The Columbia Press
January 22, 2021
Business and development tidbits
New care providers
Columbia Memorial Hospi-
tal has hired two new medical
providers,
one
of whom will be
based in Warren-
ton.
Kelly Cerutti,
a family nurse
practitioner, will
Cerutti
be a provider at
the CMH Prima-
ry Care Clinic.
Michelle Powell,
a family nurse
practitioner, will
split her time
Powell
between urgent
care clinics in Astoria, Sea-
side and Warrenton.
UPS contract
The Port of Astoria and
UPS signed a five-year exten-
sion on the parcel delivery
company’s lease at Astoria
Regional Airport.
The company is expanding
its footprint at the airport by
a third of an acre and will pay
significantly more for rent,
from about $800 to $2,831
per month.
UPS will continue using
the 1.3-acre site as its dis-
tribution center and base of
operations. The company
is one of the airport’s most
frequent users, with a cargo
plane leaving each weekday
evening.
Food truck
Warrenton Urban Renew-
al Agency voted unanimous-
ly this month to extend its
agreement with owners of the
Tres Bro’s food truck.
The truck, which is parked
most days in the gravel lot
next to City Hall, sells Nica-
raguan food. Owners Joshua
and Yadira Colby will contin-
ue to pay $200 per month, a
drop of $200 from the rental
agreement due to economic
hardship from the pandemic,
City Manager Linda Engbret-
son said.
The month-to-month agree-
ment runs through the end of
the year, although either par-
ty can terminate it by giving
proper notice. And the city
can return the rent to $400
on July 1 if economic condi-
tions improve.
U-Haul rentals
C&S Builders now offers
U-Haul trucks and trailers
for rent.
The company, at 1015 S.
Main Ave., is open 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. with 24-hour customer
returns.
Other companies in the area
that offer U-Haul services in-
clude Astoria Mini Storage
and U-Haul Storage of the
North Coast in Gearhart.
Liquor license
Warrenton City Commis-
sioners unanimously ap-
proved a liquor license appli-
cation for South Jetty Inn in
Hammond.
Owners Andrea Darus and
Charles Parker plan to sell
beer, wine and hard cider
in the motel lobby. The city
must approve the application
before it will be considered
by the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission.
Church hall planned
Bethany Lutheran Church
plans to construct a 5,000
square-foot fellowship hall
and multi-use building adja-
cent to the church at 420 34 th
St., Astoria.
The city of Astoria’s Histor-
ic Landmarks Commission
held a hearing on the propos-
al Tuesday as the structure
is adjacent to the historic
Adair-Uppertown Historic
Inventory Area.
The building, which would
be painted the same color
as the church, would have
an indoor space to store the
church van, a kitchen, bath-
rooms, showers and storage
space.
Construction is expected
to cost $600,000, of which
the congregation already has
raised a third.
3
Singer-songwriter’s kin lived locally
The Columbia Press
Everybody has a family story
to tell.
Hilmar Lofgren and three
brothers emigrated from Swe-
den to Deep River, Wash., and
later, Astoria in the early part of
last century; all of them became
carpenters.
Lofgren and his wife, Freda,
spent decades in Astoria and the
brothers built many of the city’s
homes and other structures.
One of Hilmar’s brothers,
Adolph, eventually left for Chi-
cago, where he married and be-
came the father of one of rock
music’s legendary performers,
Nils Lofgren.
Lofgren, 69, joined Neil
Young’s band when he was 18,
touring the world and playing
on Young’s platinum “After the
Gold Rush” album and “To-
night’s the Night.”
He released several solo al-
bums in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s
and joined Bruce Springsteen’s
E Street Band as a guitarist,
playing in more than 150 shows
worldwide on the Born in the
USA tour.
He also played with Ringo
Starr, Branford Marsalis, Cab
Calloway, Willie Nelson, Jerry
Lee Lewis, Patti Scialfa and Lou
Reed. His music was featured in
the HBO show, “The Sopranos.”
In 2014, he released a 10-disc
boxed set providing a retrospec-
tive of his work over five de-
cades.
In 2016, the nation of Sweden
recognized him for his contribu-
tions to music.
His most recent appearance
was in December with Bruce
Springsteen on Saturday Night
Live.
It’s stories like Lofgren’s --
with their local links – that get
local historians excited.
Liisa Penner, retired archivist
for the Clatsop County Histori-
cal Society, is working on a story
about the Lofgrens for Cumtux,
the society’s quarterly publica-
tion.
Terry Arnall of Warrenton,
historian for Astor Lodge 215
of the Vasa Order of America, a
What’s your story?
If you have information or
photos of the Lofgrens or
are willing to share local
stories about your family,
please contact Terry Arnall
at dougray12@gmail.com.
Jan M. Lundahl
Guitarist Nils Lofgren
Swedish fraternal organization,
is working with Penner.
Hilmar and Freda Lofgren,
who were active in the lodge,
left its members a $10,000 leg-
acy for a new building in the
1980s.
Arnall also is volunteering
with the Warrenton Heritage
Museum, which opened last
year in the purple building
across from City Hall.
“Maybe people in Warrenton
have interesting stories in their
family, too,” Arnall said. “It’s
something people can do, like a
pandemic puzzle.”
Eventually the group plans to
give lectures on the history of
the city and its people.
Arnall, 71, grew up in Ham-
mond across the street from
the Point Adams Coast Guard
station – now a fishery research
center owned by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-
ministration.
Her great-grandfather, Wer-
ner Storm, also lived in Ham-
mond and worked in the local
store.
“He had two brothers who
worked on the jetty,” Arnall
said. “Edward Storm was killed
on the jetty. Charles became
blind from an explosion on the
jetty. Poor health from the inju-
ries caused his death.”
Arnall’s other great-grandfa-
ther worked as a cook on Til-
lamook rock, where the aban-
doned lighthouse is off the coast
of Seaside.