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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021 • B1
WATER UNDER
THE BRIDGE
COMPILED BY BOB DUKE
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2011
L
ONG BEACH, Wash. — In its 66th year, the
Long Beach Rodeo Saturday and Sunday was a
success on every count.
“We didn’t even have to call in the ambulance this
year,” said Joanne Dalton, one of the organizers. “It was a
great rodeo. We had a good turnout of quality contestants
and were fortunate to have high level of livestock.”
The Long Beach Rodeo is sponsored by the Penin-
sula Saddle Club and has professional as well as amateur
events, including Pee Wee barrel racing for very young
riders.
Competition involved all the events in a rodeo from
bull dogging to calf roping to barrel racing, and of course,
the crowd favorite, bull riding.
“I feel good about this year,” said Jake Suratt from Van-
couver, Washington. “Last year, I was knocked uncon-
scious twice. This year has been a lot better.”
Sarah Harwood, of Seaside, and her daughter,
Bridget, arrived at the 2011 Clatsop County Fair
just as the afternoon sun burned oﬀ the remain-
ing cloud cover Tuesday.
Twelve-year-old Bridget hit the fairgrounds
running. Her ﬁ rst order of business: the 4-H
ﬂ ower arranging contest.
With a small bunch of vibrant, stem-dyed dai-
sies, plus others donated by former 4-H member
Vicki Wilkinson, Bridget spent 20 driven minutes
fashioning a miniature bouquet in a ﬂ ower pot
ﬁ lled with ﬂ oral foam called “oasis.”
“The 4-H activities are really cool because
when you get ribbons, you feel like you’ve earned
them and haven’t just been given them, ” Brid-
get said.
The Astors are coming!
It was likely shouted then; it will likely be shouted now.
But this time, it’s not the party working to establish the
fur trade and stake claim on the North Coast. Instead, it’s
the family for a party coming from England and N ew York
to celebrate Astoria’s b icentennial and see the place named
for their multiple-great’s ancestor.
“We couldn’t have a 200-year celebration without hav-
ing the Astors as part of the party,” said Astoria Mayor
Willis Van Dusen. “Their visit will be the crown on the
entire event.”
Lord and Lady Astor, the eighth John Jacob Astor, the
3rd Baron Astor of Hever, and his wife, Elizabeth, are
coming from their home in England to the bicentennial
Regatta weekend, arriving Wednesday for a four-day stay.
Accompanying them are their son, Charles, 21, and
daughter, Olivia, 19, to view Astoria for the ﬁ rst time.
One of six bull riders to compete at the Long Beach Rodeo, Jace Catlin, of Toledo, does his best to hang on to the
2,000-pound bull until the buzzer rings in 2011.
50 years ago — 1971
Sailing, long a pastime on the Columbia River, became
competition when the Sea Scouts appeared on the scene
Saturday and Sunday during the annual Columbia Paciﬁ c
Council Regatta.
The sailing race, won by the Regatta champions, City
of Roses, Portland, was the highlight of Saturday events
on the Columbia River. Five boats left the starting position
just west of the Astoria Bridge and plied the course west
on an ebb tide to a buoy oﬀ shore from Warrenton Lum-
ber Co., turning upriver on a dead tide to buoys oﬀ Tongue
Point, downriver, taking north and south for sail wind to
the ﬁ nish line just below the bridge.
A rash of injuries marred the annual Clatsop
County Rodeo Saturday and Sunday.
Five competitors suﬀ ered injuries during
action Saturday. In the worst case, Billy Stephens
suﬀ ered a crushed chest when he was stomped
and kicked by a Brahman bull. Stephens was
taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Asto-
ria and was listed in satisfactory condition this
morning.
Four other competitors were injured Satur-
day — two broken legs, one broken arm and
one broken ﬁ nger. In addition, one cowboy was
injured concluding action Sunday.
Despite the injuries, the rodeo was rated a suc-
cess by rodeo oﬃ cials. About 60 cowboys com-
peted for $900 in prize money put up by the Clat-
sop County Rodeo Association and an additional
amount kicked in by the contestants.
SEASIDE – Ton upon ton of sand has been slowly
building up along the Seaside beach over the years, until
now many homes are threatened by encroaching dunes.
Front yards were long ago smothered by sand, which is
now leaning heavily against fences and residence walls.
