A8
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021
Shepherd: ‘I remember
those war years quite well’
Complaint: ‘I believe we should restore
the integrity of our local government’
Continued from Page A1
An earlier case against
La Bonte after she used the
sign company she co-owns
with her husband to make
signs for the city is still
under investigation. A pre-
liminary review found La
Bonte may not have prop-
erly noted a possible confl ict
of interest in writing. The
state investigator did not fi nd
evidence that La Bonte used
her position to benefi t herself
fi nancially .
City Manager Bruce St.
Denis has characterized
Morris’ complaints against
La Bonte as a campaign of
harassment motivated by
personal grievances. He told
city councilors that La Bonte
will receive a letter of edu-
cation from the state for the
complaint about the signs.
La Bonte confi rmed with
The Astorian that she had
seen a draft of the letter and
that it was off ered to her at
the conclusion of the ethics
board’s meeting last week.
Going forward, she said she
understands she will need to
declare any possible confl ict
of interest verbally as well as
in writing.
Meanwhile, Morris told
The Astorian he has fi led
another complaint about La
Bonte . The online petition he
recently launched had gath-
Turns out, Fort Stevens
was being fi red upon by a
Japanese submarine .
Fortunately for the res-
idents of the fort and Ham-
mond, the rounds did not
hit anything. The fort also
did not return fi re — it was
a long shot to hit something,
and it would have given
away the fort’s location.
If night time blackouts
weren’t already in place, they
soon were, as residents had
to turn off all lights at night,
and “you couldn’t even drive
your car with headlights on
at night,” Shepherd said.
“I remember those war
years quite well. When the
Japanese bombed the fort,
I was just a month short of
being 10. There were sol-
diers down here, and sailors
at Tongue Point, and Coast
Guard in Hammond.
“We had a lot of service
people around. When I was
in my teen years, my friends
and I were able to ride our
bikes around town, and there
was never a problem with
any soldiers.”
Including her future
husband.
A descendant of
Comcomly
Carolyn Petersen met
John Shepherd while swim-
ming at Coff enbury Lake,
later attended high school
and college together, and
were married by 1951.
The couple raised their
children (four girls, one boy),
watched them graduate from
Warrenton High School, and
saw them become, among
other professions, college
volleyball players and a fi re
captain.
Shepherd is also a con-
fi rmed seventh-generation
descendant of Comcomly,
the famous one-eyed chief
of the Chinook nation.
In the early days of Fort
Astoria, the Hudson’s Bay
Co. made Comcomly the fi rst
offi cial pilot for the mouth of
the Columbia River, where
the Chinook people would
launch canoes and guide the
incoming ships upriver.
“I’m a member of the
tribe. M y kids are all mem-
bers, as are the grandkids,”
she said.
One of Comcomly’s
wives, of the Chehalis, had
a daughter named Ka-Hat-
Lau, or “Princess Margaret.”
Margaret married French
Canadian Louis Rondeau,
who had daughter Mary
Angelica Rondeau.
The line eventually led to
Agnes Henry and her hus-
band, Arthur Rubens. The
Rubens’ daughter was Mary
Carolyn Rubens, who mar-
ried Conrad Petersen, Shep-
herd’s parents.
Shepherd’s
grandfa-
ther on her father’s side,
Gottfried Petersen, was from
Germany. His future wife,
Elisabeth Augusta Maria
Meyer, “grew up 18 miles
away from him in Germany,
but they didn’t meet until
they got to Astoria,” she
said .
In the book “Clatsop
The Shepherd family, from left to right: Carol, Christine,
Carolyn, John Sr., Cynthia, Connie and John Jr.
County, Oregon: Its History,
Legends and Industries,” by
Emma Gene Miller, Shep-
herd “was one of (Com-
comly’s) last heirs to get
an 80-acre section of land,
tax free, in northwestern
Washington.”
She was given a blue
card by the c ommissioner of
Indian aff airs, allowing her
to fi sh free of charge in Ore-
gon, although the card has
probably expired, she said.
