October 20, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A
A 12-year endeavor bears fruit
By David Robinson
Cannon Beach Community Church
T
his is a story of a Stein-
way. As a hand-craft-
ed musical instrument
comprised of more than
12,000 parts, a Steinway grand
piano takes a full year to build.
A Steinway grand piano takes
at least 12 years to arrive.
The people of Cannon Beach
Community Church fi rst
dreamed of bringing a concert
quality grand piano to Cannon
Beach in 2005, the year we
celebrated our 75th anniversa-
ry as a local church. The North
Coast has relatively few quali-
ty performing arts venues, and
even fewer concert quality
grand pianos. The renovation
of the Liberty Theatre, com-
pleted in 1998, including the
addition of a 9-foot Steinway
Model D grand piano, added a
much needed quality musical
venue with a concert quali-
ty grand piano to our region.
As of August, Cannon Beach
Community Church has done
the same.
The story of a Steinway in
Cannon Beach begins in 1930,
the year Cannon Beach Com-
munity Church was chartered,
27 years before Cannon Beach
was offi cially incorporated as
a city. I came to Cannon Beach
with our family of fi ve in 1993
to begin serving as lead pastor
of Cannon Beach Community
Church. At that time, Commu-
nity Church had a tired, old
electric organ and a decent
Yamaha upright piano. As a
pastor, worship leader, and
jazz pianist, I knew we need-
ed to upgrade our musical in-
struments at some time in the
future. In 1997, we remodeled
and expanded the sanctuary of
Community Church, produc-
ing a mid-sized performing
arts venue with high-quality
acoustics and a beautiful sa-
cred worship space that seats
200. In 2004, a couple in the
congregation donated a new
Rodgers Artist’s Series digi-
tal organ in memory of their
daughter who died of cancer.
The $35,000 organ they donat-
ed was a major upgrade from
our previous instrument.
In January 2005, at our an-
nual congregational meeting,
I announced to the people of
Community Church that we
hoped to bring a grand piano
to celebrate our 75 years of
ministry and worship, but we
had not budgeted the $50,000
for this instrument. I asked the
people to join in the search for
a grand piano. In June 2005,
the director of the Coaster
Theatre called me asking if we
wanted a baby grand piano “on
permanent loan.” We received
the gift of an older Young
Chang baby grand piano that
year. Eleven years later, in
2016, a widowed friend asked
what it would take to bring a
concert quality grand piano to
the church to replace the baby
grand loaner piano. She of-
fered the fi rst $10,000 to kick-
start our grand piano fund in
December 2016. Over the
next eight months, the people
of Cannon Beach Community
Church donated over $50,000
towards this grand piano fund.
We received a wide variety of
fi nancial gifts, large and small,
from young people who love
the upbeat music of our con-
temporary worship band, gifts
from elderly widows who love
singing the wonderful old
hymns, and gifts from people
on the Cannon Beach Com-
munity who love the sanctu-
ary as a performing arts venue.
One such donor, the Cannon
Beach Chorus, celebrates 30
years of choral music this
year, with weekly rehearsals
held on Monday evenings at
Cannon Beach Community
Church, drawing singers from
up and down the Coast.
Our grand piano taskforce
began shopping for a new
grand piano in June 2017. We
discovered a concert-quality
Steinway Model B Grand Pi-
ano built in 2008, on sale at
Michelle’s Piano Company,
Home of Steinway in Port-
land. Compared to the many
grand pianos we tried, this
2008 Steinway Grand Piano
sang with such depth, rich-
ness, warmth, and clarity that
we knew it was meant to come
home to Cannon Beach. The
Steinway Model B is “often
referred to by pianists as ‘the
perfect piano.’ It is a wonder-
fully balanced and versatile
instrument that does extreme-
ly well in midsized venues.”
We presented this 2008
Steinway Model B grand pia-
no to the congregation because
it was beyond our fundraising
price range, but within a week,
an additional $10,000 arrived
unexpectedly from several un-
known donors, allowing us to
purchase the instrument.
Our Steinway Model B
grand piano was delivered on
Aug. 3, and has begun her ser-
vice of providing depth, rich-
ness, and warmth to our week-
ly worship services, including
during our Sunday contempo-
rary worship at 9 a.m., during
our Sunday classic worship at
10:45 a.m., and at our twice a
month Evensong (Taize-style)
worship on the fi rst and third
Sundays at 6 p.m.
Stephen Beus will play a
free 30-minute “Kid’s Con-
cert” on Friday, Oct. 20, at 6
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Th is Steinway piano is a treasured addition in Cannon
Beach.
p.m. at Cannon Beach Com-
munity Church, a half-hour
interactive, “child-friendly”
piano mini-concert, free and
open to the public, especially
younger kids and their parents
or grandparents.
Stage classic ‘Blithe Spirit’ at Coaster Th eatre
SUBMITTED PHOTO
David Sweeney, Karen Martin, Ellen Jensen in “Blithe Spirit.”
This fall Noel Coward’s
supernatural comedy, Blithe
Spirit haunts the Coaster
Theatre stage weekends
through Oct. 28.
