NOVEMBER 17, 2017 • VOL. 41, ISSUE 23
From
Longboat
Key to
Cannon
Beach
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
COMPLIMENTARY COPY
ONE FLAG
AT A
TIME
St. Denis was a town
manager in Florida
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
After a four-month hiring pro-
cess, Bruce St. Denis will start Dec. 1 as
the new city manager of Cannon Beach.
St. Denis, a manager at a private devel-
opment company, is a former town man-
ager for the coastal
city of Longboat
Key, Florida, and
holds a master’s
degree in man-
agement from the
University of South
Florida. His salary
will be $130,000,
along with a $1,200
Bruce St. Denis, monthly housing
Cannon Beach’s incentive.
new city manager.
He was chosen
over two other fi-
nalists — Peter M. Jankowski, former
city manager of Cave Creek, Arizona,
and Kevin Greenwood, former general
manager of the Port of Newport. Thir-
ty-three people applied for the position.
“I’m looking forward to working
with the people. Everyone I interacted
with in Cannon Beach was great,” St.
Denis said. “Everywhere I went, wheth-
er it was city hall, in the restaurants, on
the street, it was impressive.”
St. Denis is a manager at the Devel-
opment Planning & Financing Group, a
private development company in Tampa.
During a community forum, St. De-
nis highlighted his experience with
emergency management after Hurricane
Charley hit his region. Dozens of people
came with questions about community
engagement, tourism and emergency
preparedness Nov. 6 for the three final-
ists for Cannon Beach city manager.
In an executive session Wednesday
morning, city councilors considered
feedback from staff and department
heads, as well as comments from two
panels comprised of community leaders
and regional government officials.
“We are confident that he will do an
excellent job,” Mayor Sam Steidel said
in a special meeting Nov. 8. “We had
highly qualified candidates.”
City councilors also considered com-
ments and evaluations made by dozens
of people who came to the public forum
Monday night, who asked the finalists
questions about community engage-
ment, tourism and emergency prepared-
ness.
“We took many factors into account.
We had two very qualified candidates,
and it was a very difficult decision,” City
Councilor George Vetter said.
“And so the community knows, if
something is to happen, our second
choice is equally as impressive,” Steidel
added.
Story and photo by Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
O
ne by one, members of
Cannon Beach’s Amer-
ican Legion Post 168
mounted flags along
Hemlock Street on Friday morning
in honor of Veterans Day.
With about 30 flags laid back
in a truck, members of the legions
puttered block by block to hop out,
grab the ladder and install a flag
into each stand. The tradition has
happened for years, and serves as a
subtle reminder for the community
to think of those who served, Vice
President Jack Kerwin said.
“We’re still in war, and I don’t
think we think about it,” Kerwin
said. “We live in a great country,
and we’ve got to support them.”
Eric Peiter from the American Legion Post 168 mounts a flag with Jack Kerwin watching on Hemlock Street for Veterans Day.
Cannon Beach Academy seeks volunteers
Academy reaches out to
provide student services
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Three months in, the Cannon Beach Acad-
emy is operating much like the other schools
in the region. Parent teacher conferences are
around the corner, and the students are gearing
up for the winter holiday program.
But unlike most, many functions of the
charter school are done by volunteers. And
currently, the lack of volunteers is creating
stress for the academy’s four full-time staff
members, said Amy Moore, the executive di-
rector of the academy, at the board’s Nov. 9
meeting.
“This is a source of anxiety for me,” Moore
said.
In order to adequately serve the school’s 21
students, Moore needs at least one person in the
morning and one in the afternoon for breakfast
and lunch five days a week. But the number of
volunteers and how much time they can donate
varies each week, often leaving Moore with
running the breakfast service on her own.
“Volunteers have been difficult to secure
for many reasons, including scheduling. Af-
ter the children’s center closed our volunteers
found other organizations to support,” Moore
said in an email. “Also many folks don’t know
that we are truly open. We are working on our
marketing this fall and winter.”
Having teachers and herself running food
service operations cuts into time Moore and
her staff uses to prep for the day’s lessons.
Without more volunteers, Moore said the
school may have to cut breakfast service.
See Academy, Page 7A
‘AFTER THE CHILDREN’S CENTER CLOSED OUR VOLUNTEERS FOUND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
TO SUPPORT. ALSO MANY FOLKS DON’T KNOW THAT WE ARE TRULY OPEN.’
Amy Moore,
executive director of the academy
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Manager, Page 7A
Artists find their muse in Cannon Beach
Nature, art merge
into a creative
festival of magic
to anyone who asked. Any collector,
supporter or first-time buyer would
be inspired by the collection of art
represented.
By Rebecca Herren
Plein-air painter Anton Pavlenko
is no stranger to the Oregon coast
weather — fair or foul. Working in
oils, his brushstrokes are bold and
vibrant. He is a self-taught painter
who creates paintings not so much
from what he sees, but what he feels.
“I strive to capture the essence of the
landscape by working from a state
of flow, where every stroke is effort-
less.”
Pavlenko’s plein air landscapes
and cityscapes are based more on
observation than on a visual snap-
shot, preferring the changing, raw
scenes of the outdoors. His still life,
figurative and abstract works are
also expressive depictions of nature,
Cannon Beach Gazette
REBECCA HERREN/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Oil painter Anton Pavlenko works on a
new piece titled “Valencia Oranges” at
DragonFire Gallery in Cannon Beach
during the Stormy Weather Art Festival.
The first weekend in November
transforms art and the forces of na-
ture into a magical festival of cre-
ativity where artists, writers and mu-
sicians gather at the annual Stormy
Weather Arts Festival.
For three days galleries, shops
and churches are filled with visitors
ready to brace the elements. There
were new works of art from paint-
ings to mixed media, bronze, glass,
metal and woodworking. Visitors
could catch an artist giving a talk
or painting a new piece — and all
were willing to discuss their process
Anton Pavlenko
oftentimes leaving the viewer with
the role of interpreter. His new piece
“Valencia Oranges” is filled with
light, color, bold strokes of texture
and pure expression.
His work can be seen at Dragon-
Fire Gallery. “I love DragonFire,” he
said. “They make the work very ap-
proachable.”
Jeffrey Hull
When you see art that offers a
truly different perspective, it is dif-
ficult not to notice. Jeffrey Hull nev-
er ceases to impress. He constantly
explores different techniques and
approaches to the medium. Whether
it is a watercolor or oil, each piece
reaches new heights with a fresh
twist.
Hull is rarely far from the ocean’s
edge where he finds inspiration from
See Artists, Page 7A