A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2022
Cowapa: ‘Success runs in cycles in most sports’
Continued from Page A1
Two smaller 5A schools,
St. Helens and Scappoose,
will move down into the
Cowapa League.
The Cowapa is “going to
look more like it did 20 years
ago,” said Astoria athletic
director Howard Rub, as the
Fishermen prepare for more
road trips along U.S. High-
way 30.
“I prefer 30 to 26,” said
Rub, on his choice of high-
ways. He added , “(the Banks
Braves) have been a great
competitor. We have a tre-
mendous amount of respect
for everything that’s going
on in that little corridor on
26, between Banks and Val-
ley Catholic. They’ve done it
well and done it right.”
Also, “I know Scappoose
is excited to be back in the
Cowapa League,” he said.
“There’s a certain level of
respect that exists amongst
our athletic departments, and
that’s what makes it so tough
about Banks and Valley Cath-
olic leaving. But the same is
true about getting Scappoose
and St. Helens back.”
In addition to St. Helens
and Scappoose, other schools
moving from 5A to 4A next
school year include Crook
County, North Bend and The
Dalles.
Elsewhere, Neah-Kah-Nie
— struggling in many sports
in the 2A Northwest League
— will move up into the 3A
Coastal Range League. Due
to a lack of numbers, the
Pirates did not even fi eld a
football team last fall.
Class 3A Clatskanie will
move down to replace Neah-
Kah-Nie in the 2A Northwest
League .
Regardless of who’s com-
ing and going, Astoria boys
basketball coach Kevin
Goin was hoping the Cow-
apa would have added more
than just two schools. The
league will still have fi ve
schools: Astoria, St. Helens,
Scappoose, Seaside and Til-
lamook. Milwaukie will join
the league in football .
“I’m just disappointed
there’s not more teams,” Goin
said. “We need to get more
schools in our leagues. For
(boys basketball), it’s hard
to fi nd games. That’s why
we do so many tournaments.
I’ve had numerous calls with
schools from Portland, big
and small, to get games. It’s
become problematic.”
Goin is “fi ne with hav-
ing Scappoose and St. Hel-
ens. That part doesn’t bother
me. I was just wishing we’d
get seven or eight teams in
Hall: ‘We had some rough
times, but he kept his sense of
humor. He was always so steady’
Continued from Page A1
Gary Henley/The Astorian
The Astoria Fishermen and Scappoose Indians, shown here facing off in a 2010 football game,
will once again be Cowapa League rivals starting next fall.
ENROLLMENT
In the OSAA’s projected
three-year enrollment , St.
Helens will be the largest
school at 598, followed
by Scappoose (501), Tilla-
mook (454), Astoria (398)
and Seaside (313).
the league. We play 16 non-
league games before we get
to league.”
When
the
OSAA
expanded from four to six
classifi cations in 2006, they
went one class too many,
according to Goin and other
coaches.
“Five classes would have
been the way to go,” he said.
“The problem is you don’t
want to be the small fi sh in a
big pond. They moved quite
a few down from 5A (to 4A),
which I’m fi ne with. The big
issue is that there’s nobody
close for us to play.”
So long, Braves
Banks — the peren-
nial champions of Cowapa
League football and softball
— will now be a problem for
the likes of Rainier and War-
renton, as the Braves will call
the 3A Coastal Range League
their new home for the next
four years . Valley Catholic
will be in the Lewis & Clark
League, all 3A Portland-area
private schools.
“I’m torn, for sure,” about
leaving the Cowapa League,
Banks football coach Cole
Linehan said.
Linehan is a graduate of
Banks, played football at the
University of Oregon, and
later coached track at Astoria.
His football team fi nished the
2021 season ranked fourth at
the 4A level.
“We’ve had so much suc-
cess in 4A, and I wanted to
stay there,” he said. “We’ve
won the league four straight
times, so the idea of leaving
— that is tough.”
Since 2018, the Astoria
and Seaside football teams
are a combined 0-9 against
the Braves, which includes
Seaside’s loss to Banks in
the 2018 state champion-
ship game. Astoria defeated
Banks in the 2008 state title
contest.
“It’s rough that we’re los-
ing Banks,” Rub said. “The
Braves have been a big part
of the Cowapa League, and
have been very strong ath-
letically. They were a great
school to have in our league.
We’ll miss them.”