Socialite and novelist
Charles Condomine, in-
vites the eccentric medium
and clairvoyant, Madame
Arcati, to his house to con-
duct a séance, hoping to
gather material for his next
book. The scheme backfi res
when he is haunted by the
ghost of his temperamen-
tal fi rst wife, Elvira, after
the séance. Elvira makes
continual attempts to dis-
rupt Charles’s marriage
to his current wife, Ruth,
who cannot see or hear the
ghost. As the (worldly and
unworldly) personalities
clash, Charles risk being
haunted into perpetuity.
This charming roman-
tic comedy features North
Coast actors Evelyn Isakson
(Edith), Katrina Godderz
(Ruth), David Sweeney
(Charles), Thomas Ryan
(Dr. Bradman), Cathey
Ryan (Mrs. Bradman), Kar-
en Martin (Madame Arcati),
Ellen Jensen (Elvira) and is
directed by Edward James.
Tickets are $25 or $20 and
can be purchased online at
coastertheatre.com or by
calling 503-436-1242.
David Robinson is a resi-
dent of Cannon Beach, serv-
ing as lead pastor of Cannon
Beach Community Church
since 1993, and also a jazz pi-
anist, and author of numerous
books on spirituality.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Thursday, Oct. 26
188 Sunset, Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach Planning Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Thursday, Nov. 16
Monday, Nov. 6
Cannon Beach Parks and Commu-
nity Services Committee, 9 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
City Manager Community Forum,
7 p.m., Surfsand Resort, 148 W Gow-
er Ave, Cannon Beach, OR 97110
Cannon Beach Design Review
Board Meeting, 6 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Nov. 7
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Cannon Beach City Council, 8:30
a.m., executive session, City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Seaside School District Board of
Directors, 6 p.m., 1801 S. Franklin,
Seaside.
Wednesday, Nov. 8
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Cannon Beach City Council, 8:30
a.m., executive session, City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Nov. 14
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., 188 Sunset,
Cannon Beach.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., meeting and work session,
Monday, Dec. 11
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
MAYOR: Sam Steidel
COUNCILORS: Mike Benefield,
Nancy McCarthy, Brandon
Ogilvie and George Vetter
INTERIM CITY MANAGER: Jason Schermerhorn
M U N I C I PA L M E M O
OCTOBER 2017
Is published monthly by the City of Cannon Beach
163 E. Gower Street • P.O. Box 368 • Cannon Beach, OR 97110
(503) 436-1581 • Fax: (503) 436-2050 • TTY (503) 436-8097
MEETINGS
CITY MANAGER RECRUITMENT
NOVEMBER 2017
7
8
14
16
21
City Council Executive Session
City Council Executive Session
City Council Combined Regular
Meeting & Work Session
Design Review Board
Planning Commission
CITY COUNCIL MEETING, October 3, 2017
• Council discussed Ordinance 17-09,
Establishing Policies for Criminal History
Records Checks Concerning Applicants
for Employment, Appointed Volunteers
and City Licensing and requested some
changes and clarification be added. It was
scheduled for consideration at the October
17th special meeting;
• Adopted Proclamation 17-06, Declaring
October as Domestic Violence Awareness
Month in Cannon Beach;
• Approved the panel organization and
schedule for the City Manager interviews
taking place in November;
• Emergency Management Consultant Stacy
Burr gave a presentation to the Council re-
garding a mass care site at the South Wind
property, in accordance with the adopted
strategic planning goals of 2016. Council
asked for more input by the end of the year
to help them define this priority;
• Council decided not to apply for a Depart-
ment of Land Conservation & Develop-
ment pilot program which could assist with
getting the South Wind property into the
Urban Growth Boundary by emphasizing
affordable housing.
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October
10, 2017
• New Assistant Public Works Director, Karen
LaBonte was introduced to the Council;
• The new Beach Wheelchair initiative was
presented to Council;
• A schedule for meeting with City Advisory
Boards in the new year was discussed;
• Council directed staff to apply for a Trans-
portation System Plan grant again, and to
see what traffic improvements can be done
prior to receiving a grant.
CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SESSION, Octo-
ber 11 and 12, 2017
Council met in executive session to conduct
City Manager semi-finalist interviews.
8:30 a.m.
9:00 a.m.
5:30 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
6:00 p.m.
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING, October
17, 2017
• Considered Ordinance 17,09, Establishing
Policies for Criminal History Records Checks
Concerning Applicants for Employment,
Appointed Volunteers and City Licensing
• Council announced the finalists for the
City Manager position. The interviews are
scheduled for the first week in November.
• Considered a pavement preservation con-
tract for FY 2017-18.
CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SESSION, Octo-
ber 17, 2017
Council met in executive session to discuss
City Manager recruitment.
CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SESSION, No-
vember 7, 2017
Council will meet in executive session to
conduct finalist interviews for the City Man-
ager position.
CITY COUNCIL EXECUTIVE SESSION, No-
vember 8, 2017
Council will meet in executive session to
select the candidate of choice for the City
Manager position.
