4A • December 16, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
No rain, no gain
What does it mean
to be a member of
the local library?
I
R.J. MARX/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Visitors to Cannon Beach are rarely surprised by the winter weather.
I
want my Thanksgiving turkey!
We were all dressed up and
ready to go when the rain — the
polite word for that drenching
from the sky — turned up the
volume. We received the word that
Avenue U was closed to southbound
traffi c — meaning we wouldn’t
get through to our Cannon Beach
destination.
It was a pot-luck affair, and our
contribution was fruit salad. We had
pounds of cantaloupe, apples, grapes
and berries — all dressed up with
nowhere to go.
Did I only imagine that the early
Clatsop tribe had 80 words for “rain”?
I am quickly discovering that rain
here comes with more mythology than
a Greek mermaid.
A day after a torrential downpour
occupied us for 12 straight hours, the
sun peeked from a thinly veiled curtain
like a mirage. That little poke of light
was enough to hold a promise of
sunnier days ahead.
“Well at least it can’t get any worse
than yesterday,” I mused.
Liz, at my left on the stool, cast me
a lightning bolt look. “Don’t ever say
that!”
Liz — who like us is from back East
— shared a brief but detailed story of
a ride from D.C. to their former home
in Connecticut marred by storms that
intensifi ed throughout the ride — after
one of the riders had prophetically
ventured, “It can’t get any worse.”
In general, prophecies are about
50-50 truth. Since being in Oregon I’ve
learned to read the weather drawings
on the forecast page with their own
particular nuance.
The sunny sky icon is rarely seen.
If it shows a crowded number of
raindrops on a gray background, I get
the sense that it will be really dark,
dreary. If they add some “pelting”
streaks to the raindrops they can add to
the level of intensity.
Rex Amos tells me in 1961 it rained
every day for a month. “So a friend
and I fl ed Portland just to see how long
it would take to get out of the rain,”
Amos writes. “It didn’t stop raining
until we got to Big Sur, California. That
was a good place to get rid dry. And we
got to work in the Big Sur Inn.”
Contrast that: Our friend Jeff
recalled driving with his 3-year-old
daughter in southern California’s San
Fernando Valley when it began to rain.
“Daddy, why is the car getting wet?”
the befuddled toddler inquired.
n 1927, when Cannon Beach was still a small village
of about 50 families, a group of women organized the
Cannon Beach Civic Club, a congenial social group
who would also do worthwhile things for the community,
such as creating a small library from which residents
could check out books.
The fi rst library was set up in a small local store and
consisted of books on three shelves; the books were
provided by the state librarian. Over the years, this
small collection has grown into a thriving, cozy, and full
service library. Says Dick Frank, current library board
member and former library offi ce manager, “What is
remarkable is that the library is still a non-profi t organi-
zation that is primarily self-supporting and dependent on
its members and
the generosity of
the community.”
There may be AT THE LIBRARY
CARLA O’REILLY
some confusion
about the differ-
ence between be-
ing a “member”
of the library or a “patron.” A patron is someone who
has purchased a library card and has library privileges,
whereas a member is someone who has joined the library
through its membership program and has made a com-
mitment to actively help the library continue to operate,
in other words, to help raise the funds necessary to keep
the lights on, pay the salary of our offi ce manager —
our one paid employee — and to volunteer for day-to-
day tasks such as desk librarian or shelf maintenance.
Today’s Cannon Beach Library is very much dependent
on its members to carry on the work of the little group of
women who had a vision almost 90 years ago!
If you are a patron of the library and routinely check
out books and DVDs or otherwise partake of the various
programs run by the library, you might well consider
becoming a member as well.
Cannon Beach and Arch Cape residents, as well as
library card holders from all over the world, recently
received the library’s annual appeal letter. Donations in
response to this appeal letter are a main source of funds
needed to cover the library’s operating expenses and
are very much appreciated. Also, the appeal letter gives
one the opportunity to renew or purchase a library card.
If you have any questions about becoming a patron and
member, please call Buddie Anderson Deni, library offi ce
manager, at 503-436-1391.
Cannon Beach Reads
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Steve Prefontaine set the pace for rainy-day runners.
CANNON SHOTS
R.J. MARX
That wouldn’t happen here. If you
leave your car window open overnight,
you can collect enough water to soak a
brisket. Kids know what rain is before
they go through their fi rst binky.
Gretchen at Seaside’s convention
center told me last December that if
you wait for the weather to get better,
you’ll be waiting until June.
But while Oregon’s rain is
inarguable, inconsiderate and
inhospitable and sometimes even
deadly, its danger is defi ned by its
mood. There is rain ringed with anger
and fury, rain as faint and dainty as a
pianist’s staccato and rain as windy as
a horn.
All this rain provides lots of
opportunities for Yahtzee.
