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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2019)
B1 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 22, 2019 CONTACT US ewilson@dailyastorian.com (503) 325-3211 ext. 257 COMMUNITY FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorian IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON DO NOT STOP DRINKING HISTORY A little something for craft beer lovers: The SS Ore- gon, a luxury liner, collided with a schooner and sank off Fire Island, New York, in 1886. She landed 135 feet deep in what’s now known as Wreck Val- ley, which is a popular spot for scuba divers to explore. The Oregon is depicted, sinking, in a 1902 painting by Antonio Jacobsen. Jamie Adams, founder of Saint James Brewery (saintjamesbrewery.com) on Long Island, New York, also happens to be a scuba diver who enjoys diving to the SS Oregon, according to an AP story. “It’s a wonderful, won- derful shipwreck to dive,” Adams recalled. “I came up with the idea to make some beer if we came up with some intact bottles.” But it wasn’t till 2017, when the ship shifted, that Adams and a team of divers were able to dig 15 feet into the seabed and 6 feet into the ship to access some full, corked bottles of beer. Over a series of dives, they found 26 of them. Adams and a microbiologist friend cultured the yeast from the bottles, then experimented until they got just the right taste. The final product, aptly named Deep Ascent, is a “replication of what would have been served on that ship in 1886,” Adams said. “It’s like drinking history,” one Deep Ascent enthusi- ast declared. HONORING THE COAST GUARD T he president isn’t the only one having a bit of a problem negotiating with China. Just ask Astorian Erhard Gross. “In order to present interesting speakers to Exploring New Concepts of Retirement Education’s (ENCORE) Sunday, ‘The Chinese in Astoria,’ I tried to engage interest- ing speakers,” he wrote. “A representative of the govern- ment of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC), would, in my opinion, add interest to our program and show respect for our citizens of Chinese background.” “Early fall of last year, I wrote to the consulate gen- eral of the PRC in San Francisco to send a cultural spe- cialist to help us honor our folks of Chinese background,” he continued. “I requested he cover a particular era of Chi- nese immigration to the West Coast of the U.S. When they did not respond, I sent a second letter. The same result. “So I wrote a letter to the Chinese Embassy in Wash- ington, D.C. A week later San Francisco called, asking how they could help. I communicated by phone and email for several weeks. In late February they emailed a negative reply. They did give me the contact info of the Confucius Institute (CI), at Portland State University. “… CI told me that they could not present what I requested but could speak on a different topic. Since CI did not respond for a week, I contacted the Taiwanese Consulate in Seattle. The vice-consul of the Seattle office responded within two days to say that my preferred topic is not in his area of expertise, but he provided contact info for the executive director of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Portland. “I called her, and by March 16, I had a commitment from their assistant director, Dr. Jennifer Fang, to give us the history of Chinese immigration to our West Coast.” As Confucius said: “It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” And Erhard Gross did not stop. Mission accomplished. WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS E very year, as part of the Oregon/Costa Rica Part- ners of the Americas, there is a cultural exchange. A group of Oregonians visits Costa Rica, and then a group of Costa Ricans visits Oregon. In February, 12 Oregonians, including three from Brownsmead — pictured, from left, Carol Newman, and Lulu and Ned Heavenrich — spent three weeks living in Nicoya, San Carlos, Guapiles and San Jose. “We enjoyed speaking Spanish with our limited vocab- ulary,” Ned wrote, “singing and dancing with our hosts (that’s Carol, inset), and spending four days at the beach, two of them at the Pacific Ocean, and two of them at the Caribbean. “We also loved eating different foods and main dishes and desserts made in the hosts’ homes. … Visual delights surrounded us daily in the form of monkeys, scarlet macaws, parrots, sloths, the exotic orchids and the differ- ent flora and fauna in each region we visited.“All of these experiences were made richer by the fact that we were in the company of our hosts, learning from them about their culture, their sense of place and personal histories. We … got a profound sense of how important families are in Costa Rica.” “In every place we stayed,” he added, “we were wel- comed with open arms, and when we parted company we were invited to return again. Each of us made numerous new friends on this trip.” Interested in participating? Check out oregonpartners.net or call Ned Heavenrich at 503-458-5182. AROUND TOWN IN SEARCH OF WHALES ‘R ogue has long been a supporter of the U.S. Coast Guard and other branches of the mil- itary,” Rachel Morrison of Rogue Ales & Spirits in Newport wrote. “This April, we are reissuing our bottle dedicated to U.S. Coast Guard legend Tom McAdams in honor of the 228th anniversary of the Coast Guard.” Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas McAdams, retired, whose career covered close to 30 years, helped design the 47-foot motor lifeboat used today, survived through nine lifeboat rollovers, participated in more than 5,000 rescues and saved more than 100 lives. (bit.ly/tmcadams) The bottle will be available at all Oregon Rogue pubs, and Rogue is donating the proceeds to the Coast Guard. CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR O K, it’s that time of Year again: Spring Whale Watch Week is from Saturday to March 31. During the next few months, more than 20,000 gray whales are expected to migrate north past Oregon, and many will be bringing along young calves. Trained volunteers from the Whale Watching Spoken Here program are stationed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day at 24 sites along the coast. A map is available at whale- spoken.org If you want the scoop on where whales are locally, keep checking Clatsop & Pacific County Whale Sightings on Facebook. And, just so you know, there was a whale right off Pier 11 in Astoria on March 17. Prefer whale watching from your armchair? A live web cam is just what you need, at bit.ly/whalespy. Happy hunting! THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT T he Telegraph, published in London, recently ran a story about Sandi Preston, owner of the Goonie House in Astoria, titled, “’1,200 people a day were standing outside my home’ – how a cult 80s movie spoiled my suburban idyll” (bit.ly/TTgoondocks). Ironically enough, the story ran in the Travel/Destinations section. “I had asked God many years ago to give me The Goonie House,” she told The Telegraph. “’The Goonies was our favourite movie when my children were young … ” The words “Be careful what you wish for” come to mind. Everything was peaceful until Astoria’s 20th anniver- sary celebration of the movie in 2005 brought hordes of Goonie fans to the house. It got much worse during the movie’s 30th anniversary fete. “I had around 1,200 people a day standing outside my home,” Sandi said. She finally tarped up the house for a while to keep people at bay. Despite legions of intrusive fans, it hasn’t been all bad, by any means. “… I’ve met so many profoundly kind and loving people over the years,” she recalled. “Many are my friends today.” Would she sell? Her reply was a shocker that will prob- ably set the Goonie world on its ears: “You bet; make me an offer I’d be unable to refuse!” D id you know Medicare has an app called “What’s Covered”? It’s free on the App Store and Goo- gle Play, and can tell you what items and services are covered, how to get covered benefits, and basic cost information. Searching the app can be problematic if you don’t use the right medical term, so skip the search box and go directly to “Browse all items & services.” Even though the app seems to be a work in progress, it still acts as a supplement to the medicare.gov website. And, it works offline. F rom The Daily Astorian … March 22, 1881: • The large boiler for Mr. Joseph Humes’ Asto- ria cannery was moved on rollers from Main Street wharf to its destination on Sunday. This new cannery will be known as the Elmore Packing Company. Note: Samuel Elmore bought out his partner, Hume, to build his own cannery in 1881. In 1898, he built a can- nery in Uniontown that wound up covering 4 acres by 1954. It closed in 1990, and burned down in 1993. (bit. ly/selmore) • … Hoochinoo, or spirits distilled from molasses, is not an Alaska novelty, but was known in the early days of Oregon as “Blue Ruin,” and was manufactured in this city (by Richard McCrary) in … 1846, when Astoria was occupied by the Hudson Bay Trading Post. … The result was an intoxicating beverage of which a small dose pro- duced insanity. Note: The word Hoochinoo actually comes from the name of a small Alaskan tribe, and the liquor they were known for brewing. It’s a little-known nugget to have Astoria involved in the history of “hooch.” March 22, 1882: • Siberian dispatches to the government leave little hope for the safety of Lieut. De Long or the crew of the Jeannette; it being evident that they have perished from exposure. Note: In July, 1879, Navy Lt. Cmdr. George De Long (pictured inset) set out with his crew of 32 aboard the USS Jeannette to make America the first nation to reach the North Pole. The Jeannette became icebound in September 1879, and drifted until June 1881, when she sank. The adven- turers took to boats, searching for land, and in the process became separated into two groups. Disaster ensued for De Long’s group. By the time res- cuers were able to find them in March 1882, it was too late. They were all long dead, but the news did not reach the outside world for several months. De Long’s wife edited a two-volume book about the ordeal which is at bit.ly/GeoDeLong • The river boats have lately been supplied with prayer books. The Standard thinks they will come in handy “when the mate’s vocabulary is exhausted.” COMMUNITY NOTES SATURDAY Coins and Coffee — 9 to 11 a.m., Coast Gallery and Numismatics, 3350 High- way 101 N., Suite D, Gearhart. Show and tell for coin and bul- lion collectors. For informa- tion, call 503-739-7574 Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Homespun Quilts & Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit- ting, crochet or other nee- dlework 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 Stu- dio, 1296 Duane St. Bring a spinning wheel. For informa- tion, call 503-325-5598 or go to astoriafiberarts.org Karaoke — 7 to 8 p.m., Seaside Lodge and Interna- tional Hostel, 930 N. Holladay Drive, Seaside. Free session, all ages, for those who love to sing karaoke. Refreshments served. For information, call 503-738-7911. SUNDAY Seniors Breakfast — 9 a.m. to noon, Astoria Moose Lodge, 420 17th St. Cooked to order from menu, includes See Notes, Page B4