4A • June 24, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
Leena Riker helps
festival turn a corner
I
t was a nightmare scenario for any arts organization, big
or small. A longtime grass-roots organization found-
ed by music lovers, the Astoria Music Festival found
itself the subject of unwanted headlines last year when
a well-chronicled shake-up resulted in the departure of
the executive director and resignation of the board of
directors. The festival, co-founded by Keith Clark in 2003 with
vocalist Ruth Dobson, is known for its ability to attract stellar
classical talent and breadth of musical artistic vision.
Leena Riker, a member of the festival’s board of directors,
recalls a couple from London who came specifi cally for a per-
formance of “Wozzeck,” Alban Berg’s rarely performed 12-tone
opera, a diffi cult piece for an ensemble from anywhere.
No little company would take on “Wozzeck.” “You have
to be very brave,” she said. “We did it in collaboration with
a group in San Francisco, the ensemble Opera Parallèle, they
brought sets, huge pieces of stage sets, an incredible cast.”
The performance brought one couple from overseas. “They
said, ‘We do not see this kind of opera in London, we’re going
to come to Astoria,’” Riker said. “They were excited: ‘How can
a small town like this do this?’ Because of the people who work
on this festival. People are so dedicated.”
From master classes to main stage
A festival performance with Clark leading the Omsk Sym-
phony was transformative for Riker.
“I went to that fi rst performance when the Russians were
here in 2007,” she said. “I said, ‘My goodness, in this little
town!’ I was stunned, I was so surprised. So I started talking to
the people working with it, and the next year I volunteered.”
That year, Riker relocated to the North Coast, retiring as a
longtime faculty member at Oregon Health and Science Univer-
sity as a biomedical scientist and researcher.
“I came here because of the Finns — I grew up in Finland
—and the water, because I love to be close to the water,” Riker
said, adding: “One of my big hobbies was whitewater canoeing.
I actually went to a
couple of world cham-
pionships.”
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
Her interest in
R.J.
MARX
music was nurtured as
a child — she actually
attended the funeral of
Finnish national com-
poser Jean Sibelius in 1957 — on the violin and voice studies.
“I sang as a soloist in a chorus,” she said. “Then I got too busy
when I went to medical school.”
Politics at play
With then board President Yvonne Edwards, Riker put
together an IRS application for the Astoria Music Festival’s
tax-free status at her dining room table, a turning point for the
organization. Riker said they were told it would take a year
and a half before they could hope to get it. “We got it in three
weeks,” she said.
Riker became board president in 2009.
“The big thing in a small town, particularly, is fundraising,”
Riker said. “This festival needs about $300,000 to put it together
because of all the musicians we bring in. Every year, the amount
of money we brought in, went up, costs went up, it grew and
grew, and the festival is longer.”
Riker, a Gearhart resident, served as festival board president
through 2011, when she stepped down and left the board to
pursue outside interests, among them a passion for fi ber art.
Former Treasurer Diane Tiedeman became president in 2011.
In 2015 a new festival board recruited Carol Shepherd from the
Maritime Center to serve as executive director.
In July the festival’s
board of directors resigned
en masse, citing “unre-
solved differences with
Clark about the organiza-
tion’s direction and leader-
ship structure.” Shepherd
also resigned.
“I don’t want to make
this about about her (Shep-
herd), but it just didn’t
work out,” Riker said.
The next month,
incoming board president
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Dwight Caswell, a free-
Leena Riker
lance writer and owner
of the Dwight Caswell
Studio, headed a new board, Riker among them. Riker served
as treasurer until early January and is now a member of the
executive board.
“The only person who stayed on was the music/artistic
director Keith Clark,” Riker said. “Keith is the glue that holds
the festival together. He doesn’t want to talk about it, but he
has never, ever over 14 years asked for a penny.”
Looking ahead
The idea of bringing big-time music to small town Amer-
ica is a hallowed one in the Chautauqua tradition: personal
enrichment through the arts, religion, recreation and educa-
tion. Music is a key component, one that drew John Philip
Sousa to the original Chautauqua movement and inspired
opera, classical music and repertory performances around the
country.
I grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, home of the world-re-
nowned Ravinia Music Festival, and had the fortune to live in
Katonah, New York, where Caramoor Music Festival hosted
operas, recitals and world-class jazz. Having a music fest at
your core is literally keeping a beating pulse. In our state,
Portland, Eugene, Sunriver and Britt all boast classical music
gatherings this summer.
Civic pride busts buttons when a virtuoso plays your city.
