June 23, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
When
Batman
came to Gearhart
Adam West a regular at
the height of his fame
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
W
ow! Bam! Pow! Shazam!
Among Batman’s many stops
around the planet in his role both as
caped crusader — and without the cape
— Bill Anderson, better known as Adam
West, was a frequent visitor to Gearhart at
the time of his greatest fame. The “Batman”
TV show ran from 1966-68.
In late August 1966, shortly after release
of his “Batman” feature, West arrived at the
Clatsop County Airport accompanied by his
children, Jonelle and Hunter, along with his
brother and sister-in-law John and Carol
Anderson and their two children, Winn and
Peter. “The group spent Sunday and Mon-
day visiting with Bill and John’s mother,”
the Seaside Signal reported.
From Gearhart their plans were to go by
chartered plane to Walla Walla, Washing-
ton, the Signal wrote in 1966. “Batman will
then fl y to New York City via Portland in
Los Angeles, where he will make a number
of personal appearances to promote his new
Batman movie.”
According to the Internet Movie Data-
base, Adam West was born William “Billy”
West Anderson on Sept. 19, 1928, in Wal-
la Walla, to parents Otto West Anderson, a
farmer, and his wife, Audrey V. Speer, an
opera singer. She was also known as Adele.
After a divorce Speer remarried. She
took Billy and his younger brother, John, to
Seattle.
At age 14, Billy attended Lakeside
School, then went to Whitman College,
where he got a degree in literature and psy-
chology.
During his last year of college, he also
married 17-year-old Billie Lou Yeager, the
fi rst of several marriages, before launching
a career in fi lm and show business.
In 1959 he moved to Hollywood and
took the name Adam West. He appeared in
the fi lm “The Young Philadelphians,” and
guest starred on television W esterns and
crime dramas.
His mother, meanwhile, remarried once
again and lived in Gearhart’s Ocean House
on Pacifi c Way . Gearhart’s Jim Furnish re-
membered her as Adele DeSilva.
West was a constant visitor to Gearhart,
Jeff Ter Har, a neighbor at the time, said.
“I was like 10 years old,” Ter Har said. “I
“Batman”
entertains
Gearhart
kids in Au-
gust 1966.
SEASIDE SIGNAL/
FILE PHOTO
would be home and he would be at my par-
ents house for cocktails and all my friends
would come over and see me. ‘I have Bat-
man at my house — Bruce Wayne without
the mask.’ It was pretty cool for me.”
During one visit, West joined a volley-
ball match between the Cannon Beach &
Gearhart lifeguards at Gearhart Beach,
Scott Davis said. “It was really a blast hav-
ing the caped crusader supporting our ef-
forts,” Davis said. “I remember him smiling
and laughing to this day, as he described his
new, larger than life role, with all the fun-
fi lled drama, campiness, and humor for the
upcoming Batman TV series.”
Jean Ter Har shared that Adam West
used to like to come over and read a book
in her living room to “kind of hide out for a
while,” she said.
West’s family became really good friends
with his parents and his family. West’s
brother, John, spent “a lot of time down here
too, also his wife Carol,” Ter Har said. “A
lot of the kids are still in the Portland area.”
Scott Bechtolt of Astoria still cherishes
memories of when Batman came to Gear-
hart.
“We walked down a few houses and ap-
proached a house that looked like a light-
house without the tower or a nautical fort,”
Bechtolt said. “I thought that was cool …
then we knocked … and … Batman an-
swered the door! Just like on T.V. … Ka-
pow!”
Funds could help infrastructure Seaside celebrates
high school grads
Renewal from Page 1A
Using tax increment fi -
nancing, funding comes
through increases in assessed
values of local properties. As
new development arrives and
existing properties are im-
proved, assessments rise and
see property tax increases.
Property taxes on the growth
in assessed value in the urban
renewal area are frozen and
increases are allocated to the
city’s urban renewal agency
and not the taxing districts.
Subsequent
improvements
can lead to higher home val-
ues and in turn higher assess-
ments, ultimately generating
more funds for the urban re-
newal district.
“As the assessed value
grows in the district, only the
urban renewal agencies can
tax against that increase,”
City Manager Mark Winstan-
ley said. “The other agencies
don’t get that.”
Southeast Seaside’s infra-
structure goals, prepared in a
May goal-setting session, in-
clude a pedestrian bike bridge,
parks projects and upgrades to
unincorporated properties in
the area. Because part of the
land is owned by the county,
those areas would need to be
annexed into the city. Annex-
ation would require approv-
al from the Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners.
“Typically, counties are
very supportive if you’re do-
ing infrastructure,” Elaine
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A boundary map of the Southeast Seaside Urban Renewal
District.
