July 8, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Collaboration leads to successful new event in Seaside
A
little less than three months
ago I was contacted by Meyer
Freeman with the Oregon
Sports Authority (the state’s sports
economic development arm) about
the possibility of hosting a new
sporting event in Seaside. Meyer and
I have worked together a handful
of times over the past six years and
this particular conversation seemed
more promising than some of the
other potential new events we had
discussed.
The event we were being pitched
on was something called Footvolley.
In short, it’s beach volleyball meets
beach soccer. The key difference is
that hands and arms are not allowed
to pass or spike the ball. Shoulders
are allowed, but the rest of the arm
is a no-no. Two players on each side,
a maximum of three hits per side,
while players volley the ball over
the net just like volleyball. Hearing
or reading about it alone makes it
sound pretty diffi cult. And how in
the world can a volley back and
forth (with legs, body and head) be
sustained? Just Google it. You’ll see
what I mean.
After that initial pitch on April
18, conversations moved very
quickly. A week later the pitch was
changed. The USA Footvolley
Association didn’t just want to do an
event in Seaside, they now wanted
to host the USA National Qualifi er
on our beach, with a ticket to Rio de
Janeiro (home of the 2016 Summer
Olympic) on the line. Footvolley
will be a demonstration sport in
2016, with the hopes of growing
into an offi cial medal sport in the
SIDE RAIL
JOHN RAHL
future. Did I mention that this event
needed to happen before July? Two
months from the time of this second
conversation. All partners would
have to move quickly. Event permits
needed to be approved and organi-
zation needed to begin immediate-
ly. Many wondered if it could be
accomplished.
Well, if you happened to cruise
past the turnaround the weekend of
June 25 and 26, you would have no-
ticed that the event did happen and
culminated with an incredible fi nal
match on Sunday between Team
Miami and Team Los Angeles. L.A.
was the heavy favorite and won the
fi rst set 21-13. The outcome seemed
inevitable. That was until Miami
scored the fi rst 10 points of the sec-
ond set and gained every ounce of
momentum from the several hundred
people that had gathered to watch.
Miami won set two, setting up a
fi nal set for the right to represent
the U.S. in Rio. Led by the energy
of Sergio Menezes (president of the
U.S. Footvolley Association), who
was partnered with the extremely
skilled Lucas Roque, Miami claimed
set three by the score of 15-11 to
punch their ticket. It was a fantastic
conclusion to a busy two months.
While the City of Seaside Visitors
Bureau and Oregon Sports Author-
ity partnered to sponsor the event,
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Team Los Angeles’ Alex Freire kicks the ball while facing off against Northern California in the Team USA Footvol-
ley qualifying matches in Seaside.
the Seaside Chamber of Commerce
contributed countless hours of setup
and breakdown time, along with
logistical support. Without that
fi nal, integral piece, the event likely
wouldn’t have happened. Their ex-
perience hosting other beach sports
events like soccer and traditional
beach volleyball allowed this event
to run incredibly well. I am extreme-
ly grateful for their partnership.
Part of the agreement was that
the championship match would be
videotaped and given to Root Sports
Network for potential television dis-
tribution. The feeling is that it will
air later this month. The icing on the
cake: the footvolley group enjoyed
their time here so much, they are
already talking about a return to
OBITUARIES
William Stephen Osburn
Feb. 2, 1950 — June 18, 2016
William Stephen Osburn,
or “Steve,” was born in Roch-
ester, Minnesota, Feb. 2,
1950, and passed away peace-
fully at Sendera Ranch home,
Magnolia, Texas, the morning
of Saturday June 18, 2016 af-
ter a diffi cult and long strug-
gle with Lewy Body Demen-
tia, Parkinsonism, and ALS.
Steve is survived by his
devoted wife, Emily, and his
two adoring daughters, Alison
and Claire Osburn, as well as
numerous loving and beloved
friends, in-laws, cousins,
nieces and nephews. The son
of William and Judith Osburn,
Steve was the second-eldest
of four siblings. The three
surviving brothers and sisters
include Carol Jenkins and her
husband, Brent Jenkins, Jim
Osburn and Susie Jopling and
her husband, Buzz Jopling.
A few years after gradu-
ating with honors from the
University of Texas in Aus-
tin, Steve and Emily traveled
to Cannon Beach, Oregon,
where Steve eventually took
over the family business start-
ed by his mother and father,
Osburn’s Grocery and Deli-
catessen. Steve was a leader,
mentor, and friend to many
of the employees of Osburn’s
Grocery and many other Can-
non Beach community mem-
bers. The business thrived
under Steve and Emily’s di-
rection for over 20 years be-
fore they sold the store and
returned to Texas.
