4A • July 27, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
A day in the life of the Visitor Information Center
Questions and answers
What questions are
on the minds of
first-time visitors?
A
EVE MARX
Blueberries from the garden. Nothing better!
Some berries
with your CoYo?
C
an I say how spoiled it feels to stroll out into
our garden in pajamas to collect breakfast? Our
blueberry bushes are in full production now and I
couldn’t be happier.
Ever since I discovered the joy of breakfast for dinner,
eggs, my go-to breakfast choice for decades, are off the
morning menu. That leaves a hole in my diet. I’ve never
been a big scone person, and muffins aren’t really my
thing, a heretical statement in Cannon Beach where every-
one raves about the Almond Poppy Seed and Chocolate
Cream Cheese
muffins at the Can-
non Beach Bakery. VIEW FROM
When I was young THE PORCH
and not completely
EVE MARX
obsessed with cho-
lesterol or calories,
I thought a Mc-
Donald’s Egg McMuffin was a perfectly great breakfast.
Ten years ago I jumped on the granola train. (Sea Lev-
el, by the way, makes killer granola.) I’ve gone through
several phases of how to best eat it. For a long time I had
it with a little milk. After awhile I began mixing it up with
runny yogurt before my heart was won over by the super
thick Greek-styles. Lately I’ve been smitten with nondairy
yogurt. My current favorite is CoYo coconut yogurt-alter-
native, which, unlike other coconut milk yogurts, is super
rich and creamy. Fair warning, it’s very rich. Each serving
has 38 grams of fat and 360 calories. That’s why I only use
a little, like a tablespoon at a time. It’s perfect as a topping
on fresh fruit, or on top of a quarter cup of granola, served
parfait style. Look for it at Fresh Foods in Cannon Beach
alongside the other yogurts.
Now back to that fresh fruit.
Blueberries are my favorite fruit ordinary gardeners can
grow in Oregon. The blueberry growing season runs June
through September. Our house came with four blueberry
bushes planted by previous owners. Two out of four plants
regularly produce large, dark, blue berries from mid-Ju-
ly through September. (Two of the bushes are weak and
spindly. I have to work on why.) Last summer we got in
the habit of collecting berries in a bowl every evening,
although I soon realized that by that hour the birds were
gorging themselves on what was mine. Now we collect
the berries in the morning. I toss a handful on top of my
granola and coconut milk yogurt, along with some organic
walnuts for a breakfast of champions.
Blueberries, it’s been reported, might be the healthiest
of all fruits. Research has shown that elderly rats fed a
diet of blueberries became better at balancing and showed
memory improvement. When researchers cut open their
heads, they discovered blueberry pigment in the rats’
brains. Blue anthocyanins—a plant chemical widely
attributed with antioxidant benefits — were scattered
throughout the rats’ cortex, hippocampus, striatum and
cerebellum. Elderly rat research aside, blueberries have
been reported to lower blood pressure; improve cogni-
tive skills, reduce depressive symptoms and improve
blood-sugar levels.
So as long as they keep growing on our bushes, I’m
going to keep eating blueberries.
It doesn’t hurt that blue is my favorite color.
s Oregon Coast residents, we
hold certain truths to be self-
evident. In Cannon Beach, these
can include – but are not limited to –
knowing about Haystack Rock, traffic
gridlock in the summer and always
being skeptical of a weather report.
But what truths are evident – and
not so evident– to the tourists who
walk into the Cannon Beach Visitor
Information Center at the height of
summer?
Last year, more than 42,000 people
made a trip into the center, which aver-
ages to about 90 to 120 people a day.
In the age of apps, Yelp reviews
and social media, I couldn’t help but
wonder what questions were left on
the minds of those 42,000 people by
the time they entered city limits. What
questions does the firsttime visitor
have, and what does it take for the staff
to field them?
To find out, I shadowed center
supervisor Laura Kaim and spent a day
in the life at the Visitor Information
Center. Here are some observations:
‘Where’s Haystack Rock?’
This is by far one of the most
popular questions asked, only coming
second place to “Where’s the beach?”
By 1 p.m. on a recent Friday, both of
these questions were asked almost 20
times.
Known as one of the most recogniz-
able landmarks on the Oregon Coast, it
seems odd for someone to lose track of
235-foot rock.
“If you’re driving south and take
the first exit, you can see the rock
poking up above the trees,” Kaim said.
“But once you get into downtown, it
disappears.”
Given the fact the Visitor Informa-
tion Center is only two blocks from
the beach, on the surface it may seem
peculiar how often Kaim has to give
directions to the iconic rock. Part of
the confusion may be that there aren’t
signs anywhere pointing to the beach in
downtown.
“They would probably still come
in and ask, but some signage pointing
west would probably help,” she added.
Other questions Kaim didn’t expect
to answer as often as she does are
mostly related Cannon Beach’s natural
wonders. Many ask the difference
between low and high tide, how to find
a tide pool and about how to find the
area’s notorious elk population.
“I usually tell them they weren’t
kind enough to give me their schedule
for the day,” Kaim said. “But I did have
one person ask me if the elk in the city
park were wild. I think she thought
they were the city’s.”
‘We have no idea
what we’re doing’
In the age of the internet, it would
be easy to assume that visitors have
Googled near everything they need
to know about the town before even
arriving.
This is rarely the case.
“People will come in saying some-
one told them they just had to come to
Cannon Beach, but told them nothing
else about it,” Kaim said.
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
By midafternoon, more than 160 people had strolled into the Visitor Informa-
tion Center to ask questions about Cannon Beach.
