10A • April 7, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
ACTRESS BRINGS HISTORY ALIVE
Portraying the virtuous life of a Victorian woman
Pittock was a
champion of
women and
children
By Rebecca Herren
Cannon Beach Gazette
Visitors to the Seaside
Library had an opportunity
to meet a Victorian heroine,
Georgiana Pittock. Pittock
championed for the rights of
women and children, became
a suffragette and founded Port-
land’s Rose Society and Rose
Festival.
She founded the Ladies
Relief Society, joined the Port-
land Women’s Union in 1912
as a suffragette, played a key
role in building the Martha
Washington Home for single
women, supported the Boys
and Girls Aid Society and the
Parry Center for Children.
“It’s so good to be back
in Seaside after such a long
time,” said Pittock — never
stepping out of character —
as she thanked the Seaside
Museum, Seaside Library and
guests for coming out to hear
her talk.
Mrs. Pittock and her chauf-
feur, Herman Hawkanson,
were the subjects for historical
re-enactors Mary and Michael
Hutchens during their presen-
tation “Georgiana Pittock: Her
Last 10 Years, 1908-1918” on
Thursday at the library.
Pittock adored flowers,
especially roses. Along with
friends, she held backyard
rose shows, which gave the
Portland Rose Society its
first exposure. She became a
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The real Georgiana Pittock
of Portland around the turn
of the 20th century.
REBECCA HERREN/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Georgiana Pittock (Mary Hutchens) and her chauffeur
Herman Hawkanson (Mike Hutchens) visited the Seaside
Library.
founder and the inspiration be-
hind Portland’s famous Rose
Festival in 1907 with her good
friend Harry Lane, a former
mayor of Portland and sup-
porter of the Lewis and Clark
Exposition.
She married Henry Lewis
Pittock when she was 15 years
old. Henry Pittock, who was
a typesetter when Georgiana
married him, later became the
owner and publisher of The
Oregonian for nearly 60 years.
He became successful in real
estate, banking, railroads, min-
ing, lumber mills and the pulp
and paper industry.
A role in history
It all began for Forest
Grove actress Mary Hutchens
in 2006 when she answered
an ad for a Rose Festival his-
torical re-enactor. She got the
job and thereafter, Hutchens
spent months preparing for
the role. She researched and
memorized Georgiana’s life,
down to the most insignificant
details that make up both the
public and the private life of a
historical persona.
In 2007, “Georgiana” made
her first appearance in 89 years
at a rose planting and tea party
held at her home, the Pittock
Mansion.
When Mary’s contract end-
ed with the Rose Festival after
four years, she became inde-
pendent and, together with her
husband, they have continued
to share the Pittock story to
schoolchildren, residents at as-
sisted living facilities, libraries,
civic centers and philanthropic
organizations — always in full
period costume.
The Pittocks played a major
role in the history of Portland
and to the growth of Oregon’s
largest city.
The Pittock Mansion was
built on Portland’s original
“lover’s lane” above Burnside.
Built in the style of a French
Renaissance chateau in 1914,
it was a progressive master-
piece for its time.
Amassed on 16 acres with
44 rooms, it included all the
latest technology. A central
vacuum system, a telephone
and intercom system with in-
tercoms in every room, refrig-
eration, indoor plumbing and
electricity. There was a dumb-
waiter and a passenger eleva-
tor was installed for Georgiana
after her stroke. (The elevator
is still operable today.) Henry
Pittock used Oregon artisans
and craftsmen and insisted that
all materials used including
marble, tenino stone and wood
came from the Northwest.
The Pittocks were deeply
connected in their community
and spent much of their time
improving the lives of local
residents. Family and commu-
nity were central to them and
they shared their home with
some of their children and
grandchildren. Generations of
Pittocks lived in the mansion
up to 1958 when it became too
much to endure.
Now a museum, the man-
sion has become a popular
destination for visitors, bird
watchers, event planners and
gardeners. Though it seems
lavish, it is a testament of who
the Pittocks were as pillars of
the community in both busi-
ness development and philan-
thropy.
Pittock suffered a stroke in
1913, just before the mansion
was completed. Sometime af-
terwards, she started to read
The Oregonian for the first
time. She never cared for it
before, but started to feel her
world getting smaller. Because
of the Spanish-American War,
there were stories about Ger-
man atrocities, propaganda,
spies and submarines.
“I liked that stuff,” she said.
“I know I shouldn’t have, but
they opened my mind.”
Seaside connection
The Hutchens divided their
program into two parts. The
first story covers the years
1845 to 1907 and includes
the wagon trains that brought
the Burton family to Oregon;
Georgiana’s marriage to Hen-
ry Pittock, the formation of
the Portland Rose Society; the
Lewis and Clark Exposition
and the Rose Festival.
The Hutchens’ portrayals
covered part two of the pro-
gram: the last years of Geor-
giana’s life, the building of the
Pittock Mansion, the evolution
of women’s voting rights in
Oregon, World War I and her
final years suffering from the
debilitating effects of a stroke.
“In 1905, the Seaside Sig-
nal cited that I was here in Sea-
side,” said Mrs. Pittock, “and
for the next eight summers, I
visited Seaside with one of my
daughters or with my grand-
daughter Georgiana Leadbet-
ter as a respite from the city.”
She said they traveled by
one of the four trains in and
out of Seaside, took walks on
the Pacific Pier, bought taffy
at Pool’s Confectionery (now
Phillips Candy) and stayed,
not in one of the five hotels in
Seaside, but in a local boarding
house on Third Street because
“I was frugal.”
Her daughters always tried
to get Mrs. Pittock to try new
things like going to the cine-
ma. “I would never attend the
cinema in Portland,” she said,
“it would be scandalous. But
I’m at the beach,” she said
laughing heartedly. The mov-
ies were four minutes long
and were mostly about new
technology. This news peeked
Henry Pittock’s interest and
soon he, too, attended the cin-
ema in Seaside, arriving by the
“daddy train” on weekends.
Mary and Michael Hutch-
ens visit Seaside as often as
possible. But unlike the Pit-
tocks who chose to stay in
boarding houses, the Hutchens
own a vacation home in Sea-
side and on those occasions
when a respite from their resi-
dence in Forest Grove is need-
ed, they take the short drive to
the coast.
‘Room to grow’ the Cannon Beach arts
New director
offers vision
for the future
‘Part of what drew
me into working
at a gallery
was because I
genuinely care
about the artists
I promote.’
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
As an artist and newly
minted program director of
the Cannon Beach Arts Asso-
ciation, Cara Mico does not
have a preferred medium.
Instead, when asked, she
started to list all of the differ-
ent ways she likes to create
art: oil and acrylic, piano,
dance and literature.
Her answer is reflective of
her overall vision for the arts
association to diversify the
definition of what art can be
in Cannon Beach.
“Art is translating. No
matter the interpretation, it’s
still just understanding the
world,” Mico said. “It’s all art
to me.”
The Cannon Beach Arts
Association supports, funds
and enhances the arts and art-
ists in the city and the region
through education, events and
exhibits, and has been doing
so since 1986. The associa-
tion provides art scholarships,
an internship and an individ-
Cara Mico
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Cara Mico stands in the
Cannon Beach Arts Associ-
ation in front of paintings
done by Meagan Sokol.
ual artist grant. The summer
camp, for which the Stormy
Weather chamber grant is
designated, draws a mix of lo-
cal and out-of-town students.
The association’s previ-
ous director, Jane Brumfield,
stepped down in December to
open the new Imprint Gallery
and Studio in Cannon Beach.
Mico’s journey into the
world of art started in Port-
land when she was child. She
started drawing and painting
at a young age, but didn’t re-
alize she could make her tal-
ents into a career until high
school.
She attended Otis Col-
lege of Art and Design in Los
Angeles before she decided
to make the switch to study
environmental science. She
moved to San Diego and then
to Oregon State University to
study it, with the logic that
this degree and her job as a
consultant would be more
practical. But soon she found
herself missing making art.
“It wasn’t going to make
me happy,” she said.
So she made a U-turn,
and enrolled in the Univer-
sity of Oregon’s master of
arts administration and non-
profit management program,
where she expects to graduate
in June. She returned to her
North Coast roots and started
as program director in Febru-
ary.
