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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, MARcH 29, 2022
Oja: ‘We can’t
wait for the festival’
continued from Page A1
back,” she said. “We tried
to limp along over the last
couple years. We did the
downtown stationary Optog
parade, which turned out to
be a lot of fun.”
And a blessing in
disguise.
The stationary parade,
where motorists drive by
participants who stand on
the sidewalk, “got us down-
town again,” Oja said. “We
had the festival years ago at
the high school, and prior
to that at the armory and
the old fairgrounds where
the aquatic center is.
“We were real visible to
people coming into Astoria.
We had lots of people who
would drive by and honk,
and we had a grand mar-
shal and people holding the
flags.”
People will see a few
changes at the Clatsop
County Fairgrounds when
the festival returns June 17
to June 19.
“The outdoor stage
where we’ve had the flag
ceremony, that’s been torn
down,” Oja said. “It was in
disrepair, so it’s gone.
“The flag raising will be
where the midsummer pole
is, and we will open at 2
o’clock on Friday.”
The festival unoffi-
cially starts earlier that Fri-
day with the dedication of
the Astoria Nordic Her-
itage Park at 11 a.m. off
Marine Drive downtown,
“then we’ll all rush to the
fairgrounds for the festival
opening.”
Also, “the beer garden
will now be at the barn,
where we had the church
service,” Oja said. “The
church service on Sunday
will be back in the exhibit
hall. And we’ll close an
hour early.”
Festival
organizers
“really wanted to throw
a bang,” so Arrival, the
ABBA tribute band from
Vancouver, British Colum-
bia, was invited back.
Tickets are available at
the Liberty Theatre.
“A lot of the reserve seats
have been sold already,”
Oja said. “We had them for
the 50th anniversary and
also two years later. This is
our 55th year. We want to
pull it together and get the
momentum going.”
If you don’t see Oja at
the festival, you can occa-
sionally find her watching
Astoria swim meets.
She coached the Fisher-
men, along with Paul Gas-
coigne and the late Paul
Dessen, for 17 years, from
1994 to 2010.
“I always miss the
swimming,” she said. “So
many great memories. But
we can’t keep doing every-
thing forever. The baton
needs to be passed. I’m
sure Alyson (O’Connor, the
current coach) is going to
do marvelous things. She
really loves the kids she has
now.”
Oja’s sons, Curtis and
Clinton, were both swim-
mers, as was daughter,
Kristin.
Her daughter, Kaitlin,
“wanted to swim, but she
was a dance-teamer, too,”
with Pizazz.
And all of Carla and
Alan Oja’s children love
the Scandinavian festival.
“As one of my kids says,
they’d rather miss Christ-
mas than the Scandina-
vian festival,” Oja said.
“Just like the Regatta and
all these things we haven’t
been able to have, we can’t
wait for the festival. Let’s
get back to normal.
“We’re going to be
working like crazy the next
couple months until we’re
done,” she said. “Then we
can kick up our heels and
say, ‘uff da!’”
Levy: Fire district short budgetwise
continued from Page A1
“We’re looking at main-
taining
and
hopefully
expanding what we can
do for the district and our
patrons,” Fire Chief Kurt
Donaldson said.
The fire district, which
has a crew of about 20 vol-
unteers, hopes to add another
full-time employee to work
with Donaldson.
When the fire chief was
hired in 2019, a visioning
process with the fire district
board and volunteers identi-
fied adding an employee as a
priority.
“We’re at 640 calls or so
last year, and it’s almost start-
ing to be more than just one
person can deal with as the
only full-time person,” Don-
aldson said. “It’s probably
time for us to look at bring-
ing on somebody else.”
The new employee may
take on training, recruiting
and retaining firefighters,
and could allow the district to
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A firetruck is parked in a bay at the fire district station.
have someone at the station
at least one day on weekends.
The fire district is also
short budgetwise, Donald-
son said.
The firefighters need new
turnout gear, such as helmets,
gloves, jackets, pants and
boots, he said.
The money from the tax
levy would allow the fire
district to buy new equip-
ment and repair existing
equipment.
Fire vehicles, for exam-
ple, need to be regularly
maintained and the compo-
nents — such as pumps and
ladders — tested. “The days
of just doing an oil change
and calling it good — that’s
gone,” Donaldson said.
In recent years, the fire
district has turned to grants
to replace self-contained
breathing apparatuses — the
respiratory packs firefighters
wear when they enter hazard-
ous environments — and do
seismic upgrades on the main
fire station.