“But I’m still a mem-
ber of the Chinook tribe and
have been for a long time,”
she said. “My mom was on
the council, and for a long
time we’ve been fi ghting for
recognition.”
Meanwhile, John Shep-
herd was originally from
Terre Haute, Indiana, joined
the U.S. Coast Guard, and
just by chance ended up on
the N orth C oast of Oregon.
“There were so many
places along the way he
could have gone, and I never
would have met him,” said
Carolyn Shepherd. “I was
way out here in the boonies
at the very tip of Oregon.
“He was on a cutter head-
ing to Alaska. He had never
seen the Pacifi c Ocean. He
had never seen any ocean.”
As the ship continued up
the coastline, “six men were
taken off the cutter. H e was
one of them, and was sent to
Neah Bay, and ended up in
Hammond,” at Point Adams.
How did they meet?
“John was swimming at
Coff enbury Lake (just miles
from where they would live)
with a friend. A bunch of my
buddies came out and we
were going to go swimming.
We were already in our swim
suits and were starting to go
in the water, and here come
these two guys out of the
woods. That’s the fi rst time I
saw John.”
Carolyn “had on the crazi-
est clothes,” she said. “Jeans,
a brown sweater and a black
straw hat,” she said. “He said
it was love at fi rst sight, but
I can’t believe him. I must
have looked like a clown.”
And “he was such a hand-
some guy. He was four days
short of his 18th birthday.”
And thus began the future
Shepherds of Hammond.
Carolyn and John both
graduated from Astoria High
School, Class of 1949, when
school-age children in Ham-
mond could choose which
school to attend.
“John had gotten out of
the Coast Guard and had not
fi nished high school, so he
joined me for his senior year
at Astoria,” Carolyn said.
They continued their edu-
cation at the University of
Oregon, Carolyn graduating
in 1953, John in ‘54.
“We got married after our
sophomore year (June 17,
1951), then we lived in the
housing that was provided
for married couples. Twen-
ty-eight dollars a month
rent.”
Carolyn already had a
teaching job lined up at
Warrenton, and John joined
Conrad Petersen at Warren-
ton Electric, later becom-
ing a partner in the business.
Eventually, he owned and
operated Shepherd Electric
in Hammond with his son,
John Jr., for 14 years, retir-
ing in 2001.
Meanwhile,
Carolyn
taught English to sopho-
mores, juniors and seniors
at Warrenton. “I was also the
librarian, because my class-
room was the library, ” she
said. She taught and also
served on the school board
for 19 years, and organized
the local Hershey track
meets for several years after.
Athletics is also big in
the family. Daughter Carol
played volleyball on the
Warriors state championship
team of 1972; and daughters
Connie and Cynthia both
later played for the Oregon
Ducks. The youngest daugh-
ter, Christine, was an all-
state performer in volleyball.
The Shepherd sisters have a
combined 10 state titles in
track, and still dot the record
boards at Warrenton.
John “Johnny” Shepherd
Jr., serves as Warrenton fi re
captain, and Christine is a
nurse in Eugene. There are
10 graduates of the Univer-
sity of Oregon in the imme-
diate Shepherd family.
Shepherd’s grandchildren
include former Astoria track
star Charlene Harber (three-
time state champion in the
triple jump); and Conor Har-
ber, a former Duck play-
ing professional baseball in
Mexico.
Crossing: First event was held in 1982
Continued from Page A1
spending money in the com-
munity,” said David Reid, the
chamber’s executive director.
“We always look for a bigger
community impact.”
Event capacity is usually
3,500 people but will be lim-
ited to 2,000 this year. A bout
400 people participated in the
virtual event last year.
“We lowered the event
capacity just to err on the side
of caution,” Reid said . “As
we fi nalize event planning,
we may increase capacity as
restrictions change.”
The event was fi rst held in
1982. In 2016, the event was
postponed, then canceled,
because of stormy weather
— marking the fi rst time the
race was called off .
Not being able to get event
permits was one of the main
reasons the event was held
virtually last year.
“All the agencies involved
have been contacted,” Reid
said. “Everybody is on board
and everybody is enthusias-
tic. We’re not hearing any
sort of restrictions. ”
The chamber will follow
health and safety guidelines set
by the Oregon Health Author-
ity and the Clatsop County
Public Health Department.
“Please know that we are
doing everything we can to
ensure that this remains a safe
and responsible event for all,”
Lay said. “Registrants should
be prepared to abide by any
safety standards that may be
required at the time of the
event.”
In addition to the changed
capacity limit, the chamber
will also be mailing partici-
pants event packets to avoid
having crowds gather to pick
up their race materials. The
chamber mailed race packets
last year for the fi rst time.
“In the past everyone had
to come pick up their packet
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
or G od forbid, Sunday morn-
ing,” Reid said. “It’s going to
be very labor intensive on our
part, but will reduce crowd-
ing … It may help us out. If it
works, it’ll be something we
continue in future years.”
From 8:30 to 11 a.m., the
bridge will be closed to vehi-
cles so event participants
can travel across the bridge
safely. Participants who don’t
fi nish the race by 11 a.m. will
be picked up by event vol-
unteers so the bridge can be
reopened.
Event registration will
open on July 14 and details
will be announced online at
greatcolumbiacrossing.com .
Participation costs $45 per
person and is open to all ages.
“We look forward to see-
ing everyone again this year,”
Lay said.
Continued from Page A1
ered more than 30 signatures
as of Monday. La Bonte said
Monday she was not aware
of the petition and had no
comment about it.
The petition echoes the
allegations of the fi rst com-
plaint Morris fi led, claiming
La Bonte did not disclose
fi nancial confl icts of inter-
est with the city when she
used Cannon Beach Design
Co., the sign company she
co-owns with her husband,
to order pandemic-related
signs for Cannon Beach last
year. It calls for her immedi-
ate dismissal.
“I believe we should
restore the integrity of our
local government,” Morris
wrote in the petition.
In the complaint the state
dismissed, Morris alleged
that La Bonte improperly
disposed of fencing material
the city had deemed surplus.
He claims she off ered it to a
contractor who was work-
ing on her house in the hopes
that she would get a favor in
return.
St. Denis pushed back
against these claims. In
information provided to the
state and The Astorian, St.
Denis said La Bonte was
tasked with disposing of old
fencing material that no lon-
ger met the city’s fencing
standards and could not be
used.
After checking to see if
other organizations wanted
the materials, La Bonte
fi nally off ered the surplus
property to three local con-
tractors and a city handyman,
according to St. Denis. The
contractor who was work-
ing on La Bonte’s home took
the fence posts, while the
other contractors took simi-
lar materials that would have
otherwise been thrown away.
At the time, a public
works employee brought
up his concerns about how
the city disposed of the sur-
plus fencing with St. Denis .
He told The Astorian he was
afraid the situation could
look bad in the small com-
munity . The employee no
longer works for the city.
H e said he was retaliated
against.
Morris has claimed La
Bonte also retaliated against
her home contractor, some-
thing the contractor himself
denies in a letter submitted
to St. Denis and the state in
February.
“In no way have I ever
witnessed her using her posi-
tion as the public works
director at the city as a
means to achieve personal
gain or take any inappropri-
ate action towards me or any
of my business associates as
claimed by Mr. Morris,” he
wrote.
Fireworks: Fourth of July is weeks away
Continued from Page A1
The Astoria-Warrenton
Area Chamber of Com-
merce, which is organizing
the show, has been careful
not to broadcast informa-
tion beyond the local area,
said David Reid, the cham-
ber’s executive director.
They are encouraging peo-
ple to watch the fi reworks
from city parks or their own
homes.
