JUNE 1, 2017 // 11
“Everyone on our tall ships are real sail-
ors,” Stocks said, adding: “We have fun see-
ing fans all dressed up in their pirate gear.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Glam Tram is a restored
1963 people mover from
the Los Angeles Zoo, orig-
inally opened as the Selig
Zoo in 1913.
Goonies galore
For the second year in a row, the Oregon
Film Museum (714 Exchange St.) will be
offering “Shot in Astoria” rides on The Glam
Tram, taking film buffs on guided tours of sites
throughout Astoria where prominent movies —
from “Free Willy” to “Short Circuit” — were
filmed.
The tram’s owner, Jeff Daly, will sit behind
the wheel, while MacAndrew Burns, executive
director the Clatsop County Historical Society,
narrates the tour, which takes place Saturday,
June 10.
“It’s the best way to get a fun, relaxing,
behind-the-scenes tour of Astoria’s film history,”
Burns said.
Lower Columbia Bowl’s Cosmic Bowl —
held 9:30 p.m. Friday, June 9, and Saturday,
June 10 — will “Go ’80s,” playing only 80s
music to evoke the Goonies era.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 7 — “Goonies
Day” — Merry Time Bar & Grill (995 Marine
Dr.) will host a Goonies trivia game, which cost
$2 per participant and allows four people per
team. Winners get cash and Goonies-themed
prizes.
Historically, the film museum, housed in
the old Clatsop County Jail, is a pretty popular
draw, not least because the building figures
prominently in the film’s opening jailbreak
sequence. The building is part of the Clatsop
County Historical Society, along with the Heri-
tage Museum, the Captain George Flavel House
and the Uppertown Firefighter’s Museum.
“Every year the film museum rivals the
Flavel House in popularity,” Burns said. “It may
very well surpass it and become our flagship
property someday.”
He added: “To me, it’s exciting. It’s a
boon to our entire county. The great thing is
that Goonies fans want to see Haystack Rock
and stay in Cannon Beach; they want to visit
Seaside and surrounding areas. It’s not just an
Astoria thing; it benefits us all.”
‘Never say die’
Goonies festivities are a joint venture
between the film museum and the Astoria-War-
renton Chamber of Commerce. Former Astoria
Mayor Willis Van Dusen officially declared
June 7 Goonies Day in 2010 during the film’s
25th anniversary.
The uniquely Astoria holiday was originally
spearheaded by Regina Willkie, the chamber’s
marketing director (who has been dubbed “The
Goonies Queen”). “Without Regina, Goonies
Day would not exist,” Burns said.
The excitement of Goonies Day is palpable.
Sloth, Chunk and the gang are fictional, sure,
but, for never-say-die Goonies fans, the joy and
nostalgia are very real.
The film museum honors more than 400
movies filmed in Oregon, including such
acclaimed flicks as “The Shining,” “One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Stand By Me.”
Yet “The Goonies,” which received mixed
reviews when it was released, casts a spell that
remains unbroken.
Within the film museum is a place where
fans can leave messages for the Goonies.
“Originally, we wanted a more high-tech
option to allow fans to tell us why they love the
movie, but the handwritten messages turned out
to be much more powerful,” Burns said.
He gets choked up when he speaks of the
personal messages fans have left behind.
“We get thousands of messages, and some
stick out,” he said. “There was one that said:
‘my brother’s all time favorite movie … RIP,
Samuel.’”
The woman who wrote it had driven from St.
Louis, Missouri, to honor her brother.
“We’ve got dozens like that,” he said. “Hun-
dreds of people are celebrating birthdays, being
cancer free, anniversaries; a lot of people on a
Goonies honeymoon. Another of my favorites:
‘My boyfriend proposed to me in front of the
Goonies house — I said yes!’ There are hun-
dreds like that.”
PHOTO BY ERICK BENGEL
Visitors stream into the Oregon Film Museum, housed in the old Clatsop County Jail, in 2016.