A7
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2019
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Astoria High School graduates this year received $275,000
in local scholarships.
Scholarships: ‘We’ve
done a lot to make sure
kids have access to college
and career readiness’
Continued from Page A1
Katie Frankowicz/The Astorian
Bob McNamee, who lives across the street from Sunset Beach Park, points out recent repairs made to an aging slide.
Park: ‘The park should have some
more attention. This area is such a draw’
Continued from Page A1
The neighbors are on the
hunt for people with more
expertise for certain types of
repairs. A dilapidated fl oat-
ing dock down at the far end
of the park also remains a
concern.
“The whole thing’s
shot,” McNamee said, test-
ing a loose board with his
foot. Entire pieces of board
are missing in spots.
Croak and McNamee
would like to do some-
thing about the dock — or
just tear it out if no one offi -
cial is responsible for fi xing
it — but they worry about
liability .
“It’s only going to fall on
the person trying to do good,
the way I see it,” Croak said
ruefully.
But he is encouraged by
the response he has seen so
far to simpler improvements
at the park. He’s not sure
exactly how many minutes
it took for local kids to show
up after he repaired the bas-
ketball hoops, but, he said,
“as soon as I walked off the
court, they were on it.”
It isn’t the fi rst time res-
idents have taken the initia-
tive to deal with issues at
community sites.
In March, a Warren-
ton p lanning c ommissioner
and her husband brought
a homeless camp full of
trash to the Port of Astoria’s
attention and helped clean it
up.
Last year, the Astoria
City Council approved a
slew of park adoption agree-
ments with residents who
had stepped up wanting to
care for neglected parkland.
The adoptions resulted in
more useable spaces, com-
munity movie nights, vol-
unteer gardening days and
other events.
But Sunset Beach Park
involves no formal agree-
ments with any govern-
ment. For years, one neigh-
bor or another would take
it upon themselves to mow
and cut down weeds along
the edges.
For several years, Ham
was one of them, coming
down with his riding mower
to carve out space around
the play equipment so kids
didn’t have to play in the tall
grass.
Residents have always
used the park, Ham said, but
the improvements have led
to a surge in activity.
Sunset Beach Road is an
important artery. Buses from
Seaside and Astoria stop
here. Locals and tourists
alike use the beach access
at the end of the road. An
RV park and campground
with a small store operate
across the street from Sun-
set Beach Park. A cafe and
coffee shop is set to reopen
on the corner.
In all of this activity,
the park could have a big-
ger economic role to play,
McNamee said.
“The park should have
some more attention,” he
said. “This area is such a
draw.”
Warrenton High School
Scholarships Inc. inter-
viewed 23 students and
awarded around $220,000.
Many of the scholarships
came from Dick and Harri-
ett Baldwin, who willed
their estate worth $1.2
million to the Gateway
Masonic Lodge. Over the
past 17 years, the lodge
has awarded nearly $1.4
million in scholarships to
graduating seniors.
Jeff Roberts, the princi-
pal of Seaside High School,
said his graduates this year
took in more than $180,000
in local and countywide
awards.
“We processed over 934
applications from approx-
imately 54 students,” he
said. “The vast majority of
these applicants received a
scholarship.”
Even the county’s more
rural school districts main-
tain strong scholarship
funds.
The Knappa Schools
Foundation, started by
homegrown
business
mogul Shawn Teevin and
other alumni in 1997,
regularly raises around
$100,000 at a winter auc-
tion for scholarships and
school programs. Laurel
Smalley, the principal of
Knappa High School, said
her graduates this year took
in $109,000.
Jewell School is funded
primarily through taxes
from timber cut in the
Clatsop State Forest. The
reserves from state timber
sales allowed the school
district to establish an
in-house scholarship of up
to $4,000 for students with
at least a 2.5 GPA and 90
percent attendance. The
amount increases to $8,000
next year, with extra money
available for high scores on
state tests. Graduates can
access the scholarship until
they are 24.
The school district’s
scholarship fund regularly
gives out around $40,000
a year to current and past
graduates, said Renee
Meier, a school counselor.
Private individuals also
provide the Jewell Memo-
rial Scholarship between
$1,000 and $4,000.
Meier, in her fourth year
as a counselor, said the
school district has put more
of a focus in recent years
on students continuing edu-
cation after high school.
“We’ve done a lot to
make sure kids have access
to college and career readi-
ness,” she said.
ALL STORE FIXTURES FOR SALE
HUGE
SALE!
STORE CLOSING
AFTER MORE THAN 85 YEARS IN BUSINESS
WRIGHT PRO HARDWARE IN CATHLAMET IS
CLOSING THE STORE FOREVER!
ALL HARDWARE
ITEMS
1/2 OFF
MARKED PRICE
After 38 years
in practice,
Dr. Sears is retiring
and moving on to new and
interesting things!
ALL TOOLS
1/2 OFF
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ALL PAINTS
1/2 OFF
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My last day in operation at Astoria
Chiropractic will be Friday, June 21st.
Please call if you would like to obtain
your records or schedule an appointment.
Dr. Barry Sears
Astoria Chiropractic
2935 Marine Drive, Astoria
503-325-3311
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