4A • November 25, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
I’m a great-
grandmother!
W
ould you believe I’ve lived all this time
without being a great-grandmother? But
someone fi nally did it to me! Lauren’s
stepdaughter Elena had a baby girl on Oct. 2. Her name
is Emory. I have no other statistics except that all are
happy she’s here — grandma or no. Emory, Elena and
Lauren are all October babies.
The second
presidential
debate occu-
pied my whole
SCENE & HEARD
evening. I was
CLAIRE LOVELL
surprised to see
in the audience
of Hannity’s
post-debate
show, the “My Pillow” maker Mike Lindell. He was a
handsome guy, dressed in suit and tie and seemed like
an old friend.
Somehow a swallow got into my house last Satur-
day. Somebody must have left a door open. I was on the
living room sofa when I noted some fl uttering wings
in the kitchen with a little “cheep.” I tried to catch the
creature but he eluded me and disappeared, so I went to
bed. On Sunday afternoon, I was again relaxing when I
saw the bird sleeping by my shoe in the kitchen. He was
near the warm furnace and easy to catch in that state,
although he did bite when I picked him up. Pecked at
my hand, that is. His talons were full of sticky lint and
Scotch tape that I had dropped earlier. (It was a tempo-
rary cover for a perfume bottle.) After a lengthy job of
carefully removing all the lint from his feet, I took the
little bird outside and released him into the camellia
bush where he quickly disappeared out of sight.
Ron Wyden was on TV lately, touting the advantages
of vote by mail. I hate vote by mail. Ever since Norma
Paulus pushed it way back, it’s been no fun to vote.
Why do we have Election Day anyway if every one
has voted by the time it arrives? Another corruption of
our system when we celebrate on a different day. It’s
disgusting.
On the subject of housing, why don’t we go back
to a boarding house or two for seasonal workers? Just
a big house with several sleeping rooms, a communal
kitchen, a “public” bathroom and individual rentals?
How about resident hotels? What is the future of the
old Beacon Hotel? The reason no one can fi nd housing
in Clatsop County is that too many people have two
homes, the second one of which they use perhaps a
month out of the year. I live in a neighborhood where
there aren’t any people in some houses for a long time.
There should be some requirements for occupancy if
they’re going to hog the real estate. I like to see lights
on all around me to feel safe. And, indeed, one empty
house was robbed earlier. A couple now has more per-
manent residents, albeit they are in the high rent district.
It’s no recipe for a small town.
Laugh Line
Old is when you feel like the morning after and you
didn’t go any place the night before.
Everybody can bless you, some by coming and some
by going.
R.J. MARX
Gayle Spear and Marcia Hartill at the PEO Holiday Treasures event. Event chairwoman Marion Benke is at right.
Holiday giving comes
in many different forms
T
he sound of coins rattling
in a washing machine slot
and the spinning of a dryer
are hardly what you think of
when it comes to charity.
In Seaside, however, volunteers and
supporters of Laundry Love are helping
provide those in need with clean bed-
ding, clothes and outerwear. And once
a month, they head down to the Seaside
Laundromat, where donations provide
up to two loads of laundry free per
family — no strings attached.
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Butterfi eld Cottage hosts its annual
Gingerbread Tea.
The Nov. 12 event was described by
organizer Shirley Yates as the largest
one in the four years of the program’s
existence.
“We ended up using all our funding
within two hours,” Yates said. “It was so
huge there was a line of people waiting to
do their laundry an hour early. We usually
go from 11 to 2. We had to shut it down
at noon because we had used up all our
funding at that point.”
Two seniors from Seaside High
School, Marysol Alcantar and Channene
Prendergast, helped with the clothing
drive as part of their Pacifi ca Project.
Friends and supporters — including
Victoria Daniels, Adrienne Alexander,
Nevaeh Hazen and Carl Yates — found
themselves busy fi lling and refi lling the
coin slots, handing out hot dogs and cof-
fee and coloring pages to the kids.
Jeremy Mills of State Farm Insurance
in Seaside donated use of his garage to
store and sort clothes.
More than 30 families participated in
the event, receiving two loads of laundry
per family, including detergent and dryer
sheets.
Refreshments, games and coloring
books for kids were served to an appre-
ciative audience.
“They are so thankful, so receptive,”
Yates said. “We feel so blessed. You guys
have been so amazing in giving to people
in our community.”
Laundry Love takes place every
second Saturday of the month at 1223
South Roosevelt Drive; the next event is
scheduled for Dec. 10, from 11 a.m. to
2 p.m.
Holiday treasures
Before I went over to the Holiday
Treasures Boutique last Thursday, PEO
education chairwoman Diane Somers
told me the event would exceed my
expectations. She was right.
I wasn’t prepared for the line that
greeted the Holiday Treasures event of
the Seaside PEO organization, the stacks
of cakes, cookies and hand-crafted gifts.
It took the PEO a couple of years to
fi nd the right type of occasion to share
their fundraising mission, Somers said.
First they tried a strawberry short-
cake affair, then a garage sale during the
R.J. MARX
Shirley Yates shares the message of
Laundry Love at Seaside’s Chamber of
Commerce breakfast Friday, Nov. 18.
annual Hood to Coast relay weekend.
