4A • April 8, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
Taking your
Want a school in Cannon
tasting skills
Beach? Start speaking Spanish up a notch
T
he writing is on the wall.
With the closing of the Cannon Beach Preschool after
38 years and the rejection of the Cannon Beach Academy
Eefore its ¿ rst semester it¶s not a good time for families of
young children ²unless they¶re on vacation.
The children¶s center
couldn¶t sustain enroll-
ment or meet costs. The CANNON SHOTS
academy which was
ready to open in Septem- R.J. MARX
ber with kindergarten and
¿ rst-grade classes also
failed to meet enrollment
and funding goals.
I
Shortfalls, low enrollment
In 3 community residents sought to bring a charter school
to Cannon Beach designed for kindergartners through ¿ fth-graders.
The school planned to open in fall at a temporary location at the
former Cannon Beach Athletic Club on Sunset Boulevard.
The academy was ready to offer kindergarten and ¿ rst-grade
classes but missed the promised kindergarten and ¿ rst-grade stu-
dents required by the district.
And they failed to approach the fundraising goal academy board
members told the district they could meet ² . As of March
they¶d only raised more than 3 short of their total.
Sarah Holmes enrolled her son in Cannon Beach Academy.
³I was thrilled that they were going to reopen the school´ the
downtown Cannon Beach resident told the Ga]ette¶s Lyra Fontaine.
Holmes was ³very disappointed´ to learn the academy would not
open this fall.
Her 5-year-old will likely attend kindergarten in Seaside this fall
if the district does not reconsider its decision.
³They have buses so that won¶t be a problem but I was really
excited about the prospect of there being a school here close to home
and part of our own little community´ Holmes said. ³We just moved
here a year ago and I was really looking forward to meeting and con-
necting with other families.´
A school might attract more families to the area she added.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Fundraising for the Cannon Beach Academy charter school
done on the grassroots level.
‘Blindsided’
Meanwhile Christy Bisping director of the Cannon Beach Pre-
school and Children¶s Center said last week she was ³blindsided´ by
the center¶s sudden March closing.
From bright beginnings in 88 when the city donated land and
the community pooled its money and resources to build the center
It had been a long slow decline.
In former Ga]ette editor Nancy McCarthy noted the center
was ³drifting toward closure´ as board members alerted parents and
supporters of the center¶s ³¿ nancial crisis.´
Public and private funding put the center on life support but this
spring it came to an end.
³Myself and the board were not aware that the ¿ nancial situa-
tion that it was so dire´ Bisping said. ³We did know enrollment was
dropping fairly quickly and that scared me. There were no plans to
put back until it was too late to ¿ x.´
Habla español?
According to the 8.S. Census in of Cannon Beach¶s
5 residents were Hispanic. That population is more than double
what it was a decade ago.
The children¶s center suffered because of its inability to serve that
population.
³We would get a lot of calls from Hispanic families´ Bisping
said. ³We don¶t speak Spanish.´
Bisping said she consulted with the Hispanic Council in an effort
to draw Hispanic families ³but that didn¶t work out.´
In seeking approval the Cannon Beach Academy developed an
English as a Second Language program.
But that program has yet to successfully receive state certi¿ cation
and served as a reason for the denial by the district.
Academy board members rebut the charge. They say the academy
had developed a program using information from the Oregon De-
partment of Education that they ³reasonably believed´ to be state-ap-
proved that is ³immaterial´ and ³easily corrected.´
Future vision
In Providence Seaside Hospital conducted a community
survey to determine how many of its employees and others in the
South County needed child care.
Asked about what parents go through when they can¶t ¿ nd child
care the respondents gave a variety of replies.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Th e infant room at the Can-
non Beach Preschool & Chil-
dren’s Center celebrates Val-
entine’s Day.
Christy Bisping, former direc-
tor of the Cannon Beach Pre-
school and Children’s Center,
is moving up to Gearhart to
open a new center there.
³I almost lost my job´ said one parent. ³If I don¶t have a job my
kids don¶t have a roof over their heads.´
³I am the only employed adult in my household of four´ said an-
other. ³If I don¶t work I am unable to provide bene¿ ts for our family
or pay the bills.´
These concerns affect every parent and the need is only more
critical today.
A survey mailed to homeowners asks for a future vision in Can-
non Beach.
Do we want a community of retirees transients part-time own-
ers people coming for wine beer and sand-castle" A workforce
bussed in from afar or a fully functioning community of all ages"
Services that are volunteer now will have to be paid without an
energetic involved community ² because visitors will be living
in Lake Oswego Gresham or Portland and just buying wine and
sharing getaway weekends in Cannon Beach. Volunteerism is a
luxury of the wealthy and the retired. Someone working three jobs
to barely cover their rent isn¶t going to volunteer.
A school is more than a symbol of a vibrant community it is the
heartbeat of one.
For now the faces least represented and least served are our
youngest ones.
t¶s been over a year since I successfully passed
my Sommelier Level 1 exam.
In that time I¶ve patiently waited for the
organi]ation I began my studies with the Court
of Masters Sommeliers to offer their Level
exam somewhere in the Paci¿ c Northwest at
a
time
that ¿ ts
into my
s c h e d - UNCORKED RAMBLINGS
ule. I¶m STEVE SINKLER
willing to
travel to
Portland
Seattle or Vancouver BC to sit for the exam. I¶ve
held off from crashing the books and the wine
tastings. Frustration was setting in. Then I read
about another Sommelier certi¿ cation program
based in London called WSET (Wine & Spirits
Education Trust) and was glad to learn they have
regularly scheduled courses in Portland New-
berg and Seattle. After looking at the program¶s
syllabus WSET seems to be a better ¿ t for me
as I won¶t have to demonstrate a wine decanting
wine service or champagne service as part of my
examination. While those skills are de¿ nitely re-
quired for a sommelier working in a restaurant
they aren¶t something I ever do or expect to do at
The Wine Shack. Time to get my somm studies
going again WSET here I come
I¶ve registered for an upcoming course in Se-
attle and am really looking forward to the class
time. The discussion on wine will be intense
with a focus on major wine regions their main
varietals and styles of production. The course
also digs into the winemaking process. We¶ll
study winemaking and learn how the ¿ nal À avor
and style of the wine is impacted by each of the
winemaker¶s decisions. This will be a re-fresher
for me as I¶ve already taken two years of enolo-
gy (winemaking) classes. Spirits are also on the
course agenda and so I expect they are fair game
for the Level 2 exam as well. One of the topics
I am most interested in learning more about is
wine-food pairing. Every day customers ask me
to recommend a wine that will pair well with
their meal. I have the classic pairings down cold
« pinot noir goes with salmon cab sauv goes
with a steak chianti goes with a Bolognese sauce
and chardonnay goes with chicken. But I¶d really
like to take my wine-food pairing recommenda-
tions to the next level and offer some suggestions
that are more experimental but equally excellent.
Because we carry a variety of cheeses in Pro-
visions 12 I am eager to share more about com-
plex wine-cheese recommendations to custom-
ers. I am also looking forward to the wine tasting
and evaluation component of the two-day class.
We can expect to taste and analyze approximate-
ly 40 iconic wines from around the world. We
will learn to properly evaluate a wine and make
a determination of what grape it is it¶s vintage
and what region of the world the wine is from. If
you¶ve seen the movie ³Somm´ then you have
an idea of what the process looks like. But in
the movie those candidates are preparing for a
master¶s level examination which is way beyond
the scope of this level. WSET doesn¶t include a
³blind´ wine evaluation as part of their level 2
wine certi¿ cation so this part of the program is
to get your ready for level 3.
But I always enjoy the wine evaluation class-
es. After the two-day course in Seattle I¶ll have a
couple of weeks to further study and prepare for
the level 2 examination which will be adminis-
tered in Portland. I expect to pass the WSET lev-
el 2 exam with À ying colors and then begin my
WSET level 3 studies immediately. That¶s when
it gets serious.