Howard of Howard Consul-
tants said. “And 90-some-
thing percent of your plan is
infrastructure.”
Spending decisions can be
changed as long as their cost
does not exceed the debt the
agency can incur, Howard
said.
The city is limited to proj-
ects listed in the city’s urban
renewal plan.
Members of the commis-
sion considered both 20- and
25-year scenarios.
A 20-year timeline would
have yielded a maximum in-
debtedness of $37.6 million;
maximum indebtedness using
a 25-year urban renewal dis-
trict reaches $62.4 million.
“It’s a marked difference
between 20 and 25 years,”
Winstanley said.
Bridge upgrades by them-
selves could consume a large
portion of the project fund,
Howard said. “You’ve got
those bridge repairs, which
really may be a top priority,”
Howard said. “But they’re
$26 million. That’s a lot of
money. I’m not sure how
much the city can add to that
— but that’s what causes the
angst in looking at the proj-
ects in the 20- to 25-year time
frame.”
Urban renewal funds for
school infrastructure of $8.7
million are targeted to im-
prove transportation, bring
a sewer system to the new
campus site, improve water
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storage at the school site and
acquire land as needed for
right-of-way for streets and
utilities.
“This is a situation where
the school district is devel-
oping in a huge way, but by
forming this urban renewal
agency we have an opportuni-
ty to share in the costs rather
than put it all on them,” Win-
stanley said. “For every dollar
we don’t have to pay on pub-
lic improvements that are a
requirement for development,
we can spend it on the kids.
And that’s an opportunity for
us.”
Up to $7.5 million is tar-
geted for building improve-
ments and business assistance
in the area, according to How-
ard.
Additions or changes to
the plan can come at any time.
“This gives us the most
fl exibility in my mind, and
the most options,” City Coun-
cilor Steve Wright said of the
25-year plan unanimously en-
dorsed by Seaside Improve-
ment Commission members.
City staff and consultants
plan a briefi ng with the c ounty
Board of Commissioners on
Tuesday and will seek county
approval at the commission’s
July 26 meeting in Astoria.
Seaside’s Planning Com-
mission will review the plan
for conformance to the city’s
comprehensive plan, Howard
said. The City Council will
hold a formal hearing Aug.
14.
Grads from Page 1A
Thaddaeus
Stapleton,
originally from Washington
state, is ready to leave the
Oregon C oast. He will at-
tend Southern Oregon Uni-
versity to study business
administration. After com-
pleting his undergraduate
degree, Stapleton plans on
pursuing a master’s.
“I was a little unsure if
I’d make it but I’m here
now, ” Stapleton said.
The valedictorians each
gave an address highlight-
ing the impact Seaside High
School had on them, what
they are looking forward to
in the future, and advice for
their fellow classmates.
Summer Spell’s speech
acknowledged that the la-
bels each one of them had
do not defi ne them anymore,
whether that be a positive
one like “successful” or a
negative one like “lazy.”
Dania Nolazco Luna, the
fi rst member of her family to
graduate high school, said:
“Whatever it is you do from
here on out, you only get
back what you put in.”
Caroline Kotson’s goal
for her fellow classmates
is to break away from their
generation’s stereotype as
entitled. Kotson said no
matter what each student’s
future will look like, “go out
and change the perception of
our generation.”
After three valedictorian
addresses, a slide show of the
graduates played. Students’
baby pictures and senior
pictures along with group
photos were shown.
Once the slide presenta-
tion completed, the fourth
valedictorian gave his
speech.
Carson Schulte said he
spent his fi rst three years at
Seaside High going through
the motions in fear of what
others might think of him
for standing out too much.
However, at the beginning
of his senior year, his father
challenged him to try new
things.
Schulte joined choir and
other activities where he
found a great support sys-
tem. “If you have a dream,
go out and chase it until you
can’t chase it any longer,” he
said.
Following Schulte, the
Class of 2017 was awarded
diplomas.
The fi nal valedictorian
address, given by Eliza-
beth Barnes, encompassed
that people are unique and
special in their own ways.
“Don’t let anyone tell you
you don’t matter,” Barnes
said. “Never stop being who
you are and seeking what
you want.”
Presentation by
Dr. Michael Vessely
Orthopaedic Surgeon
WEDWESDAY, JUWE 28 th
5:30pm to 6:30pm
Holiday Inn Express
34 W. Holladay Drive. Seaside, OR
Light appetizers served
ADMISSION IS FREE
The Joint
Replacement
Institute
MCMIWWVILLE OREGOW
Please RSVP bd contacting
Natalie.Reed@capellahealth.com
or (503) 435-6571