Happy Independence Day!
JUNE 30, 2017 • VOL. 41, ISSUE 13
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
DeDication to
the
sand
the sand
Sandcastles take over Cannon Beach in 53rd contest
City
delays
timed
parking
Council paves way for
continuing discussion
By Brenna Visser
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Cannon Beach Gazette
i
n its 53-year existence, those
who participate in the Cannon
Beach Sandcastle Contest have
come to expect that the day’s
grandiose sand sculptures will
be erased by the elements by
the next morning’s break.
While there is nothing to be done
to control the Pacifi c Ocean’s tide,
event organizers tried to preserve
more of what they can of these cre-
ations.
“Every year we are so exhausted
that no one wants to watch the sculp-
tures,” event organizer Debbie Nel-
son said. “But we want to save them
from kids jumping on them and van-
dals so people can enjoy them longer.
So we got a guard to protect them
overnight.”
The Sandcastle Contest began in
1964 as a way to boost spirits after a
tsunami. Today it attracts on average
15,000 people .
For one day every year, the beach
See Sand, Page 12A
T imed parking in Cannon Beach has
been put on hold after complaints from the
community .
The original plan approved by the C ity
C ouncil was to enforce a three-hour parking
limit over the summer on Hemlock Street
between First and Third streets, as well as
on First through Third between Hemlock
and Spruce s treets.
The pilot area was chosen after a park-
ing study surveyed the two busiest days of
spring break, and found that Hemlock is the
fi rst to fi ll up. The restriction would help the
city reach its goal of creating 50 new spots
by the end of 2018.
While some business owners welcome
the turnover , others worry that timed park-
ing will adversely affect parking for em-
ployees and will rush customers .
See Parking, Page 6A
Mick and Audrey Forliens make their own version of a sand-
castle.
Storyeller
takes on a
new role
Arch Cape native
Doug Deur on state
parks commission
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Thousands of people
fl ocked to the beach for
the annual Cannon Beach
Sandcastle Contest.
PHOTOS COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
When Arch Cape native
Doug Deur thinks about
his life on the North Coast,
time spent in Oregon State
Parks seems to be a common
thread between his memo-
ries.
“I grew up with state Doug Deur
parks on the coast,” Deur
said. “My family has been in this area for
generations. My grandparents watched
these parks being built — they saved their
gas rations to go to Ecola during World
War II. Every time a baby was born, photos
would be taken at Hug Point.”
Between those personal connections
and a career studying national state parks
history and North Coast cultural heritage
as a professor at Portland State University,
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Deur, Page 7A
Couple undertakes mission on the home front
Former Marines put
out the home fi res
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
For some couples, romance is a dozen
red roses and a box of chocolates.
But for Cannon Beach volunteer fi re-
fi ghter Shaunna White, romance looks more
like driving a big, red fi retruck.
“When he’s sitting in the lieutenant’s
seat, and I’m driving the truck, I mean,
that’s the romance right there,” Shaunna
laughed.
The lieutenant next to her is her hus-
band, TJ White, to whom she’s been mar-
ried for six years. The two both serve as
volunteers for Cannon Beach Fire and
Rescue, and have done so together for the
past three years.
Though now it feels routine, waking up
in the middle of the night to respond to a
car accident or house fi re together wasn’t
exactly what the two envisioned as their
life together when they started dating 11
years ago. But after both TJ and Shaunna
served a tour in the U.S. Marine Corps,
fi refi ghting began to play a critical role in
easing them back into the community they
called home.
In fact, 11 years ago, Shaunna envi-
sioned the exact opposite.
“I actually swore I’d never get into the
fi re industry,” Shaunna said. Growing up,
her mom worked for Medix in emergency
medicine in Seaside, and she said she be-
came irritated with her working long hours
at strange times of day.
“I hated the sound of that pager going
off,” Shaunna said.
But this irritation wasn’t enough to dis-
suade the crush she developed for TJ when
See Firefi ghters, Page 3A
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Shaunna and TJ White keep a close eye on a vehicle extrication ex-
ercise with the Cannon Beach Fire Department Th ursday, June 22.
Th e husband-and-wife team both have a military background and
are now department volunteers.