Cannon Beach gazette., December 18, 2015, Page 12A, Image 12

12A • December 18, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Students present local author with
Oregon Coast Literary Award
Peter Lindsey shares anecdotes of
Cannon Beach’s ‘history and characters’
By Katherine Lacaze
EO Media Group
Making connections. That
was the message local author
Peter Lindsey delivered as he
received the Oregon Coast Lit-
erary Award from Seaside High
School students. The annual
event celebrates Oregon’s offer-
ing of diverse, talented authors
and literature.
“Stories link us to the past
and prepare us for the future,”
Lindsey said. “In this transitory,
ephemeral world, stories alone
endure. What are each of us in
our lives but a story?”
The awards were held Dec.
2, at the Coaster Theatre Play-
house. Seaside students pre-
sented Lindsey with the award
for his anecdotal history of
Cannon Beach, “Comin’ in
Over the Rock.” They also read
excerpts written by two books
chosen as ¿nalists Laini Tay-
lor’s “Daughter of Smoke and
Bone” and Storm Large’s “Cra-
zy Enough.”
The Oregon Coast Liter-
ary Awards, started in 2012 by
teacher Adrian Anderson, used
to be a project of the senior hon-
ors English class. This year, the
class started as an elective with
seven students. New English
teacher LeeAnn Schmelzen-
bach led the class.
Making ‘a connection’
The class encourages stu-
dents not only to read, but to
read locally, and it promotes “a
connection” with people across
communities and the state,
Schmelzenbach said. After all,
she added, that is what sto-
ries are connections. Lindsey
echoed that sentiment during a
speech at the ceremony.
The selection of ¿nalists
alone — whose work included
a memoir, a fantasy novel and
an anecdotal history — shows
the breadth and depth of great
literature being composed in
Oregon, Schmelzenbach said.
“The class encourages stu-
dents to see there is a lot out
there, and all of it is valuable,”
she said.
Each year, students in the
class pick the criteria by which
they will judge books written
by authors who have spent a
substantial amount of time in
Oregon and who are still living.
The students this year picked
four criteria compelling plot,
impact, depth of character and
depth of theme. The students
said Lindsey’s book “Comin’
in Over the Rock” excelled in
these categories.
The students each selected a
book to read and then presented
it to the class. Once the ¿nalists
are chosen, the students read
each of the books and pick a
winner. Past recipients of the lit-
erary award include Craig Les-
ley, author of “The Sky Fisher-
man,” Cheryl Strayed, author of
“Tiny Beautiful Things,” and
Brian Doyle, author of “Mink
River.”
Lindsey’s account of
Cannon Beach
Lindsey, who moved with
his family to Cannon Beach in
1954, is a folklorist, who par-
ticularly enjoys the tradition of
oral storytelling and passing on
stories through the generations
by word of mouth. At the cer-
emony, he shared several sto-
ries that capture his memories
as both a student and teacher at
Seaside High School.
“Seaside High has never
been large in numbers but al-
ways has been very large in
spirit and soul,” Lindsey said.
Addressing students, he added,
“You should indeed be proud of
your school and yourselves and
SUBMITTED PHOTO
During the art of ethnobotany class,
the students spent a lot of time outside
observing, identifying and drawing
plants.
Class inspires
students to
appreciate
native plants
By Katherine Lacaze
EO Media Group
KATHERINE LACAZE/EO MEDIA GROUP
Seaside High School student Jesse Trott presents Oregon author Pe-
ter Lindsey with awards and gifts for being selected the recipient of
the 2015 Oregon Coast Literary Award.
those who preceded you.”
Graduates of the high school
have included Rhodes Scholars,
renowned marine biologists,
famed authors and educators,
leaders of corporations and
even a former president of the
Lincoln Center for the Perform-
ing Arts in New York City, he
said. He told students he was
honored and touched to receive
the literary award this year.
Lindsey also shared stories
from his book, “Comin’ in Over
the Rock,” originally published
in 2004. The Cannon Beach com-
munity recently held a bene¿t to
raise funds so Lindsey can reprint
a new edition of the book with
additional stories and photos.
The book is taglined as “A
Storyteller’s History of Can-
non Beach,” or as Lindsey put
it, “an account of the village I
have known, some of its history
and characters.”
Within its pages, readers are
transported back in time, to the
days Lindsey spent hanging
out with other teenage boys at
an old Shell service station on
Hemlock Street ran by George
“Happy Tooth” Malstead or
skating at the Wave Roller
Rink, the former inhabitant of
the Coaster Theatre. The roller
rink, Lindsey said, had its own
cast of characters Mrs. Walker,
who ran the sweet shop; Georgi-
na, daughter of the manager and
a young girl popular among the
adolescent male demographic;
and the unidenti¿ed Mr. Back-
wards, who set the standard for
skating when he “Àowed around
the rink like greased honey.”
Lindsey spoke of his father,
Harvey Lindsey, one of the
members of Cannon Beach’s
¿rst city councils, and a friend,
Stanley, who used to run the
Sunset Tavern where the Land-
ing now sits.
“I feel privileged to have
known those times and people,
many of whom made this little
village of Cannon Beach what it
has become,” Lindsey said.
A new elective class at Seaside
High School, offered during the ¿rst
term, introduced students to a combi-
nation of studies, including art, botany
and ethnobotany.
Teachers Julie Greene and Dorota
Haber-Lehigh offered the art of ethno-
botany class as an elective to 33 stu-
dents, from freshmen to seniors.
Throughout the course, the teachers
shared the importance of maintaining
a diversity of native plants and their
importance to humans and the ecosys-
tem in the Paci¿c Northwest.
“It was more along the lines of en-
vironmental education, appreciation
for nature and for what surrounds us,”
Haber-Lehigh said. “I’m hoping the
students will see some of it and have
different attitudes toward nature and
also toward being resourceful, being
caring and being more sustainable.”
Greene has more than 15 years of
experience in botany and biology and
Haber-Lehigh, an artist, has taught
multiple botanical drawing classes
and workshops in the community. The
two instructors were looking for a new
teaching opportunity and the chance to
offer something different for students.
They decided to collaborate on the art
of ethnobotany class.
“It’s something fun that combines
our interests,” said Greene, a special
education teacher.
May God’s love surround you
with good health and great joy,
now and throughout the coming year.
On Dec. 6, 1856, five Sisters of Providence crossed the stormy waters of the Columbia River bar into the Pacific Northwest
to answer a call for help from a new pioneer community. They found many communities in need of service. With dedication
to their Mission and collaboration with like-minded partners, their ministry grew. Today Providence Health & Services serves
communities in five states.
Providence Seaside Hospital and our clinics continue a tradition of caring that the Sisters of Providence began 159 years ago.
During this season of grace and giving, we extend our blessings of faith, hope and love.
www.providence.org/northcoast