ASTORIA BACK TO ‘ROUTINE’ IN HOME WIN AGAINST PHILOMATH SPORTS • PAGE 10A
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 56
STANDING
TOGETHER
ONE DOLLAR
Co-op
launches
capital
campaign
Grocery selling 25,000
shares worth $100 each
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Children perform a traditional dance at a Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Saturday in Astoria hosted by the Lower
Columbia Hispanic Council and La Voz de la Comunidad. Find more photos online at DailyAstorian.com
Hispanics celebrate culture
amid immigration concerns
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
orries fl ew around Face-
book that agents with U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement might try to take people Sat-
urday afternoon at the Lower Columbia
Hispanic Council’s Heritage Celebration .
No, they will not, organizers ada-
mantly assured everyone. Not at a party
in the middle of downtown Astoria.
Council Chairwoman Rocio Sim-
mons said later the celebration had one of
the highest turnouts she has seen for any
council event at the Astoria Event Center
in the past few years.
But, organizers said, the anxiety on
Facebook refl ected very real fears in Clat-
sop County’s immigrant community —
documented and undocumented alike — as
they track immigration policies of Presi-
dent Donald Trump and his administration.
The Hispanic Council had considered
canceling this year’s heritage celebration
in light of current politics.
“There’s not much for the Hispanic
community to celebrate this year,” said
Jorge Gutierrez, the council’s executive
director.
But, he and others ultimately con-
cluded it was the right time to come
together. Besides, the folk dance group
had been practicing hard.
“This is a time where we need to be
more united,” said Simmons, echoing
what parents of children in the folk dance
group told her when they heard the event
might be canceled. “We need to celebrate
W
The Astoria Co-op Grocery on Sunday
kicked off a $1.5 million capital campaign
for a new $8 million location in the Mill
Pond neighborhood .
General Manager Matt Stanley said the
store, which emphasizes natural and organic
food, has grown quickly over recent years,
topping 4,000 member-owners.
“We see about 450 shoppers a day,” Stan-
ley told a gathering of more than 200 mem-
bers at the co-op’s annual meeting Sunday.
About fi ve years go, the co-op knew its
lease was ending at the end of 2018 and that
the Exchange Street store was running out of
space, Stanley said. A subsequent survey of
shoppers showed more than 90 percent sup-
port for expansion.
After looking at several locations, the
co-op signed a 20-year lease this spring with
See ASTORIA CO-OP, Page 7A
Schwietert’s
brings family
candy store
to Astoria
Drawn by the
city’s renaissance
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: Supporters of DACA gather near an intersection in downtown Astoria
on Saturday . BELOW: Dancers perform for the crowd during the Hispanic Her-
itage Celebration at the Astoria Event Center on Saturday.
Jeff Schwietert, a second-generation
owner of Schwietert’s Candy & Cones,
remembers as a boy buying for his parent’s
business from Columbia Chocolates, in
the Fisher Bros. building at 12th Street and
Marine Drive in Astoria.
After buying the building from Wells
Fargo, Schwietert is prepar-
ing to create his own candy
store and factory in Astoria.
Schwietert took over
about a decade ago from
his parents, Barbara and
Wayne, who started in 1985
with the Picnic Basket in
Jeff
Cannon Beach.
Schwietert
“If you’d ask me fi ve
years ago would I’d put a
candy store in Astoria, probably no,” he said.
“But at this point, with the activities going
on and all the restaurants, just the renais-
sance that Astoria’s going through, it makes
sense.”
See CELEBRATION, Page 7A
See SCHWIETERT’S, Page 7A
‘Dr. Kat’ takes patients down a natural path
Flewelling has new
location in Seaside
By EVE MARX
For The Daily Astorian
EASIDE — The fi rst thing you notice enter-
ing A Natural Path is the serene and
friendly atmosphere.
Dr. Kathleen Flewelling, or “Dr. Kat”
as her clients call her, did her residency in
family medicine and has created an envi-
ronment that is warm and inviting.
Offering a combination of alternative and con-
ventional care, Flewelling is a graduate of the
National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Port-
land. “True healing and disease prevention comes
from a healthy lifestyle, ” she said.
She opened this offi ce in July after being in
S
practice in Seaside since 1998. She is a special-
ist in the management of menopausal issues,
and, most recently, genomic medicine. Since
moving to her new location, Flewelling hopes to
bring in a lab for diagnostic testing and screen-
ing blood work.
“Many people do not like to go to the hospital
lab and there is no independent lab in south Clat-
sop County,” she said. “I’m also hop-
ing to bring in more physicians and an
acupuncturist.”
Flewelling is originally from Iowa.
She married an Oregon guy. A year
into traditional med school, she had an
epiphany, deciding naturopathic medicine was
more to her liking.
Flewelling is a smiling person, which also
sums up a lot of her philosophy how to live a
happy, healthy life.
“Have fun and laugh every day,” she said.
Kathleen
Flewelling in
her Seaside
office.
Eve Marx/
For The Daily
Astorian