8 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Was Tilly really
so terrible?
COURTESY NANCY HOLMES
Ove Rasmussen at a Repair Cafe event.
Fixin’ to cut
down on
waste? Repair
Cafe can help
ASTORIA — The next Repair Cafe takes
place 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 25, at a
new location: 1010 Duane St. Organizers
will set up a sidewalk sign to help people
find the place.
Repair Cafe is a community of people
who can repair, sew, sharpen and give
expert advice on pretty much anything
under the sun that is broken, torn, dull or
in need of repair — for free!
Bring us your items to be fixed or just
come to watch and learn. We work on
bicycles, clothing, scissors, garden tools,
furniture, household appliances or some-
thing that just needs to be glued. (No gas
engines.)
Help us with our goal to keep 2,000
pounds of broken items from entering our
local landfill. We have scales to weigh
your items and will keep a running tally
for each month’s efforts to reach that
goal.
Questions about an item you’d like to
bring? Call 503-307-0834. Find Repair
Cafe on Facebook at facebook.com/re-
pairastoria
SEASIDE — The Friends of the
Seaside Library will host Deborah
Baldwin, author of “Tillamook Rock
Lighthouse,” at 7 p.m., Thursday,
July 26. The event will take place in
the Community Room, and there will
be book sales and signings.
Built in 1880, the lighthouse has
one of the most notorious reputations
of any on the U.S. Pacific Coast.
Fierce storms regularly catapulted
huge boulders through the lantern,
with waves that broke over its 136-
foot height, earning it the nickname
“Terrible Tilly.”
It has been described as a pint-
sized Alcatraz, and many keepers
could not stand its confinement. How-
ever, there were some who actually
enjoyed it and even came to love it. A
rare glimpse of the more pleasant side
of daily life on “the Rock” is shown
in Baldwin’s book through newly
rediscovered historic photographs
taken by the keepers who faithfully
served there.
This important visual legacy
serves to temper the horrific view
of Terrible Tilly and provides a new
perspective: Perhaps an assignment to
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse was not
wholly terrible after all.
Baldwin serves as historian and
a staff writer for Lighthouse Digest
Magazine, which celebrated its 25th
year of publication in 2017.
The Seaside Public Library is lo-
cated at 1131 Broadway St. For more
information, call 503-738-6742 or
visit us at seasidelibrary.org.
NEAL MAINE PHOTO
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse from Ecola Point.
Ride the
waves of
history
MANZANITA — The Nehalem
Valley Historical Society
presents “The History of
Surfing,” 3 p.m. Saturday,
July 21.
Discover more about
surfing on the beautiful North
Coast with Dan Matthews, a
surfer, shaper and educator.
The presentation takes
place at the Pine Grove
Community Center, 225 La-
neda Ave. Admission is free.
Sponsors for this event are
San Dune Pub and Bahama
Mama’s in Manzanita.
Matthews began surfing
on the Oregon Coast in 1964.
By 1967 he had shaped and
glassed his first surfboard. In
1968, he started Tillamook
Head Surfboards on a small
farm in the Nehalem Valley
with three other surfers and,
by 1970, the shop had moved
to Seaside.
Matthews still shapes
boards today. During the pro-
gram, he will show pictures,
photos and talk about surfing
on the North Coast from its
beginnings in the 1960s and
1970s.
Note: July 21 is “Surfer’s
Saturday” in Manzanita, and
the Ultronz are playing at the
San Dune Pub that evening.
COURTESY NEHALEM
VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY