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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 2016)
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY OUR 110th YEAR • December 9, 2016 Dorchester surprises Seaside with move H l i d o h a , y s e m e r a t g y ic a d i ol GOP gathering heads to Salem By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal The Dorchester Conference, a perennial gathering of Republicans at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center, is splitting up with an old friend. The conference, which has drawn U.S. presidents and national and state politi- cal leaders to Seaside for the past 46 years, booked the spring conference at the Salem Convention Center. The conference features “a new look, new direction and new location” in promotion for the March event. Access to legislators at the state capital, a search for a more centralized location, di- visions within the membership and program changes were among reasons for the reloca- tion, said Tom Simpson, Dorchester’s imme- diate past p resident . “This was not a decision we made lightly,” Simpson said. “We looked not only at the last couple of years, we looked at where things are going in Oregon and the population as a whole. We needed to make a fundamental shift.” Jaime Daniels and Katie Bulletset de- signed “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” for Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation’s Festival of Trees. Founded by Packwood The conference was founded in 1965 by Bob Packwood, the future U.S. senator. Their fi rst meeting at the Dorchester House in Lincoln City brought 200 Republicans and launched what is today the nation’s oldest po- litical conference. The event moved to Seaside in 1970 and has been a feature of the community since. While the conference is not formally affi liated with the GOP, the guest list is a Who’s Who of the Republican P arty: George H. Bush, Ron- ald Reagan, Nelson Rockefeller, Karl Rove and Jack Kemp, along with every Oregonian of note from the last half-century. Simpson described the Dorchester Con- ference as “center-right” on the political spec- trum. This year’s conference featured Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson as keynote speak- er and state candidates, including members of the Independent Party of Oregon. The bruising November election drove an ideological wedge among membership, which in a presidential straw poll strongly re- jected the candidacy of Donald Trump. In the aftermath of the election, the Dorchester Conference has seen a “small but signifi cant” drop in membership, both from the left and the right. “I know a number of lifelong Republicans who have walked away from the party be- cause of this last election,” Simpson said. On the right, the Oregon Liberty Alliance describes itself as “a coalition of organiza- tions that share a common mission to support Oregon candidates that uphold conservative values and protect our freedoms.” “The social conservatives have a new place to go,” Simpson said. “I know they were upset with how Dorchester dealt with social issues. That’s OK — it’s a free marketplace.” Access to Republican leadership in Sa- lem provides another incentive for the move, Simpson said, with opportunities for “more face time” with elected offi cials . Seaside is just too far for many conference attendees, Simpson added, many of whom live in the eastern part of the state. EDWARD STRATTON/EO MEDIA GROUP Festival of Trees rocks around the Christmas tree By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal T his year’s Providence Seaside Festival of Trees broke all records for attendance and giving. More than 1,500 people came to the daytime community event between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 312 guests at the evening gala pledged more than $160,000, far surpassing the goal of $138,000. ¶ The numbers “blew all records out of the wa- ter,” Executive Director Kimberly Ward of the Providence Seaside Hospital Foundation said. The evening’s special appeal to fi ght cancer raised $52,000, more than double last year’s appeal amount. See Trees, Page 9A JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL Haley Hadduck reads to kids at the Festival of Trees community event. PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Dorchester, Page 8A Seaside artist Thriller nears fi nish line raises eyebrows By Eve Marx For Seaside Signal Display, inspired by Trump’s election, spurs concerns By Lyra Fontaine EO Media Group The painting in the win- dow of T. Anjuli Salon and Gallery features a nude woman with her legs open. Artist Billy Lutz’s “Rape of Mother Earth” portrays the sun, mountains, trees and waters, along with in- digenous people and “force rings” that represent “all that exists which is unseen.” The display, inspired by Republican businessman Donald Trump’s election as president, has drawn com- plaints from some because of the graphic images. Allegorical fi gures — women pregnant or breast- feeding — depict the earth’s fertility. A graph pattern representing the rationality of capitalism is encroaching upon the wildlife and “cap- turing nature.” On the graph, Lutz painted fi gures wield- ing weapons and a cross, a criticism of what he called “corporate Christianity.” See Paintings, Page 8A Seaside’s turn on the big screen comes closer as crew members put fi nishing touch- es on “Seaside,” the movie, which was shot in April “We are almost fi nished,” director Sam Zalutsky said, speaking from his home in New York City. Post-produc- tion — including color cor- rection, sound edit and sound design are expected to reach completion in about a month. “The movie is a love letter to my home state,” he said. Zalutsky said he was drawn to do a fi lm about Seaside after spending so much time here as a youth. “My parents have a home in SUBMITTED PHOTO Matt Shingledecker and Ariana DeBose at Funland in the movie “Seaside.” Arch Cape and I’ve spent a lot of time there,” Zalutsky said. “The Oregon coast land- scape has so seldom been caught on fi lm,” he added. “I knew I could do a visually dynamic fi lm, and of course I had use of my parents’ beach house not just as a location, but as a place to live during the shooting.” See Movie, Page 8A