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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 22, 2019
CONTACT US
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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