But sometimes you have to get
outside no matter how hard the wind is
blowing or how dark the skies are.
The South County is a runners’
destination — there are an astonishing
amount of people who just like running
in rain cold as a polar bear’s washcloth
— look how many sign up for the Hood
to Coast Relay every year.
The group Cannon Beach Running
schedules runs for mornings and
sunsets, offering a silent and meditation
running in a sacred space. “Listen
to your headphones or the ocean.”
Their motto is: “Silence is a source of
strength.”
Alas, running organizer Melinda
Sage Bruton told me this week she has
taken a pause from the project, but she
urges those inclined to carry the torch.
She’s on the right track.
Maybe it’s the Nike effect or the
legacy of Oregon’s track athletes from
way back when. I attribute a large part
of the state’s running passion to the
great Olympian Steve Prefontaine.
“No former Duck athlete captured
the hearts of a nation as the brash,
charismatic native son,” writes the
University of Oregon in a tribute.
Prefontaine got his feet wet in Coos
Bay and then the University of Oregon,
where he circled Eugene’s bark paths
in rain-fi lled udders of clouds. “Pre”
claimed seven NCAA titles and a
fourth-place Olympic fi nish before his
death in a car crash at age 24.
In writing about Cannon Beach
author Ursula K. Le Guin for a recent
column, I learned of her predilection
for a game called “Fibble,” where “the
only words allowed are words that (so
far as anybody there knows) do not
exist.”
My entry for today’s consideration:
Prefont-rain: What you experience
running into a coastal winter headwind,
hail and rain stinging like a Waterpik
on your cheeks.
From 7-8:30 p.m. on Dec. 21, participants in the li-
brary’s Cannon Beach Reads program will complete their
tenth year of reading and discussing important books
by local, pacifi c Northwest, national and international
authors. Linda Gebhart, a member of the group, will be
the discussion leader as they discuss the book they have
been reading this month, “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing
of the Lusitania,” by Erik Larson.
According to Joe Bernt, group spokesperson, “Partic-
ipants are ready for the eleventh year of Cannon Beach
Reads. The group has chosen 12 books for 2017. These
books will be available for loan at the library or pur-
chase at Cannon Beach Book Company.” For the fi rst six
months of 2017, these books include “Fahrenheit 451,”
by Ray Bradbury (Jan. 18); Looking after “Minidoka: An
American Memoir,” by Neil Nakadate (Feb. 15); “Our
Souls at Night,” by Kent Haruf (March 15); “Comin’ In
Over the Rock,” by Peter Lindsey (April 19); “The River
Why,” by David James Duncan (May 17); and “The Im-
mortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became
an American Hero,” by Timothy Egan (June 21).
For additional information about Cannon Beach
Reads 2017, please contact Joe Bernt at 503-436-4186
or send him an email at berntj@ohio.edu. During this
busy and wintry time, take a brea k, drop in, and enjoy
our fi replace and holiday decorations! We at the Cannon
Beach Library would like to wish each and every one of
you a warm and wonderful holiday season!
COLLAGE POEM #38
REX AMOS
NOVEMBER 16, 2016
The new leader appealed
To darkness of dreamers
Who won on the wrong side
Of nationalism’s wall built
By this false premise ghost.
The chameleon revolution
Crawled along crooked roads
That smelled of lost corpses
Becoming alive in the rain.
— R.A.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Monday, Dec. 19
Tuesday, Jan. 17
Tuesday, Feb. 7
Thursday, Feb. 23
Ecola Creek Watershed Council, 4:30 p.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Public Works Committee,
9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Dec. 20
Thursday, Jan. 19
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Friday, Feb. 24
Cannon Beach Public Works Committee,
9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Parks and Community
Services Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness
Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, Feb. 16
Tuesday, March 7
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Jan. 3
Thursday, Jan. 26
Cannon Beach Parks and Community
Services Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Jan. 10
Friday, Jan. 27
Tuesday, Feb. 21
Thursday, March 16
Tuesday, April 11
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness
Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Public Works Committee,
9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach Parks and Community Ser-
vices Committee, 9 a.m., 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30 p.m., work
session, City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, Dec. 22
Publisher
David F. Pero
Editor
R.J. Marx
Reporter
Lyra Fontaine
Sales/Advertising Manager
Betty Smith
Production Manager
John D. Bruijn
Circulation Manager
Heather Ramsdell
Classifi ed Sales
Jamie Ramsdell
Advertising Sales
Holly Larkins
Brandy Stewart
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other
week by EO Media Group.
1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138
503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285
www.cannonbeachgazette.com • email:
editor@cannonbeachgazette.com
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county.
Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O.
Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103
Copyright 2015 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can
be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 21
Cannon Beach Public Works Committee,
9 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Friday, March 24
Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness
Committee, 10 a.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, March 14
Cannon Beach Planning Commission, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, April 4
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING