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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2021)
October 8, 2021 The Columbia Press WHS coach competes like a beast Call him Coach Beast. Warrenton High School’s cross-country coach, Josh Fry, placed sixth in the North American Spartan Champi- onship Race held Sept. 25 in North Lake Tahoe, Calif. The 13.5-mile course over rugged trail terrain gave run- ners a grueling elevation gain of 4,000 feet, with the high- est elevation at 8,200 feet. The event was held at the Squaw Valley Olympic Vil- lage, home of the 1960s win- ter Olympics. Competitors faced 30 ob- stacles throughout what’s called the “beast” course. In addition to climbing Courtesy Shasia Fry and grip-style obstacles, there were rotating monkey Josh Fry competes in the North American Spartan Champion- bars, rope climbs, and a spear ships. throw. They also had to car- the Warrenton High School climbing the ranks in the U.S ry 75-pound buckets of grav- Cross Country Team for National Spartan Series. el up a steep incline, carry a two years, taking the team Fry not only competes in 100-pound stone, and flip a to the state championships Spartan races across the 400-pound tire. last year, where they placed country, he participates in Fry completed the course in fourth overall. local races and is working on two hours and eight minutes. Fry hopes to represent the expanding the North Coast’s Fry has been head coach of Pacific Northwest next year, running community. Fire-ravaged communities get funds to rebuild More than $1.4 million in grants is being distributed to 15 community organizations in Oregon counties ravaged by the 2020 fires. It’s the second round of funding issue by the 2020 Community Rebuilding Fund, a joint effort of Ore- gon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, The Ford Family Foundation and American Red Cross. Sixty organizations will have received a total of $6.16 million. “A year ago, devastating fires ripped through our for- ests and towns, and Ore- gonians responded quickly and generously,” said Max Williams, chief executive of Oregon Community Founda- tion. “In one year, the 2020 Community Re- building Fund has raised and deployed millions of dollars to sup- port fire-impact- ed communities throughout Ore- gon. Another fire sea- son, compound- ed by a new wave of the pandem- ic, continues to A project to reconstruct a public hall was stretch already funded by the Community Rebuilding Fund. hard-hit communities across in Jackson County; and the state.” $101,250 to support survi- Examples of funding in- vors’ recovery and rebuild- clude $125,000 to support an ing efforts in Santiam Can- emergency operations center yon. in Lane County; $40,000 to Donations to the Commu- the Wellness Project, a pro- nity Rebuilding Fund can gram that supports farm- be made at oregoncf.org/re- workers and immigrants building. 3 Business and development tidbits Food hub is restoring Sears building Astoria Food Hub, a coop- erative aimed at helping local farmers, fishermen and oth- er food producers get their products to consumers, is busily renovating the former Sears building in downtown Astoria. The Food Hub was start- ed by Nehalem River Ranch owner Jared Gardner and has grown to include farmers throughout the region. The group raised $700,000 to purchase the historic build- ing earlier this year. Plans are to open in December. There will be onsite cold and dry storage, a commercial kitch- en, distribution resources, a retail storefront and support resources. The waterfront warehouse was built in 1935 and served as a location for the Port- land-based Mason, Ehrman & Co. wholesale produce dis- tribution company. Buoy Beer Buoy Beer Company is ex- panding, with plans to build a new production facility and taproom adjacent to property it already occupies along the Astoria Riverwalk. The Astoria brewery will expand from its 20-barrel brewing system to a 50-bar- rel system and add fermenta- tion and conditioning tanks. The company hopes the new capacity will help it double production by 2024. The company was founded in 2013. The company shored up the decrepit Bornstein family fish processing plant on the waterfront east of the Astoria Bridge and built the brewery, restaurant and taproom with its signature floor window that allows cus- tomers to watch sea lions on a lounging platform below deck. In 2019, Buoy purchased Pilot House Distilling. “We have learned that slow and steady has worked real- ly well for us,” said Jessyka Dart-McLean, Buoy’s mar- keting manager.