“We want to move forward, we want to continue this fes-
tival,” Riker said. “We’re going to try to get money and that’s
always very tight. Granting agencies don’t like that kind of
publicity, the idea that something is wrong with the festival.
But when we reapplied for the Meyer Memorial Trust grant,
they gave us more money. This year than they gave us last
year, so they had confi dence in us, which is a very big thing
for us.”
The board hired Bereneice Jones to serve as managing
director, a Ph.D. candidate who put studies on hold for six
months to take on the task. “
“We’ve turned the corner,” Riker said. “We’re not as big
this year as last year, because we wanted to make sure we
don’t overdo it, we wanted to limit it so we don’t run into a big
defi cit again. What we had to do last fall, the new board, we
started a huge fundraising campaign, because we had to close
that defi cit.”
“The music is so spectacular,” she said. “It gets better and
better every year, the level of quality has risen, the number
of famous pieces. Keith Clark is very brave in taking on new
types of music.”
This is the only classical music festival on the North Coast,
Riker said. “When I commit to something, I do whatever I can
to do it,” she added. “We did these incredible things because
we were so dedicated. To me, it’s almost a miracle that a small
town can do it.”
The thrilling career
of Muhammad Ali
O
n our way to the legion club Monday for the Me-
morial Day observance, we encountered a young
doe risking life and limb running through Broad-
way school parking and eventually (I imagine) in the
street. Driver Judy
told me there had
been a dead one
near Nike’s. I hope SCENE & HEARD
it wasn’t the doe CLAIRE LOVELL
who last year fre-
quented my back
yard. I haven’t seen
her for a while. With so much wild life sharing our space,
there is sometimes a fi ne line between the quick and the
dead. Another interesting sign was of a moose on TV, run-
ning through some town in the east. He was really mov-
in’!
I forgot the second verse of my poem I promised you
last time. Here it is:
A grungy beard
Is something weird
And surely not appealing;
Things change so much,
I’ll need a crutch
’Cause you have sent me reeling.
A strange verse to be sure. I just don’t do well with
change unless it seems like improvement. So I often feel
compelled to make some sort of protest about the status
quo.
I knew it would happen someday. I heard from Billy
Graham that knowledge doubles every fi ve years. Maybe
I’ll remember.
June 6 was D-Day. I always observe it by fl ying my
fl ag. Some people do that every day, which is a good
idea, too. I just don’t understand why there isn’t more
national recognition of one of the most sacrifi cial days
in our history. I can’t really bear to think of it.
See how news dispensers have traded “narrative” for
“pivot” as the word of the day. Another word they like
is “algorithms.” They’re so predictable; they can’t seem
to speak at all unless they copy the expressions of their
cohorts. Egad. And now it’s presumptive.
On Friday I listened to most of the memorial to
Muhammad Ali. I watched every boxing match in my
younger days until the Benny Paret contest came along.
Cassius Clay was often my favorite because of his sense
of humor. And, of course, his prowess in the ring. I
loved it when he gave us his poems and said he was “the
greatest.” But most of all, I liked the times when he said
he was “pretty.” After 30 years of living with Parkin-
son’s, he has earned a peaceful rest. A good man has
truly gone to his reward.
Laugh Lines
Two wrinkly old people were engaging in their night-
ly ritual of going to bed. She said, “Honey, why don’t
you take my hand the way you used to?” His wrinkled
hand took her wrinkled hand and they were quiet. Then
she asked, “Dear, why don’t you hold me like you used
to?” He put his wrinkled arm around her wrinkly body
and they nestled comfortably. Then she remembered,
“Dear, why don’t you nibble my ear like you used to?”
He got out of bed and padded across the room. “Where
are you going?” she asked. “Well,” he answered, “I have
to get my teeth!” (Courtesy of Joyce Meyer.)
♦ ♦ ♦
Two 90 year olds got married. They spent their hon-
eymoon trying to get out of the car. Hey, 90 isn’t so old!
How libraries played a role in nation’s World War I defense
D
uring World War I, many boys
from Seaside went off to fi ght
in the war. Letters written
overseas and sent back home were
published on the front page of the
Seaside Signal. The Seaside Signal
was mailed to the soldiers so they
could keep in touch with their home-
town while away at war. As soldiers
returned back to Seaside after the war,
they were thrown multiple parties and
dinners in private homes in Seaside.
Sadly, death notices continued to
arrive months after the war had ended,
and notices of death or injury from as
far back as a month before the end of
the war were still making their way
to Seaside six months later. People
in Seaside could not assume that just
because the war was over, their boys
were alive and well.
