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Get your ticket for Iron Chef Goes Coastal
SEASIDE — Tickets are on
sale for the ninth annual Iron
Chef Goes Coastal, which
will take place at the Seaside
Convention Center on Tues-
day, Nov. 1. The event is the
signature fundraiser for Unit-
ed Way of Clatsop County.
Tickets are required
and can be purchased at
clatsopunitedway.org or by
calling 503-325-1961. Gen-
eral admission is $35, and
reserved seating is $75. All
proceeds beneit the United
Way of Clatsop County and
the agencies they serve.
This Iron Chef-style
competition pairs four of the
region’s top chefs random-
ly into two teams, which
compete in a live one-hour
cook off requiring the use
of a secret ingredient. This
year, Jonathan Hoffman will
compete to defend his 2015
Iron Chef Goes Coastal title
against Fordinka Kanlic
of Drina Daisy Bosnian
Restaurant, Jason Lancaster
of the Cove restaurant, and
John Sowa of Sweet Basil’s
Cafe.
In addition to the live
competition, 12 North Coast
restaurants will compete for
Author to speak
about elementary
students, letters
from World War II
and a mystery
PHOTO BY ANDREW TONRY
Jonathan Hofman, left, winner of last year’s Iron Chef Goes
Coastal, will compete to defend his title this year.
votes in the People’s Choice
competition; the winner gets
to compete in next year’s live
battle. The 12 restaurants are:
Bridgewater Bistro, Cannon
Beach Hardware Pub, Fort
George Brewery, Fulio’s,
Maggie’s on the Prom, New-
man’s at 988, Osprey Cafe,
Pickled Fish, Silver Salmon,
Street 14 Cafe, Twisted Fish
and Wayfarer.
And for dessert, Sea Star
Gelato will be defending its
2015 Best Dessert of Clat-
sop County title against 3
Cups Coffee House, Cannon
Beach Christian Culinary
School, Frite & Scoop, and
Schwietert’s Candy and
Cones. Attendees also get to
taste and vote in this com-
petition.
Reserved tickets allow
entry at 5 p.m., and General
Admission tickets allow
entrance at 6 p.m. The live,
main show starts at 6:30 p.m.
For more information,
contact United Way of Clat-
sop County at 503-325-1961
or uwccdirector@paciier.
com, or visit www.clatsopu-
nitedway.org
S EARCHING
FOR
Piecing together the past
I NNER P EACE ?
Come meet with us...
S UNDAYS
10:30 AM
G OD
F IRST
Astoria Church of Christ
692 12 TH S TREET
(T OP OF 12 TH AND G RAND )
A STORIA , OR 97103
B IBLE -B ASED
503.325.7398
WWW .C HURCH O F C HRIST A STORIA . COM
WWW . FACEBOOK . COM /A STORIA C HURCHOF C HRIST
SEASIDE — The Astoria
chapter of the Daughters of
the American Revolution
will host author Gail Elliott
Downs, who will share her
book “The Black Suitcase
Mystery: A World War II
Remembrance.”
The program will take
place at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct.
30 at the Seaside American
Legion, located at 1315
Broadway. The program is
free and open to the public.
Published in 2015,
Downs’ book is an intrigu-
ing story unearthed by 10
year olds in 1991 from a
small black suitcase con-
taining almost 200 letters
written prior to and during
World War II. Downs
inherited the suitcase from
her great aunt. A librarian
at Mark Twain Elementa-
ry in Missouri, Downs led
her fourth grade students
through the letters as a
means of researching the
past with primary docu-
ments. The students’ excite-
ment as they read the letters
for the irst time convinced
her that the suitcase held the
key to understanding and un-
covering people and events
that had both historical and
personal signiicance.
The letters in the suit-
case told a story of love and
war, and the students had
to piece together the order
of events. At age 8, George
Elliott Rich started writing
the letters to his mother,
Hazel, in 1929 after she had
contracted tuberculosis. The
two were separated for many
years, seeing each other for
only one week in 1942, just
before George joined the
Army Air Corps and became
a radio operator/waist
gunner on a B-24 Liberator
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Author Gail Elliott Downs will speak Oct. 30 about a black suit-
case, over 200 letters, and a story from World War II uncovered
by elementary students.
Bomber. George married in
1943 and his wife, Wanda,
also wrote letters to Hazel.
George was killed in action
over German-occupied Po-
land while lying on his 50th
mission.
Hazel carefully saved all
George’s correspondence,
and the black suitcase
became a time-capsule of
his life and a treasure chest
of irst-hand accounts that
occurred during a pivotal
period in history.
The suitcase project start-
ed as a simple school library
assignment but quickly
expanded; students poured
over the letters for four
years, learning about B-24
Liberator bomber crews
and unraveling the mystery.
Students put on annual
World War II history dis-
plays on Memorial Day, met
Tuskegee Airmen veterans,
participated in Valentines for
Vets and raised over $12,000
to schedule a ly-in of a fully
restored B-24 Liberator
Bomber.
“In the beginning, none
of us could have predicted
the astounding course this
project would follow,” said
ifth grade teacher Leslie
Brann. “Visualize several
classes of ‘cool’ ifth grad-
ers. What could possibly en-
tice them to spend hour after
hour immersed in reference
books, aviation manuals, and
iction stories about children
who lived in the 1940s?”
The project eventually
received local, state and na-
tional recognition, including
four national educational
awards, inclusion in the
Congressional Record and
recognition from President
Clinton. Downs’ school
became the irst elementary
school in the nation to be
designated a World War II
Commemorative Commu-
nity.