When the OSAA went to
six classifi cations in 2006,
Banks’ enrollment was at
429. Banks now has a pro-
jected three-year enrollment
of 269 — well below the 4A
range of 311 to 607.
Conference
of ex-c hampions
Sports wise, the Cowapa
League may be losing a big
part of its “Conference of
Champions” label with the
departure of Banks and Val-
ley Catholic.
Over the p ast 10 years,
most of the Cowapa League
state titles have come from
the Braves and the Valiants.
Banks won state champi-
onships in baseball (2019),
boys basketball (2019), foot-
ball (2018), softball (2012,
2013, 2016) and volleyball
(2015). The Braves also have
second-place fi nishes in foot-
ball (2019), softball (2010,
2015) and girls basketball
(2017).
Valley Catholic has col-
lected state titles in boys
cross-country (2014, 2016),
girls soccer (2014, 2017),
volleyball (2018, 2019), boys
golf (2018) and dance (2015,
2016, 2018). The Valiants
have second-place fi nishes
in girls soccer (2016, 2018),
volleyball (2017) and boys
basketball (2017, 2018).
Although the Cowapa
will still have state powers
in Astoria girls and Seaside
boys basketball and Tilla-
mook wrestling, the absence
of Banks and Valley Catho-
lic will leave some big holes
atop the league standings in
certain sports, such as boys
and girls soccer, both won
last year by Valley Catholic at
a combined 18-0 .
At the same time, the
league should remain com-
petitive in football. Scap-
poose was a 5A state playoff
contender last fall . B oth the
Indians and Lions also usu-
ally have strong numbers in
track and cross-country.
“We have been very com-
petitive racing against the St.
Helens and Scappoose teams
in the past,” said Astoria
cross-country coach Andrew
Fick, “and I think we will
continue to be competitive
with them moving forward.
There is a good amount of
camaraderie between run-
ners and coaches at diff er-
ent schools as well, and I’m
confi dent that even with the
changes, that culture of both
friendship and competition
will continue.”
As Rub and Goin both say,
success runs in cycles in most
sports.
“All of that stuff is cycli-
cal,” Goin said. “Banks only
went to the state tournament
once for a long amount of
time, until recently. You get a
run of kids and you’re going
to be good. I don’t blame
them or Valley for switching
to 3A. You don’t want to be
the smallest.”
In the Cowapa League,
that distinction will now
belong to Seaside. In the
OSAA’s projected three-year
enrollment , St. Helens will be
the largest school at 598, fol-
lowed by Scappoose (501),
Tillamook (454), Astoria
(398) and Seaside (313).
like e -books. Public schools
encourage students to sign
up and draw on what’s avail-
able. “There has been an
increase in the range of stuff
that we can get at the library,
and it is at no additional
cost,” he said.
The library system
weathered the 2008 reces-
sion. In late spring 2019, the
library system was address-
ing more budget problems.
Amid rumors of potential
branch closures, Hall was
guest speaker at the Friends
of the Ilwaco and Ocean
Park Libraries annual meet-
ing. He was resolute in
assuring peninsula patrons
that none of the three area
libraries were being targeted
for closure, despite their
apparent proximity to each
other.
Cheryl Heywood was
hired as executive direc-
tor of Timberland in 2013.
She said Hall’s leadership
was crucial as the network
addressed budget restric-
tions and found ways to
cut staff from 310 to 265.
This included a reduction in
senior administrators from
eight positions to four as
managers who left were not
replaced.
“We wanted to balance
the budget and continue to
give citizens the best ser-
vices, but with very tight
constraints,” Heywood said.
“( Hall) had a steadying pres-
ence and perspective of
the role of the trustees. He
steered the ship to calmer
waters.”
‘Wisdom’ to the table
Hall recalled the attempt
of the agency to have its
board meet at all of the
library locations meant sig-
nifi cant regional travel. In
the COVID era, after briefl y
closing branches and putting
most services on hold when
pandemic restrictions started
in March 2020, the sys-
tem found creative ways to
serve patrons with contact-
less book pick up services.
Programs that would have
taken place in person, like
author talks and some chil-
dren’s enrichment projects,
shifted to online platforms
like Zoom.
As president in his fi nal
year, Hall convened his fi nal
monthly board meeting on
Zoom just before Christ-
mas. After the business was
completed, board mem-
bers pitched in with tributes.
