Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2015)
4A • January 30, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com At the Library CARLA O’REILLY Maurie Clark’s benevolence also touched the library As a relative newcomer to the library, I’ve been focusing on library history for the past few months, and the name Maurice (Maurie) Clark con- tinues to come up as an indi- vidual who played a stellar role in making our library what it is today. I’m told he also played a VLJQL¿FDQWUROHLQPDNLQJRXU town what it is today. As many “locals” know, our library dates back to 1927, when a group of year-rounders formed the “Cannon Beach Civic Club,” which was dedicated to the betterment of Cannon Beach as a whole. It was unani- mously decided that a local OLEUDU\ ZRXOG EHQH¿W D WKHQ much smaller community. The rest is history! As the library evolved from three shelves to many shelves of books over the years, a larger space became obviously nec- essary, and in 1973, thanks to the contributions of countless people, ground was broken to begin construction of a new OLEUDU\ EXLOGLQJ 7KH RI¿FLDO “ribbon cutting” occurred 2.5 years later. Back in the 1990s, long- time local resident Molly Edison, who was president of the Library Club at that time, worked at the Ladies Conva- lescent Home in Portland with Mary Clark, Maurie’s wife. The addition of a children’s room in the library was be- ing discussed. Molly and her then-husband Dan Schausten put their heads together with the Clarks about grant writ- ing and funding. According to Molly, Mr. Clark was a very humble gentleman who declined any publicity about KLVVLJQL¿FDQWUROHLQWKHDG- dition of the children’s room. His only request was that a well-established cherry tree growing on the site be moved to another location. Thanks to the late Maurie Clark and all the many oth- ers whose donations of time and funds have contributed to what the Cannon Beach Li- brary is today! be funded from the Public Art Committee budget. It is hoped the relocation will take place this year before tourist season. Sroufe Fountain Other events In other news, anyone who read the Jan. 2 edition of the Gazette probably noticed Er- ick Bengel’s article about the repair and relocation of the Sroufe Memorial Fountain, which soon will be situated on Cannon Beach Library property. The fountain, which is decorated with a bronze oyster shell and other types of shells, was built and ded- icated to longtime Cannon Beach resident James Har- ley Sroufe shortly after his death in 1964. The fountain was set up in Cannon Beach City Park, which Mr. Sroufe played a large role in creating. For a while the fountain stood near the Christian Conference Center. The project to move the fountain to the library is to Boac’s Bird Notes CARLA O’REILLY The Cannon Beach Li- brary membership meeting and brunch will begin at 10 a.m. Feb. 4. The February theme will be “Happy 88th birthday to the library!” Mel- odie Chenevert will speak on “The Lost Art of Nursing.” Come join us! “The World of Haystack Rock” lecture will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the library. Speaker Cameron La Follette will discuss “Land, Forest, Waters: Activism to Protect the Oregon Coast.” La Fol- lette is executive director of Oregon Coast Alliance. Northwest author Holly Lorincz will be the North- west Author Series guest at 2 p.m. Feb. 14 in the library. Her debut novel is Smart Mouth: A Novel, for which SUBMITTED PHOTO The Cannon Beach Library in 1976 had only three book shelves and was more a reading room than a library. she was awarded the 2014 Bronze IPPY prize (Indepen- dent Publisher Book Award). It tells the story of a new teacher’s struggles at a rural, underfunded coastal town high school. The teacher bat- tles self-identity and shyness and must learn to open her “smart mouth” and let her YRLFHÀ\ Finally, Cannon Beach Reads will be reading and discussing Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s well-known nov- el, One Hundred Years of Solitude, at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the library. As always, the library will have one copy of the book available for check- out, and additional copies will be on sale at Cannon Beach Company. New members welcome! SUBMITTED PHOTO The current Cannon Beach Library is filled with multiple stacks of books, a computer area for patrons and a chil- dren’s room. The library’s growth is due, in part, to the in- volvement of Maurie Clark, who was instrumental in devel- oping the modern-day Cannon Beach. SUSAN BOAC Finding 363 birds in Clatsop County is a lofty goal for 2015 Welcome 2015! Another start for my birding list! I don’t make resolutions anymore, but I do make goals for my birding. This year, while a lofty goal, I have challenged myself to see every species on the Clatsop County bird list. And although I haven’t put P\KDQGVRQWKHRI¿FLDOOLVW from the state, I am working off the list Mike Patterson put together several years ago. It lists 363 birds. I do this only to chal- lenge myself to get out and bird more. I see a lot of birds from the comfort of my living room, but out in the woods I never know what I am going to come upon. Like the other day at the Mill Ponds in Seaside, I was racing the light from the sun hoping to get around the pond and still be able to identify birds, when I came upon a noisy group of chickadees. I stepped off the path to observe and enjoy the cacophony of chirping, when, wait, what was that movement in the bush? A northern pygmy owl was the reason for the ruckus. It is a small owl and it had just captured its dinner. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks from Toys for Tots Toys for Tots would like to take this opportunity to thank the donors of toys and monetary value in this last collection campaign and the toy-drop places. We raised $1,250 to pur- chase toys and books. We put smiles on the faces of a large amount of children this past Christmas. The toys, books and games given out not only to children but also to se- nior adults total 20,871 dis- tributed items. Remember, Toys for Tots here on the North Coast covers Clatsop County only. We do not dis- tribute gifts; we collect and give them to the area Food Baskets program, Wishing Tree program and Giving Tree program. The area coordinators and I want to say thanks to all of you. Area Coordinators: William and Pat Kankkonen Tim Flynn Beverly Neubecker Curtis and Florence Peugh Tanya Wammack PO3 Tricia L Lichten- fels (USCG Air Base) SFE Kimberly Wright (ORNG Camp Rilea) and the USS Alert. County Coordinator: Lou Neubecker Seaside Haystack lecture series to continue on Feb. 11 Cameron La Follette, executive director of the Oregon Coast Alliance, will be the speaker at the next Friends of Haystack Rock Lecture Series Feb. 11 The lecture will start at 7 p.m. in the library, 131 N. Hemlock St. La Fol- lette’s talk is titled, “Land, Forest, Waters: Activism to Protect the Oregon Coast.” La Follette has a law degree from Columbia University School of Law. She has worked on coast- al issues advocacy for 10 years; her experience includes managing the Coastal Futures Project for 1000 Friends of Ore- gon. In earlier environmen- tal work, she focused on protecting ancient forests on federal lands in Oregon to ensure clean drinking water, salmon habitat and ecosystem protection. She also served on the Salem Planning Commission for three years. Friends of Haystack Rock and the Cannon Beach Library host the lecture series the second Wednesday from Novem- ber through April. Up- coming speakers include: Alan Rammer, retired marine educator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, on March 11 and Ram Pap- ish, wildlife artist, biolo- gist and author, on April 8. in to see what was happen- ing and a group of dark-eyed juncos came from behind me to add their chirps to the mix. The boldest of all the birds was the tiniest. A Bewick’s wren was getting close enough to almost touch the owl while adding its loud admonishment. The owl divided its atten- tion between the live birds SUSAN BOAC and the one he was eating, swiveling its head around In a few minutes, not only several times to look my way were the chickadees upset, as well. but a couple of ruby-crowned Still interested in getting kinglets joined the scolding, around the water in daylight, D QRUWKHUQ ÀLFNHU VZRRSHG I scurried back the way I came. When I came around from the other way, the bush where all the activity had been was quiet. All the birds were gone. Only three little feathers were left balancing on a branch. What a great start to 2015 birding! After spending many pleasurable hours with her avid birder parents, Susan has taken up birding as a passion, to the mixed emo- tions of her husband Scott. The Boacs reside on the Neawanna Creek in Seaside where their backyard is a birder’s paradise. SUSAN BOAC PHOTO A northern pygmy owl en- joys dinner. Dune proposal opponents environmental concerns may be ‘misplaced,’ says Morgan Dunes from Page 1A This move, he said, would not help establish trust between Breakers Point and the rest of the community. “To approve this tonight would be a great injustice to citizens of Cannon Beach,” he said. Resident Carol Bennett worried that the Breakers Point project could mark the begin- ning of an undesirable trend. “I started coming here 20 years ago because someone recommended Cannon Beach as this absolutely pristine, beautiful place,” she said. “The amount of sand they’re asking to remove from that area is going to change the north end enormously — and that’s one project. And, if you approve this one project ... it sets a precedent for everyone else to come in and start ask- ing for that volume of sand.” City Planner Mark Barnes said last month that the amount of sand to be excavated — up to 73,400 cubic yards — far exceeds previous dune grad- ing requests from Breakers Point, which has carried out eight dune grading projects since 2000. These projects fell within the range of 4,000 to 10,000 cubic yards. “Why are we going to let them do that? Let’s start with something small,” Bennett said. “That environment is for everybody. It’s for the animals. It’s for the birds ... It’s for the 8-year-old girl that writes a let- ter. It’s for me. It’s for my girls.” Kerr expressed sympathy for this view when she told Dean Alterman, the home- owners association’s Portland lawyer, that the proposed dune ERICK BENGEL PHOTO The sand dunes west of the Breakers Point condominium complex block what once were oceanfront views. The homeowners association hopes to relocate up to 73,400 cubic yards of trapped sand in phases over the next few years. grading may adhere to the mu- nicipal code, but “there also is an idea of the commons, that that area we’re talking about belongs to all of Cannon Beach and all the people who live here. So it’s not just about the code; it’s about a bigger picture than that.” Environment or resentment? At the previous meeting, the opponents also cited con- cerns about the environment. These included the possible harm done to sea birds and animals that dwell in the dunes and whether depos- iting large amounts of sand in the intertidal zone (which was changed in the revised proposal) would smother ra- zor clams. Mike Morgan, who worked with former Cannon Beach City Planner Rain- mar Bartl on the dune man- agement program, said the opponents’ environmental concerns were misplaced. He reminded the commission- ers that several dune grading projects had already been carried out at Breakers Point and Ocean Avenue with no discernible environmental impact. Neither the National Marine Fisheries Service nor the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which reg- ulates clam beds, provided negative feedback, he said. “Nobody, not even the most ardent environmental- ist, can say there was harm done to the environment, honestly,” Morgan said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with trashing wetlands, or spraying herbicides in the forest, or clear cutting or any- thing else. This is not an envi- ronmental issue, I would like to assert.” Morgan wondered wheth- er it was really a “resentment issue, that those (homeown- ers) should have the ability to remove the sand that’s ob- structing their view.” Ed Stone, a part-time Can- non Beach resident who owns a home at Breakers Point, said that dune grading opponents tend to malign homeowners and association members. “We are Cannon Beach residents also. I think that residents of Breakers Point have been characterized, somehow or another, as not real people, or not real resi- dents, because we happen to own homes someplace else,” he said. “But we pay our tax- es here. This is our home, and we’d like to have our views back, and this is a problem that’s not going to go away.”
