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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2015)
4A • January 9, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com %HIRUHSOXQJLQJLQWRUHÀHFWRQODVW\HDU Impressions B DI A GR OU P eing the news junkie that I cation for the pantry. • A few months later, the Can- am, at the beginning of ev- ery January, I can’t help but non Beach Food Pantry found wonder what the biggest news sto- itself in the same position: It had ries of the upcoming year will be. to move from its present location. Unfortunately, most all of the Once again, the school district and national and international stories &DQQRQ %HDFK RI¿FLDOV KHOSHG topping the list at year’s end are out, and the Cannon Beach pantry bad news: natural disasters, wars, is busy remodeling another porta- serial murders, plane crashes and ble building at the former school celebrities gone awry. site and will move in soon. Even in our own region, the top • While the retirement and de- stories in Cannon Beach and Sea- parture of former Seaside Police side were bad news. Chief Bob Gross was a sad occa- In Cannon Beach, taking top sion for many, the city made an spot was the murder of a 2-year- easy transition by promoting Sea- old girl and the attempted murder side police Lt. Dave Ham, who has of her 13-year-old sister, allegedly been with the department since by their mother. 1995. 7ZRIRUHVW¿UHVLQ$UFK&DSH • The city of Seaside is antici- sea star wasting disease at Hay- pating other changes in the future, stack Rock; the pursuit and denial with a 20-year “visioning” cam- of a charter for the Cannon Beach paign completed and the purchase Academy; and the deaths of some of a former church building that well-known residents, including could become another event space. Cannon Beach Book Co. owner • Cannon Beach’s Sandcas- Val Ryan, also were among those tle Contest celebrated its 50th stories on the list. anniversary. Or was it the 50th? In Seaside, the recent death There may be more to this story in of another 2-year-old girl and an 2015.... accident last spring when a fam- But there are stories that res- ily nearly drowned after their car onate personally with me that went off a boat ramp and into the wouldn’t necessarily make the Top Necanicum River headed the “top 10 list or any list for that matter: story” list. • The invasion of elk in Gear- Other stories include an effort hart and Seaside. Photos emailed to recall Gearhart Mayor Dianne to me by business owner Jeff Ter Widdop, a controversial adoles- Har; nature photographer Neal cent sexuality conference and the Maine; and, especially, Gearhart inundation of anchovies onto the administrative assistant and trea- banks of the Necani- surer Gail Como generated cum River. more than 30,000 hits But there were hap- from all over the pier stories, too. world on • The South Coun- t h e ty Community Food Bank successfully found a new loca- tion; a celebration and open house will occur soon. This was a story about the cooperation between the Seaside School District, which gave away two porta- ble buildings from the former Cannon Beach Elementary School; ME EO — L the city of Cannon E NG K BE ERIC Beach; and the Sea- VLGHSDQWU\RI¿FLDOVWR Cash, the would-be K-9 offi cer. create a permanent lo- B Y NANCY McCARTHY We refl ect on the past year, take a deep breath and plunge into the next year, ready to explore what comes next Seaside Signal Facebook page. &DVKWKHZRXOGEH.RI¿ FHULQ&DQQRQ%HDFKJRW¿UHG,W was a small story that captured the interest and imagination of news outlets across the country. • The tussle over ownership of the south half of the Cannon Beach Elementary School proper- ty. The school district owns it, and the Cannon Beach City Council wants to buy it, but not for the $1.2 million the district is requesting. 7KHUHZDVDÀXUU\RIZRUGVIURP the school district chairman and the Cannon Beach mayor, then (apparent) silence. • It wouldn’t make anyone’s list of top news stories, but when Can- non Beach reporter Erick Bengel decided to accompany City Plan- ner Mark Barnes on a bicycle ride from Seaside to Cannon Beach, I also had to take the trip — by car — to take photos. I didn’t know whether to laugh at Er- ick’s attempts to climb the Cannon Beach hill or wor- ry that the 25-pound back- pack he was carrying would ¿QLVKKLPRII Then there are experiences that aren’t stories but are pretty memorable for me, anyway: 0\ ¿UVW YLVLW WR WKH 6HDVLGH Jazz Festival allowed me to lis- ten to wonderful music and watch dancers get into the “beat.” • I appreciated the sense of peace and true connection