T he C olumbia P ress
1
50 ¢
C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly
December 20, 2019
Vol. 3, Issue 51
Painting the town red, green and sparkly
The Columbia Press
Downtown Warrenton has
put on its sparkly party dress
and is ready for the holidays.
Volunteers lined the first
two blocks of South Main Av-
enue with candy cane stripes
and hung banners and pole
decorations. Storefronts got
fancified.
WBA Chair Mike Moha, with son,
Sunday afternoon, May-
Connor, and Mayor Henry Balensifer.
or Henry Balensifer – with
the help of several children
– threw the main switch to
light the decorations on and
around the lighthouse muse-
Photos by Cindy Yingst
um at the four-way stop.
Elliott Strain, 4, visits with Santa. Below: A group of young-
“We wanted to support the sters helps the mayor throw the switch to light up downtown.
community and it’s just a
good kickoff to Christmas,”
Sara Rehnert (center) and her family. said Sara Rehnert, who
brought her large family to
the lighting ceremony.
Spruce Up Warrenton and
Warrenton Business Asso-
ciation sponsored the event,
which included visits with
Santa, an appearance by a
snowman and elf, hot cocoa
and treats, plus holiday mu-
sic.
Everyone waits for Santa’s arrival.
As time goes by, so do the whales. Especially next week
Courtesy Oregon State Parks
Visitors watch for whales at the Lewis and Clark
Interpretive Center in Ilwaco, Wash..
Thousands of gray whales are
migrating past Clatsop County
and you’re invited to view them
at several state parks during
annual Winter Whale Watch
Week, which begins Dec. 27.
Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department will have trained
volunteers from the Whale
Watching Spoken Here pro-
gram stationed at some of the
best spots between 10 a.m. and 1
p.m. each day until Dec. 31.
Sites closest to Clatsop County
are the Peter Iredale Shipwreck
in Fort Stevens State Park, Lewis
and Clark Interpretive Center in
Cape Disappointment State Park
in Washington state, Ecola State
Park, and the Highway 101 turn-
out at the Neahkahnie Mountain
Historical Marker.
The volunteers will help vis-
itors spot whales and answer
questions about the animals.
An estimated 25,000 gray
whales are expected to swim
past Oregon’s shores over the
next several weeks, part of their
See ‘Whales’ on Page 7
Fire destroys
home at marina
Seven children, three
adults are displaced
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
Fire destroyed a house at Warrenton
Marina Tuesday afternoon, leaving 10
people homeless.
Ben and Christina Secord, their five
children, plus Christina’s sister, Heath-
er, and her two children, all were able
to leave the house and there were no
injuries.
“When I got there, four to five min-
utes after the first engine got there,
there were multiple reports of people
trapped in the building and we went
right into rescue mode,” Fire Chief Bri-
an Alsbury said. “Once we determined
no one was in the house, we went into
suppression mode and were able to
knock it down in an hour.”
The fire was reported about 12:45
p.m. at 826 N.E. First Court, next door
to a city-owned property that burned
in 2018.
The fire was deemed accidental, Als-
bury said. Investigators believe it was
caused by a heat lamp over a metal tub
full of chicks that was just inside the
garage door. The chicks and a fami-
ly pet, Lola, a 15-year-old great Dane,
perished in the blaze.
See ‘Fire’ on Page 4
How to help
Donations of new clothes or chil-
dren’s Christmas presents for the
Secord family can be dropped off
at the Fenton Building across from
El Compadre Restaurant on South
Main Avenue between 10 a.m. and
3 p.m. today through Sunday.
Money can be donated to the
family through any Columbia Bank
branch.