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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, NOvEmbER 7, 2019
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
N
orth Coast singer Maggie Kitson is still battling can-
cer. “As many of you know, my mother Maggie had
surgery in April 2018 to remove a cancerous tumor from
her colon,” her daughter, Bridget Kitson, wrote on Mag-
gie’s GoFundMe page, “Help Maggie beat cancer” at bit.
ly/MaggieK
“During the removal they also found several cancerous
lymph nodes, which led to her being diagnosed with stage
4 colon cancer that has metastasized. … The oncologist
gave an estimate of a one-year life expectancy, or two to
three years with chemotherapy.
“Maggie has chosen not to do chemotherapy at this
time, but is instead pursuing alternative therapies with a
naturopathic oncologist in Portland. Unfortunately, these
therapies are not covered by her insurance.”
The tumors are growing, and new ones are appearing,
making it difficult for Maggie to work. The money raised
on GoFundMe will be used to support her and help pay for
her medical treatment.
In addition, there is a local fundraiser, “Maggie’s
Night,” on Saturday at the Cannon Beach American
Legion, 1216 S. Hemlock St., which features a silent auc-
tion from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and dinner from 5 to 8 p.m.
The cost is $15 per person.
“Through all of this, Maggie has managed to maintain a
positive attitude with the help of her amazing friends, and
the healing power of music,” Bridget added. “She wants
you all to know how incredibly grateful she is for all the
support from her community and fans. Especially the folks
who show up to all her gigs, time and time again, to con-
vey their love.”
ALL WIRED UP
COMMUNITY STRONG
‘T
alking to my kids, Gage (13) and Darrian Cavett
(5), about why I donated money at the store for the
food baskets led to Gage asking if we had any more to
give,” Kendra Cavett wrote.
“While talking to him, he expressed the idea to maybe
ask people we knew if they could donate food, so no one
would be hungry during the holidays. I responded with,
‘I have a few friends I can ask.’
“This is an idea brought up by young children, and it
is my belief that there is power in showing not only my
children, but an entire community, that anything is pos-
sible with a little support from those around you, regard-
less of age. Sometimes the smallest of hands make the
biggest impacts.
“With the idea of a food drive in mind, and a quick
pitch, and an even faster thumbs up from the owners of
the Merry Time Bar and Grill, I was set free to reach
out in the community. Community businesses have
already been confirming that they will be helping to col-
lect donated items to help support this cause, and more
are responding daily.”
Want to help? Look for the Community Strong
Food Drive collection containers to donate nonperish-
able food items at several Astoria businesses, including
the Merry Time, which is the drive’s home base. To see
a partial list of businesses, and the flyer, go to bit.ly/
KGDdrive
Although the flyers say the drive runs until Nov. 17,
the date has been extended to Nov. 21. Have questions
or want to add your business to the list? Email Kendra at
kkathleen1@yahoo.com
“If we can show the impact to people of all ages, of
our strength in community, great things can happen,”
Kendra added. “We want to be an example to others, to
encourage everyone, to get out and make a positive dif-
ference in the community we live in.
“Empower everyone to look for something, no matter
how big or small, that can make even one person have
a brighter day. We are, and will always be … Commu-
nity Strong.”
‘I’M A SURVIVOR’
F
rom The Daily Morning Astorian, Thursday, Nov.
7, 1889: “Astoria is now in instant communication
with the surrounding points of Alderbrook, Fort Stevens,
Ilwaco and Chinook. A cable will soon connect it with Til-
lamook Rock.”
In January 1889, the vice admiral of the Navy wrote
to the Treasury Department requesting an appropriation of
$6,000 (about $167,000 now) to install the telegraph cable
to Fort Stevens for several compelling reasons:
Tillamook Rock had no way to communicate with shore
except via the lighthouse tender (which arrived every four
to six weeks, weather depending); distress signals from
the rock might not be seen for days; with telegraph, the
lighthouse could notify the bar pilots and tugs of incom-
ing ships; and time and money would be saved because
the tender checkup trips would no longer be needed. (bit.
ly/tillywire)
FEELING SAFE
T
he Ear was delighted to receive an email from the
Security Baron company that started off on a happy
note: “Astoria ranked as one of the safest cities in Oregon,
reveals study,” based on the FBI’s 2017 and 2016 Uniform
Crime Reporting data.
Astoria’s “safety score” is 57.22 (out of 100), with a
rate of 3.65 violent crimes, and 45.35 property crimes,
per 1,000 citizens, according to Security Baron’s “Ore-
gon’s 50 Safest Cities 2019” website (securitybaron.com/
safe-cities/oregon). The photo shown is courtesy of Secu-
rity Baron.
Yet even with its low crime rates, Astoria came in at
No. 49. If it makes you feel any better, North Bend was
No. 50, Portland was No. 55 and Seaside was No. 56. By
the way, the safest Oregon city is Junction City, with a
score of 90.7.
