2 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Locals’ ‘Coastal Christmas’
reimagines holiday classic
COURTESY JENNIFER GOODENBERGER
First-year holiday fair
opens at Astoria church
ASTORIA — Paintings,
photography, jewelry,
fused glass and gourmet
baked goods.
These are just a few of
the artist and artisan wares
that will be available at the
First Presbyterian Church
during Astoria’s First An-
nual Holiday Fair 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.
Admission is free.
In addition, there will
be vintage accessories,
unique gifts for the home,
international treasures,
wine cork trays and trivets,
and CDs of holiday music.
A cadre of local artists will
be displaying and selling
their unique creations.
The event will be held
in the church’s Fellowship
Hall. The entrance is on the
corner of Harrison Avenue
and 11th Street in Astoria.
Come meet and support
the artists, enjoy hospital-
ity and community, and
shop for exquisite gifts for
the holidays.
For more information,
call the church’s office at
503-325-1702.
When Santa and his
reindeer plummet into the
Columbia River on Christ-
mas Eve, will all be lost?
Find out, as two local
talents combine to offer
“A Coastal Christmas,” a
unique paperback now on
shelves throughout the Co-
lumbia-Pacific region.
Published for the first
time in 2016 by Coast Week-
end, this charming retelling
of “The Night Before Christ-
mas” adds a touch of local
flair to a holiday favorite.
Lost in the fog at the
mouth of the river on a
stormy night, Santa’s team
must rely on the good
seamanship skills of a
local crabbing crew. But his
problems don’t end with his
rescue. With the reindeer
out of commission and his
rounds still unfinished, it
takes a clever solution and
the entire local coastline to
save Christmas.
With words by Lynette
Rae McAdams, a freelance
writer on the Long Beach
Peninsula, the story borrows
from the familiar cadence of
the original Victorian poem,
but weaves a tale unique to
the coast, with inside jokes
and more than a few amus-
COURTESY LYNETTE RAE MCADAMS
ing shout-outs.
Brilliant illustrations by
Astoria artist Sally Lack-
aff originally rendered in
watercolor with imagination
and exquisite detail makes
this a perfect addition to the
Christmas collection of any-
one who loves the coast.
Printed locally and
assembled by hand, this spe-
cialized chapbook, designed
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by the duo themselves, is
also meant to be a decora-
tion. Unfurling lengthwise
in an accordion fold, it can
be displayed as a mantle
card or table runner; turn the
front and back pages cov-
er-to-cover, and it becomes
an eight-pointed star — or
compass rose.
Dating back to 16th
century Europe, chapbooks
• Come fly in a fully
restored 1929 Travel Air
Biplane
• Seats two side-by-side
in the front cockpit, plus
pilot rear
• Flying daily throughout
the summer months
from the Seaside
Airport where drop-ins
are welcome
• Tours in the Columbia
River Gorge in the
Spring and Fall from
the Troutdale Airport by
appointment
became popular with the
advent of the printing
press, which finally made it
possible to bring the written
word to everyday people.
Produced inexpensively
and peddled on the street by
hand, these earliest “paper-
backs” were small and short
in length, containing folk
songs, poetry and simple
stories. Often read aloud by
families and in public hous-
es, they contributed greatly
to the spread of literacy at a
time when an education was
still a privilege reserved for
the wealthy.
“A Coastal Christmas”
costs a little more than the
half-penny it would have
fetched 500 years ago (and,
thankfully, McAdams and
Lackaff won’t be forced to
sell it on our watery local
streets).
“We’re so grateful to the
vendors who agreed to carry
this for us,” said McAd-
ams, noting that everyone
involved in the project took
a bit of a profit hit, but they
all did it with a smile. “It’s
nice to know we still live in
a place that understands that
sometimes, you just have to
be in it for the love.”
A nice holiday treat for
the whole coast — from
Oysterville, Washington,
down to Nehalem — the
chapbook is about four
inches wide by five inches
tall and is available at the
following locations:
NIVA (Long Beach,
Washington), Time Enough
Books (Ilwaco, Washington),
Columbia-Pacific Heritage
Museum (Ilwaco), Forsythea
(Astoria), Astoria Co-op,
Beach Books (Seaside), Can-
non Beach Book Company
(Cannon Beach) and Cloud
& Leaf (Manzanita).
For more information,
visitfacebook.com/coastx-
mas/.