1B
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 2017
CONTACT US
ewilson@dailyastorian.com
(503) 325-3211 ext. 257
COMMUNITY
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorian
IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
GO FLY A KITE
A LITTLE LIGHTHOUSE HISTORY
C
ompanies are clamoring to come up with alternate forms of
energy in the scramble to get away from using fossil fuels,
and this one’s a doozy: Kite power.
Kite Power Systems (www.kitepowersystems.com) plans to
manufacture 10 pairs of kite systems, spread 2,000 feet apart —
which will fly in 100 mph circles reaching heights of about 1,000
feet — to provide the power for more than 5,000 homes in Scot-
land by 2020 (http://tinyurl.com/kites2020). Each pair of kites
will be tethered to a rotating drum, which is attached to a gener-
ator, which then spins and produces electricity. A photo of one of
the kites is shown, courtesy of Kite Power Solutions Ltd. 2015.
By flying at such great heights, the kites can access higher
wind speeds than turbine wind farms can. Plus, kite farms are
cheaper, since they use less steel, and kite installations are eas-
ily moved and are significantly less difficult, and less dangerous,
to maintain. It could also be argued that kites are more visually
appealing than turbine towers.
In the future, KPS plans to fly giant kites at sea, installed on
the pilings of decommissioned offshore wind turbines, to gener-
ate power. Stay tuned.
PELICAN PANDEMONIUM
S
ince the celebration of the 119th anniversary of North
Head Lighthouse is under way this weekend, a few tid-
bits from its history are in order from LighthouseFriends.
com (http://tinyurl.com/N-Head-Light):
Mariners coming from the north couldn’t see the light
at Cape Disappointment (then called Fort Canby) — the
bluff North Head is on blocked the view — and many
wound up on the rocks. The obvious solution was to put a
lighthouse on the bluff, and the North Head light was lit for
the first time May 16, 1898.
Mabel Bretherton was the only female keeper at North
Head. The widow of a lighthouse keeper, she came from
Cape Blanco in 1905 with her three children. The Light-
house Service often kept widows on so they could support
their families. Mabel left lightkeeping in 1907.
Alexander K. Pesonen, former head keeper at Tilla-
mook Rock Lighthouse, was North Head’s first keeper,
and the best known — mainly because of his wife, Mary.
After 25 years of isolation on that bluff, often surrounded
by relentlessly howling winds, and saddled with the end-
less drudgery of maintaining the quarters and grounds,
Mary was diagnosed with “melancholia.”
One morning, six months before her husband was due
to retire, Mary got up early, told him to sleep in, and went
for a walk with her dog, Jerry. Only the dog came back.
Searchers found her coat at the cliff’s edge, and an indenta-
tion in the grass where her body passed through on her way
to meet her death. Mary’s corpse was retrieved, at consid-
erable risk, from the base of the cliff, before the tide could
sweep it out to sea. She is buried in Ilwaco, Washington.
Some say melancholy Mary still haunts the lighthouse
and grounds. Maybe you’ll bump into her if you go visit
this weekend.
WARM WELCOME
A
group of about a dozen bicyclists, who are on a fundraiser ride
for the Chris Carrino Foundation for FSHD (FacioScapu-
loHumeral Dystrophy), a type of muscular dystrophy, arrived in
Astoria on Sunday (http://chriscarrinofoundation.org).
“A few weeks ago, I got a phone call … (asking) if the Knights
Of Columbus could find some place for their party to spend the
night on May 28,” Jerry Lencioni wrote. “After contacting several
churches, I contacted Judy Hollingsworth at the First Methodist
Church here in Astoria … which held the Warming Center for the
homeless during the winter.”
“It was really cool we could have the Warming Center available
for them,” Judy said. OK, bed problem solved, and the Knights
of Columbus provided the food. The guests proclaimed they were
officially “spoiled” during their visit. Pictured, from left, Jerry
(white shirt), Judy, and team leader Joe Carbone.
Joe was very grateful for Jerry and Judy’s efforts on behalf of
his team. “Let me tell you something,” he said in a video on the
team’s Facebook page. “We would not be in this position we are
today, bright eyed and bushy tailed, all set, ready to roll for another
95 miles to Portland without (their) help.” He even asked the pair if
they wanted to tag along.
“They are covering 15 states, 46 cities in 54 days, covering 4,200
miles,” Jerry noted. “That’s more exercise than I would want.”
LITTER ISLAND
NOTES FROM 1885
‘T
his past weekend brought us lots of calls about juvenile
Brown Pelicans found all along the coast in our local beach
towns …” the Wildlife Center of the North Coast posted on its
Facebook page, “from a pelican wandering in downtown Sea-
side and one ironically hanging out at Pelican Pub in Pacific City,
to a few following tourists on the beach (and trying to eat their
beach toys!).” One of the rescued birds is shown, courtesy of the
WCNC.
Once again the Wildlife Center is hard at work, helping out.
Perhaps you might want to return the favor, and help them out, by
donating at www.coastwildlife.org
If you see a pelican that needs help, call 503-338-0331. In
the meantime, don’t feed them. Sick pelicans need a special diet
while regaining their strength. One more thing. Don’t try to help
a pelican yourself, either. As the Wildlife Center warns, “that big
hook on the end of their beak can pack a nasty bite!”
SAD SURPRISE
‘V
isitors to the Long Beach Peninsula got the rare chance
to see a small Minke whale washing ashore,” Tiffany
Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium wrote. In case you’re wonder-
ing, according to the American Cetacean Society (http://acson-
line.org) Minke whales are, on average, between 26 and 33 feet
long, and weigh about 10 tons. Tiffany’s photo of the whale,
which came in on Sunday morning on Klipsan Beach, is shown.
