SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 109th YEAR • September 4, 2015
One hundred
years for Seaside
High School
Staff, students hope to highlight special
occasion throughout the anniversary year
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
All impending school
years carry some sense of
trepidation, excitement or
anticipation for incoming
students, teachers, adminis-
trators and staff. For Seaside
High School, the 2015-16
school year is a milestone,
Principal Sheila Roley said.
The class of 2016 will be
the 100th class to graduate
from Seaside High School.
Throughout the school
year, students and staff look
forward to making a big deal
out of the “100th Class” cel-
ebration, Roley said.
“In general, students
are the ones with the really
good ideas,” she said.
She designated Associat-
ed Student Body President
Alie Zagata to lead a team in
putting together a history of
the school and planning ac-
tivities and events through-
out the year, including a
community event — to be
determined — next spring.
Students are considering a
time capsule to store mem-
orabilia and messages to fu-
ture generations. They are in
the early stages of planning,
but “it’s going to be a big
project,” Roley said.
About 100 years ago,
Seaside, Gearhart and Can-
non Beach each had their
own district for elementary
students, but educators and
community members de-
termined it would be best
to start a high school run
by a separate uni¿ ed school
GROWING
GREENS
See School, Page 8A
Seaside ponders fate of
‘old church building’
Sunset Empire Park & Recreation
District Summer Camp student
Chance McKeown signs his name
on a post at the new commu-
nity garden at Seaside Heights
Elementary School while fellow
camper Diego Mendez waits his
turn while eating an apple.
KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL
The former church building acquired by the city in Sep-
tember 2014.
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
The former Faith Lu-
theran church facility in
Seaside is seeking a new
name and a new mis-
sion. The building was
purchased by the city for
$220,000 last September.
Everyone just calls it
“the old church build-
ing,” said Mayor Don
Larson, but members of a
new committee think the
city can do better than
that. They’re also con-
sidering a new role for
the community space and
what work would need to
be done to meet that pur-
pose.
Seaside Signal
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Sen. Ron Wyden came
to Seaside Monday to show
support for a Senate propos-
al to expand funds available
for foster care families and
children. The legislation
expands reimbursement to
provide parenting skills,
family counseling, mento-
Summer camp students have big
role in designing school garden
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
See Church, Page 8A
Wyden comes to Seaside
to help foster kids
By R.J. Marx
KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL
ring programs and services
to stabilize families in crisis.
“It looks like this fall
we’re going to be able to
advance this bill,” Wyden,
a ranking member of the
Senate Finance Committee
which oversees foster care,
said. “In a tight budget en-
vironment it would be very
T
his summer a group of ele-
mentary-schoolers played
a big role in promoting
healthy eating habits. The kids
helped design and plant a local
garden before celebrating their ef-
forts with an all-veggie picnic.
“It’s actually good!” one student
exclaimed between bites.
At the Sunset Empire Park &
Recreation District’s summer camp,
about 20 ¿ rst- through ¿ fth-grade
students joined in designing a
new community garden at Seaside
Heights Elementary School.
“This will be an enchanting invi-
tation to come in here and discover
this growing place,” local Master
Gardener Mary Blake said.
Blake and fellow Master Gar-
dener Barb Hassan volunteered
to teach a class each Thursday
morning during summer camp
from June 22 to Aug. 21. The class
was a collaboration between the
Friends of Clatsop County Com-
munity Gardens, the recreation
district, the Oregon State Univer-
sity Extension Service’s Master
Gardeners and Seaside School
District 10.
At the beginning of the session,
students used sidewalk chalk to
imagine and visualize the space, said
Ryan Stanley, the district’s recreation
director. The students drew their fa-
vorite vegetable or fruit on blacktop
near the school.
Blake and Hassan helped them
determine the best way to arrange
the plants to capitalize on sun
and shade. “They really got quite
thoughtful about it,” Blake said.
Designed for elementary school
children, the garden will also be ac-
cessible to students with disabilities.
Blake said she often sees a
shift in students’ relationship to
food once they “take ownership”
of it. They develop a deeper un-
derstanding and appreciation of
nutritional value and quality.
‘It tastes good!’
At the close of the camp season,
campers were treated to a cooking
demonstration by Jonathan Hoffman,
See Garden, Page 9A
See Wyden, Page 5A
Making ‘Waves’ at the
Seaside auto show
JOSHUA BESSEX/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Dave Pedegana stands for a portrait with his 1937 Ford Slantback.
Show-quality classic cars from 1965 and before to
be on display downtown during weekend event
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
It’s about featuring high-
quality classic cars; closing the
summer season in style; but
most importantly, Seaside’s
Wheels and Waves car show
is about bringing families, car
enthusiasts and the community
together for a weekend of fun.
The 2015 Wheels and Waves
event, sponsored by Sunset
NAPA Auto Parts, kicks off
Thursday, Sept. 10, with dai-
ly activities through Sunday,
Sept. 13. Organizers are ex-
pecting more than 300 quality
vehicles, made in 1965 or be-
fore, with entries from as far
away as Florida.
What makes the annual
car show and Seaside such a
good ¿ t"
“It’s the scenery, it’s the
beach theme, it’s the fun at-
mosphere,” said car owner
Travis Diebolt, of Seaside.
The event has undergone
changes in name and pro-
moters over the years, but the
mission of displaying classic
cars for people to enjoy re-
mains the same, according to
Seaside Downtown Develop-
ment Association Events Co-
ordinator Laurie Mespelt.
A brief history
Wheels and Waves started
in 199, the ¿ rst auto show
of its kind in Seaside. At the
time, it was called Hot Rod
Happenin’s and showcased
cars made in 1962 or earlier
to participate. According to
See Wheels, Page 8A