I may need some help with the wine evalua-
tion who¶s in"
Library volunteers make a diff erence all year round
H
appy springtime library
friends ² and it¶s ¿ nally be-
ginning to look and feel like
spring April is National Volunteer
Appreciation Month and we would
sincerely like to thank all of you
who have volunteered to make the
Cannon Beach Library a warm and
active hub of the community. We
couldn¶t do it without you
We can¶t leave March behind
however without mentioning the
wonderful magic show put on by
Brett Willyard the afternoon of
March 26. Thankfully we decided
to have him perform in the main li-
brary room rather than the children¶s
room ± but even so the event was
packed to the rafters with enthusi-
astic ³children of all ages´ Thanks
again Brett and we¶re already look-
ing forward to your return
Our Northwest Author Series
will resume at 2 p.m. on Saturday
April 9 when we are joined by well-
Publisher
Steve Forrester
Editor
R.J. Marx
Reporter
Lyra Fontaine
Advertising Manager
Betty Smith
Production Manager
John D. Bruijn
Circulation Manager
Heather Ramsdell
Advertising Sales
Laura Kaim
AT THE LIBRARY
CARLA O’REILLY
known author Stephanie Kallos
whose latest book ³Language Arts´
will be introduced. Also the author
of ³Broken for <ou´ Kallos spent
20 years in the theater as an actor
and teacher. ³Language Arts´ is a
novel exploring words and expres-
sion parenting and letting go a
story of ex-spouses and their young-
adult autistic son and how pasts and
presents inform their cooperative
futures.
On April 12 from to 9 p.m. at
the library Austin Tomlinson will
give a lecture as part of the Twelve
Days of Earth Day celebration. The
title of his talk will be “Soil and Wa-
ter 4uality of the North Coast.´
The ¿ nal World of Haystack
Rock Lecture for the season will be
at p.m. on Wednesday April 13
with the very popular Neal Maine.
Please note that the lecture for this
month will be held at the Commu-
nity Hall of the Chamber of Com-
merce rather than at the library.
Maine is a biologist educator and
wildlife photographer. His presenta-
tion is “It¶s Not Just a Beach Re-
thinking the Beaches.´
On April 20 Cannon Beach
Reads will meet from to 830 p.m.
at the library. This month¶s book
is “A New Life´ by Bernard Mal-
amud. Discussion leader will be
Phyllis Bernt. New members are al-
ways welcome.
Finally we are excited to an-
nounce yet another speaker for this
month ²Diana Abu-Jaber who
will be speaking at the library at 4
p.m. on April 30. Her latest novel
“Life Without a Recipe´ will be re-
LETTER POLICY
The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor.
The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication.
Letters must be 400 words or less and must be
1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon
signed by the author and include a phone number
97138
for verifi cation. We also request that submissions
be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555
503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285
N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them
Web: www.cannonbeachgazette.com
off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-
Email: editor@cannonbeachgazette.com 9285, or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The Cannon Beach Gazette is published
every other week by EO Media Group.
leased later this month. In 2012 her
novel “Birds of Paradise´ won the
2012 Arab-American National Book
Award. It was also named one of the
top books for that year by Nation-
al Public Radio the Washington
Post and the Oregonian. Abu-Jaber
teaches writing and literature at
Portland State University. Her talk
is sponsored by the Cannon Beach
Book Company and the library.
Just a reminder that this is the
time of year we renew our library
memberships. Dues are $10 for the
year. We will be collecting dues at
our next membership meeting in
May. We also will have the 2016-
1 hostess sign-up sheet available.
Hostesses for the meetings decorate
the library and bring lots of deli-
cious refreshments for us to share.
Thanks again to all our wonder-
ful volunteers Anyone interested in
putting hours in at the library should
call 503-436-1391.
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POSTMASTER
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Copyright 2015 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can
be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners.
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Magician Brett Willyard
THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING