The Columbia Press
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Clatsop County’s Independent Weekly
www.thecolumbiapress.com
Vol. 5, Issue 14
April 2, 2021
Pioneer cross an enduring symbol of spring, Easter
Pioneer Presbyterian Church member Denny Holmes works
Wednesday morning on repairs to the daffodil cross on the
front lawn. A work party to repair damage done by winds ear-
lier in the week is set for Saturday. The cross heralds spring
and celebrates the risen Lord.
Photos by Cindy Yingst
By Cindy Yingst
The Columbia Press
Even a pandemic can’t stop Clat-
sop County’s most steadfast sign
of spring: Pioneer Presbyterian
Church’s daffodil cross.
Last weekend, church members
inserted dozens of blooms in the
ground on the church’s front lawn,
blooms grown in the fields surround-
ing the church.
But the bulbs planted last fall are a
midseason variety and many hadn’t
reached full spring splendor. Then
came winds on Sunday and Monday
that wreaked a bit of havoc.
“This time it’s a little skimpy,” ad-
mitted the church’s pastor, Dwight
Caswell.
However, by Wednesday, the fields
were a riot of color and members
plan another Saturday work party.
“It’s an Easter tradition with us,”
Caswell said. “We like to remind
people that Easter isn’t just about
Easter bunnies and hiding eggs. It’s
also about the resurrected Lord. The
cross is a symbol of Christ’s resurrec-
tion. We have a hill everybody sees
and, with all the daffodils, it makes a
statement.”
Pioneer was established in 1846
and the church building – the con-
gregation’s third – was built in 1929.
It is the oldest church in Clatsop
County and the longest continually
operating Presbyterian Church west
of the Rockies.
Even the daffodils are historical.
Clatsop Plains once was filled with
commercial daffodil farms running
the length of Highway 101 from War-
renton to Gearhart.
Sometime in the 1940s, when the
world was reeling from the devasta-
tion of World War II, church mem-
bers sought to construct a symbol of
rebirth. And they haven’t missed a
year since.
A history of how the daffodil cross
See ‘Cross’ on Page 4
Mary Docherty of Hammond took this photo of her
husband, Scott, shooting photos of the US Naval Ship
Mercy as it passes by their house.
Mercy, that’s a big ship!
The Columbia Press
The US Naval Ship Mercy attracted a crowd of on-
lookers in Clatsop County on Saturday as it made its
way to the Pacific Ocean after eight months of repairs
in Portland.
The massive 894-foot-long hospital ship received a
major overhaul at Vigor Industrial Shipyard that in-
cluded a flight deck upgrade, propulsion and structur-
al work.
The ship now has a month of sea trials and other
See ‘Mercy’ on Page 6
Would-be shoplifter faces
much bigger charges
The Columbia Press
A Warrenton woman was arrested on
a variety of charges, including robbery,
after she kicked and hit a police officer
who chased her as she was trying to flee
from a local retail store.
Ashly Alexandria Lukoszyk, 36, was
booked at Clatsop County Jail on sus-
picion of second-degree theft, criminal Lukoszyk
mischief, criminal trespassing, escape,
assaulting a police officer, fourth-degree assault, and
See ‘Robbery’ on Page 2