4 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
A
LIGHT
TOUCH
DIANA KIRK PHOTO
Neon signs glow different colors depending
on what type of gas is used.
Workers Tavern owner
prepares to light up new
neon sign connecting
business with Astoria’s past
By EDWARD STRATTON
COAST WEEKEND
P
art of what drew Diana Kirk to Workers
Tavern, which she recently acquired
from Mary Todd, was the history of the
91-year-old business.
Kirk came across a historical photo from
1964 showing the Workers Tavern, beneath
the construction of the new Astoria Bridge,
complete with a neon sign.
“I found out there used to be neon signs
all around,” she said.
Last week, Kirk had a new neon sign
installed in front of Workers Tavern.
Designed by Jeff Miller with Red Dwarf
Graphx, the sign was manufactured by
Ramsay Signs under the direction of Bob
Pershing, a sign-maker who started on the
North Coast.
Kirk will hold a neon party Saturday,
Feb. 10, to turn on the new sign for the first
time (10 is the atomic number of the ele-
ment neon). By then, she will have redone
floors and a newly sealed bar top. Workers
Tavern is located at 281 W. Marine Drive.
Pershing, 75, was born in Seaside and
raised in Astoria. His father, Ed, was a
neon tube-bender and sign-painter work-
ing under Arvid Wunola until late 1957,
after which he moved to Seaside and
started Ed’s Signs.
EDWARD STRATTON PHOTO
Continued on Page 15
James Penrose, a sign installer for Ramsay Signs, places the new sign for Workers Tavern, which
will hold a sign-lighting party Saturday, Feb. 10.
EDWARD STRATTON PHOTO
The new Workers Tavern neon sign, designed
by Red Dwarf Graphx and manufactured by
Ramsay Signs, includes a W resembling a
fishing hook and a T resembling a hammer
— a nod to local industries and the blue-col-
lar ethos of the bar.
DIANA KIRK PHOTO
Bob Pershing of Ramsay Signs gives a tour of
the facility to show people how neon signs
are made.