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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2018)
VOL. 42, ISSUE 6 t Fa WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM MARCH 23, 2018 Bikes Sandpiper Square sold to Salem mogul New owner wants to ‘preserve what is already there’ By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette come to Cannon Beach Event has raised some environmental concerns By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette t he Oregon Coast will get its first-ever Fat Bike Festival in April on the sand in Cannon Beach. The new festival is hoping to attract bicyclists and other outdoor ad- venturers with a love for fat bikes, a specialty bike with 4-inch wide tires designed to ride easily over soft surfaces like sand and snow. Starting April 20, the three-day event will include a sunset beach ride, bonfires and variety of laid- back, riding-related obstacle courses and activities. The cornerstone of the weekend will be a “poker ride.” Participants will ride to different locations from Cannon Beach to Arch Cape to retrieve different playing cards. At the end of the day, riders can turn in their “poker hand” to win prizes at a reception at Public Coast Brewing Co. Originating from the Chamber of Commerce’s former marketing specialist and biking-enthusiast Matt Weintraub, the Fat Bike Festival was chosen as the only new event last year to receive a grant from the Tourism and Arts Fund. See Bikes, Page 5A PHOTOS COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP TOP: Elliott Crowder rides a fat bike on the sands near Cannon Beach. ABOVE: From left to right, Ken Brown, Elliott Crowder and Matt Weintraub ride their specially-modified bikes on the beach. Sandpiper Square, the iconic shopping complex that anchors downtown Cannon Beach, has been sold to Salem-based en- trepreneur and investor Roger Yost for $4.2 million. Yost purchased the property from Coast- er Properties LLC, the company that devel- oped the complex in 1973 along with oth- er well-known properties like the Coaster Theatre Playhouse, Mariner Market and the U.S. Bank Building. Yost is a former marketing executive at Jantzen, a Portland-based swimwear com- pany, who lived in Arch Cape for nearly 30 years before purchasing and restoring land- mark Salem properties like the Reed Opera House, Capitol Center and Alessandro’s Restaurant building in 2003. All three were sold in the last three months in an attempt to move back to his coastal roots, Yost said. “I didn’t build any sandcastles, but I defi- nitely have watched many be built,” Yost joked, referring to the town’s long-running Sandcastle Day celebration. “I’ve had a long connection with Cannon Beach. When I sold my house in Arch Cape, I instantly regretted it.” Yost said he intends to keep almost ev- erything about Sandpiper Square as is. Part of what made the sale attractive, he said, was the building’s balance of shops and ser- vices ranging from art, apparel, gifts, fitness and health. “Because it’s been owned by a construc- tion company, it’s been kept beautiful and up to date. At this point, we want to pre- serve what is already there,” he said. “The tenants are in such good shape, I’m not sure any changes are really needed in the imme- diate future.” With his purchase of Sandpiper Square, Yost hopes to expand his relationship with the local gallery scene. He also owns Roger See Sandpiper, Page 6A WHO WILL CARE FOR THE PETS? Cannon Beach launches new disaster response team for animals By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE A new disaster response team in Cannon Beach aims to prepare people to care for animals in the event of an emer- gency. Bob Kroll has spent most of his life treating animals in dis- tress. Sometimes that meant working as a veterinarian in an emergency clinic. Other times, it meant treating severe seizures in dogs at his practice in Clackamas. But as Kroll enters into retirement, the longtime second homeowner may be tackling his toughest challenge yet — de- signing a plan to save the four-legged friends of Cannon Beach. This spring, Kroll is teaming up with the city to launch a Disaster Animal Response Team — a volunteer group with the mission to assist pets and pet owners during an emergency. With Kroll at the helm, part of the team’s role will be to recruit volunteers who can be trained in proper animal handling and basic pet medical care. As it grows, another goal will be to set up a network of animal shelters in conjunction with human shelters for misplaced or stranded animals. The idea came to fruition after Kroll’s wife, a retired nurse, attended a Medical Reserve Corps meeting a little over a year ago in Cannon Beach, where dozens of retired doctors and nurs- es train for a natural disaster. When it came time from Kroll to retire, she asked the leaders of the group if they could use a veterinarian. See Dogs, Page 3A Coastal Community Fest comes to Cannon Beach Cook-off using emergency food supply is a component of May 12 safety event By Brenna Visser Cannon Beach Gazette The big wave has hit. You have evacuated. All you have is a cast-iron skillet, a Swiss army knife and a random collection of not-so-appetizing, freeze-dried food stored in the blue barrel you have stashed at the cache site. Now, make a five-star meal over an open flame while the whole community watches. This is the premise of the cornerstone event at the first-ever Coastal Community Festival, an all-day bash on May 12 in Cannon Beach centered around emergency preparedness and community spirit. The cook-off will be paired with safety-relat- ed booths, a farmer’s market, food vendors and an evening concert. While most of the event is focused on preparing for large-scale disaster, other general safety activities will be offered as well, including a SUBMITTED BY CITY OF CANNON BEACH The official poster for the Coastal Community Festival in Cannon Beach, painted by Bill Steidel. “Bike Rodeo” that teaches kids bicycle safety laws with an obstacle course, said Emergency Manage- ment Consultant Stacy Burr. “When we began planning the event, we wanted to create a family fun day that promotes emergency preparedness in subtle ways versus focusing on just preparedness,” Burr said. “The event will have the normal festival activities such as the farmer’s market and art vendors but with additional preparedness-fo- cused events.” The idea for the post-emergency style cook-off came from a need to promote the blue barrel pro- gram, which allows people to store personal resourc- es like food in cache sites around the city, Burr said. “This is a way that we can promote the blue bar- rels and have fun with Meals Ready to Eat (MREs),” Burr said in an email, referring to the prepackaged foods most commonly used in the military. “They are not very enticing, so this will be a fun way to see how they can be prepared differently.” Bob Neroni, the chef at the Cannon Beach restau- rant and cooking school EVOO, has taken the lead on designing the competition, which will feature three contestants and a panel of judges. Each barrel will feature a “mystery ingredient,” as well as some ingredients that one could forage for, like fish or venison. So far, John Sowa, current Iron Chef title hold- er and owner of Sweet Basil’s Cafe, will compete See Fest, Page 6A
