OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Founded in 1873
HEIDI WRIGHT, Interim Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
Water
under
the bridge
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
10 years ago this week — 2007
Staff at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and The Daily
Astorian held a book signing Saturday.
But, they received more than they bargained for.
They produced the catalyst for a celebration of community and the
spirit to rebuild what a fire had destroyed.
People involved in the reconstruction of the Fort Clatsop replica —
following its fire — took advantage of a chance to gather again and share
memories of what they’d created.
Rather than simply a historical record and anthology of news reports,
the book became a sort of yearbook for people attending the book signing.
People of all ages passed copies of “Fort Clatsop: Rebuilding an Icon”
back and forth for signatures to memorialize their efforts in restoring the
fort to its current condition.
The battle lines are drawn for the next two years of Colum-
bia River salmon fishing seasons, which are up for review by
Oregon and Washington state fish and wildlife commissions.
Tensions are so thick between the sport and commercial gill-
net fishing industries — which have to split the highly coveted
allocation of spring Chinook salmon — the state has called in
a professional mediator to guide negotiations leading up to the
February decision on how to divvy up the valuable species.
A new group, the Coastal Conservation Association, is
expected to add its political clout to the recreational fish-
ing industry’s fight for more fish this year. Gillnetters say the
CCA’s long-term aim is to get commercial fishers banned from
mainstem Columbia River salmon fishery.
50 years ago — 1967
The Daily Astorian/File
Treasure hunter Tony Mareno returned to the Manzanita beach
recently to prepare the digging area for winter. Recent digging re-
vealed a ring of rocks which Mareno believes were placed around
the site of the buried Neahkahnie treasure chest.
Northwest Aluminum company officials in New York could not be
reached today for comment on statements by Gov. Thomas McCall this
week that the company must come up with “foolproof” anti-polution
plans for its proposed $140 million Warrenton plant, “or draw a State
Sanitary Authority goose egg.”
However, local people who have been closest to Northwest Aluminum
all noted that the company has given assurance that it would provide the
best available air and water pollution control program.
The refrigerated freighter Har Ramon, first vessel flying
the flag of Israel to visit Astoria, was here Sunday discharging
1,000 tons of frozen tuna from Shimizu, Japan.
The Har Ramon normally operates in the banana trade,
carrying fruit from Central and South America to European
ports and sometimes bringing automobiles back again.
Sometimes it is chartered for other voyages, such as the
present one.
Richard F. Corlett, a Battelle Institute engineer, said here Thursday
Oregon should develop a plan for locating clusters of nuclear electrical
generating plants on the oceanfront instead of on rivers.
75 years ago — 1942
At least five Astoria church pastors have expressed their
opinions on the war song “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammu-
nition,” over which a controversy was created last week by con-
demnation of the song by Seattle clerics. The clerics of Asto-
ria are widely divergent in their views of whether or not, as
claimed by one Seattle pastor, the song is a “jazz tune of blas-
phemy against Christ and the church.”
“Wartime rationing has just started,” Neil Morfitt, chairman of the Clat-
sop County civilian defense, told members of the Woman’s Club Tuesday
in a talk which was part of the “patriotic” program of the afternoon.
Morfitt declared that shortage ahead would include many items of
the daily diet. He said that women will have to learn to use substitutes
for common consumers’ commodities and that they should accept these
shortages cheerfully.
An arts center thrives in Manzanita
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
A
fter a 25-year career in bank
marketing, most recently in
executive management, Vera
Wildauer moved to
Manzanita full time
in 2006. In 2008,
she co-founded the
Manzanita Writers’
Series, bringing
regional authors to
the coast for read-
ings and workshops and encouraging
local writers to share their work
during open mic.
In 2009, Wildauer joined the
Hoffman Center board of directors,
working to expand the center’s mar-
keting efforts and managed the cen-
ter’s blog site. She also generated
press releases and flyers for literary
and other events. She served as pres-
ident beginning in 2014.
Her board experience includes
eight years with a mental health non-
profit in Everett, Washington, where
she served as board president for
four years.
In 2012, she co-founded the
North Coast Squid, a journal of local
writing and art, to further develop
the writing community in north Til-
lamook County.
She lives with her husband and
cat in what had been her family’s
beach house since 1975.
Q: Who were the Hoffmans?
Were they the inspiration for the
center?
A: Oh, yes. Lloyd Hoffman was
a painter. And Myrtle Hoffman was
a musician. They were extremely
welcoming to artists of all sorts.
Q: Did they live here full time?
A: Yes, for many years. Their
house was across the street from
where we are now. They had a
trust specifically to create a cultural
center.
Their house really wasn’t a very
good venue, so in 2007 the founding
board bought this building, which
was kind of like an antiques mall.
Over the years it evolved and we
refurbished it, making it more suit-
able for the kinds of programming
we do.
Q: Did you have a model for
the arts center when you started?
A: I think it was definitely orig-
inal from the start. The first board
went around and looked at a few
arts centers and also had commu-
nity meetings. As time has gone
on, we’ve really developed the pro-
gramming out of the interests of the
community.
Q: What were the first
activities?
A: The clay program was started
in 2004 when they got a kiln, and
it’s evolved a lot since. The clay stu-
dio is in existence because there is
a strong group of people who are
focused and excited about that. In
fact, we are the only publicly acces-
sible clay studio between Astoria
down to Lincoln City.
Q: Tell me about the center’s
organization.
A: We have a nine-member
board composed of local community
members.
Q: Do you have any paid staff?
A: No. We have contract employ-
ees — a bookkeeper and a cleaning
service. Basically all the program
staff and the board are unpaid.
Q: What is your title?
A: I am board president. My ori-
gin is through the Manzanita Writ-
ers’ Series. Kathie Hightower and I
started that in 2008. I write poetry
and short fiction.
Q: What type of programs do
you bring in for writers?
A: The main thing is the writers’
series. We bring in authors. Usually
Photos by R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Nancy Webster enjoys pottery classes at the Hoffman Center.
Encaustic artwork in the lobby at the Hoffman Center.
Vera Wildauer, president of the
Hoffman Center board of directors.
those folks do a workshop of some
sort, with some sort of craft element
or publishing.
Q: Are there a lot of writers in
town?
A: Yes, all levels. And Gary
Seelig is really working the music
scene.
Q: There seem to be a lot of
artistic people in Manzanita.
A: It’s a historical legacy. There
always was. Manzanita was an
enclave for writers and artists of all
sorts, a place to get away. In fact,
several of our featured authors ended
up moving here.
Q: So they come in, give a lec-
ture and then they go back and
decide they want to settle here full
time?
A: Yes, at least as second-home
owners and frequent visitors. We are
more a retirement-age kind of place.
Q: Are younger artists coming
here as well?
A: The clay studio has attracted
a younger set, which is cool. We
just had young adult author April
Henry spend a full day at the (Til-
lamook) middle school and high
school talking about writing and
what inspired her. Another part of
our writing program is the publi-
cation of the North Coast Squid.
We have a young writers’ category
where we try and encourage young
people to submit as well.
Q: Sounds like there is no
shortage of creative input.
A: We probably have 100 vol-
unteers for all of the different
programs.
Q: What are your challenges?
A: Well, funding. We are defi-
nitely moving toward more stable
funding sources, growing our donor
base.
Q: More stable than what?
A: About half of our revenue is
earned income — admissions, tui-
tion sales and proceeds from gallery
sales. But we still have to rely on
donations.
Q: Do you rent the building out
for events?
A: We have a lot of meetings
here, presentations. The local emer-
gency response team meets here.
Q: Any new programs?
A: Our “Art of Dying” program
is going gangbusters. It can be any-
thing from green burials to setting
your priorities later in life, to setting
up a network of people to help you.
Certainly everybody is very engaged
and interested in making their lives
rich with experience. Those kinds of
things really help people stay young,
vital and active.
Q: How important is the Hoff-
man Center to the artistic core of
Manzanita?
A: Well, it’s hugely important
— of course I would say that! What
we offer is not just people being
involved with the arts, but that cre-
ative expression that comes from
doing things with people. It’s really
important to the well-being of the
community.
Q: Is there a downside to this?
A: No! This is a happy spot.
Q: Do you get people from out-
side of the area?
A: Typically we get people from
Astoria down to Pacific City. For our
writers’ workshop we got two people
from Alabama. They looked online
and found two workshops. There
was one here and one in Pennsylva-
nia, and they decided to come here.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astorian’s
South County reporter and editor
of the Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette.