September 18, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Side Rail  JON RAHL
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What an unbelievably
wacky end to August! After a
winter, spring and summer that
brought endless amounts of
sunshine, unseasonably warm
temperatures and lots of visi-
tors to Seaside, Mother Nature
reminded us on Aug. 29 who is
the most powerful boss around
the Paci¿c Northwest.
The Hood to Coast and
Portland to Coast Relays still
¿nished their 34th annual race
in Seaside this past month,
but it will go down in histo-
ry as something most will
never forget. Sure the coast
has storms much bigger than
this one, but if this happened
in November, most wouldn’t
have thought much of it. The
fact that 25,000-plus were de-
scending upon Seaside during
this unseasonably strange
wind and rain storm, created
a scene on the beach that most
had never seen before — at
least in August. Scaffolding,
banners, tables and tents were
just some of the objects that
took a beating. Race organiz-
ers had to make adjustments
on the Ày the races ¿nished
on the Prom and along the end
of Broadway, and by Monday
evening life in Seaside was
mostly back to normal again.
I love that resilience about our
community.
Businesses I spoke with
after the event also had adjust-
ments to make. With the re-
moval of all scheduled events
on the beach, that meant
more people were diving into
restaurants throughout town.
Results vary by business but
the feeling I got was that there
JON RAHL
was a de¿nite increase during
what is normally expected
during a Hood to Coast Sat-
urday. One of the critiques
of the event and of the week-
end though, continues to be
strange pre- and post-traf¿c
patterns that exist in Seaside
around Hood to Coast. Be-
cause hotel rooms are often
booked for two or three nights
— with many unoccupied the
¿rst night — the town slows
down a bit prior to race day.
A huge inÀux arrives Satur-
day morning and then things
come to a steady halt on Sun-
day again. The question I have
been asked many times is
whether there is a better week-
end to schedule this event.
Unfortunately, the answer
to that question is not simple.
This event has an amazing
history in our community
and analyzing what works
and what doesn’t is always
a healthy process. The pros
and cons of something of this
magnitude have been well
documented. But if you feel
passionately about this event
on any level, you’ll have
an opportunity to voice that
opinion on Monday, Sept.
21 at 6:30 p.m. during a City
Council workshop at City
Hall. If you have anything to
say about Hood to Coast, on
any level, I encourage you to
attend this meeting.
Oregon’s North Coast up-
date: As the of¿cial end of
summer comes to a screech-
ing halt this coming Tuesday,
Sept., 22, so too does the
ramp-up to our fall and winter
programming and advertising
for the Oregon’s North Coast
cooperative. This fourth-an-
nual partnership looks like it
will be driving some of our
promotion back into Beer 101
— a concept we unveiled two
autumns ago, during October
Community gathering to recognize service
of former recreation district employee
Public invited to party
for Vicki Yarbrough at
playhouse
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
A community group is
saying an overdue “thank-
you” former Seaside resident
Vicki Yarbrough with a cel-
ebration of her more than 30
years of service with the Sun-
set Empire Park & Recreation
District.
The party takes place from
1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19,
at the Mary Blake Playhouse,
1215 Avenue A. The public is
invited for light refreshments,
activities and the opportunity
to give Yarbrough a proper
farewell, said her uncle, Gor-
don Dickey, of Portland.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Former Sunset Empire Park
& Recreation District em-
ployee Vicki Yarbrough will
be honored at a community
party at Broadway Park on
Saturday, Sept. 19.
In spring 2014, Yarbrough
was abruptly let go from her
33-year position as the Youth
Center Program Coordinator
at the park and recreation
district. The decision was
described at the time as a
cost-cutting measure, but
some community members
felt her dismissal was unfair
and improperly handled,
Dickey said.
Dickey said Yarbrough’s
sudden departure left chil-
dren and their families
without a chance to tell her
goodbye or thank her for her
service in the district’s youth
and aquatics divisions.
An online petition on Mo-
veOn.org urged the district
and former General Manag-
er Justin Cutler to “Rehire
Vicki Yarbrough and give
the kids their favorite teach-
er back.” Eighty-¿ve people
signed on her behalf from
March to April 2014.
An unof¿cial committee
of about ¿ve people plan to
show their gratitude for Yar-
brough’s service with the
community party, Dickey
said.
“It’s our way of making
up for the lack of a fare-
well,” he said. It also will be
a chance to say “thank you.”
