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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2018)
1B THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2018 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON ‘IT WAS MY HOME’ R emember that van and trailer that got stuck in the tide on Del Rey Beach last week? They belonged to traveling musi- cian Rick Langel of Damascus (pictured, from his Facebook page), and it was a devastating loss. All of his household and per- sonal effects, family photos, years’ worth of notebooks full of songs and lyrics, musical instruments and sound equipment just vanished into the ocean, he told The Oregonian. “It was my home,” he said, “that made it possible for me to travel around playing music as a singer-songwriter. It has been an attempt to live my dream. It is not been easy, but it has been rewarding. “Last year I was forced to rebuild when thieves in Tillamook County stole my entire trailer, taking all of the contents and push- ing it off the side of a mountain. I rebuilt, exhausting all I am.” If you would like to help him rebuild once again, you can donate to his “Restoration Project” fundraiser at bit.ly/RKLhome “There remains living on the streets — as many are doing — or rebuilding again, and go forward,” he added. “I’m a 62-year-old veteran with health issues that will limit the time left for dream- ing, and I’m in a place that can go from bad to worse quickly, so I need help, and ask that you consider what you can do.” A HEAP OF CALAMARI FINDING BENNY enny, a 10-month-old rescue hound mix puppy, was recently adopted by Vancouver, Washington, residents Cindy and Ray White (pictured),” Susan Packer, a rescuer based in Silicon Valley, California, wrote. “On Sunday, Aug. 26, the Whites were visiting Cannon Beach, when Benny was spooked and took off running, dragging his leash. … The Whites tried to follow Benny, but lost him.” They were devastated. Cindy has inclusion body myo- sitis, a progressive neuromuscular autoimmune disease, and is becoming increasingly disabled. Benny was her constant companion, and learning to pick up objects, and alert Ray if Cindy needed help. Ray came back to Cannon Beach every day to search for Benny, then went home at night to take care of Cindy. Susan and fellow rescuer Mike Noon, also of California, shared their advice with Ray on search and rescue tips, and gave him hope. Portlander Jenny Julian and her part- ner, Dave, also offered to help. Emmas Lindsay, owner of Dogs Allowed Cannon Beach, kept a supply of lost dog flyers for people to post, which wound up saving the day. “People are really kind and compassionate in this special town,” Ray said. “I am really overwhelmed.” On Wednesday, Ray received the call he hoped for. A Cannon Beach local, Kristen Steinke, had heard a dog barking for a few days, but thought it was a neighbor’s. Then, when she and her husband, Shane, were walking their dog, they noticed a woman who was looking for something. Having seen the lost dog flyer, Kirsten asked her if she was looking for Benny. Then Kristen suddenly had a gut feeling. She immediately sent her husband to check out the barking dog in the neigh- bor’s yard, and sure enough, it was Benny. He was stuck, his leash all tangled up in the brush. Kirsten got the phone num- ber from the flyer and called Ray, who rushed to the rescue. “It was truly a miracle,” Ray reflected. Benny is remark- ably healthy, and after a vet check, they went home to Cindy. “There are not enough words to thank the wonder- ful people of Cannon Beach,” he added. “Benny is alive, and for that I am grateful.” ‘B PEN PALS T he Aplin brothers, Daniel, Jack and Matthew, were tak- ing a drive along the Wellington, New Zealand coast, look- ing for a place to dive, and didn’t quite believe their eyes when they spotted a massive squid lying on the beach, the New Zea- land Herald reports. They took a dive, then came back for a closer look and to mea- sure their find, which turned out to be 4.2 meters (13.8 feet) long; in comparison, the largest giant squid found so far was 43 feet long. Everything you never wanted to know on the topic is at bit. ly/bigbigsquid “It was pretty clean, nothing major on it,” Daniel observed. Jack, left, and Matthew, right, are pictured with the critter, in pho- tos they posted to the Ocean Hunter Spearfishing & Freediving Specialists Facebook page, where they elicited over 2,100 com- ments. “That’s a whole heap of calamari,” one said, while another opined, “This is why we don’t belong in the sea!” Not knowing what to do with the body, the brothers called the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, who arranged to have it collected for study. TITANIC TIMEPIECE SOLD T he pocket watch owned by Titanic victim Sinai Kantor, expected to fetch $20,000, sold for $57,500, TimesOfIsrael. com reports. It is shown, courtesy of Heritage Auctions. The buyer is John Miottel, who operates the Miottel Museum in Berkeley, California, and collects Titanic timepieces, among other things. Kantor’s watch will join those of John Jacob Astor IV, great-grandson of Astoria’s namesake, who also died in the disaster; Oscar Woody, the Titanic’s postal clerk; and Harold Thomas Cottam, RMS Carpathia’s wireless operator, the first to receive Titanic’s SOS call. RELUCTANT TRAVELER ‘I have an update on S/V Boat-A-Lahti, the miniboat built by the Hilda Lahti Elementary School third-graders last year,” Nate Sandel wrote. Initially launched Feb. 11 by the Coast Guard Cutter Alert off the coast of California, and hopefully heading for Asia, the mini- boat soon washed ashore in San Diego. Relaunched 5 miles off- shore Feb. 14, the reluctant traveler washed up again, Feb. 23, on a remote beach in Baja, California, Mexico. Recovered from the beach in March, the miniboat was brought to the captain of the port’s office in Guerrero Negro, Baja. Now, Boat-A-Lahti is being delivered to the captain of the port on the Isla de Cedros. He will coordinate getting it onto a salt exporters’ ship for relaunch at sea, once again. Where will the miniboat wind up next? Follow Boat-A-La- hti’s travels at tinyurl.com/tinylahti GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS