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December 14, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
Santa: Couple helps light up the holidays
Continued from Page 1
an in-home care provider for
Clatsop Care Health District.
They are limited in their
appearances these days be-
cause of Ann’s work. But they
still serve as Santa and Mrs.
Claus for the annual Crab
Pot Christmas Tree Lighting
in Ilwaco and for the Clatsop
County Children’s Services
dinner and party for children
in foster care and their fami-
lies.
They presided over 300 peo-
ple at Tuesday night’s Chil-
dren’s Services dinner at the
Astoria Elks Lodge. Dona-
tions from the Elks, Kiwanis
Club and Coast Guard made it
a memorable event.
“We like doing the Children’s
Services dinner best of all,”
Ann said. “You see the kids
year after year. We hope and
pray we don’t see them, that
they’ll be in a better situation.
Some of their Christmas wish-
es are quite heartbreaking.”
The couple have many mem-
ories of their innumerable ap-
pearances.
They were one of the first,
along with Astoria Mayor
Willis Van Dusen, to ride the
Astoria Trolley. Before being
placed on the tracks, the three
rode inside while it sat on a
lowboy trailer driven through
downtown in the Umbrel-
la Parade, an annual winter
kick-off event.
They got to slide into the
Columbia River in a lifeboat
pushed off the back launch of
the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Peacock.
One year, when sheriff’s
Deputy Butch Godwin was
giving them an escort in his
patrol car, they were forced to
make an unscheduled stop.
“I’m sitting in the front seat,
the wife’s in the back seat and
we’re driving by the old Safe-
way when it was downtown
near the American Legion,”
Steven said. “I was waving
at the kids and one little boy
yelled out, ‘Don’t you put San-
ta Claus in jail!’ He was having
a fit.”
But the need for Santa has
died off in the past 15 years,
Steven said.
“After 9-11 happened, a lot of
the community stuff fell away.
People weren’t coming any-
more. I don’t know if it’s due
to kids having more to do on
their computers, their iPods
or what,” he said.
“A lot of the functions we
used to do all dropped off.
There was a shortage of funds
right after 9-11. It’s kind of
heart-breaking. The world
was changing and it’s still
changing today.”
Schools: Process begins on new middle school
Continued from Page 1
• Construction of the Ca-
reer and Technical Education
building at Warrenton High
School, February 2019 to Au-
gust 2019.
• Warrenton Grade School
siding, March 2019 to August
2019.
• Warrenton High School
roof, June to August 2020.
• Security doors at the grade
school, June 2020.
• Security vestibule and
doors at the high school, June
2020.
• Communications and secu-
rity cameras at the high school
and grade school, June 2019.
• High school siding and
windows, June 2020.
• Grade school roof, June
2020.
• Handicapped student up-
grades at the high school and
grade school.
• Paving and parking im-
provements at the high school
and grade school.
• Wall, window and flooring
for a play shed at the grade
school.
• Lobby carpet replacement
at the grade school.