She “did her job every
day without complaining
because she loved her job,
which was loving and caring
for children,” Dickey said.
“Vicki represents the vast
majority of workers who
don’t receive nor need rec-
ognition, as they thrive on
the joy received by caring
for others.”
For Yarbrough, he added,
“doing what she did was a
reward itself.”
Yarbrough is temporarily
living Portland, but plans to
attend the party along with
family members and friends.
and November of 2013. That
year, North Coast breweries
collaborated on a signature
brew that consumers helped
name. This year, we hope to
unveil a unique beer pass for
purchase that will give us
tracking mechanisms we’ve
never had before, while also
offering tremendous value for
a product people are still very
passionate about. I’ll keep
you updated on the progress
in next month’s column.
Have a thought or a ques-
tion about tourism in Seaside,
or maybe an idea for a future
column? Drop me an email at
jrahl@cityofseaside.us. Jon
Rahl is the director of tourism
for the Seaside Visitors
Bureau and assistant general
manager of the Seaside Civic
& Convention Center.
Long-distance
travelers
NEAL MAINE PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Sooty shearwaters move into the area.
The annual movement
of sooty shearwaters into
the area occurred Friday,
Sept. 4. Somewhere in
the range of 300,000 to
400,000 appeared in the
near shore ocean and come
close enough to shore to
photograph. Many folks ask
about this bird streaming by
Gearhart and Seaside. Stud-
ies indicate that the sooty
shearwaters travel the lon-
gest animal migration routes
ever recorded, 39,000 miles.
The birds breed in New Zea-
land and Chile and migrate
to feeding grounds in the
Northern Hemisphere, in-
cluding Seaside.
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ence. The class is designed
for beginning and continuing
students at any level of mas-
tery.
The class runs from 7
to 8:30 p.m. Mondays and
Thursdays, Sept. 28 to Dec.
3, at the Seaside Masonic
Hall, 201 N. Holladay Drive.
Cost is $80 for this 10-week
course.
Registration is now open
at the college. To register, vis-
it www.clatsopcc.edu/sched-
ule and search under Course
Title or call (503) 325-2402.
LOCAL HAPPENINGS IN BRIEF
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Clatsop County Commu-
nity College and the Oregon
State University’s Extension
Service are offering “The Art
& Science of Drying Wood”
for wood industry personnel,
portable sawmill operators,
woodworkers and anyone else
interested in learning about the
physics behind wood drying.
The class will help partic-
ipants understand wood be-
havior, including checking,
cracking, splitting, shrinking,
swelling, warping and how to
mitigate their impacts.
The class runs from 9 a.m.
to noon Sept. 24 at the col-
lege’s South County Campus,
located at 1455 N. Roosevelt
Drive in Seaside. Registra-
tion by Sept. 22 is required. It
costs $10 per person for hand-
out materials. To register, visit
Oregon State’s Clatsop Coun-
ty Extension Service of¿ce in
Room 210 at 2001 Marine
Drive in Astoria, or download
the registration form at http://
tinyurl.com/abmqmxw.
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Teresa Brown, investment
representative of TMB Finan-
cial, LLC will present a work-
shop on retirement plans for
small businesses. Brown has
been working with individuals
and businesses for over 15 years.
A morning workshop
takes place Tuesday, Sept. 22,
8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Clatsop
Community College South
County Campus 1455 N.
Roosevelt Dr. in Seaside. An
evening workshop will be
held the same day from 5:30
to 8:30 p.m., at Clatsop Com-
munity College, 1651 Lex-
ington Ave., Columbia Hall
Room 219, Astoria.
The workshop fee is $20,
payable at the workshop by
check or credit card. Email
SBDC@clatsopcc.edu for a
registration link or call (503)
338-2402.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege offers a class teaching
basic to advanced kung fu
techniques within the hybrid
Kajukenbo martial arts sys-
tem. Self defense, jujitsu, car-
dio and strength-building are
emphasized.
The class is taught by
Kajukenbo professor David
Poole, an eighth-degree black
belt with 43 years of experi-
pow ered b y
Ro b ert Ca in , LD
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Vicki
Y arborough
Celebrating
34 years of service
4 51 Av
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Seas
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S ea side
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de • 503-738-5
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Vicki taught most Seaside children
and their parents how to swim
Sunset Empire Parks and
Recreation District