Brian Zylstra, who has rep-
resented Lewis County since
2016, commended Hall’s
leadership. “You have been
a steady hand with the board
over these years and shown
a lot of wisdom,” he said.
Hall reminded those
faces present on the com-
puter screen that he hadn’t
actually met three of his
fi ve board colleagues in
person — Jasmine Dick-
hoff , from Grays Harbor;
Kenneth Sebby, of Mason
County; and Nicol ette Oli-
ver, from Thurston County.
“I have big shoes to fi ll, and
I just hope I can do my best
in the new year, but I will
miss your presence and your
guidance,” said Oliver, who
will succeed him as board
president.
Regional orientation
Corby Vaness served
nine years on the board rep-
resenting Grays Harbor
County, all with Hall, retir-
ing in 2020.
The period coincided
with ongoing budget wor-
ries and the departure of an
executive director. “He has
a very funny dry wit,” she
said. “We had some rough
times, but he kept his sense
of humor. He was always so
steady.”
She said one important
element was embracing the
fi ve-county concept. “Even
though he represented
Pacifi c County, he would
look beyond local issues.
That’s the key to a board
like this,” she said. “When
someone wants to talk about
just their county, it does not
work.”
Zylstra echoed that, not-
ing that Hall always asked
good questions. “He cared
about Timberland and its
patrons throughout the
library district, ” he said.
Hall’s community ser-
vice hasn’t just been on the
library board. He served
three decades on the South
Bend City Council, contin-
ues on a north county board
that coordinates ambulance
contracts between towns,
and spent 14 years as a vol-
unteer collecting fees and
enforcing rules at the South
Bend boat ramp.
Vaness said this illus-
trated his approach. “His life
in general,” she said, when
asked about his impact.
“Being of service to his
community runs through his
veins.”
Firehouse: Volume of calls has increased over the years
Continued from Page A1
and tsunami.
City staff say the fi re-
house is not practical to ret-
rofi t and it makes no fi scal
sense to spend up to $10
million on a facility subject
to inundation. An August
cost estimate put the price
of a new Highlands station
at just over $13 million.
“With this bond we hope
to keep Gearhart and its
citizens on track to being
highly resilient, healthy and
happy,” Lair said.
The volume of calls
for service since 2015 has
increased 60%, with 660
calls for service in 2021.
“If we continue on this
path fi ve years from now
we are projected to have
nearly 1,000 calls yearly,”
Lair said. “We need facil-
ities to support that high
demand.”
Hopes for a bond
vote last November were
delayed by a legal challenge
that proved unsuccessful in
court. City offi cials intend
to put the bond measure on
the May ballot, with pub-
lic meetings throughout the
coming months.
In 2021, the fi re depart-
ment, which has 30 vol-
unteers, had less than half
the amount of volunteer
hours compared to 2020,
Fire Chief Josh Como said.
“With everything being bus-
ier, the response load is fall-
ing on fewer and fewer key
members. We have a super
strong, very dedicated core
group that keeps respond-
ing,” he said. “This is not
just relevant in Gearhart but
a countywide situation.”
The loss of volunteers
is a challenge for many fi re
departments .
“It’s a nationwide issue
now,” City Attorney Peter
Watts said. “Recruitment
and retention really have
been negatively impacted in
the last few decades. That’s
feet, according to Clatsop
County records. Since 2000,
the average has increased to
over 2,250 square feet.
“I think we have to kind of
think about where we want
to limit the size of houses
here and what we want the
village to look like,” McCa-
rthy said. “We’ve had a few
houses built here that did
take advantage, I think, of
some of the loopholes. And
I think that’s one of the rea-
sons that we’re looking at
the size of houses so that
we don’t start getting some
of these big box-like houses
that just don’t fi t the village
character that we’re looking
at.”
However, she said, there
are still several questions that
need to be worked out before
a decision is made. How
large is too large? How small
is too small? How much does
a family with three children
really need?
“I have a feeling once we
start making decisions, it
may be that places like Gear-
hart and Seaside and Man-
zanita maybe might take a
look at what we’re doing and
want to do something simi-
lar,” McCarthy said.
compared to a lot of other
places that are having to
go with a professional fi re
force instead of volunteers.”
2021
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McMansions: Several questions remain
Continued from Page A1
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