During the war, the Clatsop
County forest was taken over by
railroads, logging, and mills for the
express purpose of harvesting spruce
trees for airplane production. About
2,000 men were at the Elsie logging
camp at the peak of the war produc-
tion. Once the armistice was signed
on Nov. 11, 1918, production was
stopped immediately and all spruce
logging camps were shut down within
the month. To celebrate the armistice,
the Seaside marching band led the
Seaside parade through town, but
only a few members of the original
marching band were left, since fi fteen
of the marching band members were
still overseas in the army. The United
War Work Campaign continued to
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Steve Forrester
R.J. Marx
BETWEEN
THE COVERS
ESTHER MOBERG
fundraise for support of paying for the
war effort as well as for the recreation
and diversion of enlisted servicemen.
Some of the fundraising went to
the American Library Association
since during World War I, librarians
established libraries at hospitals and
military bases for the soldiers. They
also distributed books, promoted book
drives, and encouraged donations.
Over 10 million books were donated
and distributed to soldiers during the
war.
Across the nation, from 1917-
1919, Soldiers and Sailors clubs
were created for enlisted servicemen.
The New York Soldiers and Sailors
Club, established in 1917, is still in
existence today. The main purpose of
these clubs was to provide whole-
some entertainment and education for
enlisted servicemen both during and
after the war as well as help transition
soldiers back to civilian life. Seaside
established a soldiers and sailors club
during World War I possibly as early
as 1917, although the Seaside Signal
mentions the club for the fi rst time in
1918. Seaside’s club was unique in
that it was completely funded by the
residents of Seaside. Programs and
entertainment were provided by the
women of Seaside and included re-
freshments, music, and readings. The
club had several rooms that included
a reading room with a collection of
books.
After the war had ended, the War
Camp Community
Service manager
asked the Seaside
City Council to take
over the Soldiers and
Sailors club rooms.
The Seaside City
Council decided in
January 1919 to equip
the Soldiers and Sail-
ors club with women’s
bathrooms and move
the Seaside Library
into the building. Be-
fore this, the Seaside
Library had been in
the public restrooms in
the Dresser department
store building for the
last six years. This
would be the fi rst time (but not the
last), since being established, that the
Seaside Library would be moved.
No mention is made of the physical
address or location of the building
that the Soldiers and Sailors club was
in other than the fact that the city al-
ready owned the building and that the
club existed in several rooms. It was
assumed in every mention of the club
in the papers that everyone knew the
location. Most likely it was centrally
located downtown, possibly near the
Bungalow dance club, which is today
the Carousel Mall in Seaside. The
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entire property where the Soldiers
and Sailors club existed was valued at
$3,500 in 1919, so it must have been
in a fairly large building.
librarian Clara Gilman was tasked to
take over duties in the new building,
including arranging a rest room specifi -
cally for women and children, making
World
War I
soldiers
shooting
cannon
at Tilla-
mook
Head
from the
beach.
SUBMITTED
PHOTO/
SEAISDE
MUSEUM AND
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
The library’s main purpose as it
moved into the Soldiers and Sailors
club would be for the “visitors and
citizens of the city.” Previously
the library’s focus was for Seaside
residents only. The Seaside Civic and
Improvement club who were originally
in charge of the library (they had cre-
ated it 6 years ago) agreed to the move
and offi cially turned over all books
and equipment from the library in the
Dresser building to the city. All items
were to be moved into the soldiers and
sailors club building, and work was
ordered to begin immediately. The
Seaside Signal
Letter policy
The Seaside Signal
is published every
other week by
EO Media Group,
1555 N. Roosevelt,
Seaside, OR 97138.
503-738-5561
seasidesignal.com
The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the
editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to
publication. Letters must be 400 words or less
and must be signed by the author and include a
phone number for verifi cation. We also request
that submissions be limited to one letter per
month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive,
Seaside, OR 97138, drop them off at 1555 N.
Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-9285.
Or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com
the club a meeting place for the newly
formed Boy scouts and young men’s
athletic club, and allowing for any sol-
dier’s clubs that would be formed after
the war to also meet in the building.
According to the transfer documents,
“The place should be a general public
community center with provisions
made of a budget for general upkeep.”
All information was gathered from
the Seaside Signal 1917-1919 with
the exception of national information
on soldiers and sailors clubs and in-
formation from the American Library
Association regarding World War I
librarians.
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