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THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, MAy 27, 2021
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
‘SO MUCH LIKE HOME’
n May 24, 1968, U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy vis-
ited Astoria while campaigning for the presidential
nomination. Accompanying him were his wife, Ethel,
their dog, “Freckles,” and Oregon state Treasurer Bob
Straub.
After Kennedy arrived, he briefly addressed an enthu-
siastic crowd at the airport, then headed out to Fort Ste-
vens State Park for a walk on the beach near the Peter
Iredale shipwreck, which can be seen in a film clip at
bit.ly/RFKbeach. One of the passel of photographers tag-
ging along was Clyde Keller, who took the photo shown
of the group.
“I can’t believe this is so much like home,” Kennedy
said, gazing at the ocean. Not much later, he rolled up his
pants, kicked off his shoes and socks, ran toward the water
and went for a jog along the waterline with his dog.
A photographer saw him lope off and grabbed an iconic
shot of the pair enjoying a moment of pure unadulterated
beach freedom that became a Life magazine cover (inset).
“You could tell he was like, ‘Oh my God. I needed
this,’” recalled Rita Hankel Lerwick, a teenager at the
time. He even managed to get in a swim before they got
back to business and headed for Astoria.
Those few moments of freedom at the beach were
made all the more poignant because a little more
than a week later, on June 5, he was assassinated, shortly
after a campaign speech in Los Angeles. (bit.ly/DA-RFK)
O
FUN FIND
oday was a day for the books!” Connor Kelly, of
Seaside, wrote on May 20. “Around 2 p.m., my
wife, Denise, and I took our two dog children, ‘Brandon’
and ‘Bruce,’ for our daily walk during low tide at Del Rey
Beach.
“To our surprise, we stumbled upon what we first
thought was a sturgeon being inspected by seagulls,
but instead was a longnose lancetfish, close to 5 feet in
length.”
Connor’s photo is shown, left; a National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration image is at right.
Just last month, one of these unusual deep sea deni-
zens was found dead on the Long Beach Peninsula. The
Ear asked the Seaside Aquarium if it was strange to find
another so soon.
“It is not that unusual,” the aquarium replied, “when
they are in the area, and close to shore, we will often see a
few in a short period of time.”
“Very fun find,” Connor noted.
DECORATION DAY
ccording to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
after the Civil War ended in 1868, it was decided that
Decoration Day, a time for the nation to decorate the
graves of the war dead with flowers, would be observed
on May 30.
Out of curiosity, the Ear decided to take a peek at the
Wednesday, May 30, 1888, edition of The Daily Morn-
ing Astorian.
• The Cushing Post Grand Army of the Republic (aka
the Union Army) and the Woman’s Relief Corps took
charge of Decoration Day.
A grand procession would wend its way to the cem-
etery for a ceremony, led by the Western Amateur Band,
followed by the police force, school children and citizens.
• In the business cards section, a local notable, Dr.
Bethenia Owens-Adair (pictured, right) advertised her
medical practice: “Diseases of women and children, and
of the eye and ear, specialties.”
A tough-minded pioneer woman, she was a social
reformer, and one of the first Oregon women physicians
who actually held a medical degree.
She was involved in the temperance movement
because of the effects of alcohol on her family, argued
for women’s suffrage and strongly believed in, and wrote
about, eugenics and the involuntary sterilization of the
“unfit.”
Part of her autobiography is at bit.ly/DrOwensAdairBio
• In other news of the day, “Corporal Tanner” (James
Tanner, pictured left) was set to appear at the Ross
Opera House to stump for Benjamin Harrison’s pres-
idential candidacy.
After losing both legs in the Civil War in 1862, Tanner
received wooden prosthetic legs and became a stenogra-
pher for the War Department in Washington, D.C.
It is said that his questioning of witnesses and short-
hand notes were the most comprehensive record of events
the night President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
at Ford’s Theater, during a performance of the comedy
“Our American Cousin” on April 14, 1865.
“In 15 minutes I had testimony enough to hang Wilkes
Booth, the assassin, higher than ever Haman (a Biblical
villain) hung,” Tanner noted.
(tinyurl.com/wasmay30, bit.ly/TannerNotes, bit.ly/
DrOwensAdair)
A
COASTAL CONFUSION
‘T
FOWL TRESPASSERS
un rerun: The Oregon town of Pilot Rock has a prob-
lem: It’s being overrun by wild turkeys, the East Ore-
gonian reports (tinyurl.com/turkeyville).
They stroll into town in a flock of about 50 to 70 birds,
then split up to divide and conquer by pooping and snack-
ing their way through local gardens. A few are pictured, in
a photo by E.J. Harris.
“Nothing is left,” resident Mary Ann Low complained.
“They dust bathe in the soil. They eat whatever is there.”
The Pilot Rock City Council — after contemplating
a spay and neuter program or just grabbing shotguns —
called in the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to
tackle the turkey issue.
