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VOL. 42, ISSUE 13
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
EN PLEIN AIR
JUNE 29, 2018
City mulls
lodging tax
increase
Increase could fund
visitor center
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Hoping to improve reserves and finance
a visitor center, Cannon Beach may raise
the local lodging tax.
Thirty percent of the new revenue —
an estimated $140,000 next fiscal year —
would go to the city’s general fund. The
other 70 percent — about $385,000 —
would go toward tourism promotion.
Of the tourism promotion money,
$160,000 would fund the Visitor Informa-
tion Center, which is now subsidized by
See Bed tax, Page 6A
PHOTOS BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Artist Jeffrey Hull uses fishing floats as inspiration for his painting at the 10th annual Plein Air & More Arts Festival.
Gazette’s Visser
wins award for
journalism
By R.J. Marx
Ten years for Plein Air & More Arts Festival
Artists show their skills
as crowds watch
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
O
PAID
Scott Johnson of Cannon Beach Gal-
lery and White Bird Gallery works on a
water color of the dunes at Ecola Creek.
Johnson joked while holding onto his
painting in the blustery afternoon wind.
As the cornerstone of the weekend,
artists gathered in the Coaster Theatre
courtyard for the “Artists Swarm,” where
PERMIT NO. 97
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ver the weekend dozens of
artists scattered around Can-
non Beach, painting and
sculpting pieces inspired by
the world around them in the
10th annual Plein Air & More Arts Fes-
tival. More than 16 galleries were repre-
sented during the event, all of which held
galas and other meet-and-greet events
throughout the festival.
At Whale Park, Scott Johnson, repre-
sented both by White Bird and Cannon
Beach Galleries let the dunes dotted with
dozens of seagulls in front of Breaker’s
Point inspire his water color.
“It’s a wet on wet on windy technique,”
onlookers got to see everyone’s art – and
those who make it on display.
The Boca Marimba Band got every-
one dancing along Hemlock. Down the
way, artists Michael Ortwick and Anton
Pavlenko performed “duelling canvases”
at DragonFire.
“The opportunity to see artists work-
ing — especially the ones who we’ve
already collected from — well, there’s
really no other opportunity like it,” said
Susan Zall, who traveled from Portland
for the festival.
Zall was watching one of her favorite
artists Dan Chen of Bronze Coast Gallery,
who was busy at work sculpting a barn
swallow out of clay. He was inspired by
the barn swallows that have started to nest
above the gallery.
“Working outside, seeing the excite-
ment in people watching what you do...
the excitement and the energy just feeds
on itself,” Chen said. “It’s good. I like it.”
Cannon Beach Gazette
A lost dog led to a major award for
Cannon Beach Gazette journalist Brenna
Visser.
Journalists
for
The Daily Astorian
and its sister news-
papers took home
several awards from
the Region 10 Soci-
ety of Professional
Journalists contest.
Visser of The
Daily Astorian and
Cannon Beach Ga-
Brenna Visser
zette won first place
for spot news report-
ing, for a story about a dog rescued from a
cliff at Ecola State Park.
Visser responded to a tip the day after
Christmas about a high-angle rescue mis-
sion to save a dog stranded on a cliff near
Indian Beach. A border collie owned by a
Seattle visitor was saved by a member of
the rescue team who rappelled more than
100 feet down the face of the cliff. Owner
and dog were reunited to tears and cheers
from responders and the owner.
AN EXTRAORDINARY SHIP
Historic marker the effort
of Arch Cape volunteers
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
R.J. MARX
The new historic marker ready to be unveiled along U.S.
Highway 101 in Arch Cape.
ARCH CAPE — The USS Shark was no
ordinary ship.
In the mid-19th century, it was a trusted
military vessel that fought in combat and nav-
igated the Strait of Magellan and beyond. But
it met its match in Oregon with the mighty Co-
lumbia River.
“Everything that ship did is so mind-bog-
gling,” Elaine Trucke, director of the Cannon
Beach History Center and Museum, said. “It
went all over the globe, then it thought it could
do the Columbia Bar! And it couldn’t!”
In an effort to get the Shark off the south
spit, the crew chopped down the ship’s three
masts and jettisoned the cannons. When the
ship began to break up, the crew took to life-
boats and all on board were eventually saved.
The ship’s captain received information
from Native Americans that the three cannons
had come ashore south of Tillamook Head. Re-
alizing it would be impossible to retrieve the
ship’s remains from such a remote location,
they made no effort at recovery.
On Friday, June 15, volunteers and state
officials converged on U.S. Highway 101 just
north of the fire station in Arch Cape to cele-
brate a new interpretative marker dedicated to
the shipwreck.
Namesake
The Shark was one of hundreds of ships
sunk along the coast, but one of the most no-
table — and the one that gave Cannon Beach
its name. The new marker stands just north of
Arch Cape firehouse, where an original mark-
er was installed in the 1980s. The new marker,
made of a wood resin, includes historical in-
formation, photos and illustrations recounting
the ship’s story.
See USS Shark, Page 7A