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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2018)
2 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Keep your eye on the pinball ILWACO, WASH. — The Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum hosts Chester “Tucker” Wachsmuth’s presentation, “From ‘Baffle Ball’ to ‘Big Hit’: Five De- cades of Pinball Machines,” 1 p.m. Saturday, March 3. Wachsmuth is one of the preeminent collectors of pinball machines in the Pacific Northwest. Two of his machines, “Bowling Queen” and “World’s Fair,” are currently on view at the museum in the exhibition “Flashback: Remembering the 1960s.” Wachsmuth will bring over a dozen more machines to the museum for an afternoon of history and play. Wachsmuth’s collec- tion dates back to the early 1930s, when pinball machines became popular in the U.S. In 1931 David Gottlieb’s “Baffle Ball” became the first hit of the coin-operated era. The game resonated with people wanting cheap entertainment in the Great Depression-era economy. Most drugstores and taverns in the country operated pinball machines, with many locations quickly recovering the cost of the COURTESY COLUMBIA PACIFIC HERITAGE MUSEUM Tucker Wachsmuth, collector of pinball machines game. “Baffle Ball” sold tens of thousands of units and established Gottlieb as the first major manufacturer of pinball machines. Machines became more complex with electric bum- pers, flippers and elaborate artwork that evoked the popular culture of each decade. With more levels of play, pinball players devel- oped strategies and tech- niques to gain those coveted extra points and free games. Wachsmuth will present machines from the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. He will give an overview of their histories and special features. There will also be an opportunity for the audi- ence to play the games after his presentation. Before the presentation there will be a short annual members’ business meeting. The museum is located at 115 S.E. Lake St. in Ilwaco. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free on Thursdays thanks to the Port of Ilwaco. For more information, call 360-642-3446 or visit columbiapacificheritagemu- seum.org. And the Oscar goes to ... the cats and dogs! GEARHART — The Sweet Shop in Gearhart and North Coast Newcomers will host an Oscar party 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4, to benefit Clatsop Animal Assis- tance. Walk the red carpet and enjoy a compli- mentary Champagne, gourmet nibbles and the opportunity to test your Oscar trivia knowledge prior to viewing the show on a 55-inch screen. Elegant party attire will be recognized and rewarded! The suggested donation is $15. All profits will be donated to Clatsop Animal Assistance. The Sweet Shop is located at 567 Pacific Way. For more information, call 503-739- 7338. COURTESY JOY SIGLER This pair is ready for The Sweet Shop’s Oscar party Sunday, March 4 … are you? FILE PHOTO Thistle & Rose ‘Pony Red’ concert benefits Cannon Beach Academy March 3 show will debut songs by Bill Steidel By BRENNA VISSER COAST WEEKEND he local band This- tle & Rose will hold a fundraising con- cert as a way to support the Cannon Beach Academy in its first school year. The concert will show- case primarily the work of Bill Steidel, a Cannon Beach artist and ardent Academy supporter. The show, titled “Pony Red” after one of Steidel’s songs, begins 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at the Coaster Theatre. The proceeds will go toward funding the academy. “The fundraising money raised goes directly to sup- port the school’s operating budget. We receive 80 percent funding from the T school district, and we are responsible for fundraising the gap, or the other 20 percent,” academy director Amy Moore said. “So this will go directly toward that 20-percent gap.” The idea came from Paul Dueber, one of the musicians in the folk band Thistle & Rose, who said the band put on fundraising events like this in the past during the early days of the academy’s formation. “We’ve lived in Can- non Beach for years. We raised our kids here, and they went to the elementary school,” Dueber said. “So when the school closed, we were passionate to get a school back in Cannon Beach. It’s hometown mu- sic benefiting a hometown entity.” Doing this concert also intersected with the band’s desire to debut some of Steidel’s lesser-known songs in response to a high demand for them from audience members. Many of the songs are locally in- spired, like “Cedar Home,” based on the historical Lindgren Home at Cullaby Lake, or “Timber,” based on the tales of the Can- non Beach logging mogul George Van Fleet of the 1940s and ’50s. Others are personal to Steidel, Dueber said, like the concert’s title song “Pony Red,” which is a metaphor for his disapprov- al of the Vietnam War. “We’re kind of walking back in time and reflecting on what he’s contributed to the community,” Dueber said. “He’s done so much for this town, including his work for the school. This is our attempt to give some- thing back to Bill, too.” Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at Maggie & Henry, the Cannon Beach Academy, Cannon Beach Hardware or at the door. CW
