148TH year, NO. 129
DailyAstorian.com // Tuesday, april 27, 2021
$1.50
CORONAVIRUS
Park district
candidates take
center stage
Middle school purchase a campaign issue
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Ten can-
didates take center stage in
the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District’s May
18 board election.
Candidates have split
into two groups, with the
five incumbents facing chal-
lenges from a slate aligning
under the campaign slogan,
“It’s time for a change.”
“I’m joined by four like-
minded people who are also
MORE INSIDE
Candidate residency
in doubt • a2
very disappointed with the
way the current board has
discharged their responsi-
bility to care for SEPRD,”
John Huismann, one of the
challengers, wrote in a let-
ter to the Seaside Signal.
See Park district, Page A2
MORE INSIDE
photos by Hailey Hoffman/The astorian
County reports new virus cases • a6
Mike Leamy discusses repairing a tombstone that has fallen over at Greenwood Cemetery.
Couple works to preserve
stories at historic cemetery
A restoration project at Greenwood
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian
M
danny Miller/The astorian
John Mattila, with his daughter, Allison, left, and his
wife, Mary Ann, was recognized before a game in which
Warrenton’s home field was named in his honor.
Legendary
Warrenton coach
valued hard work
Mattila dies at 74
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
WARRENTON — The
announcement from his
family came about 8 p.m.
on Saturday night. A War-
renton legend had passed.
Former Warriors’ foot-
ball coach, girls basket-
ball coach and teacher
John Mattila died of con-
gestive heart failure Sat-
urday at home among
family, including Mary
Ann, his wife of 34 years,
and his daughter, Allison
Mattila-Gascoigne.
Born in Longview,
Washington, on April 8,
1947, Mattila was 74.
At one time a coach
in football, wrestling and
baseball at Tillamook High
School, Mattila came to
Warrenton and coached
football from 1974 to 2011,
compiling 252 wins. He
had 290 victories coach-
ing girls basketball from
1997 to 2011. He took the
Lady Warriors to four con-
secutive state tournaments,
the last two finishing with
records of 27-3 and 27-2.
ABOVE: Benjamin Young is buried at Greenwood
Cemetery. BELOW: A device holds up a gravestone as
Mike Leamy repairs it.
ike Leamy pauses on the slopes of Green-
wood Cemetery near Olney, places a delib-
erate hand on the pinnacle of a grave monu-
ment from the late 1800s and comments, with an eye
out to the horizon but a quick glance back at his audi-
ence: “I knew it would be a massive undertaking, but
I didn’t think it would be such a monumental task.”
He chuckles to himself and pats the monument
lightly, just in case you missed the pun.
But there’s truth folded in with the joke.
When Leamy and his wife, Lynda, purchased the
historic but still active cemetery from the Caldwell
family in the early 1980s, they didn’t know anything
about cemetery management. All they wanted was a
place in the country where they could raise their boys
and tend to their animals. Greenwood Cemetery, on
a hill overlooking Youngs River, was a beautiful and
affordable option.
They moved into the house on the property just
in time for Memorial Day and the dizzying crush of
people and bouquets that descend on cemeteries at
that time of year to honor the dead.
Now, decades later, they can tell you the stories
of many of the deceased occupants. They are finish-
ing up a restoration project that will ensure some of
the oldest parts of the historic cemetery will remain
intact for generations to come.
A grant
Last year, the couple received a grant through
the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries for
work to straighten, clean and repair leaning, loose
and toppled tombstones in the oldest section.
See Cemetery, Page A5
See Mattila, Page A8
At Gearhart fire, a family affair
A large donation pushes
Nordic park closer to reality
A father-daughter
volunteer team
Scandinavian festival
plans several events
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
EARHART — On a Saturday
morning in April, Josh Lair and
his daughter, Amy, share a common
destination: the Gearhart firehouse.
Both are fire department volunteers.
The job isn’t what most people
expect.
“You think of firefighters just
putting fires out,” said Amy Lair,
who recently earned her emer-
gency medical technician license.
“But there are some intense scenes
G
that we come onto, and a lot of sad
things happen. It’s kind of amaz-
ing to watch a whole group of peo-
ple come together for one common
cause, and just as volunteers.”
Josh Lair and his wife, Liz,
moved with their five daughters
from the Park City, Utah, area about
four years ago. He joined the fire
department in 2018.
Amy Lair spent summers and
holidays with the family while
pursuing her associate’s degree in
health science at Dixie State Univer-
sity in St. George, Utah. After Amy
received her degree, she moved to
Gearhart Fire department
Amy Lair and her father, Josh.
Oregon to join her family in early
2020.
“Amy’s plan previous to her
move was to continue her health
science degree at the University of
Maine, after receiving an academic
See Lairs, Page A2
The Astoria Nordic Heri-
tage Park is closer to the finish
line after a Sweet Home couple
with local ties bought the naming
rights for the entrance.
Tony Larson and Shelly Tack
donated $250,000 for the right to
a personalized inscription on the
park’s grand entrance ramp and
stairs.
“This is a one-in-a-lifetime
shot to not only say ‘thank you’ to
my great-grandparents, but also
‘thank you’ to the Astoria com-
munity,” Larson said.
Larson’s great-grandparents
emigrated from Denmark to the
Dakotas and moved to Astoria
in the early 1900s. Larson said
some of his favorite childhood
memories were of coming to the
Astoria Scandinavian Midsum-
mer Festival from Portland. He
has been on the festival’s board
for several years.
“My dad and great-grandaunt
would bring me out,” he said.
“I’ve got a 50-year love affair
with the place, and I’m only 51.”
Tack, from Sweet Home, said
her great-grandparents emigrated
from Sweden to the Upper Mid-
west before coming to Astoria.
“It’s something we’re both
really proud of, that our families
came here … that they made that
sacrifice for future generations,”
she said.
See Park, Page A8