
In the meantime, he is painting full time (it was a very short-lived
retirement, thankfully). Do you have any special local scenes you’d
like to see him paint? The next time you see him wandering around
downtown, just stop him and let him know.
T
n 2014 Gail Hand came up with the idea of “Seaside
helping Seaside” after Seaside Heights, New Jersey, was
devastated by Hurricane Sandy. She felt “compelled to do
something to help,” she said, as she grew up going to the
Jersey shore with her family, and felt a “strong connection.”
With the encouragement and support of Mayor Don Lar-
son, and help from the Seaside Rotary, she put together three
fundraisers and collected just over $6,000. Gail lew to New
Jersey to present the check, which was used to install a giant
carousel horse and new entrance to the town (pictured left).
Recently, the city of Seaside received a call that a woman
named Maryann Meneghin from Seaside Park, New Jer-
sey, representing Mayor Tony Vaz, and her sister-in-law
Judy Meneghin of Hillsboro, wanted to meet someone
from the city and present some gifts. City Counselor Jay
Barber and Gail met the ladies at City Hall, and the two
Seasides exchanged T-shirts and taffy. The group is pictured.
“As we listened to Maryann tell her story of Hurricane
Sandy, and how grateful she was that their sister city cared
about her town,” Gail recalled, “I teared up and felt pride for
where I live, and thankful that my brainchild and our city’s
gesture lives on.
“She said you never know when we will need their
help. We agreed that neighbors can extend coast to coast in
times of peril. Then I took the ladies to lunch at The Stand,
and sent them off to be tourists!”
I
HYPNOTIZED
SOLE SURVIVOR
here’s a new kid in town, Column Man. He has been spot-
ted sporting and posing with tourists at the Astoria Column
on their 90th birthday, pacing impatiently on the riverfront, wait-
ing for his “cousin” the Tourist 2 ferry to arrive home, and gad-
ding about town socializing — seemingly always in the company
of Jeff Daly and the Glam Tram. Where will he turn up next?
T
HOLD THE BUTTER
n Aug. 1, 1943, during World War II, a B-17 Flying For-
tress crashed into Cape Lookout, killing nine of the 10
crewman aboard, leaving as sole survivor the bombardier, Wil-
bur Perez, pictured inset.
According to a story by Tim King in a Salem-News arti-
cle (http://tinyurl.com/wperez1), the pilot of the plane was late
to the brieing of the training light, which was to leave from
Pendleton Field with several other B-17s and head to Cape Dis-
appointment at 20,000 feet.
Unfortunately, the plane got lost in the fog and was only ly-
ing 50 to 100 feet off the water. Once the pilot realized Cape
Lookout (900 feet high) was dead ahead, he tried to climb. The
B-17 was still climbing when it slammed into the top of the
cape at 200 mph. Perez speculated they only needed 50 more
feet to clear it.
Two-thirds of the plane sheared off and fell off the cape with
a man inside. Perez, who was up front in the bombardier bub-
ble, lew through the trees and wound up severely injured and
hanging upside down from a branch by a shoelace. Covered
in condensation aviation fuel, he managed to free himself, roll
toward the sound of the surf — and off the edge of the cliff.
Remarkably, he landed on a propeller from the plane that
was stuck in the muddy side of the cape a few feet down, and
strapped himself to it. Hanging there, he could still hear his few
remaining fellow crew members calling out as they gradually
died from their injuries.
It took 36 hours to ind and rescue Perez, despite the fact that
the crash was instantly reported by an air warning tower guard.
But the guard wasn’t believed by his superiors, and no one went
up to investigate until lames were spotted on the cape.
A 1993 documentary about the crash can be seen at http://
tinyurl.com/wperezdoc. A screen shot from the video is also
shown.
Happily, Wilbur Perez went on to live a long and productive
life and died in 2009, just short of his 91st birthday.
O
arry the Lobster had a very close call, according to a story on
Local10.com of Pembroke Park, Florida reports (http://tinyurl.
com/larrylob). He is pictured, courtesy of Local10.com. The 110-year-
old, 15-pound crustacean was brought to the owner of the Tin Fish
restaurant in Sunrise, Florida, Joe Melluso, and he was ready to make
poor Larry someone’s dinner if no one bought him by last Thursday.
