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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2018)
B1 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DEcEmbER 28, 2018 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON BLASTS FROM THE PAST MINI-MOTHRA? LOOSE LICENSE S ince the Ear is on vacation, this week’s column is comprised of past stories plucked from the volumi- nous Ear Vault. RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR R E ver wonder how Meriwether Lewis (pictured, left) and William Clark (pictured, right) spent New Year’s Day 1806 at Fort Clatsop? From Clark’s journal (tinyurl.com/lcnewyear): “This morning I was awoke at an early hour by the discharge of a Volley of Small arms, which were fired by our party in front of our quarters to usher in the new year, this was the only mark of respect which we had it in our power to pay this Selibrated day. “Our repast of this day, tho’ better than that of Christ- mas, Consisted principally in the anticipation of the 1st day of January 1807, when in the bosom of our friends we hope to participate in the mirth and hilarity of the day ... At present we were Content with eating our boiled Elk and Wap-pato, and Solacing our thirst with our only beverage, pure water.” Here’s hoping your New Year’s Day is more palatable than theirs. (Dec. 28, 2012) VIOLINIST STRINGS THROUGH TOWN W e had an impromptu visit from the famous world class violist, Richard Yongjae O’Neill (pic- tured inset, richard-oneill.com) Sunday, Nov. 25, at the Wet Dog Cafe,” proud adoptive stepdad Bill Sutton, pictured left, wrote. Richard’s mother is Colleen O’Neill, pictured right. The musician, who arrived with a film crew, “is on a mission to make a documentary on behalf of under-privileged children around the world,” Bill revealed. And what a surprise he brought with him. Richard and his camera crew arrived in a new Volkswagen Passat, which turned out to be a gift for his mother and Bill. “After Richard and crew freshened up from a long trip from South Korea, they arrived at the Wet Dog jam where I play trombone with All That Jazz every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.,” Bill reported, “working with the Wet Dog to raise scholarship money for Clatsop County’s up-and-coming musicians. Lee Stromquist turned his piano over to me, and kicked back with the rest of the band to listen to Rich- ard perform. Dave Graves stayed on the bandstand and played drums with us.” In the next two days, Richard and the crew took Col- leen to Sequim, Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Quil- cene, Washington, to visit his birthplace, and reunite with his first violin teacher, then Richard flew to New York to play at the Lincoln Center. The camera crew filmed Colleen on her janitorial job at the Wet Dog, interviewed her about her life since being adopted during the Korean War, then flew to New York to resume the documentary. The project, financed by South Korea’s NBC, is plan- ning to fly Colleen and Bill to Korea Thursday for a week of more filming. “It was a terrific experience for his mom and me!” Bill explained. And it looks like the excitement has only just begun. (Dec. 21, 2012) emember the 1961 movie, “Mothra”? One of the most popular figures in Japanese science fiction, she was a huge moth, mutated by radiation. Well, the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan has created mini-mothras in its aftermath: mutated butterflies (bit.ly/mutantbutter). Two are pictured; one with folded wings, one with rum- pled wings and one antenna, courtesy of Hiyama et al/Sci- entific Reports. The mutations are caused by the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, which followed the earthquake/ tidal wave. Since being exposed to radiation, the butter- flies are showing abnormalities like antennae disfigure- ment, deformed legs and wings, dented eyes and changes in color and spot patterns. The closer butterflies were to high radiation levels, the more abnormalities were found. “Insects have been considered to be highly resistant to radiation, but this butterfly was not,” Joji Otaki, of the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, who led the research, said. The results of studying several generations of the affected butterflies caused a furor. “This study adds to the growing evidence,” Timothy Mousseau, a biology profes- sor who studies radiation effects caused by Fukushima and Chernobyl, said, “that low-dose radiation can lead to sig- nificant increases in mutations and deformities in wild ani- mal populations.” Scary! (Aug. 17, 2012) J ulie Jackson sent in a fun little tidbit. “Last week a logging company was clearing an area off a dirt road when they discovered a pink purse in the rubble, and opened it up to find my driver’s license,” Julie reported. “Sadly, no money or Bonnie Bell lip gloss ... just my license and the pink purse.” The license is pictured. “It seems that I was stylish enough to pop my collar for my DMV photo op,” she noted. A current photo of Julie is inset. “From what I can recall, and believe me, it was my 20s — it was the mid-1980s, maybe 1984 or 1985, I’m not completely sure,” she explained. She has no idea how she lost the purse. “The fact that it surfaced after all these years is crazy,” she wrote. “I was born and raised in Astoria, and went to school, and graduated at Astoria High School, so I am a longtime resident of the area, and just recently packed up and moved to start a new adventure in Denver.” By now you’re probably wondering how — since she’s in Denver — she got the license back. Someone on the logging crew knew her, and also knew she is good friends with Pam Lum. The license and purse were delivered to Pam, who did the honors. But Julie is still curious about what happened. “Funny, I can remember the purse, but not the night!” (Feb. 15, 2013) JUST THE TICKET THE ONE THAT DIDN’T GET AWAY D onna Jensen-Mullins started shaking and was speechless when she realized the Keno 10-Spot ticket she purchased during a dinner date with her husband at Buoy 9 Restaurant and Lounge in Hammond was worth $200,000,” Patrick Johnson of the Ore- gon Lottery reported. Donna, who is a nurse, and lives in Warrenton, is shown in a photo courtesy of the Oregon Lottery. “I just play Keno sometimes when we are out to dinner, for the fun of seeing if I won,” she said. “I am having a lot of fun!” When she checked the ticket, she had no idea how much she won, but was told she had to go to the Oregon Lottery headquarters in Salem to claim her prize. “I had the next day off, so I thought I would drive to Salem and check it out. I figured I had won $600 or $1,000,” she explained. “No way did I think I won this much.” After taxes, she took home about $134,000. “I can’t believe I won,” she added. “We will most likely go on a family vacation, and I want to see about setting up a college fund for my grandchildren.” (Jan. 30, 2015) GET THE LEAD OUT F ormer Astoria resident Sheryl Ginn, who now lives in Sitka, Alaska, posted an interesting tidbit on Face- book recently. “I used to enjoy Edla Allen’s memo- ries in the Columbia Press about growing up in Uppertown from the 1970s and 1980s,” she wrote. “Here’s part of one from Jan. 1, 1988: ‘During many of my growing up years, we had a New Year’s Watch get-to- gether at home. In addition to the tradition riisi-puuro (rice pudding) and fruits and nuts, we had the New Year’s Pre- dictions. This was done by melting lead in the old kitchen stove’s hot fire in an iron dipper. Then the hot lead was poured by each into a tub of cold water. The different shapes that formed, sizzling in the water, were then the prophecy for the year — as, perhaps, a ship’s shape would indicate a sea journey.’” The Ear found this tradition is called Uuden Vuoden Tina, and was a used as a divination technique in ancient Greece. It is a New Year’s tradition in Finland to this day, and tin, lead or beeswax can be used. “Do any of Astoria’s Finns do the lead predictions today?” Sheryl wondered. The answer is yes. “Our family has done this tradition for years, going back to when I was a child in Astoria, and we continued it for our children,” John Niemi replied. “Each person takes a turn melting the lead ... and then throwing the melted lead into a bucket of ice water. ” The oldest woman present interprets the figure as a pre- diction of the person’s fortune for the New Year. The fig- ure is kept by each person for the year.” (Jan. 16, 2015) A story on the Weather Channel caught the Ear’s eye: A 400-pound Pacific bluefin tuna recently sold for $37,000 at Tokyo’s first auction of the new year in “the world’s biggest fish market.” Kiyoshi Kimura, who is the president of a popu- lar sushi restaurant chain in Japan, had the winning bid (tinyurl.com/richtuna). The unlucky tuna and Kimura are pictured in screen shots from the video. According to Japan Times, the sushi maven was tick- led, and thought it was a great deal. Why? In 2013 a bid- ding war broke out for a similar tuna, and the fish sold for $1.3 million. Yikes. (Jan. 16, 2015) SPELL CHECK? D an Sealy posted photos on Facebook recently of the signs for Scandinavian Cannery Road. The sign heading east is just fine; the sign heading west needs a spell check. His photos are pictured. The Ear’s reaction is the same as those who posted in response: Surprise at never having noticed the error, even after driving by both signs repeatedly for 10 years. One smartypants noted: “I doubt it was Scandinavians that made the sign.” (Jan. 15, 2016) COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knitting, crochet or other needlework to this community stitching time. All skill levels welcome. Columbia Northwestern Model Railroading Club — 1 p.m., in Hammond. Group runs trains on HO-scale layout. For information, call Don Car- ter at 503-325-0757. Spinning Circle — 1 to 3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Studio, 1296 Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel. For information, call 503-325-5598 or go to astori- afiberarts.org 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. Line Dancing — 5:30 to 8 p.m., Seaside American Legion, 1315 Broadway. For in- formation, call 503-738-5111. No cost; suggested $5 tip to the instructor. MONDAY Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For information, call 503-325-3231. Senior Lunch — 11:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm Senior Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Sug- gested donation $3 for those older than 60; $6.75 for those younger than 60. For informa- tion, call Suzanne Bjaranson at 503-861-4202. Columbia Senior Diners — 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange St. Cost is $6. For information, or to have a meal delivered, call 503-325-9693. Warrenton Senior Lunch Program — noon, Warrenton Community Center, 170 S.W. Third St. Suggested donation of $5 for seniors and $7 for those younger than 60. For information, or to volunteer, call 503-861-3502 Monday or Thursday. Astoria Rotary Club — noon, second floor of the Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th St. Guests always welcome. For informa- tion, go to AstoriaRotary.org Knochlers Pinochle Group — 1 p.m., Bob Chisholm Commu- nity Center, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside. Cost is $1 per regular session per person. Players with highest and second highest scores split the prize. Game is designed for players 55 and older, but all ages are welcome. Mahjong for Experienced Players — 1 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For information, call 503- 325-3231. Line Dancing for Seniors — 3 to 4:30 p.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. Not for beginners. For information, call 503-325-3231. Astoria Toastmasters — 6:30 p.m., Hotel Elliot con- ference room, 357 12th St. Visitors welcome. For infor- mation, go to toastmasters. org or call Christa Svensson at 206-790-2869. WEDNESDAY Warrenton Sunrise Rota- ry Club — 7 a.m., Dooger’s Seafood & Grill, Youngs Bay Plaza, 103 S. U.S. Highway 101, Warrenton. For information, call 503-325-4030. Moms Offering Moms Sup- port Club — 9 a.m., Capt. Gray Port of Play, 785 Alameda Ave. For information, go tohttps:// www.fb.me/MOMSClubo- fAstoria or email president@ momsclubofastoria.org Chair Exercises for Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m., Astoria Senior Center, 1111 Exchange St. For See Notes, Page b4