The chamber is tak-
ing other precautions, too:
arranging for larger shells
and for the barge where
the fi reworks are launched
to be farther out on the
river so the fi reworks will
shoot higher and the show
can be seen far and wide
without people needing to
crowd along the Astoria
Riverwalk.
The chamber canceled
its offi cial show last year
because of the pandemic,
but local businesses later
joined together to fund a
surprise show.
“We still believe that
having an organized fi re-
works display is safer than
not,” Reid said. “And we
learned that last year as we
saw more of the personal
fi reworks going on which
leads to gatherings in
smaller groups and people
closer together without the
messaging that goes along
with (an organized event).”
In Seaside, between the
offi cial and unoffi cial cel-
ebrations, the Fourth of
July can sometimes feel
like a war zone. The city’s
fi reworks event can draw
nearly 50,000 people.
Last year, the offi cial
show was canceled because
of concerns over the pan-
demic. The Seaside Cham-
ber of Commerce opted to
cancel the show once again
this year, citing fi nancial
and logistical issues.
“We’re not able to get
everything together to
make a safe show,” Brian
Owen, the CEO of the Sea-
side Chamber of Com-
merce, told The Astorian in
May.
Cannon Beach lead-
ers had hoped there would
be an event in Seaside to
draw some pressure away
from their city and popular
beaches.
In Cannon Beach, fi re-
works have long been ille-
gal on the beach itself, but
the city routinely deals with
impromptu, private shows
every spring and sum-
mer as tourists fl ock to the
coast .
Enforcement has always
been diffi cult, but last year,
city leaders took the addi-
tional steps of banning all
fi reworks in the city as well
as on the beach and increas-
ing the fi ne for violators.
Ahead of the Fourth of
July , residents plan to put
up signs to remind visitors
that fi reworks are banned.
Fourth of July is weeks
away and summer hasn’t
even started, but the Can-
non Beach Police Depart-
ment has already dealt with
several instances of illegal
fi reworks.
Someone was able to
record a video of a recent
incident and pass the infor-
mation to police. When
offi cers tracked the fi re-
works to their source, they
found 35 people in a vaca-
tion rental. Predictably, no
one claimed responsibility
for the fi reworks.
In Gearhart, the Fourth
of July parade will return
— with social distancing.
“We haven’t posted any-
thing but we hope to have
the parade back,” Mayor
Paulina Cockrum said
at a recent City Council
meeting.
Elsewhere, the War-
renton City Commission
approved its traditional
Fourth of July parade, and
a fi reworks show will be
held in Ilwaco, Washing-
ton , on July 3. Long Beach,
Washington , where Fourth
of July fi reworks and hol-
iday celebrations on the
city’s famous beach have
sometimes sparked out-
rage in the community, has
decided not to hold an offi -
cial fi reworks display.
The city canceled the
event last year, too, after it
was unable to land a neces-
sary permit from Washing-
ton State Parks and amid
city leaders’ own concerns
about the pandemic.
The city puts together its
fi reworks budget in Octo-
ber, City Manager David
Glasson said. With uncer-
tainty at the time about what
could be allowed because
of the pandemic and the
likelihood that festivals and
other events would not go
forward, the city decided to
cancel the event.
Nicole Bales and R.J.
Marx contributed to this
report.
The US Mint will soon be releasing the 2021 Version 2
American Silver Eagle. This will be the first redesign since
the original 1986 release. This redesign is largely to put new
anti-counterfeiting technology into this world-wide popular
coin. There is talk about overt and covert anti-counterfeiting
measures. For great examples look at the Canadian Maple
Leaf, Great Britain Britannica, and the Royal Australian Mint
Kangaroo redesigns.The US Mint is keeping somewhat silent
on their features.
The US Mint will release/ship to the 13 world wide
“Authorized Purchasers” on or about July 1st. My A.P. has
told me my order “might” arrive the third week of July, aka
somewhere between July 19th and the 30th.
CLATSOP
COIN
205 12th Street, Astoria, OR 97103 • 503.298.3898
www.ClatsopCoin.com