6A • April 24, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Council hopeful about downtown pedestrian mall
City may brainstorm with chamber,
piggyback on existing event at fi rst
By Erick Bengel
Cannon Beach Gazette
The city of Cannon
Beach is toying with the
idea of establishing a down-
town “pedestrian mall.”
Every so often, per-
haps one or two evenings a
month, the city would close
off a section of Hemlock
Street to vehicular traf¿ c,
opening it up to pedestri-
ans, restaurants that want
to set up tables in the street,
and other businesses and
organizations that would
hold family-friendly func-
tions. Music and entertain-
ment may also become reg-
ular features of the mall.
The City Council listed
a pedestrian mall as one of
its goals during the group’s
January goal-setting retreat.
City Manager Brant Kucera
raised the issue at the April
14 work session to get the
planning underway and
give the city enough time to
“try it out this year.”
“I’ve seen this (done)
in many communities,”
Kucera said. “There is no
doubt that they are very
successful events. I’ve nev-
er heard of this being an
unpopular thing to do any-
where.”
Kennett Square, Penn-
sylvania created some-
thing similar while Kucera
worked there. One thing
he learned was that people
were already familiar with
the concept. “It’s not like
we just invented some-
thing,” he said. “We’re just
doing what a lot of other
places were doing.”
It would need to happen
on evenings that are busy
but not too busy; Thurs-
days work best in Kucera’s
experience, he said. The
event could be modeled on
well-known First Thursday
events held in Portland and
other towns with robust arts
scenes.
Mayor Sam Steidel
suggested that, at ¿ rst,
the pedestrian mall could
be adapted to an exist-
ing event, like the Gallery
Group’s Spring Unveiling
or Plein Air & More arts
festivals.
Eventually, though, it
could evolve into an event
unto itself, bringing more
locals and tourists into
town, stimulating the retail
and restaurant industries,
and raising the pro¿ le of
downtown Cannon Beach.
Business community
Rather than simply
spring the pedestrian mall
on downtown businesses,
the city should give them
an opportunity to “buy in”
to the concept, Kucera said.
Councilor Mike Bene-
¿ eld proposed that the
city work with the Cannon
Beach Chamber of Com-
merce, perhaps by putting
together an ad hoc group to
brainstorm the event.
Courtland Carrier, the
chamber’s executive direc-
tor who was seated in the
audience, said that he had
already spoken to a number
of people in the community
about the pedestrian mall
idea, and “there’s a lot of
people interested in it.”
He mentioned, however,
that some research would
need to be done to antic-
ipate the possible down-
sides.
“Traf¿ c control is going
to be the big issue that we
need to address, obvious-
ly,” Kucera said, noting that
the public works and police
departments will need to be
“heavily involved.”
In addition, the city
will have to ensure that
the event doesn’t conÀ ict
with its restrictions on out-
door merchandising and, if
restaurants serve alcohol
outdoors, that it complies
with Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission rules.
Bene¿ eld encouraged
people who have been to
pedestrian-mall-type events
before to share their ideas
with Kucera and/or Carrier.
“It’ll evolve and grow,”
Bene¿ eld said, adding that
he has enjoyed pedestrian
malls elsewhere. “They are
fun, and they bring life to
the city.”
“I’m so happy that this
is being discussed, because
this is something I feel
Cannon Beach was ripe for
20 years ago,” Councilor
George Vetter said. “We
need to do it at least once,
if we never do it again,
because we’ll learn some-
thing.”
David would have a hard
time with the class material,
but he ¿ nally agreed David
could give it a try. The dean
recommended that David
start with the spring semes-
ter, but David couldn’t wait
to get started, so he ¿ lled out
the application for the fall se-
mester.
A short time later he re-
ceived a letter — Ecola Hall
had rejected his application.
Not one to give up, David
worked out an arrangement
in which he could attend
Ecola Hall and live off cam-
pus. David called this an im-
portant part of God’s plan: “I
would later see how import-
ant that rejection would be in
God’s overall plans for my
life. Since I lived off campus,
I had the opportunity to be-
come a member of the com-
munity of Cannon Beach and
didn’t have to leave when
school was over.”
In 1975, David’s pastor
mentioned that he had re-
corded the Bible for radio.
That gave David the idea to
record the Bible for the hand-
icapped, and that was the be-
ginning of Tryad Ministries.
Under his leadership, Tryad
Ministries became involved
in bringing God’s word to
the handicapped in a variety
of ways, and it continues to-
day to serve the handicapped
through an annual confer-
ence in Cannon Beach.
