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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, MAy 30, 2020
Summer 2020 sports
season now in session
The Astorian
he official unofficial opening of the
summer youth sports season took
place Tuesday, with two teams hold-
ing practices at Astoria’s Tapiola Park.
Five members of the Lower Columbia
Baseball Club met at Ernie Aiken Field,
while the Future Fish softball team held a
full practice nearby.
Based out of Longview, Washington,
the club is an American Legion AAA
team and includes five players from the
local region (three players from Warren-
ton, one each from Astoria and Naselle),
T
all class of 2020 graduates.
Coached by Joe Bair, Lower Colum-
bia was holding practices in small groups
starting Monday. Assistant coach Tyler
Lyngstad of Astoria ran Tuesday’s prac-
tice as the team prepares for its season
opener Saturday.
The Future Fish softball team is a tour-
nament team of 10-and-under players,
coached by Adam Svensen. All players
wore face masks for Tuesday’s practice.
Tournaments are scheduled to start in
mid-June and continue through August.
Their season opening tournament is slated
for June 13 through June 14 in Rainier.
From left, Future Fish softball players Kilee Svensen, Khloe Painter and Adrienne Sterkel
take infield during a Tuesday practice.
Gary Henley/The Astorian
Cafe: Chef used local ingredients Fort George: Numerous safety
measures have been put in place
Continued from Page A1
Sowa and his wife, Deb-
bie Anderson, originally
from Seaside, bypassed
opportunities at Portland
restaurants after a visit to
Ecola State Park.
“I looked at that vista, and
I said, ‘This is where I want
to be.’ We changed our whole
game plan,” Sowa said.
He and Anderson opened
Lil’ Bayou in Seaside 20
years ago, at the location of
a former pizzeria.
Sowa built a reputation
for using local ingredients
and innovative presentation,
all with a distinct Creole-Ca-
jun flavor.
He moved operations to
Cannon Beach in 2007, at
first serving lunch only, then
expanding to a full dinner
menu featuring local pro-
duce, meats and fish, pre-
pared with the distinctive
notes of New Orleans.
Over the next 14 years,
Sowa attracted a loyal cli-
entele of visitors and locals
alike, bringing musicians,
diners and others into an
intimate but sophisticated
setting.
A string of awards and
accolades helped burnish
his reputation as one of the
county’s top chefs.
On Friday nights, he said,
the cafe was filled “shoulder
to shoulder.”
Sowa closed the cafe in
March because of govern-
ment restrictions on seated
dining to stem the spread of
the coronavirus. He eventu-
ally reopened for takeout on
the weekends.
Three weeks in, Sowa
rejected the takeout model.
“You eat with your eyes
first,” he said. “There’s not
much eye appeal in a plas-
tic box, or a cardboard box.
What I do at the window
here is just not going to make
up for the three seats inside.
I certainly couldn’t bring in
the same quality or the same
quantity of food that I’m
used to doing, and I’d have
to almost go down to a fast-
food operation. That’s not
what I want to do.”
While Sowa won’t be
operating in Cannon Beach,
he announced plans to team
up with Silver Salmon Grille
owner Jeff Martin in Asto-
ria to work as the restaurant’s
executive chef.
The restaurant’s tradi-
tional menu will be pared
down, with Sowa’s Cajun
offerings added, Martin said.
“His restaurants have
been our favorites,” Martin
said. “It’s a fantastic collab-
oration. I’m looking forward
to it. I’m excited to learn
something new.”
Will an intimate cafe like
Sweet Basil’s ever come
back to the North Coast din-
ing scene?
“We’re going to recover
from this, but we’re going
to recover differently,” Sowa
said. “Because I don’t ever
see it going back to exactly
how it was before March
23. Not in my lifetime. I’m
76. I hope it comes back,
because it’s part of my life.
We just have to wait and see.
It’s something we don’t have
control over.”
Continued from Page A1
of the reason the brewery
is able to bring some peo-
ple back.
The state approved
Clatsop County to enter
a first phase of reopening
May 15, allowing restau-
rants and bars to open with
limited seating, increased
sanitation and face masks
for employees. On June
5, the county could enter
a second phase, allowing
larger social gatherings
and fewer restrictions on
restaurant operations.
Astoria Brewing Co.,
the city’s oldest active
brewery, reopened soon
after the state approved
the county to enter the
first phase of reopening,
along with its sister bars,
The Chart Room and The
Desdemona Club. Hon-
do’s Brewery, the city’s
smallest, also reopened in
the first phase.
Reach Break Brew-
ing in Astoria is also open
with outdoor patio seating.
The city’s other major
brewery, Buoy Beer Co.,
has not yet decided on a
reopening plan, general
manager David Kroen-
ing said in a text message.
Buoy Beer created a local
delivery service for its
beer and spirits from Pilot
House Distilling, owned
in part by members of the
brewery’s ownership.
Fort George, hop-
ing to avoid an out-
break, recently released
new safety guidelines for
returning workers, who
will have their tempera-
tures checked daily. The
brewery has installed
numerous safety mea-
sures, including plexi-
glass,
hand-sanitizing
stations and cameras to
monitor a new entrance
and exit.
A third and final phase
of reopening would allow
large public gatherings,
but likely won’t come
until there is a reliable
treatment for the corona-
virus. Nemlowill said Fort
George will likely not
reopen further until a third
phase.
Fort George’s down-
stairs solarium will con-
tinue with to-go sales
through online order-
ing. The brewery has also
started a delivery service.
The brewery will also
start shipping the popular
beer directly to customers
in Oregon and Washing-
ton state.
Fort George has can-
celed its Lupulin Ecstasy
beer festival, usually
held at the Flavel House
Museum in June to cel-
ebrate the release of its
regionally popular 3-Way
India pale ale, a partner-
ship with two other Pacific
Northwest breweries.
[ RESPOND RECOVER REBUILD ]
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well as funding to small business lenders and bridge funding to arts
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