felt JEFF TER HAR PHOTO Looking to make a goal, an elk herd spends time munching the grass near the goal post at Seaside High School Jan. 31. CONTRIBUTED BY DIEDRE FEINAUER Seaside High School’s spring musical, “Grease,” drew a standing room only crowd. Members of the cast are pictured. throughout the room during the “Welcome Home Salmon” cele- bration in Cannon Beach. • There was the thrill when the Seaside Signal staff was awarded the Seaside Chamber of Com- merce’s “Business of the Year” award. • I very much enjoyed the enthusiastic performance of “Grease” put on by Seaside High School students last spring. There are truly talented youth — and in- structors — on the North Coast. • It was fun to be part of the camaraderie among friends at the Seaside Downtown Development Association and Seaside Chamber of Commerce morning breakfasts throughout the year. If you want to know what’s going on in the South County, that’s where to go. Every day we are on the look- out for news, seeking stories that intrigue, entertain, inform and in- spire. Then there are the stories that take us by surprise, that over- whelm us, disappoint, alarm and bring us to despair. Sometimes we become so in- undated with the news and with deadlines that we don’t have time to pause and take a look back. I guess that’s what the turn of the calendar page on Dec. 31 enables us to do. :HUHÀHFWRQWKHSDVW\HDUWDNH a deep breath and plunge into the next year, ready to explore what comes next. Nancy McCarthy covers South County for The Daily Astorian and is the editor of the Cannon Beach Gazette and the Seaside Signal. Side Rail JON RAHL $ORRNEDFNDQGLQWRWKHIXWXUHRI6HDVLGHWRXULVP When my wife asked me what I was going to write about this month, she al- most answered the question as fast as it came out of her mouth. “A look back, and a look ahead,” she said. She was right! 7KH ¿UVW FROXPQ RI WKH year has become a tradition for me in this space, being that it will be my fourth “look back and look ahead.” The new year always JLYHVSDXVHWRUHÀHFWRQWKH past and look forward to the future, so without further ado, let’s do just that with Seaside tourism. Happy New Year, Seaside! 5HFDSSLQJ Seaside Naturally: Early in 2014, Seaside Visitors Bureau took over the phe- nomenal asset that former Seaside Chamber of Com- merce Director Al Smiles helped to create in 2009. The move aligned with the outdoor adventure we were already promoting, and current chamber Ex- ecutive Susan Huntington agreed with the move. What that means for the commu- nity and Seaside visitors is a refreshed website and an enhanced Facebook pres- ence focused entirely on Seaside’s great outdoors. Learn more at SeasideNat- urally.com. Quarterly industry news- letter creation: The staff at the visitors bureau is com- mitted to creating aware- ness about Seaside while constantly striving to stay on top of travel trends and information that will help us do our job more effec- tively. With that in mind, we created an industry news- letter for hospitality busi- nesses to gain from those same insights. The quarter- two plus years of working to collectively promote Oregon’s North Coast, the cooperative effort between the Astoria/Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce, Seaside Visitors Bureau and Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce created incredi- ble video assets in 2014. A three-day video shoot involved 60 locations across Clatsop County, which yielded three inspiring new JON RAHL videos. Those videos were condensed this past fall and ly news looks at lodging tax are being used to advertise information, gives tips on our area to Portland, Seattle VWDI¿QJ DQG RIWHQ LQFOXGHV and Vancouver, B.C. Check great factoids perfect for in- them out at bit.ly/ONC- teracting with visitors. Play. We’ve also included an at-a-glance calendar of up- Looking ahead Oregon Tourism Com- coming Seaside events and training opportunities for mission meeting: Travel hospitality workers. Learn Oregon leads the state’s tourism and marketing ini- more at bit.ly/SSIndustry. Video production for Or- tiatives with an annual bud- egon’s North Coast: After get of close to $14 million. It does amazing things ev- ery day to help draw nation- al and international aware- ness to the great state we get to call home. You can learn a little bit more about these efforts when the commission holds LWV ¿UVW TXDUWHU PHHWLQJ LQ Seaside at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 in the Seaside Civic & Con- vention Center. Learn more about Travel Oregon at in- dustry.traveloregon.com. Convention Center H[SDQVLRQ In the late 1960s and ear- ly 1970s, Seaside leaders made a controversial deci- sion to build a convention center in town. It wasn’t al- ways the most popular idea, but can we imagine our community without it to- day, 45 years later? Some- time this year, city leaders will decide if an expansion of the 22,000-square-foot facility makes sense for fu- ture generations. Growth in tourism infra- structure: The convention center is not the only thing that could be changing in Seaside. Local leaders are working on the develop- ment of a natural history park, which will expand and create greater aware- ness about Seaside’s green space, and many hotels are considering or already updating their properties. These are just a few things that will help Seaside pre- pare for future visitors. Jon Rahl is the director of the Seaside Visitors Bu- reau and assistant general manager of the Seaside Civic & Convention Center. Have a thought or question about tourism in Seaside, or maybe an idea for a future column? Drop him an email at jon@ seasideor.com Scene and Heard CLAIRE LOVELL +ROLGD\V¿OOHGZLWKPHDOVSHUIRUPDQFHVDQGEOHVVLQJV On one of our Wednes- day women’s meetings, Walter Trumbull, whose portrayal of Abraham Lin- coln was a stunning suc- cess, became the angel Ga- briel telling the virgin Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus. Walter is always dressed appropriately, and this time he presented in a loose white, gold-belted garment covered with a red robe. He was most convincing — a natural thespian. Senior dinner The senior gathering at the convention center for our annual Thanksgiving turkey dinner was lots of fun on a cold day. It was a wonderful meal, I thought, though personally, I didn’t like their string beans. There are so many ways to prepare them that I prefer them out of a can. But that’s only me. We had plenty to take home, and I enjoyed the turkey sandwich for supper. Master of ceremonies for the event was Chief Executive Mike Blauer, of Providence Seaside Hospi- tal. It’s hard to eat without giving thanks for food, and he did that so we were off to a good start. Mike also told of hearing the carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christ- mas Day” in church, so, of course, that song was chas- ing around my mind all day. The rope jumpers who entertained us were a small- er group than before but very capable and entertain- ing. We never jumped like that when I was a kid. A rabbi, I think, gave me a blessing in Hebrew, then translated it into English because I give recovery to survivors of the Holocaust from the former Soviet Union; often they are cold and hungry and can’t afford their medications. I still ¿QG LW DPD]LQJ WKDW VXFK D conversation could be so easy and sound so close. Shut the door CLAIRE LOVELL Santa visited every ta- ble, although it didn’t help because three people where I sat (including yours truly) came within one number of winning a cash prize. Hebrew blessing On Dec. 17, I received a phone call from Jerusalem. The old expression, “Were you born in a barn?” has an insulting connota- tion, but at Christmas time we remember who was born in a barn and it be- comes something to appre- ciate. If it means, “Shut that door behind you,” then the baby will be free of drafts and cozy in the arms of his mother. Christmas celebration On Dec. 21, “The Christ- mas Story” was performed by the choir at the Methodist church, Alvis Porter directing and Tevan Goldberg, our for- mer pianist, accompanying. There were solos by Walt Trumbull and Su Coddington. There was a duet by Debbie Vail and Randy Brainerd, and it ended in another Halleluiah chorus as a piano duet by Su- zanne Zimmerman and Lau- rel Adelman. Just hearing the traditional music is a thrill. The service was well attend- ed, the sanctuary was full, and more than two of us wished that all churches could look like that every Sunday. Holidays are often spe- cial times for coming to- gether. After Christmas, I was invited to the home of Jim and Angela Waddell for dinner. I met new family; Tanya, Joshua and Brittany and the Waddells gave me some lovely gifts as well. I’m a lucky person. Laugh line A church was beginning to look tacky so the congre- gation voted to give it a coat of paint. Paint was expen- sive. Wanting to save a little money, the workmen added some thinner to make it go farther. Unfortunately, when it rained, the colors ran and it looked worse than before. “What shall we do?” asked the workers of the pastor and he answered, “Repaint, re- paint and thin no more.” This is one of John Raniero’s jokes but he could tell it much bet- ter than I.