David is survived by
his sister Ellen (Bob) Clib-
bon, brother Mike (Greta)
O’Brien, Jim Haley (broth-
er-in-law) and various other
family members. Our com-
munity and his family will
always remember David
as an individual who loved
God, and life, and had the
tenacity to always deal with
adversity with a smile.
In lieu of À owers, please
make memorial gifts to his
place of work before retire-
ment, the Cannon Beach Con-
ference Center, P.O. Box 398,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110, or
to the Cannon Beach Com-
munity Church, P.O. Box 37,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110.
David’s celebration of life
will be held at the Cannon
Beach Conference Center
May 17, 2015, at 3:30 p.m.
OBITUARIES
David O’Brien
Dec. 27, 1933 — April 1, 2015
David O’Brien
David O’Brien, a long-
time resident of Cannon
Beach, passed away on
April 1, 2015, following
an illness that had lasted
several months. Many peo-
ple knew him as the man
who zipped around town
in his golf cart in the early
years, and then in his power
wheelchair, always with a
smile, and always ready to
enjoy a good joke. David
attended the Community
Church, worked, volun-
teered at the Cannon Beach
Conference Center, and
was the founder of Tryad
Ministries.
David was born in his
parent’s home in Portland,
Ore., on Dec. 27, 1933. He
attended Grout Elementa-
ry School in SE Portland.
One of the photographs
shows David driving the
family tractor when he was
about 13 years old, with his
younger sister, Ellen Clib-
bon, and his younger broth-
er, the late Shaun O’Brien.
David trusted in Christ
as his savior while he was
young, leading to a lifelong
desire to help others learn
about the saving grace of Je-
sus Christ.
In 1961, when David
was 27, his family moved to
British Columbia. While in
Canada he gradually became
aware that he needed to be
on his own. So nine years
after moving to Canada, he
returned to the U.S., moving
in with his brother, Mike, in
Portland. David described
those days by saying, “Work
was scarce, and so I worked
a little in a Christmas booth
and sold things door-to-door.
Looking back I can see how
much I needed that time to
prepare for the future.”
While in Portland, David
became involved with Hand-
icapped Youth For Christ,
and regularly attended their
leadership meetings. As he
became more involved, he
also wanted to further his ed-
ucation, both in the Bible and
regular schooling. He earned
his GED, but still felt he
needed to learn more about
the Bible. When problems
with his adult foster care
caseworker caused some
dif¿ culties, he felt he need-
ed a break and he arranged
to spend some time during
the summer at the Cannon
Beach Conference Center.
While at the Confer-
ence Center, David learned
about Ecola Hall, the school
now known as Ecola Bible
School. He knew that was
the Bible education he need-
ed. He spoke with the dean
of Ecola Hall, who thought
Judith Ann Osborne
Dec. 23, 1941 — April 14, 2015
Judith Ann Osborne
passed away Tuesday,
April 14, 2015. She was
born in Sacramento, Ca-
lif., on Dec. 23, 1941.
After graduating from
Highline High School in
the Seattle area, she at-
tended Central Washing-
ton University in Ellens-
burg, Wash., and became a
À ight attendant for United
Airlines. She raised four
children on her own; loved
books; loved history; all
things British; was a pub-
lished writer and member
of a local writer’s group;
and rescued many a cat
and dog over the years.
She is survived by her
brother, Donald Osborne
Jr. and his wife. Donna
Jean, in Wheeler, Ore.; her
children, Jessica Stoller
from Leavenworth, Wash.,
Jeffrey Stoller from Sea-
side, Ore., Joshua Stoller
from Nehalem, Ore., and
Brian Stoller from Myr-
tle Creek, Ore.; and two
grandchildren,
Zacha-
ry Robinson and Oscar
Stoller. There are nu-
merous nieces, nephews,
great-nieces and nephews,
her beloved animals, Pop-
py, Dixie Brindle and Indi-
go, and many friends. She
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was preceded in death by
her parents, Donald and
Louise Osborne of Cannon
Beach.
There will be no formal
service at Judith’s request.
Formal viewing was ended
on Wednesday, April 15, at
Waud’s Funeral Home in
Tillamook, Ore. The fam-
ily is planning a celebra-
tion and memorial event in
the near future, when the
full family can participate.
Information will be forth-
coming.
The family asks that
donations be made to the
Cannon Beach Library,
P.O. Box 486, 131 Hem-
lock St., Cannon Beach
OR 97110; the Manzani-
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Judith Ann Osborne
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