R egarding Astoria in particular, and the state of Oregon gener- ally, it’s a good news/bad news time. The good news is that HouseMethod.com, a home and gar- den site with more than 5 million readers, did research to find the “Most Underrated Town in Every State,” and in Oregon, it’s Astoria. The Astoria blurb mentions our city’s unique history as the first settlement west of the Rockies and its “points of inter- est,” the Columbia River Maritime Museum, the Astoria River- front Trolley and the Astoria Column. The bad news is that MoneyWise.com says Oregon is the 23rd worst state (out of 25) to retire because of housing costs, constant rain and forest fires. “And let’s not forget that Oregon is long overdue for the big one: a massive earthquake.” It’s Louisiana that’s the No. 1 worst state for retirees, what with the hurricanes, heat and high sales tax and crime rate. And, let’s not forget the alligators. QUEEN OF THE PACIFIC ‘T he story of Wendy Cumming from New Zealand and I began 60 years ago, as we became pen pals, writing about growing up, getting married, having chil- dren and the times of our lives,” Astorian LaRee Johnson wrote. The pair are pictured; LaRee is at left. “Recently, Wendy arrived in Astoria to visit me for a few days (her fourth visit). … We had a ‘girl’s vacation’ with sightseeing, shopping, dining out at all the favorite places in Astoria. And plenty of talk. “When we first began writing, we discovered we were born on the same day, same month and year. We did not meet in person for 25 years, and it made the front page of the local New Zealand paper in 1982 (Christchurch Press, shown), as we recognized each other at the airport.” “After 60 years of writing, there have been lots of fun stories,” she recalled, including Wendy and her husband visiting for Christmas 2008, hoping for snow. In a be-care- ful-what-you-wish-for scenario, a big snowstorm blew in. Undaunted, they drove to Walla Walla, Washington, and kept going even after a big truck bashed in the back of the van. “We voted 3-1 to proceed,” LaRee recalled. “The one ‘no’ vote was my husband, the driver.” Over the years, the pen pals have also involved their children. “Wendy’s daughter, Sheryn, was able to enroll in Seaside High School for six months,” LaRee explained, “and two years later Rhett, my son, was off the attend Takaka High on the South Island of New Zealand for six months.” Now their children email each other. “No snail mail, these days,” LaRee noted. “Wendy and I had our first grandchildren the same year, the same month and only three days apart, and both are girls, Olivia and Alana,” LaRee added. “The story continues to unfold in the third generation, with many happy surprises!” he anniversary of the grounding of Pacific Coast Steamship Company’s Queen of the Pacific (pictured) on Clatsop Spit on Sept. 5, 1883, is coming up. The iron hulled steamer/brig, built in 1882 in Philadelphia, was 330 feet long with a beam of 38 feet. When she hit the sand- bar, she was heading for Portland with 232 passengers (many of whom were on their way to witness the last spike being driven on the Northern Pacific Railroad) and 90 in crew aboard. Capt. Ezekiel Alexander was in command of the vessel at the time, and neither he, nor pilot A. D. Wass were blamed for the incident, said to be caused by heavy fog and smoke. The next day, four tugs took all the passengers off so the Queen was light enough to refloat. Some reports online say there were between 40 and 42 deaths, but apparently not. There was no damage to the ship, either. Once afloat, tug captain J. H. D. Gray (said to be the first male white child born west of the Rocky Mountains), was one of the leaders of the salvage effort, which wound up costing around $65,000 — $1.6 million now — and she kept on sailing for several more decades. The Queen’s unfortunate demise came in 1935, when she was scrapped in Japan (bit.ly/QPac01 bit.ly/ QPac02 bit.ly/QPac03). T COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knitting, crochet or other nee- dlework projects to this community stitching time. All skill levels welcome. Detachment 1228 Marine Corps League — noon, El Compa- dre, 119 Main Ave., Warrenton. For information, contact Lou Neubecker at 503-717-0153. Columbia Northwestern Mod- el Railroading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond. Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For information, call Don Carter at 503-325-0757. Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Academy, 1296 Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel. For information, call 503-325-5598 or go to astoriafiberarts.com SUNDAY Seniors Breakfast — 9 a.m. to noon, Astoria Moose Lodge, 420 17th St. Cooked to order from menu, includes coffee. Cost is $5 for seniors 62 and older, $7.50 for those younger than 62. Breakfasts are open to the public. Proceeds af- ter expenses help support local and other charities. Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m., Seaside American Legion, 1315 Broadway. For information, call 503-738-5111. No cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor. MONDAY — LABOR DAY Senior Lunch — No lunch is served today. Columbia Senior Diners — No lunch is served today. Warrenton Senior Lunch Pro- gram — No lunch is served today. TUESDAY Warbirds — 8 a.m., Labor Tem- ple Diner, 934 Duane St. All air crew members and maintainers welcome. Stewardship Quilting Group — 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., First Lu- theran Church, 725 33rd St. All are welcome. Donations of material al- ways appreciated. For information, call Janet Kemp at 503-325-4268. Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Suggested do- nation of $3 for those older than 60; $6.75 for those younger than 60. For information, call Suzanne Bja- ranson at 503-861-4202. Do Nothing Club — 10 a.m. to noon, 24002 U St., Ocean Park, Wash. Men’s group. For informa- tion, call Jack McBride at 360-665- 2721. Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. The cost is $6. For information, or to have a meal delivered, call 503- 325-9693. Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., See NOTES, Page 4B