That was the year of the big storms and a
power outage.
In the aftermath, PEO changed
course and conceived Holiday Treasures.
Several PEO chapter members are also
members of the Sou’Wester Garden
Club, which maintains the cottage gar-
dens through the spring plant sale fund-
raiser and hiring landscaping services to
supplement members’ “hands-and-knees”
gardening efforts.
Using Butterfi eld Cottage for a holi-
day fundraiser made sense.
“It is not the typical craft sale venue
and presentation, Somers said. “Butter-
fi eld Cottage is a special place to us. It
was such a success we didn’t need to
reinvent the wheel, and struggle out to
fi gure out a new idea each year.”
At last Thursday’s event, Marcia
Hartill and Gayle Spear greeted guests in
their most becoming holiday garb: garish
Christmas sweater and reindeer antlers.
Marion Benke — described by Somers
as described Benke as “fi nance chair,
visionary and chair of the fundraiser” —
presided over new arrivals.
Benke told me she retired to Seaside
after “living all over” and managing a
retail business in Beaverton. She’s been
with PEO since 2006 and with the fund-
raiser for the past two years.
“We support ladies who really need to
go back to college,” Benke said. “Some
are adults, some are not quite adults yet.”
Education is their mission — PEO,
with chapters in the U.S., Canada and
England — stands for Philanthropic
Education Organization.
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MANAGER
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MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Betty Smith
John D. Bruijn
Katherine Lacaze
Claire Lovell
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
Susan Romersa
SYSTEMS
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Carl Earl
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
David F. Pero
R.J. Marx
Scholarships are awarded to graduat-
ing seniors college students and women
reentering the workforce.
Local PEO organizations submit can-
didates to the state chapter, which awards
the scholarship funds annually.
“We always we look for goals and
if they have focus in what they want to
do,” PEO’s chapter president and former
education chairwoman Jan Kenny said.
“Most of the women who are return-
ing are very committed and dedicated to
getting their degrees and to doing really
good community things,” she said. “They
have a good future and are generally very
successful.”
Scholarship recipients study for de-
grees at all levels, and “lots getting their
Ph.D.’s,” she added. “All our girls are
success stories.”
The Cannon Beach Chapter sponsors
two local women through scholarships
or low-interest loans: Alanna Kieffer, a
junior majoring in biology and marine
sciences and Raedetta Castle, manager of
the Seaside High Start Program. Castle
was selected to receive a low-interest
loan, enabling her to pursue her MBA
through Marylhurst University in Port-
land.
“It’s a very rigorous process, so if
you get a scholarship from us, you’re
very deserving,” Kenny said. “I think it’s
wonderful.”
Meanwhile, outside Butterfi eld
Cottage at 10:55 the morning of Antique
Treasures, the line was three deep and
fi lled the parking lot. Holiday cheer was
just fi ve minutes away.
“This was successful, we really
enjoyed putting it together,” Somers said.
“It’s fun for us to see people come and
enjoy what we do. I love working on
events because you really get to know the
people you’re working with.”
While this year’s Holiday Treasures
was a one-day affair, guests will still have
time to visit Butterfi eld Cottage for the
Gingerbread Tea. The Butterfi eld Cottage
will be decorated in Victorian holiday
style and open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Satur-
days, Nov. 26, Dec. 3, 10 and 17.
The museum and cottage are located
at 570 Necanicum Drive in Seaside,
four blocks north of the convention
center.
ADVERTISING
SALES
Brandy Stewart
LETTERS
More solutions
Regarding the tsunami situation: In Seaside, we are
all worried about such a disaster, because we know a
tsunami would certainly be one. We are planning to
move our schools to much higher ground. All the adults
would be killed, but the children would survive.
Please. If we were really worried about such a hap-
pening, would we still be selling and renting property in
the danger zone? What does such a potential disaster do
to property prices and business interests? If we are real-
ly interested, how about publishing in the area news-
papers a map, detailed and easily read, showing the
elevations and danger zones of a tsunami occurrence,
and start preparing good usable escape routes now, none
of which already exist.
On the homeless situation: We do need to help
these folks. In Clatsop County, there are any number
of buildings standing vacant, and not likely to be fi lled
in the foreseeable future. Why not use eminent domain
and build (remodel) an acceptable shelter? It would help
those in need and provide a number of area jobs.
That is, if we are really interested in helping. Tiny
houses seems more like a small slum building if not run
well.
And as for free college, not without answers to a lot of
questions.
Ed Garrity
Seaside
The sins of our fathers
Yes, I voted for the school measure but begrudgingly.
In the years gone by, the school system would have spent
the entire amount of the prior years budget, if they didn’t,
they would have a problem justifying the next year’s
budget.
This was accomplished by buying property and saying
it was necessary for future investments. This money should
have been used to upgrade the buildings and equipment
instead of buying properties and thereby removing them
from the property tax roles.
A good example is south of the bus barns. You can
repair a lot of furnaces for the price of a 100 x 100 foot
lot with river frontage. I’d like to see the list of separate
properties owned by our school district.
By the way John Dunzer, the new area will be used for
many years rather than $100,000 per student.
Bob Cook
Seaside
Seaside Signal
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Seaside, OR 97138.
503-738-5561
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