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD – The Design Re-
view Board meeting scheduled for September
21, 2017 was cancelled for lack of a quorum.
The Design Review Board is scheduled to
meet October 19, 2017 to discuss:
DRB 17-08, Endreson et al, Application for
External Modifications to a Duplex at 163 W.
Orford.
DRB 17-03, Bell, Request to establish a
retail marijuana store at 3115 S. Hemlock.
PLANNING COMMISSION - The Planning
Commission met September 28, 2017 and
discussed:
AA 17-02, Boyce Tree Removal Appeal
for One Pine Tree Located Adjacent to 232
Gulcana.Application was withdrawn at the
meeting.
The Planning Commission is scheduled
to meet October 26th for a work session be-
tween the Planning Commission and Staff to
discuss an update of the Foredune Manage-
ment Plan, and possible amendments to the
tree cutting ordinance.
As part of the City Manager finalist interview
process, the City of Cannon Beach will host a
Community Forum on Monday, November 6th
from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the SurfSand Resort
ballroom, located at 148 W Gower Ave. The
forum will include a panel segment featur-
ing pre-submitted questions from the public,
followed by a brief meet-and-greet reception.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Members of the public are welcome to submit
suggestions for questions to be answered by the
finalists. Questions may be submitted in writing
at City Hall, or via email to riggs@ci.cannon-
beach.or.us. The deadline for submittals is
October 31st at 5:00pm.
POLICE OFFICER - JOB
The City of Cannon Beach is seeking qualified
applicants for the position of Police Officer.
SALARY: $22.90 to $29.22 Hourly
OPENING DATE: 10/11/17
CLOSING DATE: 11/10/17
Health Benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision), PERS
Retirement, Holiday, Vacation and Sick Leave
Benefits, Certification Compensation
POSITION SUMMARY:
Cannon Beach Police officers work indepen-
dently and cooperatively to provide the commu-
nity law enforcement services, problem solving,
public safety and education, and responding to
calls for service. Officers ensure protection and
crime prevention consistent with community
policing objectives. Officers conduct investiga-
tions of crimes which lead to identification, ap-
prehension, and prosecution of criminals. This
description is an example only and may include
other similar duties.
For more information: http://www.ci.cannon-
beach.or.us/police/page/police-officer-job
NATIONAL CITIZEN SURVEY
By now, residents of Cannon Beach with a
post office box in either the 97110 or 97145 zip
code area have received a post card informing
you to expect a written survey soon from the
National Research Center (NRC). You will receive
a survey in paper form in the mail after October
11th and a second paper copy will be mailed
after October 18th. If you do not receive either
copy, or wish to fill out a survey in Spanish, you
are welcome to fill it out online. Also, if your
post office box is registered as a business, but
you use it for personal mail as well, you will not
receive a survey packet. We are not surveying
businesses, but we are surveying residents. You
will still have the opportunity to fill out the survey
online. The link to the survey will be posted on
the City of Cannon Beach website.
Please take the time to fill out your survey
and return it to the NRC. Surveys need to be
completed and returned to them by November
21st to be processed and analyzed. Your input
is valuable to the City Council when prioritizing
the many tasks before the City. The results of this
survey will guide your elected officials and city
staff in their strategic planning process early next
year. Rarely do we hear from more than a hand-
ful of residents on any given topic. Not everyone
can attend City Council meetings. The National
Citizen Survey is your opportunity to have your
voice heard.
Please remember that your response is com-
pletely anonymous. We look forward to hearing
from you!
NOTICE OF VACANCIES
CITY COMMISSIONS, BOARDS
& COMMITTEES
The City of Cannon Beach has immediate
openings for the following vacancies:
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS (EPREP)
COMMITTEE: THREE (3) vacancies open
immediately to fill four-year terms. The EPREP
Committee meets regularly for the purpose of
providing evacuation planning and public edu-
cation regarding emergency preparedness. The
Emergency Preparedness Committee normally
holds its regular meetings on the last Friday of
each month at 9:00 a.m. and may schedule work
sessions as needed.
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: ONE (1) va-
cancy open immediately to fill a four-year term.
The primary responsibility of the Public Works
Committee is to review all public works projects
and make recommendations to City Council.
The Public Works Committee holds its regular
meeting on the third Tuesday of each month at
9:00 a.m.
To be eligible to serve on a City committee,
applicants must have resided within the city
or its urban growth boundary during the one
year immediately preceding appointment; or
at the time of appointment, shall have owned
real property located within the city or its urban
growth boundary for at least one year imme-
diately preceding appointment. Council has
implemented an interview process consisting of
a set of questions particular to each committee/
board or commission and written answers must
be submitted with the application. Applica-
tions with questions are available at City Hall,
163 E. Gower Street, Cannon Beach, by email
addressed to riggs@ci.cannon-beach.or.us, or
online at www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us For more
information, please contact Colleen Riggs by
email or phone at (503) 436-8052.
RITE AID FLU SHOT CLINIC
AT CITY HALL
DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 2017
TIME: 11:00am – 1:00pm
LOCATION: City Hall Council Chambers
Be sure to bring your medical insurance card!