CANNON SHOTS
BRENNA VISSER
In visitor center-land, there are two
types of vacationers: those who plan,
and those don’t.
For the latter, the information
center does its best to accommodate
by keeping a constantly updated list
of available rooms and campsites for
those strolling into town, thinking
a reservation is not necessary in the
summer.
On Friday, there were fewer than
30 rooms left in town for the weekend.
Most were taken by the end of the day.
Often, Kaim has to be the bearer of bad
news for families that had the miscon-
ception they could camp on the beach
or in town.
“To assume is vacation doom, as I
say,” Kaim said.
For the planners, the center serves
a different purpose: to offer local
perspective.
“Most people are wanting the first-
hand, local knowledge, not something
you could easily find with a search on-
line,” Kaim said. “It’s not just ‘Where
should I go to get to fish and chips?’
It’s ‘Where would YOU go to get fish
and chips?’”
Unfortunately, this is probably the
most difficult question Kaim faces.
“Because I don’t eat fish and chips
or clam chowder,” Kaim said. “But I
tell them everywhere in town (that)
sells it, and food for people like me
who don’t eat it.”
Keeping it light
Fielding the wide array of questions
that comes their way takes a balance
of humor, patience, and every so often,
some creative communication tech-
niques.
With international tourism on the
rise, it’s increasingly common to see
tourists whose first language is French,
German or Japanese.
“I really wish I would have taken
some German or French in school,”
Kaim laughed. “But between hand
gestures and maps we get by.”
No matter what language the
question is formed in, finding a way
to creatively answer similar questions
LETTERS
Paying it forward
I am writing to express my gratitude to
a kind citizen of Cannon Beach. This per-
son chooses to remain anonymous, even
to me, but he or she performed a kindness
that I will never forget.
I have had a home in Cannon Beach
for more than 50 years. One of my home’s
pleasures is its outdoor shower. A few
months ago, when I was not at my cabin,
someone went into my yard, turned on the
shower and left. By the time someone dis-
covered it, enough water had been wasted
to run my bill into hundreds of dollars.
I attended a meeting of the Cannon
Beach City Council asking if, as a show
of good will, the council could lower my
bill. I explained that I have taken steps
to ensure that this sort of mischief won’t
happen again.
While the council declined my offer,
another citizen in the audience decided to
show me goodwill. I received a letter the
following week explaining how this kind
person would pay my bill and asked only
that I “pay it forward.”
I am gladly paying this kindness for-
ward, helping others in greater need than
I am in honor of my anonymous friend.
Since I didn’t know how to thank this
person directly, I am doing so now.
Thank you for your kindness. I am so
glad to know that there is still goodwill in
this world.
Louis Barker
Lake Oswego
MEETINGS
TUESDAY, Aug. 7
TUESDAY, Aug. 14
E. Gower St.
E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Cannon Beach Design Review
Board Meeting, 6 p.m., City Hall,
163 E. Gower St.
THURSDAY, Aug. 23
THURSDAY, Aug. 16
TUESDAY, Aug. 21
TUESDAY, Sept. 4
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
MONDAY, Aug. 13
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., 188 Sunset,
Cannon Beach.
Publisher
Kari Borgen
Editor
R.J. Marx
Circulation
Manager
Jeremy Feldman
Production
Manager
John D. Bruijn
Parks and Community Services
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
Advertising Sales
Holly Larkins
Classified Sales
Danielle Fisher
Staff writer
Brenna Visser
Contributing
writers
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Nancy McCarthy
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
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BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Laura Kaim, the supervisor of the
Cannon Beach Visitor Information
Center, helps a tourist find her way
through town.
‘SOMETIMES I FEEL
LIKE I’M PRACTICING
A STANDUP COMEDY
ROUTINE, BUT NO
MATTER WHAT, I LIKE
TO KEEP IT LIGHT.’
Laura Kaim
dozens of times a day is a challenge –
but one Kaim looks forward to taking
on daily.
“We like it to feel like we’re telling
you this information for the very first
time,” Kaim said.
Sometimes that means instead of
describing how far Tillamook Head
Lighthouse is from the shore, Kaim just
tells people you can only get to it with
wings, fins or a friend in the U.S. Coast
Guard – a line she uses multiple times
a day.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m practic-
ing a standup comedy routine, but no
matter what, I like to keep it light,” she
said.
Almost 240 visitors later, Kaim
called it a day. No matter how repet-
itive questions may be, getting the
chance to help and share the stories of
the North Coast with new people every
day makes this the most fun job she’s
ever had.
“If at least one person says ‘That
was helpful, then the day was success-
ful.’”
‘Garden Flix’ screens
five family films
Cannon Beach’s Gar-
den Flix returns for the
second year and runs
Thursday nights through
Thursday, Aug., 16.
The films are shown
at Cannon Beach’s Hay-
stack Gardens located
at 148 E. Gower Ave.
Doors open at 7 p.m.;
movies begin at 8 p.m.
The weekly “Garden
Flix” series will take
place all summer long.
The events will be open
to the public, with rec-
ommended $1 donations
accepted at the door for
alternating local organi-
zations each week.
Five films will be
featured over the course
of the season. Haystack
Gardens will serve beer
and a picnic-style dinner
for purchase from Public
Coast Brewing. All beer
profits will benefit the
local charitable cause
of the evening. Seating
will not be provided, so
bringing blankets and
low-back chairs is en-
couraged.
For more informa-
tion, call 800-547-6100.
THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING