SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 // 15
dining
out
A STORIA
C ORNER
D ELI
Ԃ Local
Ԃ Fresh
Ԃ Gourmet
See
for
full menu
3 8TH & L, ON THE S EAV IEW BEAC H APPROAC H
3 60-642-7880
304 37th Street | Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-7768
C OV ERED HEATED DEC K
for
22
$
ECIAL!
Y PIZ Z A
DA
Piz 2 zas
SP
TU ES
All orders take-out
503.325.7414
bakedak.com
#1 12th Street, Astoria, OR
North
Coast
and
Peninsula
Now offering soups, paninis, beer &
wine. Come check out our new addition.
You don’t need to zip to come sip.
503.861.9875
92111 Highlife Rd, Warrenton
www.highlife-adventures.com
Great pub
grub &
craft beer
Seaview, WA ▪ 360.642.4150
shelburnerestaurant.com
Imagine
Your
Restaurant
Advertised
Here!
503.755.1818
www.camp18restaurant.com
Favorite stop to & from the Coast
ILIES
FAM OME!
C
WEL
Advertise
Hungry
Harbor
GrillE
3 13 Pa c ific Hw y, Do w n to w n Lo n g Be a c h, W A
3 60-642-5555 • w w w.hu n gryha rb o r.c o m
N EW FAL L HOURS
COM IN G S OON !
Y
our
Restaurant
Here!
1157 N. Marion Avenue
Gearhart
503-717-8150
www.mcmenamins.com
Continued from Page 4
Many roles
In more than a dozen
years in the Coast Guard,
and six years in the U.S.
Army before that, the Ben-
sons have moved multiple
times,
They met when Stacey
was attending Winthrop Uni-
versity in her native South
Carolina, earning a degree in
marketing communications,
and Larry Benson was being
trained for special forces
duty in the U.S. Army. They
married in 2002 and have a
son, Zachery, now 12.
After six years of deploy-
ments — including missions
where Larry Benson could
not tell his family where in
the world he was going —
the sergeant first-class was
serving with the Army Spe-
cial Operations Command at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
When it came time for a
decision on re-enlistment,
he instead made a lateral
transfer to the Coast Guard.
The change forced a drop in
rank, but meant he could be
closer to his growing son.
The Bensons moved to
Astoria in July. Prior USCG
assignments have been in
the southern Outer Banks of
North Carolina, on the Great
Lakes at Buffalo, New York,
and in Rhode Island.
Over the years as a
service wife, Stacey Benson
has been a wedding coor-
dinator, a wholesale travel
package seller, a fundraiser,
a project manager, a cake
baker, a photography prop
maker, a photographer,
a graphic designer and a
secretary.
When she was named the
2015 Armed Forces Insur-
ance Coast Guard Spouse of
the Year by Military Spouse
magazine, she used the
platform to help spread the
word to employers that mil-
itary spouses are good hires
because of their versatility
and resilience.
Capturing service
members’ stories
Her graphic design and
PHOTO COURTESY
WINEGEART PHOTOGRAPHY
Stacey Benson is a new
Astoria
resident
whose
thoughts about life as a mili-
tary spouse are featured in a
just-published book.
‘IT HAS BEEN
TOUGH, BUT WE
HAVE MADE IT
WORK, AND
IT HAS MADE
US STRONGER
AS A FAMILY.’
“When I am able to travel
for the Semper Fi Fund to
different events around the
United States, I get to use
my passion to help tell our
service members’ stories
through the lens of my cam-
era,” she said.
“I not only help create
compelling images for our
marketing department,
but I am able to gift those
images to the Semper Fi
Fund families. More times
than not, families never
have an opportunity to hire
a professional photographer,
so when I travel to events, I
make sure to carve out time
for those families interested
in stepping in front of my
camera.
“As a thank you, I am
able to gift those families
beautiful images from
their shoots that will last
a lifetime. It’s an amazing
feeling when I get a personal
message telling me that their
images are amazing and they
have them hanging within
their homes.”
‘We have
made it work’
photography skills contin-
ue to be in evidence in her
work for the past two years
in marketing for The Semper
Fi Fund, which provides
financial assistance and sup-
port to wounded, critically
ill and injured members
of all branches of the U.S.
Armed Forces and their
families.
The organization takes
its name from the Latin
motto of the U.S. Marine
Corps, “always faithful.” Its
supporters work to ensure
injured veterans from all
branches of the country’s
armed forces have the
resources they need during
their recovery and transition
back to their communities.
Benson cultivated her
photography skills through
college. While she is proud
her images for the group
have been displayed in ad-
vertising campaigns in New
York’s Times Square, she
enjoys sharing her photos
more intimately.
Stacey Benson grew up
on the family farm, “riding
tractors, shooting guns,
fishing and 4-wheeling”;
she credits her family with
instilling her work ethic,
her independence and her
desire to help others. She
is mindful of the enforced
separations and the wait-
ing-and-worrying dynamic
of service spouses.
“It has been tough, but
we have made it work, and
it has made us stronger as a
family,” Benson wrote in her
chapter of the book. “Due to
military life, we have been
lucky enough to live in some
amazing places, establish
some lasting friendships,
and have had some remark-
able experiences.
“Knowing back in 2000
what I know now, would
I have selected a different
path for my life? I would
not want to change a single
second, because this life has
shaped me into the person I
am today.” CW