SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 110th YEAR • June 24, 2016
Zero to 60 in 2.5!
SEASIDE SIGNAL/FILE PHOTO
Seaside School District Superintendent Doug
Dougherty and geologist Tom Horning at Sea-
side Heights Elementary School in April. The
Weyerhaeuser land site can be seen behind
them.
Weyerhaeuser
gift could lead
to November
school vote
80 acres designated for new campus
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
The school in one of the most dangerous
locations in America could fi nd a new home.
Seaside High School, located in the tsunami in-
undation zone, will receive an 80-acre gift from
Weyerhaeuser Co . for a new school campus lo-
cated in a safer area.
“Weyerhaeuser is generously donating 80
acres of land to Seaside School District to re-
locate its schools,” Doug Dougherty, Seaside
School District superintendent, said on Friday,
June 17. “We will own the property that meets
the Oregon Department of Geology and Miner-
als Industries’ safety recommendations prior to
going out for a bond.”
Dougherty said ownership of land out-
side the tsunami inundation zone was a con-
dition many community members request-
ed before voting to fund a new school bond.
A 2013 bond to move the Seaside schools out
of the inundation zone failed at the polls when
voters rejected a $128.8 million bond proposal.
According to Dougherty, there are only
four public K-12 schools in Oregon within
the tsunami inundation zone. “Weyerhaeuser
understands that Seaside School District has
three of these four schools and that there is no
other suitable land available,” Dougherty said.
Rare ‘supercar’ a highlight of the show
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
W
ith 0-60 in 2.5 seconds and a top
speed of 200 mph, nobody just
takes the Kepler Motors Mo-
tion out for a spin. The “Super-
car” made its Seaside Muscle
and Chrome Car Show debut,
featuring 550-horsepower, 3.5 liter twin-turbo
engine, all-wheel drive and acceleration from
0 to 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds. The most
expensive car in the world was made entirely
by hand; only 50 were produced.
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
See Kepler, Page 10A
Skeleton man at the wheel.
See Schools, Page 6A
Kids get an introduction to gardening in Seaside
Healthy eating and a
learning opportunity
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
PAID
prefer throughout life, but also
that nutrition will help them
do better in every aspect,” said
Hassan, a retired nurse. “Let’s
face it: nutrition is everything
when children are developing.
It’s physical, it’s mental, it’s
emotional.”
Besides, she added, “There’s
such magic, taking that tiny
seed that grows into a fabulous
plant.”
Seaside High School seniors
Sam Beaudoin, Raiden Bowles
and Josef Barbic built the gar-
den’s plant containers for their
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Children who want to learn
about nutrition and experience
the thrill of growing their own
produce now have a place to
call their own at the recently
completed Youth Garden be-
hind the Sunset Pool.
The Youth Garden, locat-
ed on Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District property
adjacent to the Sunset “Sunny
Hunt” Pool Garden, was un-
veiled to the public during a
grand opening June 8.
Master gardeners Mary
Blake and Barbara Hassan
helped spearhead a campaign
to provide a garden for children
that is being used within the
district’s preschool and youth
programs.
“If we can get children to
alter their palates, to make
healthy choices early in life,
that’s what they’re going to
Pacifi ca Project. District staff,
along with Hassan and her hus-
band and fellow master garden-
er Ed, helped with construction.
What used to be an old park-
ing area that was plagued with
standing water and a real drain-
age problem is now resolved
with a beautiful garden, Hassan
said.
The project was fi nanced by
the high school students’ proj-
ect sponsors, as well as the rec-
reation district.
See Garden, Page 7A
SUE CODY/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Young girls admire an artichoke plant that is taller than they
are at the more established Sunny Hunt Garden adjacent to
the youth garden.
Saying farewell to Father Nick
Beloved pastor returning
to his African homeland
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Father Nicholas Nilema says goodbye to church-goers follow-
ing morning services in Seaside.
Father Nicholas Nilema —Father Nick to
all — is preparing to leave Seaside at the end
of July, and his “family” here is already miss-
ing him.
“I will miss them here too,” Nilema said.
“It’s really a family, my family. For us as mis-
sionaries, everywhere we go or are sent, we
make a family.”
During his 18 years in Seaside as pastor of
Our Lady of Victory, Nilema counted as his
accomplishments the rebuilding of the church,
outreach to the homeless and partnerships
within the community.
“It’s a loving, caring community,” Nile-
ma said. “People’s needs are the same every-
where. When people lose a loved one or fami-
ly members, it’s the same.”
Flashing his famous smile, he added: “Ex-
cept there are some differences in the social
aspects.”
Raised in Tanzania, East Africa on the
slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the high moun-
tain in Africa, Nilema attended seminary to
study accounting before his call to the min-
istry. He served with a small parish near
Mwanza in the Lake Victoria region, before
an assignment at Saint Therese Parish in east
Portland in July 1992 as a member of the As-
sociated Life Community of Priests, a mis-
sionary order that fi lls the need for priests.
In 1997 Nilema arrived in Seaside, which,
he said, was even smaller than his Tanzani-
an birthplace. He devoted his attention to
the community, especially the ill, the elder-
ly and those will special needs. He formed a
ministry at Providence Seaside Hospital and
administers to families in Astoria at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital. He is a key founder
of the emergency shelter with Alan Evans of
See Farewell, Page 7A