“The whale had died before washing in, and had been drift-
ing out at sea for some time,” she explained. “Long enough, that
due to decomposition, gases started to build up inside of the ani-
mal. Once the animal hit the beach, the pressure from the gases
combined with the immense weight of the animal pushed its dia-
phragm outside of its mouth. This is what you are seeing in the
photograph.”
Tiffany noted that a team was expected to gather on Wednes-
day morning to preform a necropsy.
Y
N
uggets from the June 2, 1885, issue of The Daily
Morning Astorian:
• “T.S. Jewett and A.E. Osgood went to the headwa-
ters of Lewis and Clarke in a novel craft last Saturday. It
was invented and built by Alex McLean at Fort Canby
(Washington) and is a wonder. It is about 20 feet long, four
and a half feet beam, and has a shaft of which are two pad-
dle wheels. In the center is a lever worked by the occupant
of the boat and with a moderate amount of muscle four
miles an hour can easily be made.” (A 1918 version can be
seen here: http://tinyurl.com/paddlerow)
By the way, Capt. McLean moved from the Fort Canby
Life Saving Station to the Point Adams U.S. Life Sav-
ing Service in Hammond when it opened, and was its first
assigned keeper, from April 1890 to February 1891
(http://tinyurl.com/mclean-adams).
• “By last evening’s express A.J. Megler received an
animal that is a total stranger in this latitude. It is a horned
toad from the arid wastes of Idaho, and is as ornery a spec-
imen as could be found anywhere.”
Alexander Megler, a German immigrant, is the younger
brother of Joseph George Megler. J.G. was a hotel owner
in Astoria (with his brother), and innovative salmon can-
nery owner in Washington. The town of Megler, and the
Astoria-Megler Bridge, were named after J.G. (http://
tinyurl.com/jandamegler).
• “W.H. Gray wishes that anyone having books belong-
ing to the Pioneer and Historical Society to please return
them as soon as possible to the library at the Y.M.C. rooms
as they are to be classified and rearranged. The library will
form a nucleus for the future public library of Astoria and
now would be a good time to show public interest in it by
donations of books which would be placed on the shelves
for the public good.”
Just so you know, the Astoria Public Library was
founded in 1892, largely because Narcissa White Kinney
(pictured inset), a powerful cannery owner’s wife and avid
Women’s Christian Temperance Union member, thought
“men should have somewhere besides saloons to spend
their leisure hours. (http://tinyurl.com/AstLib1892).”
ou might think the earth’s highest density of plastic waste
is probably in a large city like Los Angeles, but you’d be
wrong. According to an article on NewAtlas.com, it is actually on
deserted Henderson Island, a coral atoll in the southern Pacific
Ocean that is more than 3,000 miles from the nearest population
center (http://tinyurl.com/litterisle).
Why? The island is near the center of the South Pacific Gyre,
aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A team who went there
recently, led by research scientist Jennifer Lavers, was shocked
to find that the plastic trash concentration is 671 pieces per 10
square feet, equivalent to an estimated 37.7 million pieces spread
over the whole island, and she thinks that’s an underestimate.
Worse yet, more than 3,570 new pieces of litter are washing up
each day — on just one beach. A photo of a beach is shown, cour-
tesy of Jennifer Lavers.
“What’s happened on Henderson Island,” Lavers noted,
“shows there’s no escaping plastic pollution, even in the most
distant parts of our oceans.”
JUST DUCKY
T
he Festival of Sails (http://festofsailcoosbay.com) is taking
place in Coos Bay through Sunday this weekend, and who
doesn’t love looking at the horizon and seeing majestic tall ships
— including the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington —
coming in under full sail?
Sure that’s exciting, but this year, something new has been
added to the festival that is expected to bring in bigger crowds
than just the usual maritime buffs: The World’s Largest Rubber
Duck, aka Mama “the world is her bathtub” Duck, who is pic-
tured, courtesy of www.thebigduck.us
Sixty-one feet tall, and 50 feet in diameter, the 23,000 pound
bright yellow inflatable duck will mingle with the tall ships, and
probably steal the show. Imagine that. Upstaged by a duck.
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts &
Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring
knitting, crochet or other needle-
work projects to this community
stitching time. All skill levels wel-
come.
Detachment 1228 Marine
Corps League — noon, El Compa-
dre, 119 Main Ave., Warrenton. For
information, contact Lou Neubecker
at 503-717-0153.
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://astoriafiberarts.com
SUNDAY
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.
knitting, crocheting, embroidery and
quilting. All are welcome. For infor-
mation, call 503-325-1364 or 503-
325-7960.
MONDAY
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 Lewis at
503-861-4200.
Chair Exercises for Seniors —
9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center,
1111 Exchange St. For information,
call 503-325-3231.
Scandinavian Workshop — 10
a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725
33rd St. Needlework, hardanger,
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.
Lodge, 453 11th St. Guests always
welcome. For information, go to
www.AstoriaRotary.org
Warrenton Senior Lunch Pro-
gram — noon, Warrenton Commu-
nity Center, 170 S.W. Third St. Sug-
gested donation of $5 for seniors
and $7 for those younger than 60.
For information, or to volunteer, call
503-861-3502 Monday or Thursday.
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 players 55 and
older, but all ages are welcome.
Astoria Rotary Club — noon,
second floor of the Astoria Elks
See NOTES, Page 2B