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