“No matter what we do, we’re never going to get rid of
all of them,” state Fish and Wildlife biologist Greg Rim-
bach observed. “We’ll always have a few turkeys.” (In
One Ear, 9/15/2017)
F
he “Where are you, Astoria?” story that was pub-
lished May 13 prompted Astorian LaRee John-
son to write in about another example of coastal
confusion.
“Seems a lot of people may have confused the Wash-
ington coast with the Oregon Coast some years back,”
she wrote. “Your astute readers may remember the
2005 launch of the fourth nickel in the series, ‘Ocean
In View! O! The Joy,’ commemorating the Lewis and
Clark bicentennial.”
The quote, from William Clark’s diary, was actually
written in Wahkiakum County, Washington. He wasn’t
actually seeing the Pacific Ocean at all, but the Colum-
bia River. Be that as it may …
“The so-called ‘designer’ of the back side of the
nickel, Joe Fitzgerald,” LaRee explained, “was from
Maryland and, according to a KMUN interview, had
never set foot in Oregon.” So, of course, he would not
have recognized that the scene he depicted is actually of
the Oregon Coast.
“He submitted the image to the U.S. Mint, supposedly
his own creation,” LaRee continued. “It was selected,
and the minting progress was under way.
“However, upon seeing the coin for the first time at
the coin’s launch … there seemed to be some mistake
about which coast was depicted. It was certainly not the
Washington coast.
“Comparing it to a photograph by a local photogra-
pher of the Oregon Coast, it was deemed a copyright
infringement (theft) of a photograph from the local pho-
tographer’s website, who knows the Oregon Coast well,
having been in the area since the 1970s.
“Imagine the shock of seeing your photograph on
a national coin! The icing on the cake: After only one
month, attorney Leonard Duboff of Portland won
the copyright infringement case against the U.S. Mint
and the ‘designer,’ giving the recognition to the right-
ful photographer, Andrew E. Cier, of Astoria (bit.ly/
CierNickel).”
And, Andrew Cier just happens to be LaRee’s hus-
band. Now you know the rest of the story.
T
REVIVING CLARX
here’s a move afoot by Justin Grafton and Emily Eng-
dahl to renovate and remodel the old Clarx Confec-
tionery into the couple’s live and work studio and more.
The 1920s era general store at the top of Eighth Street, just
before Niagara Avenue, has been empty for some time.
“A once in a lifetime opportunity allowed us to pur-
chase the beloved old building,” the couple wrote on their
Kickstarter fundraising page, “We’d like to bring the
building back to life, restore her back to the community
hub jewel she was …
“We have the prior renovation and construction expe-
rience, the team, the support, the plan and the approval
… We (want) to honor the histories of the building (and)
bring the community feeling of Clarx Confectionery back
to life, include affordable living, a tea hatch, creative ser-
vices and offices” and a community room.
If you want to contribute to this campaign (which ends
at 11:59 p.m. on June 3), go to bit.ly/GoClarx. Have some
history or stories about this building to share with the cou-
ple? Email bluecollarastoria@gmail.com
“We’re willing, ready and eager to create something for
the whole community to enjoy — but we need help getting
the project off the ground!”
T
BUBBLE BALLYHOO
his actually happened yesterday,” KAST 1370
posted on Facebook May 18. “According to the
police dispatch log, a person called in to complain about
people blowing bubbles in the street at Ensign and Dis-
covery lanes saying it is distracting, and the bubbles might
hit the vehicles, leaving detergent behind.
“A Warrenton officer responded and advised the bubble
blowers of the complaint. You know, you have to admire
the patience of dispatchers and local police officers around
here.”
Indeed. As one might imagine, many snarky remarks
about nuisance calls ensued.
Also in response to the bubble ballyhoo, Fred and Jen-
nifer Causer created “The Great Bubble Blow!” event
from 4 to 5 p.m. on May 22.
“I wanted to show support for these children, and chil-
dren everywhere, showing it’s OK to be a kid, even when
we are grown … I ask you to stop wherever you are, stop
what you are doing, and blow some bubbles with your
loved ones.”
Just not in Warrenton.
‘T
GOONIES GO FUNKO
oonies fans rejoice: A new board game, “The
Goonies: Never Say Die,” developed by Prospero
Hall, and published by Funko Games, is on the horizon.
The image shown is courtesy of Funko.
“Embark on a perilous adventure full of dangerous
booby traps and treacherous treasure-filled caverns!” the
Funko press release states.
“One player is the Goondocks Master, controlling
fearsome foes … The other players take on the roles of the
Goonies … overcoming cryptic puzzles and deadly chal-
lenges with teamwork, strategy and Data’s clever contrap-
tions …”
You’ll have to wait for summer for the game to be avail-
able, but never fear, you can pre-order — only from Tar-
get — for $34.99 at bit.ly/GoonFunko. To keep you busy
while you wait, download the detailed instructions while
you’re there.
G