But that’s when iRescue’s John Merritt swooped in, and sev-
eral South Florida businesses and a woman from Maryland bought
Larry (for $300) and are shipping him to safety at the Maine State
Aquarium.
“When there was a group that wanted to save him, I was dis-
appointed in myself, for not having that feeling myself,” Melluso
noted, probably dreaming of drawn butter.
“I ran down to the beach, soaked a beach towel in salt water, had
to package it, put it in my freezer for the night — all things that I
never knew when you are trying to transport a live lobster,” Brooke
Estren told Local10. Once he was laid out on a bed of ice and
wrapped in the towel, he was ready to go. The aquarium will decide
if Larry is going to be released, or become part of their exhibit.
“It’s something different that I’m proud of that we did,” rescue
contributor Amir Rossi said. “How many people can actually say
that they saved a lobster?”
L
nyone who’s ever stared at ish swimming around in an
aquarium knows how relaxing it can be. Don’t have an
aquarium? Problem solved: The Monterey Bay Aquarium live
web cams (http://tinyurl.com/aquaricams), most of which run
from around 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and include feeding times. There’s
one to watch sharks, the open sea (creepy), a kelp forest and sea
otters. The most mesmerizing one of all, though, is the Jelly Cam.
A screen shot is shown. You’re getting sleepy, very sleepy …
A
AROUND TOWN
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, July 29, 1894:
• Amy Stukle, of Klamath Falls, who so narrowly escaped
being devoured by a mountain lion last fall, was badly bitten by a rat-
tlesnake last week and her life saved by a liberal dose of “snake bite.”
• A 30-foot log, covered with bright-coated sea clams, loated
ashore yesterday, and for a while had the whole of Seaside ready to
take to the woods. The sun shining on the peculiar shell ish made the
curious visitor look like a huge sea serpent. When its true nature was
discovered, it attracted many visitors during the day.
• The sight of a live tarantula on a bunch of bananas at Silverton
is what increased the total annual consumption of “red horse” several
gallons one day last week.
• It is claimed that sharks infest the channel just inside the bar at
the mouth of the river. Some of Portland’s money loaning gentry must
have fallen into the sewer during the recent lood.
F
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Angora Hiking Club — 9 a.m.,
Sixth Street parking lot. Kwis Kwis
Trail hike. For information, call Mar-
lene Colendich at 503-791-4123.
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.
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.
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.
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://astoriafi-
berarts.com
MONDAY
Chair Exercises for Seniors
— 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior
Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in-
formation, call 503-325-3231.
Scandinavian Workshop —
10 a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725
33rd St. Needlework, hardanger,
knitting, crocheting, embroidery
and quilting. All are welcome. For
information, call 503-325-1364 or
503-325-7960.
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.
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.
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.
Line Dancing for Seniors — 3
to 4:30 p.m., Astoria Senior Center,
1111 Exchange St. Not for begin-
ners. For information, call 503-325-
3231.
Astoria Toastmasters — 6:30
p.m., Hotel Elliot conference room,
357 12th St. Visitors welcome. For
information, go to www.toastmas-
ters.org or call 503-894-0187.
ways appreciated. For information,
call Janet Kemp at 503-325-4268.
Depression and Bipolar
Support Alliance — 7 to 9 p.m.,
Room A, Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital, 2111 Exchange St. Open to
all those diagnosed with a mood
disorder, or have a family member
or friend diagnosed, or who think
they might have depression or
bipolar disorder. For information,
contact Patricia Fessler at 503-
325-8930.
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.
TUESDAY
World War II Warbirds — 8
a.m., Labor Temple Diner, 934
Duane St.
Stewardship Quilting Group
— 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First Lu-
theran Church, 725 33rd St. All are
welcome. Donations of material al-
Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m.,
Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225
Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested do-
nation of $3 for those older than 60;
$6.75 for those younger than 60.
For information, call Michelle Lew-
is 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 delivered, call 503-
325-9693.
See NOTES, Page 2B