March 11, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 9A
What’s
pouring
at the
Coast?
Seventh
annual festival
highlights artisan
beers
By Katherine Lacaze
EO Media Group
I
t’s that time of year again
when a handpicked lineup of
3aci¿ c 1orthwest craft Erews
intertwines with the culinary
offerings of local high school-
ers during the Oregon Coast
Brewer’s Dinner, the kick-off
event for the seventh annual Pour-
ing $t the Coast event, presented Ey
the 6easide ChamEer of Commerce
and the Seaside Brewing Company.
The dinner starts March 18 at
5:30 p.m. at the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center. Under the di-
rection of instructor and Astoria
chef Chris Holen, eight students
from Seaside High School’s cu-
linary arts program will prepare
a ¿ ve-course meal including Or-
egon pink shrimp, arugula pesto
and roasted Eeets potato and white
cheddar soup with lean cod gravla[
pan-roasted chicken Ereast, citrus
rife pilaf and roasted mushrooms
Eeef shoulder tender, kale, trufÀ e
oil and cauliÀ ower and chocolate
mousse, northwest Eerry crumEle
and sweet goat cheese. The courses
will Ee paired with ¿ ve craft Eeers
from the 1orthwest region, still in
the selection process.
Reservations, which are required,
are 5 per person and taEles of 10
for $800. Half the net proceeds from
the dinner will go to Eene¿ t the Sea-
side High School Culinary Program.
Pouring At the Coast contin-
ues March 19, from 3 to 8 p.m.
with a craft Eeer festival featuring
aEout 0 craft Ereweries, primar-
ily from Oregon, Washington and
California. -immy *rif¿ n, own-
er of Seaside Brewing Company,
makes the annual selection of fea-
tured craft Eeers for the festival.
The Sons of Aloha and The Ta-
Elerockers, a traditional Chicago
Elues-style Eand, are performing
live. Tickets for the festival are $10,
which includes a Eeer glass and three
tasting tickets, or $20, which in-
cludes a glass and 10 tasting tickets.
Over the years, the event has
featured more than 60 types of craft
Eeers, representing nearly 30 Erew-
eries in the region.
KATHERINE LACAZE/EO MEDIA GROUP
Seaside High School culinary arts students will take to the kitchen March 18 to prepare a fi ve-course meal
for the Oregon Coast Homebrewer’s Dinner, the kick-off event for the annual two-day Pouring At the Coast
event at Seaside Civic and Convention Center. Each course will be paired with a craft beer.
‘Culturally, it has remained a tasting festival. People are going
because they are fascinated with and have a love for craft beer.
It provides a really unique opportunity for people who wouldn’t
otherwise be exposed to these beers to have access to them.’
High school participation
This is the second year Seaside
High School’s culinary arts stu-
dents will participate in Pouring At
the Coast. The students work with
Holen and his staff to create a ¿ ve-
course menu. The day of the event,
the group will head to the conven-
tion center to prepare the food in
the facility’s kitchen. While Holen
is working with eight instead of 19
students this year, he doesn’t fore-
see that affecting the group’s pro-
ductivity or aEility to serve the food
in an ef¿ cient manner.
³They’ll Must Ee Eusier all day
than they were last year, he said.
³,t’s totally attainaEle,´
He plans to divide the students
into teams to oversee various cours-
es and then they will work together
on plating, “so we can put out plates
twice as fast,´ Holen said. After all,
the students have to serve aEout 135
people at the dinner.
Along with preparing dinner
during the Seaside Three Course
Challenge meet in SeptemEer, the
Brewer’s Dinner is the program’s
largest fundraising activity. The
program also Eene¿ ts from dona-
tions from community memEers
and Eusinesses.
Additionally, the dinner serves
as the ¿ nal e[am for second-semes-
ter students. As the second semester
ends March 11, Holen has “to Ering
Jimmy Griffi n, owner of Seaside Brewing Company
them Eack for a couple of days and
take them out of their other classes´
to pull off the dinner.
“I give them an incomplete un-
til after the Eeer dinner,´ he said.
“That’s their ¿ nal e[am. And it’s
aEout e[ecuting it and following
through and showing up on time
and showing up, period. That’s what
the lesson is aEout.´
In general, he Eelieves in giving
the students practical assignments
to improve their work ethic and give
them marketaEle skills in the local
hospitality market.
A love of craft beer
During the festival, tasters can
vote on their favorite Eeer. At the
end of the festival, the Erewery with
the most votes will win the People’s
Choice Award and a trophy — or
rather, a surfEoard the Erewery can
display and Ering Eack the follow-
ing year. The reigning champion is
Wild Ride Brewing of Redmond.
The Oregon Coast HomeErew-
er’s Competition also is a highlight
of the festival. The competition is
open to all home Erewers, at least 21
years old, from across the country.
