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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2016)
OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016 Founded in 1873 DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Water under the bridge Compiled by Bob Duke From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers 10 years ago this week — 2006 Georgia-Paciic’s Wauna mill has been picked as the site of a new paper machine that will add dozens of new jobs to the facility, bringing some welcome news following the recent announcement of widespread layoffs. Wauna won out against four other western Georgia-Paciic mills for the machine, which will produce paper towels for the company’s high- end brand lines such as Brawny. As a visiting family peers in among the half-inished rooms of the new Fort Clatsop replica, Sean Johnson, clad in buck- skin breeches and linen shirt like the original Corps of Discov- ery members he portrays, fetches some kid-sized Lewis and Clark clothes for the children to try on. Many staff members at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park have years of experience at the local landmark. But John- son can truthfully say his has been a lifelong “job.” As the son of Curt Johnson, the park’s former chief inter- preter, and Rosemary Johnson, a longtime park volunteer, Sean Johnson irst greeted visitors as an infant, swaddled up American Indian-style like Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, the Corps of Discovery’s youngest member. Next month, Johnson leaves the park and Clatsop County for a new adventure as a United States soldier. In two weeks, he trades the buckskin for olive drab as he enters basic train- ing at Fort Knox, Ky. “I’m deinitely going to miss this place,” he said. A pair of threatened western snowy plover chicks found in abandoned nests have been released back into the wild after the Oregon Coast Aquar- ium raised them to adulthood. One was turned loose on the beach in Oregon near Florence, where it came from, and the other near Leadbetter Point in Washington, said aquarium spokeswoman Cindy Hanson. 50 years ago — 1966 Mayor Harry Steinbock and a Daily Astorian representative rode in the first clown car that followed the pilot car across the bridge. Behind the clown cars, the first private vehicle in line was a Washington-licensed car driven by Bill Campbell, Raymond Wash., with Mrs. Campbell. Last chance for a ferry ride brought thousands of people to the area during the week preceding the bridge opening, July 24-28. Thursday, the inal day for ferry runs, the ferries car- ried 952 vehicles and 5,596 passengers across the river, and the M.R. Chessman on its inal trip was close to capacity with 445 passengers. Most of them rode across and back again, for a sen- timental farewell journey. “It was a busy day but there was no dificulty, although a lot of tears were shed,” one veteran ferryman commented. Tourist I made its maiden run in May, 1921, carrying 14 automobiles. Capt. Fritz Elfving’s 25 years of Columbia River ferry business began with that trip. Build a bridge for $6 million? They could have done it in 1934, when Astorians irst began to talk seriously about building the trans-Columbia bridge. But the bridge idea didn’t sell for a long time. Attempts at bridge planning were conducted in 1934, 1941 and 1944, but it wasn’t until 1953 that the ball really started rolling. Gov. Mark Hatield today called President L.B. Johnson, informing him Russians had been seen in possession of salmon inside the 12-mile limit Saturday and urging him to seek “prompt remedial action.” 75 years ago — 1941 A lost battalion of hungry, cold, wet California infantry, members of the Blue defense army, made its way out of the Paciic County wilderness Tuesday after being lost since Sun- day, third army headquarters announced. The troopers trailed out of the deep timber, just as Major Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, third army corps commander, had organized civilians and soldiers into a huge searching party to look for the missing men. The men went into the woods Sunday with only two rations and were suffering from cold and exposure, aggravated by hunger when they escaped from the woods. The country in which they were lost lies on the headwaters of Deep River, and area is virtually untouched by loggers and known only to a few veteran woodsmen. Justice William O. Douglas of the United States supreme court is the No. 1 entry in the Astoria Salmon Derby this year just as he was last year. He and his family are at present at Seaview as guests at the home of Emory Neil with whom the distinguished jurist went to college at Whitman. SOUTHERN EXPOSURE On the Oregon road to California By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian S ummer vacation is something of an anomaly when you live in a vacation town. You are working in the community when everyone else is coming here for fun. It is a real-life Bizarro world and if you follow the