Steve had many passions,
but one of the strongest was
learning and teaching. Over
the years this included teach-
ing seventh grade reading,
imparting to his daughters
SUBMITTED PHOTO
District Governor Barb Crozier, second from left, and
District Governor-elect Tom Marcos, right, congratulate
Seaside Rotary members Denny Jones, left, Alice Wood,
center, and Stewart Martin, second from right, on their
Rotary Foundation and service awards.
Seaside Rotary hosts
its annual banquet
The Seaside Rotary Club
held their annual banquet
and installation of offi cers
for the 2016-17 year at the
Astoria Golf & Country
Club on June 17. Seventy
Rotarians and family mem-
bers participated in the
evening festivities. District
5100 Governor Barb Crozier
and District Governor-elect
Tom Markos were also in
attendance to support the
leadership of the club and to
acknowledge that the Rota-
ry Club of Seaside received
three awards, including a
special Rotary Internation-
al award to Stewart Martin.
Three awards is very signif-
icant as there are 73 Rotary
clubs in District 5100.
The Seaside Rotary club
will be celebrating its 70th
year in 2017, and meets
each Thursday at noon at the
SUBMTTED PHOTO
Jason Schermerhorn,
Rotarian of the Year Alan
Evans and Raven Brown.
Best Western Ocean View in
Seaside. Guests are always
welcome to attend the lunch
meeting which also has
guest speakers and programs
each week.
That is enough of my vent, but it
is hard to watch what is going on and
believe someone so hateful is being
allowed to represent a political par-
ty. Does money buy everything? Vote
Blue. I certainly will.
M. Diebolt
Seaside
Land conservancy offers
two guided outings
North Coast Land Con-
servancy is offering two
ways to experience a re-
covering coastal rainforest,
guided by expert natural-
ists.
On Friday July 29, bi-
ologist and educator Mike
Patterson leads a 2-mile
round-trip walk into Eco-
la Creek Forest Reserve in
Cannon Beach.
The following Friday,
Aug. 5, naturalist Neal
Maine will lead what he
calls a “Seaton Watch” at
Circle Creek Habitat Re-
serve.
The two-hour outing
will follow a 0.8-mile na-
ture trail through a Sitka
spruce swamp at the edge
of this 365-acre conserva-
tion area at the south end of
Seaside.
Visit NCLCtrust.org/on-
the-land-summer-outings
for more details or to regis-
ter for this free On the Land
outing.
William “Steve” Osburn
his boundless knowledge and
appreciation of music, litera-
ture, poetry, botany, biology
and any other important bit
of life’s wisdom he could get
into their heads (when they
were listening, of course).
Steve taught himself to run
a business without any busi-
ness training, and eventually
became a fi ne wine expert
and collector. Steve had a
fun-loving and genuinely car-
ing spirit, a mischievous and
witty sense of humor, and a
profoundly honest, accepting
and loving attitude towards
people from all walks of life.
He will be deeply missed by
all who knew him and loved
him.
A funeral service was held
on Saturday, June 25, 2016,
at Trinity Episcopal Church,
3901 S. Panther Creek Drive,
The Woodlands, TX 77381. A
reception followed the service
in the Paris Hall.
Memorial contributions
may be made to: the Nation-
al Parkinson’s Foundation,
www.parkinson.org; or Ducks
Unlimited, www.ducksunlim-
ited.org
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LETTERS
Letters from Page 4A
Seaside and possibly as a stop on the
U.S. Pro Footvolley Tour.
Have a thought or a question
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 tour-
ism for the Seaside Visitors Bureau
and assistant general manager of the
Seaside Civic & Convention Center.
Flags at half mast
Half mast. Our fl ag was at half mast
again. As a child in a post World War II era,
I recall seeing our fl ag fl y proudly. There
were a few identifi able events that the fl ag
would be at half mast. The most notable
was the 30 days of mourning after the as-
sassination of President Kennedy.
As I look about in today’s world, I see
that the fl ag is frequently, maybe more than
not, at half mast. It more rarely fl ies proud-
ly as before. And it seems the majority of
events are related to some form of gun vi-
olence.
As I continue to look up at our now
half-mast fl ag I will be forever reminded
that this is now the price we will all have to
pay for the “right” to bear arms.
Bud Perschek
Seaside
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