They can suEmit — either through
drop-off or mail-in — one e[hiE-
it in each category. The entries are
judged March 18 and the morning
of March 19 according to the 2015
edition of the Beer -udge Certi¿ ca-
tion Program style guidelines. Win-
ners are announced at the end of the
festival.
The festival has evolved since
its early days, when it featured only
aEout 10 Ereweries from the local
area. However, while the venue has
changed and the numEer of partici-
pants grown, the culture surround-
ing the festival has remained, Grif-
¿ n said. In general, people at the
event want to collectively celeErate
and appreciate an array of ¿ ne craft
Erews in a single location, rather
than party and get wild.
“Culturally, it has remained a
tasting festival. People are going
Eecause they are fascinated with
and have a love for craft Eeer,´
Grif¿ n said. “It provides a really
unique opportunity for people who
wouldn’t otherwise Ee e[posed to
these Eeers to have access to them.´
Besides, he added, who doesn’t
want to attend a Eeerfest at the
Eeach" And Eecause the event takes
place indoors, weather is not an is-
sue.
“Whether it’s pouring at the
coast or not, Pouring At the Coast
still goes on,´ Grif¿ n said.
The festival is sponsored Ey
Fred Meyer, Ohana Media Group
and Seaside Brewery. The Brewer’s
Dinner is sponsored Ey Teevin
Fischer Quarry and Sysco donates
food for the dinner.
Tickets are availaEle through the
chamEer of commerce Ey calling
503-38-6391 or Ey visiting www.
pouringatthecoast.com.
Cannon Beach Chamber celebrates its members
Visitors to
Cannon Beach
spend $118
million each
year
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Fifty people gathered last
week to shine the spotlight
on particularly outstand-
ing memEers of the Cannon
Beach ChamEer of Com-
merce at the chamEer’s annu-
al memEership awards cere-
mony.
Bill Steidel, whose Hem-
lock Street studio Steidel’s
Art has Eeen an important
part of the Cannon Beach
community for decades, re-
ceived the Lifetime Achieve-
ment Award.
“We as a group are respon-
siEle for creating the reputa-
tion that Cannon Beach has,´
ChamEer ([ecutive Director
Court Carrier said, display-
ing numerous accolades the
city has received .
The chamEer Eoard in-
cludes people from restau-
rant, retail, wellness, real
estate, Eanking, government
and hospitality perspectives.
“We have a mix of in-
dustries that we come from,
2016 winners
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Bill Steidel
EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE : Dogs Al-
lowed
EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP : Cannon Beach Police
Chief Jason Schermerhorn
SPONSOR OF THE YEAR : Coaster Construction
VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR: Sheri Russell
MEMBER OF THE YEAR : The Wine Shack
and that’s on purpose,´ said
Eoard President Steven Sin-
kler, who owns The Wine
Shack with his wife, Mary-
anne. “We want to get every-
Eody’s feedEack from their
industry, to see how deci-
sions we make impact their
Eusinesses.´
After Sinkler leaves the
Eoard in -une, -ason Scher-
merhorn, who serves as vice
president, will ¿ ll his posi-
tion.
“It is going to Ee a mar-
velous opportunity to work
with Jason when he takes of-
¿ ce,´ Carrier said.
Also celeErated were
chamEer Treasurer George
Vetter, Secretary Christen
Allsop and at-large memEers,
RoEin Risley, Becki Filan,
Rachel Conyers, John 1ew-
man and Greg SwedenEorg.
A report on tourism’s eco-
nomic impact showed 2015
transient room taxes were
$3,690,791, a 13 percent in-
crease compared to the pre-
vious year. These taxes come
from more than $6 million
in lodging revenue. Com-
Eining sales from other in-
dustries, visitors spend more
than $118 million. Using the
multiplier effect, which takes
into account money re-spent
within the community Ey em-
ployees of local Eusinesses,
the value of the tourism in-
dustry is aEout $35 million.
The chamEer recogni]ed
its annual supporters, which
grew from nine to 17 in the
past year.
The chamEer also offered
memorial rememErances for
Terry Swigart, RoE Spoon-
er, and Wendy Richardson.
Swigart was the owner, with
wife Carmen, of the Sea
R.J. MARX/ CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce President Steve Sinkler presents the Excellence in
Leadership award to Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn .
R.J. MARX/ CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
R.J. MARX/ CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
R.J. MARX/ CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Steve Sinkler shares the
Member of the Year award
for Th e Wine Shack with his
wife, Maryanne.
John Nelson of Coaster
Construction receives the
S ponsor of the Year award
from Steve Sinkler.
Steve Sinkler presents the
Volunteer of the Year award
to Sheri Russell of Colum-
bia Bank .
Ranch Resort and StaEles in
Cannon Beach. Spooner was
known as a puElisher and au-
thor. Richardson had owned
a Christmas shop, ’Tis the
Season, in Cannon Beach
and was a longtime sales
representative for (O Media
Group.