VENTER STRIKES AGAIN
‘A
l Venter is at it again,” former newsroom colleague
Patrick Webb wrote. “The former Chinook, Wash-
ington, author, now has an East Coast home base. His new
book, ‘The Last of Africa’s Cold War Conflicts,’ to be
published within the next two months, chronicles dan-
gerous combat actions and political maneuvering in the
West African nation of Portuguese Guinea, now known as
Guinea-Bissau.
“Venter, a South African who is in his early 70s, is still
visiting African war zones for first-hand views of combat
operations. Most recently, he checked out United Nations
peacekeeping efforts in the Central African Republic
earlier this fall. He stays fit through a vigorous walking
regimen.
“Venter is a former correspondent for TV networks and
major British newspapers, still writes for Jane’s interna-
tional defense magazines and has been an active film doc-
umentary maker. He has written books about combat tac-
tics and diving with sharks.
“He lived in Chinook some dozen years ago and made
several friends on the North Coast. Among his visitors
during his time in this area was his friend, fellow author
Frederick Forsyth, who was researching National Park
Service details for his 2006 novel, ‘The Afghan.’ That fic-
tional work was of significant interest to Lower Colum-
bia River readers because its plot featured a terrorist threat
from a tanker loaded with liquefied petroleum gas.”
BLEKKSPRUTGELEBALL
A
little something for marine life enthusiasts: The
research vessel REV Ocean was in a fjord near
Ørstafjorden, Norway, when divers spotted an enor-
mous, undulating blob floating around at about 55 feet
deep, LiveScience.com reports (bit.ly/blekksball). The
divers were mystified.
A few days later, REV Ocean posted on its Twitter feed
(@rev_ocean) that it’s “actually an eggmass of 10-armed
squid.” The screen shot shown is from the video “Blekk-
sprutgeleball” (“squid gel ball” in Norwegian) via Live-
Science.com, courtesy of YouTube/Ronald Raasch, who
was one of the divers.
For some time, scientists were puzzled about what these
blobs contained, since they were so difficult to sample.
But a 2017 DNA analysis revealed the spheres are actu-
ally southern shortfin squid egg sacs, containing 50,000
to 200,000 eggs. “The dark mass is probably ink from the
female squid, who injected it while making the sphere,”
researcher Halldis Ringvold said.
Blekksprutgeleball says it all.
‘I
’m a survivor. … Imagine waking up at 4:20 in the
morning looking up at the ceiling. I tried to make
a sound, only garbled noises coming from my mouth; I
tried to move my body, and my body doesn’t respond —
I was totally helpless.”
Those are the words of a remarkable Florida grand-
mother, Patricia McNeal, who literally didn’t take hav-
ing a stroke lying down — a week later, she went for a
30-mile bike ride.
“I wasn’t going to let my disability prevent
me from getting on a bike ride,” she recalled. “I
decided to start Heels On Wheelz (heelsonwheelz-
inc.com) to show people with disabilities that just
because you have a disability, doesn’t mean you have to
give up.”
And she certainly hasn’t. Her desire to raise stroke
awareness and promote women’s fitness inspired her
first cross-country bike tour, from her home town, Pan-
ama City, Florida, to Los Angeles. This year, she’s bik-
ing 4,000 miles from Seattle to Key West, Florida, to
raise money to rebuild Panama City, which was dev-
astated by Hurricane Michael in 2018 (fundly.com/
hometown-help).
And, while on her latest adventure, she stopped
in Astoria the weekend before Halloween. A
movie buff, she visited famous local filming
locations, such as the John Jacob Astor Elementary
School, the old county jail and the Goonies House,
took in the Astoria Column and dropped in at Bikes &
Beyond. After a short visit, she was back on her bike
again, and on her way.
You can follow Patti’s adventures on her
Facebook page (fb.me/heelzonwheelz), where she posted
the following on Oct. 30: “What this mission means to
me, as a stroke survivor and a passionate cyclist … I
hope I can encourage more women to ride, and be a
game changer.”
“You don’t have to be perfect, to be a perfect cyclist,”
she added, “you just have to Pedal Forward.”
BRANDY’S STILL A FINE GIRL
id you know that a Ford commercial was filmed at
the Port of Ilwaco, Washington, last July? It was
good news for the port, which received $5,500 for the
inconvenience.
The Chinook Observer (bit.ly/COF150) reported that
“dozens of film crew” and “a cluster of directors, actors,
sound engineers, set designers, camera operators and
makeup artists,” and fog machines, arrived to film a new
F-150 truck using its “smart” back up feature to launch a
boat named Brandy (from Astoria), to the 1970s rock tune
“Brandy.”
Apparently, the commercial was released in August.
Nobody mentioned seeing it on TV to the Ear until recently
— a screen shot is shown — but you can also watch it on
Ford’s YouTube site at bit.ly/ilwaco150
D