The sand build up is most acute in the area north of the
P romenade, which aids somewhat in holding back the east-
ward motion of the sand along most of the Seaside beach.
Complaints from residents of the north area about exces-
sive sand have been mounting, according to City Manager
Burton Lowe. But, since neither city nor state equipment
appears available or adequate to cope with the mountains
of sand, a solution is not near.
The state ﬁ sh commission conﬁ rmed today
it probably will oppose the Maritime Museum
waterfront park ﬁ ll at Astoria.
An Astoria carpenter was injured this morning, when
35 trusses collapsed on a building under construction at
Union Fishermen’s Co-op Packing Co., 320 W. Marine
Drive, Astoria.
Witnesses said the trusses “fell like dominoes.” Roy
Duoos, the building contractor, said they collapsed when
the carpenters “inadvertently released some braces.” The
other carpenters were up on the partially completed build-
ing, but did not fall, he said.
Today is the U.S. Coast Guard’s 181st birth-
day and it will be celebrated Saturday by Group
Astoria with a picnic for all personnel and
families.
Bridget Harwood, 12, of Seaside, carefully places stem-
dyed daisies in a ﬂ oral oasis foam during the 4-H ﬂ ower
arrangement competition at the 2011 Clatsop County Fair.
A sailboat in the Columbia River in 1971.
day rains in July in Astoria history.
The headquarters of the 13th naval air district
in Seattle has rejected an appeal from local tuna
packers for a U.S. N avy plane to conduct an alba-
core-hunting patrol oﬀ the coast here, according
to word received by the Chamber of Commerce
today.
One reason for the rejection is that no N avy
aircraft is available at the naval air station here.
Another is that naval regulations prevent any
N avy activity that might interfere with commer-
cial activities, and an albacore patrol is inter-
preted as within the scope of such regulations.
Sand smothers fences and a residence wall in Seaside in 1971.
75 years ago — 1946
As a concession to the ﬁ shermen using the drifts
through the ferry channel, the state highway commission
this morning tentatively agreed to eliminate the last two
round trips between Aug. 4 and Aug. 26 on a trial basis.
The ﬁ shermen have asked for the elimination of the last
three ferries from Aug. 1 to Aug. 26 and Sept. 10 to Sept.
17.
The action was taken reluctantly by two members of the
commission following the hearing held here Wednesday
by the engineers and legal counsel.
They pointed out in objection that the Astoria-Megler
ferry service had been taken over by the state upon the
insistence of oﬃ cial and civic bodies of this community
that better and long service be provided and that the ﬁ rst
responsibility of the commission is to provide such service.
Also they pointed out that schedules had been distrib-
uted throughout the W estern states and that curtailment
might strand many motorists at night, particularly on the
north shore.
July rainfall here totaled 1.96 inches, an excess of 0.86
inch over the average for July in Astoria, according to oﬃ -
cial records at the Astor experiment station.
Most of the July rainfall took place in one day, with
1.35 inches falling on July 8 for one of the heaviest single
The Northwest albacore ﬁ shery is 10 years old Sun-
day. It was born on Aug. 11, 1936, in Marshﬁ eld. On that
day the California pilchard seiner Robin landed one ton of
albacore caught oﬀ Coos Bay.
The sight of tuna, which has always stirred Califor-
nians, made a strong impression on the crew of the Robin.
After they returned to California in the fall, the seine ﬁ sh-
ermen spread word of their “Oregon ﬁ sh strike” in an eﬀ ort
to interest California packers.
It was the development of the pilchard ﬁ shery in 1935
and the fact that crews of seiners were acquired with alba-
core that led to early exploitation of the ﬁ sh.
Oregon’s albacore ﬁ shery was born into an indiﬀ erent
ﬁ shing world. The press paid no attention to the discov-
ery made by the seiner Robin. It must have sounded ﬁ shy.
The north shore has done a good job of telling
travelers about suspension of the two last trips of
the ferries between Astoria and Megler.
Only one car was left on the Washington side
at Megler Sunday night when the new schedule
went into eﬀ ect with the last ferry leaving Megler
at 8:30 instead of 10.
The Clatsop County 4-H club fair, which opens noon
Aug. 19 at the 4-H club fairgrounds in Astoria, has all of
the indications of being the largest club fair in the history
of the county.
Upward of 80 head of livestock are expected to be
entered in the fair.