While grants may still be
used — such as for new car-
diac monitors — Donaldson
said relying on them cannot
be a long-term solution.
“They’re competitive, and
eventually your luck runs out
and you just don’t get ’em,”
he said.
The fire chief said he plans
to hold educational meetings
about the ballot measure for
the community before the
election.
Seaside: School district will also mull numerous fixes
continued from Page A1
“The crossing at Alder
and Spruce is a highly trav-
eled area during school
commute hours, but facili-
ties are inadequate for safe
travel for all active modes,”
the planners wrote.
Costs for that crossing
alone are estimated at just
under $214,000.
Sidewalk replacement
on Spruce east of Alder is
estimated at about $85,000.
Crossing improvements
at Wahanna Road and
Broadway are penciled in
at about $46,000 to install
high-visibility crosswalks
and curb ramps on all four
legs of the intersection.
At Wahanna and Spruce,
crossing
improvements
are estimated at more
than $197,000 to install
a curb extension and
curb ramps on the north-
east corner. School cross-
ing signs would be added
at the crosswalks across
Wahanna.
The school district will
also consider numerous
fixes.
The study area involves
neighborhoods within a
1-mile campus radius, such
as Sunset Hills, Whisper-
ing Pines, Lea Way, Spruce
and parts of Wahanna and
Broadway, where the Sun-
set Recreation Center and
Seaside Public Library are
located.
The Department of
Transportation
partners
with the city and school
district to work on and fund
the Safe Routes to School
project
identification
papers, Kenneth Shonk-
wiler, the senior region
planner for ODOT, said.
“We are involved to help
the school district and city
but also to come up with
solutions on ODOT right
of way for children access-
ing school via active trans-
portation,” he said. “The
solutions range from physi-
cal infrastructure to educa-
tional and enforcement-re-
lated. The planning project
identifies solutions that can
then be funded by the Safe
Routes to School construc-
tion grant.”
The city has already
tackled a few projects,
such as creating a cross-
walk on Spruce and restrip-
ing the road at the intersec-
tion with Wahanna Road to
add a turn lane.
Right now, the planning
document is still a draft.
“Input from the com-
munity is a vital part of
the process,” said Kathy
Kleczek, the Safe Routes
to School region coordi-
nator, who oversees proj-
ects in Clatsop, Tillamook
and Columbia counties.
“Everyone sees things from
a different lens, so input
from people that will use
the routes, whether school
related or not, is important.
“The plan will not all be
implemented at the same
time, and it will be used
as a blueprint for how to
make the routes to school
the best they can be for our
future generations. We do
not want to miss something
because we didn’t see it.”
Trolley: Almost entirely run by volunteers
continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Passengers get views of the waterfront from the Astoria
Riverfront Trolley.
The Harrisons, from
Tigard, have been riding the
trolley for 15 years. They
were by their friend Brenda
Ayers and her two children,
who were on spring break.
“This has always been a
highlight of our trips to Asto-
ria,” Dan Harrison said. “This
being the first time of the sea-
son is awesome.”
Their children, 11-year-old
Teagan and 7-year-old Ella,
were also repeat passengers.
As more riders got on and
completely filled each pol-
ished wooden seat, Ella stood
at the front, gazing ahead like
a ship’s captain at the prow.
As the trolley approached
intersections, driver Ann
Stiles encouraged Ella to pull
the cord and ring the bell.
Friday’s ride opened
Stiles’ ninth year volunteering
with the trolley.
“We were so excited,” she
said. “We were chomping at
the bit to get out of the barn
and get going.”
Stiles said that meeting
people is her favorite part
of the work. On Friday, the
trolley had passengers vis-
iting from as far as New
Hampshire.
“Definitely the interaction
with the people. But I love
to drive the trolley, and I love
learning the history enough to
narrate it,” she said.
The trolley is almost
entirely run by volunteers,
with one paid position for vol-
unteer organizing. It costs $1
to board, or $2 for a day pass.
For opening day, the fee was
an optional donation.
When the trolley reached
the eastern end of its route
near Pier 39, passengers stood
to flip the backs of their seats
and faced the other way for
the return journey.
Kemp and Stiles switched
places, and Kemp picked up
the microphone in the back
to resume his narration on the
history of the trolley.
“We’re just honored to be
able to be some of the volun-
teers that run it,” Kemp said.
Honoring
all doctors
We honor your perseverance
in difficult times.
We honor your dedication
to changing lives.
And above all, we honor the
many ways you offer compassion
and healing and hope.
In honor of all doctors on
National Doctors’ Day March 30
and every day, thank you.