VOL. 42, ISSUE 6
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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