“Now I get to spend my
entire day with artists, and
have paint all over me, and I
get paid for that,” she laughed.
As director, her primary
work will be to promote local
art in the gallery, as well as act
as a bridge between the needs
of the artists and board of di-
rectors. “Part of what drew
me into working at a gallery
was because I genuinely care
about the artists I promote,”
she said.
As the director, Mico
plans to maintain and sustain
the scholarship and internship
programs, but hopes to ex-
pand workshop offerings to
make them more consistent,
diverse and available.
Another goal is to expand
representation from artists of
color. She hopes to work with
local historical organizations
to include more work from
Hispanic artists, as well as
highlight more Asian-Ameri-
can and Native American art.
“Right now we are fo-
cused in the fine arts, but
there is a lot of room to grow,
like with graphic design or
portfolio development,” she
said. “There are lots of orga-
nizations with similar goals
around the coast. I want to
connect with those with sim-
ilar missions to ours.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Mark Bates’ cheesemaking workshop comes to Cannon Beach.
Would you like to
make some cheese?
“Introduction to Cheese
and Cheesemaking Work-
shop,” a one-day event, will
be held at the Cannon Beach
Chamber Community Hall on
Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
The workshop includes
a cheese tasting of the seven
major cheese families and
a hands-on session where
participants work in pairs to
convert milk to queso fresco.
Other sessions focus on the
history and categorization of
cheese and learning about the
key steps of the cheese mak-
ing process. A second tasting
rounds out the day.
The class is offered and
OF PLACES YOU CAN PICK UP A
COMPLIMENTARY COPY OF THE
LOTS G
EASTER
CANNON BEACH
Solid Chocolate Bunnies & ALL the
Easter basket treats you might need!
AZETTE
CANNON BEACH
Cannon Beach Bakery
Cannon Beach Book Company
Cannon Beach Beach Store
Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce
Cannon Beach City Hall
Cannon Beach Conference Center
Cannon Beach Family Market
Cannon Beach Historical Center
Cannon Beach Hotel
Cannon Beach Liquor Store
Cannon Beach Property Management
Cannon Beach RV Resort
Cannon Beach Vacation Rentals
Cascade Sotheby’s Realty
Duane Johnson Real Estate
Ecola Creek Lodge
EVOO
Hallmark Inns & Resorts
Inn at Cannon Beach
Inn at Haystack Rock
Mariner Market
Martin Hospitality
Mo’s Restaurant
Picnic Basket
Pig ‘N Pancake
Purple Moon/Morris’ Fireside Restaurant
RE/MAX Coastal Advantage
Sea Ranch RV Park
Sea Sprite at Haystack RockSea Sprite on the Estuary
Surfcrest Market
Sweet Basil’s Cafe & The Wine Bar
The Land’s End Motel
The Ocean Lodge
The Stephanie Inn
The Waves Motel
Tolovana Inn
US Bank/La Luna Loca
Windermere Stellar Real Estate
SEASIDE
Providence Seaside Hospital
Rite Aid
Safeway
Seaside Outlet Center
Seaside Signal/Cannon Beach Gazette Office
GEARHART
Windermere Stellar Real Estate
4,000 COPIES DISTRIBUTED EACH MONTH
taught by Marc Bates, the
“Cheese Guy of the North
Coast.” He has 50 years expe-
rience in the industry. During
this time he managed the
Washington State University
Creamery and made “Cou-
gar Gold” cheese and more
recently managed the OSU
Creamery where he assisted
with the startup and devel-
opment of “Beaver Classic”
cheese. Bates has taught nu-
merous cheesemaking short
courses in Washington, Idaho,
Oregon and California.
For more information,
email cheeseguy@charter.net
or phone Marc Bates at 509-
595-8652.
• 2 LOCATIONS •
(Easy & Convenient)
Downtown
Cannon Beach
256 N. Hemlock St
&
Seaside
Outlet Mall
WE CAN
SHIP CANDY
DIRECTLY
TO YOU!
CB: 503-436-2641
Seaside: 503-738-7828
www.brucescandy.com