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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2017
CONTACT US
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
HIGHER GROUND
he Quileute Tribe in the coastal fishing town of La Push,
Washington, is taking action to protect themselves from the
catastrophic tsunami that will ensue when the Cascadia Subduc-
tion Zone finally unlocks, causing a megathrust earthquake, the
Northwest News Network reports (http://tinyurl.com/quilmove).
If your geography is a little rusty, La Push is on the west coast
of the Olympic Peninsula at the mouth of the Quillayute River, a
scenario not unlike that of the North Coast residents living at the
mouth of the Columbia River.
Logging and road building to move the town to much higher
ground in a nearby forest — which literally took an act of Con-
gress to “tweak” the boundaries of Olympic National Park — has
already begun. The immediate goal is to move the children, so
the K-12 school will be the first thing built at a safe 250-foot ele-
vation. A photo of the current school, by Tom Banse/Northwest
News Network, is shown.
Also being moved are the government offices and housing. But
some facilities will stay on the coast, such as certain marine-re-
lated businesses, a restaurant, the U.S. Coast Guard station and the
tribe’s Oceanside Resort. You can track the tribe’s progress at their
“Move to Higher Ground” website at https://mthg.org
“The heart will stay in the lower village,” Susan Devine, proj-
ect manager noted. “But the day-to-day functions, the safety of
where the children are living and going to school, where people’s
jobs are, they will move up to higher ground.”
Although the senior center will be the second building to be
relocated, in hopes of encouraging the seniors to move, nobody
will be forced to relocate. “The majority of people that are down
here now are going to stay here because they don’t want to
uproot,” village elder Beverly Loudon told NW News Network.
“They’ve been here for many, many generations,” she
added, “so they probably won’t even care if they get washed
away or whatever.” Likewise, she’s putting her faith in God,
and staying put.
T
FOWL PLAY
n a Facebook post,
the Clackamas
County Sheriff’s
mentioned
Office
that one of their
“adventures”
was
featured on NBC’s
“Today”
show
(http://tinyurl.com/
helptalk). In early
November,
UPS
driver Lee Purdy
heard someone yell-
ing “help me” inside
a house, so he called the sheriff’s office and asked them to do a
welfare check.
Deputy Hayden Sanders arrived on the scene, and a short
investigation revealed the screamer was a noisy parrot named
Diego, who was simply exercising his right of free speech. Diego
and the deputy are pictured, courtesy of the Clackamas County
Sheriff’s Office.
It turns out that Diego gets annoyed when his owner leaves
the room, so he yells “help me” to make her come back. Unfortu-
nately, she was on vacation.
I
ASTORIA FERRY GETS NOTICED
erry friend Joshua Marquis was in New York City and
reading the ‘State by State’ section of the USA Today this
evening (Nov. 16),” The Astoria Ferry posted on its Facebook
page. “Of course he looked at Oregon first, and this is what he
saw! Over 4 million copies!: “OREGON Astoria: A nonprofit is
restoring the historic Tourist No. 2 ferry in hopes it can be used
for river excursions, The Daily Astorian reports.”
Hopefully the blurb will generate some love for the ferry, and
attract new donors (http://tinyurl.com/helpferry). As the old say-
ing goes, you can’t even buy that kind of publicity.
‘F
LOCAL BREVITIES
EVERYONE LOVES LEONBERGERS
storians Christina and Greg Merten and their two
enormous Leonberger dogs, Gully and Murphy, and
the boys’ canine sidekick, Sadie, caused an international inci-
dent at the South Jetty recently. Here’s what happened:
The Mertens were taking the dogs for a walk on the
dune trails near the jetty where the dogs can go “full crazy
bouncy without causing any trouble,” Christina said. Half-
way through the walk, they got soaked in a surprise hail and
wind storm, so they slogged back to the jetty parking lot.
Just as they got there, two tour buses and four cars pulled
in. Nope, it wasn’t tourists who poured out of the vehicles.
It was the Chinese Army. At the beach? Greg figured that
since once a year China sends military personnel to the U.S.
to conduct disaster preparedness drills with the U.S. Army,
that’s probably what was going on. He was right. Actually,
it was the first time Oregon hosted the exercise, at nearby
Camp Rilea.
The Mertens’ started to walk by the group, when “sud-
denly there was lots of pointing and ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs,’
and familiar-looking ‘big dog!’ hand gestures,” Christina
recalled, “and then the large group of important serious-look-
ing military men all started walking towards us.” A translator
came forward, eager with questions about the Leonbergers,
and he translated Christina’s answers for the group.
“Thankfully, the Leo boys were absolute rock stars …
and patiently sat as 20 to 30 uniformed Chinese generals
carefully pet their soaked heads, and excitedly posed for pho-
tos with them. … I think a few even did bunny ears.” One of
the photos is shown. In gratitude, one of the generals gave
“the Leos” honorary Chinese warrior names.
“One of the American officers came over to me laugh-
ing and shaking his head and said with a Southern accent,
‘Ma’am, I’ve been traveling with this group for a while now,
and we’ve shown them all kinds of stuff,’” Christina said,
“‘… but this is seriously the most excited I’ve ever seen
them. This is like the highlight of their trip!’”
“Just goes to show that you never know who you’ll run
into at the beach,” she added, “and that almost everyone
loves Leonbergers.”
A
IT’S JUST A FLUKE
un rerun from April 15, 2016: Ever wonder how that
Indian head statue wound up at the roundabout? The
answer came when Jan Johnson delivered an envelope
full of old photos of its 1987 dedication. Pictured, Peter
“Wolf” Toth, the artist (www.dcschumaker.com), is inset,
left, and climbing on the statue; the group gathered for the
ceremony are inset, right.
The statue, carved from a giant cedar log, was created by
Toth as part of the Trail of the Whispering Giants, to honor
Native Americans. The Astoria version, Ikala Nawan, or
Man Who Fishes, honors the tribes of the North Coast, and
is No. 57 in the series. As a little side note, Toth himself is
not Native American — he was actually born in Hungary.
Jan’s husband, Ed Johnson, is the key to how the Man
Who Fishes came to Astoria. Sometime back in the 1980s,
he taught summer classes in Reno, Nevada, where he and
his children would often go to the city park. That’s where
he met Toth, who was carving statues there. Toth told Ed
he was putting Native American statues in all 50 states,
so Ed asked if there were any plans for Oregon. Toth said
not yet.
When Ed got back home from Reno, he started a let-
ter writing campaign to invite Toth to Astoria to carve a
Whispering Giant here, beginning with then-mayor Edith
Henningsgaard-Miller. She wrote Toth an invitation let-
ter, and so did the Kiwanis, the Chamber of Commerce and
the school district.
Toth accepted, and stayed at Joe Herman’s (who did
the rock work around the base). The sculptor did not get
paid for his work, by the way — he considers the Whisper-
ing Giants a gift to his adopted country — so usually local
governments and citizens cover his expenses and materi-
als. It took several months to hand-carve the 18-foot statue,
which has presided over the roundabout ever since.
“It was just a fluke how it all came about,” Ed noted.
F
idbits from 120 years ago in The Daily Morning Astorian,
Wednesday, Nov. 24, 1897:
• Captain Johnson, of the schooner Edward Parke, last May
staked his brother, who went to the Alaska gold fields, and is now
owner of a $1 million claim.
Note: About $25 million now.
• Artist (Nels) Hagerup’s latest painting, the Relief passing
out to sea, is perhaps the best work he has produced. It is almost
a perfect production, down to the smallest details.
Note: Hagerup (1864-1922), from Norway, created over
6,000 paintings (shown, “Through the Mist,” courtesy of Mutu-
alArt.com), mostly seascapes, and was a founder of the Portland
Art Association in 1895 (http://tinyurl.com/nhagerup)
• For Rent: One three-room house opposite the court house,
$10 per month; and one two-room house furnished for light
housekeeping, 367 Commercial St., $10 per month. Apply 355
Commercial St.
Note: That’s about $249 in today’s money. That’s not enough
to even rent an outhouse in Astoria, these days.
T
WHY?
he Ghadar Movement plaque, stolen from its spot at Mar-
itime Memorial Park on Oct. 23, is still missing. This is not
some tiny little sign, either; it’s of substantial size and weight,
made of bronze and attached to a metal pole. The plaque recog-
nizes the formation of the Ghadar Party — a political movement
to make India independent from England — which first met in
Astoria in 1913 at the old Finnish Socialist Hall.
“It is quite a shock to those in Astoria who participated in the
celebration in 2013, and really understand the seriousness of this
loss,” former Astoria City Councilwoman Karen Mellin said in
dismay, as reported in The Tribune of Chandigarh, India (http://
tinyurl.com/chanditrib).
Meanwhile, take a good look at the photos, taken at the Gha-
dar centennial. A new sign has been ordered, but what happened
to the old one? Do you know? If you have any information, please
contact Astoria Police Sgt. Andrew Randall at arandall@astoria.
or.us or 503-325-4411.
As for the plaque’s disappearance, “it’s a mystery,” Karen
observed. “Why?” Why, indeed.
T
GIVE IT A SHOT
he Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau in Washing-
ton is holding a photo contest, looking for shots of the pen-
insula or Pacific County that “would inspire someone to visit.”
They will select two winners, whose work will be featured on the
2018 Events Calendar and the 2018 Beach Visitors Guide cover.
You can read the rules, enter, and see other contestants’ entries, at
http://tinyurl.com/LBpix
Want to enter more than one photo? No problem. Send addi-
tional photos by email to communications@funbeach.com with
the subject line “Photo Contest.” Submit as many as you like, but
you’d better hustle, as the entries close at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday.
T
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1
p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108
10th St. Bring knitting, crochet or
other needlework projects to this
community stitching time. All skill
levels welcome.
Columbia
Northwestern
Model Railroading Club — 1
p.m., in Hammond. Group runs
trains on HO-scale layout. For in-
formation, 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://astoriafi-
berarts.com
Karaoke — 7 to 8 p.m., Seaside
Lodge and International Hostel, 930
N. Holladay Drive, Seaside. Free
session, all ages, for those who
love to sing karaoke. Refreshments
served. For information, call 503-
738-7911.
SUNDAY
Lower Columbia Diversity
Coalition — postponed. The group
hopes to reschedule sometime in
December.
National Alliance on Mental
Illness (NAMI) Support Group
— 2 to 3:30 p.m., Seaside Public
Library, 1131 Broadway. Family to
Family Support Group, for anyone
with friend or loved one suffer-
ing from a serious brain (mental)
illness. For information, contact
Myra Kero at 503-738-6165, or
k7erowood@q.com, or go to www.
nami.org
ligious faith in the modern secular
world. All are welcome. For informa-
tion, call 503-861-2421.
and quilting. All are welcome. For
information, call 503-325-1364 or
503-325-7960.
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.
MONDAY
Chair Exercises for Seniors
— 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior
Center, 1111 Exchange St. For in-
formation, call 503-325-3231.
Seekers Group — 6 to 7:30
p.m., Pioneer Presbyterian Church,
33324 Patriot Way, Warrenton.
Group discusses issues facing re-
Scandinavian Workshop —
10 a.m., First Lutheran Church, 725
33rd St. Needlework, hardanger,
knitting, crocheting, embroidery
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 Lew-
is at 503-861-4200.
See NOTES, Page 2B