January 29, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Fundraiser for football fan in intensive care unit
KATHERINE LACAZE/EO MEDIA GROUP
Maggie and the Kats perform at a fundraising benefit for Samuel Whitehorn at Sweet Basil’s Cafe in Cannon Beach on Jan. 22. Whitehorn is in a relationship with Bridget Kitson, Mag-
gie Kitson’s daughter.
EO Media Group
It was standing room
only at Sweet Basil’s Café
in Cannon Beach during a
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Wesley Whitehorn on Fri-
day, Jan. 22.
Whitehorn was severe-
ly beaten in Portland after
an argument over a foot-
ball game . Whitehorn, 26,
is the boyfriend of Bridget
Kitson, daughter of Cannon
Beach’s Maggie Kitson and
lead singer of Maggie and
the Kats.
The restaurant set up a
collection jar to receive cash
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off T-shirts and a four-per-
son Cajun/Creole cooking
lesson with chef and owner
John Sowa. The mood in the
café varied as Maggie and the
Kats performed for several
hours. There was dancing and
laughter, but also a few tears
shed during somber moments
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A savage beating
“Saturday night my boy-
friend was assaulted outside
of Muu Muu’s bar on North-
west 21st Avenue,” Bridget
Kitson reported last week.
“He was wearing a Packers
beanie and a few Seahawks
fans didn’t like that very
much. So they got into a lit-
tle argument and then one
knocked him out so hard he
hit his head on the curb of the
sidewalk. Sam was not vio-
lent during this exchange.”
According to Whitehorn’s
mother, Kelly, from her
home in Little Rock, Arkan-
sas, Sam suffered a fractured
skull, concussion and a brain
hemorrhage.
He is in the neurotrauma
intensive care unit at a Port-
land hospital with a long road
to recovery ahead of him, she
said.
“He had to have emer-
gency brain surgery the night
of the incident and is slowly
recovering,” Bridget Kitson
said. “It will be a long and
bumpy road and he may nev-
er be the same again. The
person who did this to my
Violent acts ‘just not
acceptable to me’
This was just a spur of the moment thought,” Sweet
Basil’s owner and chef John Sowa said last week.
“Maggie and the Kats play here every Friday, so it
seemed like a natural to put something together for
Sam. As a restaurant we have the perfect venue for
hosting benefits. Too many people just get used to
reading and seeing violent acts and it’s become just
part of our society. That’s just not acceptable to me.
I’m a firm believer in passing it on so this is just my
way of doing that. We’ll raise as much as we can in this
little community as support for a family in need.”
KATHERINE LACAZE/EO MEDIA GROUP
SUBMITTED PHOTO/EO MEDIA GROUP
Sam Whitehorn remains in intensive care after a beating
over a football game.
boyfriend is still out there.
The part of his skull on the
left is actually still out (in the
fridge!) but looks ‘normal’
because of swelling.”
In an update on the “Sam
Recovery Fund” gofundme
page, Bridget said Sam has
been a Packers fan “since he
was a little bitty guy. I can’t
even explain why. I guess he
was just born a member of
the Packer Nation. He loved
Brett Favre and now Aar-
on Rodgers and Jordy Nel-
son. I talked to the media in
Wisconsin, and expressed
to them Sam’s love of the
Packers.”
Local donations
Sweet Basil’s invited
donations throughout the
Friday night fundraiser. In
addition, the restaurant do-
nated part of the evenings
sales to the fund, which will
help to pay Whitehorn’s
hospital expenses.
Kitson said she could
not wait to share with her
daughter Bridget about the
response from the commu-
nity, which helped provide
comfort during a time of
tragedy.
Even before the event
started, people who were
unable to attend in the eve-
ning stopped by to make
donations.
“Not being from the
area, I’m always amazed
how the community sup-
port comes together for a
cause,” Sowa said. “There
Sweet Basil’s Cafe held a
fundraising benefit Jan. 22
for Samuel Wesley White-
horn, a Green Bay Packers
fan who was hospitalized
after an allegedly unpro-
voked assault in Portland.
The case is under investi-
gation. Whitehorn faces a
long road to recovery.
is always close-knit com-
munity support here.”
The fundraising plea
has well exceeded its orig-
inal goal of $15,000. The
plea has spread nationwide,
including to Wisconsin,
where Packers fans are ral-
lying to Whitehorn’s aid.
Portland police are seek-
ing his assailants.
To donate to the Sam
Recovery Fund, visit www.
gofundme.com/samrecov-
eryfund.
— Katherine Laca-
ze and R.J. Marx con-
tributed to this story.
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Nick was born June 1, 1921, and he grew up in Seattle, Washington. He began working for US Steel
at just 18 years old, and he continued working there for 23 years. He met his beloved wife, Helen
Cornelius Nelson, in Seattle where they married in 1942. Soon after they were married, Nick served
in the Army during WWII for three years in the South Pacific. Nick and Helen were blessed with
four children: Larry Nelson, Lynda (Craft), Judy (Sweeney), and John Nelson.
After feeling led by God to make a major life change in 1960, Nick uprooted his family and moved to
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families worked together at the ocean side resort for ten years. In 1970, the property was sold, and
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