logic, when you are on vacation, you should go someplace where every- body else is working. But that wouldn’t be very much fun. So that’s why we took a vacation to other places where people go to vacation. Traveling with a dog — Lucy the min-pin — adds another layer. One hotel we stayed at made us sign a $300 wee-wee clause. When you’re a dog owner you’ll sign anything. First stop was Eugene, where we ate braised lamb and pita sandwiches at Albee’s NY Gyros and walked Lucy for hours before she emptied her bladder. We lunched in Grants Pass, with its “caveman” motif (I still don’t know what that’s about) and main street banner reading “It’s the Cli- mate,” hung in 1920, conceived and paid for by local road contractor John Hampshire. We irst visited Ashland in 1991 when it was a sleepy little village. It’s changed — today it is a mini-me- tropolis illed with beautiful homes, streets, stores, scenery, along with high ire risk and heat. No, we didn’t see a show. We worked to train Lucy to be a cafe dog, and she performed admirably, cozying under our feet as we sipped Americanos and read the Ashland Daily Tidings. R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian The imposing whirlpool of Mendocino’s coast. Cruising I-5 In Oregon you learn that if you’re going to travel I-5 to Cali, do it in the early morning or late afternoon when the heat moderates. Oregonians warned us: “Vacation- ing to the state of California is known to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.” But hey, there is life after Tom McCall. While we thought we might wilt along I-5 through Weed, Redding and Chico for Highway 20 to Mendocino. Mendocino is a Sunset Magazine destination known far and wide for its sturdy headlands, swirling ocean waters and Andrew Wyeth homes. A getaway from urban life? Not always. When we were last there, it was 1991 and the tiny city was illed with ilm trucks as Hollywood types lensed the Julia Roberts ilm “Forever Young.” A quarter-century later, we didn’t see any ilm trucks but every restau- rant and cafe was packed, reservations mandatory. A cabin for rent in the cen- ter of town was the perfect place to bivouac, as Lucy enjoyed a private courtyard and we soaked in the hot tub. Goodwill Lucy was our goodwill ambas- sador wherever we went, though we kept a close hold on her leash as we strolled those daunting and dangerous cliffs with swirling waters hundreds of feet below, creating a dizzying Hitch- cockian whirlpool missing only the Bernard Herrmann score. R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Sculpture in Grants Pass cele- brates Oregon tradition. What you do when traveling with a dog in Florence. Mendocino is a portrait of a vaca- tion town, replete with an interna- tional clientele, including two visi- tors from our old stomping grounds of New York City. They seemed baf- led we had no itinerary — theirs was a winery visit, a garden tour and every potter along the coast. We had been warned about the long distances from California to Ore- gon along Highway 101, but it was something we had to experience. We spent a tiring but glorious day trun- dling up the coast, bypassing Eureka, Crescent City and Trinidad as we headed north. Bandon, Coos Bay, Paciic City, Bay City — all went by faster than you can say “beach bill.” By end of day we pulled into the Best Western and signed our prom- ises to keep Lucy well behaved or else. Florence is a wonderful small city with boats and bars and a bay. We dined at the spectacular Bay Depot — we were advised to make reserva- tions months ago, and we did — and returned back to the hotel to either watch the tail end of the Democratic convention or “The Real Housewives of Melbourne,” I’m not sure which. On my return, standing in a long line at the Paciic Way, I didn’t think, “I wish this line would hurry up, grrr, c’mon.” Instead I waited patiently. Another peculiar local experience I’ve come to enjoy: stop- ping the car in the middle of the road and chatting with pedestrians through the window. I think they call that “tarrying.” My wife considered it the ultimate victory when I returned to Gearhart and accidentally left my cellphone at home. I understand why some people would go on vacation when all the others come to town. And maybe it does make sense to go into the city when it’s a hot weekend and every- body else is at the beach. You might be able to elbow some of those out- of-towners in Portland off the line at some of the city’s trendier restaurants. You might be able to have a quiet night without irecrackers, surreys and surging crowds. With Hood to Coast around the corner, we’ll just blend in with a nod and a wink. We’re getting our sum- mer vacation right were we live, Fido by our side. R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s South County reporter and editor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon Beach Gazette. Back home My takeaway was a perspective on where we live — the South County, Seaside, Cannon Beach and Gearhart.