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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
July 21, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A The bootleggers and dairy farms of 1930s Seaside T aking a look at Seaside in the early 1930s, our town was a busy, bustling coastal town. Population and students in attendance at local schools was still low, with approximately 17-22 seniors in the graduating class each year. The West Dairy of Seaside started making its own butter in the 1930s and won an award at the state fair for the quality of their butter. A score of 93 was achieved which is typically the highest marks commercial butter receives unless “particular effort is made” to achieve an award. The butter judged was part of a normal run for the dairy. The local dancing club was aptly named the Sand Fleas. The group formed as a winter club which typ- ically met at the Seaside Hotel each week for dancing parties. Fake news was a problem even back in the 1930s, according to a local farmer who printed a rebuttal to several stories posted in Portland and Astoria papers about his being “dumped in the middle of muddy BETWEEN THE COVERS ESTHER MOBERG creek while in the act of tying a bull elk to a tree.” The farmer wrote in the Seaside Signal that he had never tried to tie up an elk. The bull in ques- tion being tied up was in fact of the bovine (cow) variety and while it did result in his being tossed into Muddy Creek, only minor injuries resulted, to those “areas of the body that are often attractive to bulls — especially when said person is running away.” December of 1931 the sea was wild enough to come up over the prom wall, carrying with it small logs, some of which damaged hous- es. One man broke his leg when he became trapped between a log and his house’s retaining wall that was located just past the prom. Logs were also strewn across the road near the Cove. The combination of a mid-lev- el tide (waves reaching 6 feet 8 inch- es), and a big storm, created fl ooding throughout the area including the Jeffers Gardens area of Astoria and the road near Fort Clatsop. Most peo- ple who were out watching the waves crash over the prom got a thorough ducking. One man had just fi nished laughing about the warnings, when he was submerged by a large wave, which carried him into the doorway of the Moon Gate. The newspaper description doesn’t say if the Moon Gate was a local house or business. February of 1932, during the time of Prohibition, a group of Prohibition agents had received a tip and were waiting on shore, near the Seaside Cove, for a shipment of illegal alco- hol to land. Rumor had it a Canadian ship running alcohol would be mak- ing for shore near the Cove. How- ever, the ship, due to bad weather, went further down the coast to Whale Cove near Newport. Another party of men who were waiting to receive the goods left Seaside hurriedly when word arrived the shipment went aground further down the coast and had caught on fi re. Apparently the people loading the ship with alcohol at Whale Cove also loaded it with jars of gasoline which then caught fi re, burning the ship to the ground. The crates of alcohol were buried in the sand and found later by the authorities. Three men of the liquor ship runner crew were arrested in Portland while taking a stage back to Vancouver, B.C. Autogyros were a thing of wonder and amazement in the 1930s and a Pitcairn autogyro was demonstrated right here in Seaside in May 1931. Autogyros were developed to fl y safely at low speeds, invented in the 1920s and popular in the 1930s. Autogyros were quickly replaced by helicopters once they were made more stable and safe, but at their hey- day in the 1930s autogyros were used by large newspapers and even by the U.S. postal service. Even Amelia Earhart used an autogyro in the Midwest to set an altitude record in 1931. Back in the 1930s an autogyro Astoria Sunday Market features new vendors Now in its 18th season, Astoria Sunday Market runs through Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, on 12th Street in the historic downtown hub. Featured artist Bill W. Dodge provided the artwork for this year’s poster promoting Asto- ria Sunday Market. There are currently 170 vendor applications for the upcoming season with more arriving every day. New ven- dors include Goosepoint Oys- ters, Pacifi c Crab Company and Rawk Stars with their probiotic kefi r water. Also, new this year is The Beautiful Pig, offering European style dry cured salamis and meats. Astoria Sunday Market was founded in 2000 as a nonprofi t organization dedi- cated to revitalizing historic downtown Astoria and sup- porting artists, farmers and other small producers and businesses. For more infor- mation about the market and its upcoming music schedule visit www.AstoriaSunday- Market.com. looked like a cross between a plane and a helicopter with a small airplane body and a helicopter’s blades. The Seaside Public Library was briefl y closed in the 1930s. Issues arose regarding forming a library board. Concerns by the mayor were raised that an independent library board would demand more and more funding, raising the taxes of the city. For the fi rst time in 1931, the movie theater the Strand started to use equipment which would transmit sound directly from the fi lm being played. Previously, discs would play the soundtrack separately from the fi lm, and unless timed perfectly, could easily get out of sync with the picture. I know Seaside residents often talk about the good old days in Seaside, often referring to around the early 1970s and 1980s but truly Seaside seems to have had many good old days over the past century, with many things to keep Seaside a busy and interesting place for visitors and residents alike. BUSINESS DIRECTORY S ECURITY LETTERS Letters from Page 4A Per Cameron Moore, Clatsop County Manager, “a person must have a valid Or- egon driver’s license with an address in the county. If they do not have an Oregon driv- er’s license they can provide the last four digits of their social security number and a current utility bill, bank state- ment, government check or other government documents that show their name and ad- dress which must match the residence or mailing address submitted on their voter reg- istration card. • A person’s residence must be the place in which habi- tation is fi xed and to which, when a person is absent, the person intends to return. Some factors to consider in deter- mining residence include: • Where a person receives personal mail • Where a person is li- censed to drive • Where any immediate family members of the person reside • The address from which the person pays for utility ser- vices • The address from which the person fi les federal or state income tax returns • A county elections offi - cial may inquire at any time into the validity of the regis- tration of any elector. Harold T. Gable, DMD Gearhart ‘Toxic highway’ The Daily Astorian ran an editorial on June 26, “Chem- ical plant fails the sniff test,” about the perils of using our beautiful Columbia River to haul hazardous chemicals, such as methanol, from the proposed plant upriver in Ka- lama, Washington. On July 6, the Astorian ran an editorial on shipping oil on the Columbia, “Oil-by-rail project carries too much risk.” Thank you to the Astorian for spotlighting these issues. On July 7, an oil tanker ran aground near Skomokawa, Washington, carrying millions of gallons of witches’ brew in- cluding ethanol, glycol and oil. Fortunately this did not result in catastrophe since none of the cargo leaked into the river. Think this an unusual oc- currence? Think again. In the last year there have beens four other groundings on this stretch of the lower riv- er. Luckily, no environmental harm was reported for any of these cases. How much longer will our luck hold? It is time we call a halt to these disastrous proposals up- stream which use the Colum- bia as a “toxic highway” to transport products overseas. Our global economy promotes the depletion of our natural re- sources to the highest bidder, driving up prices for Amer- icans and endangering our environment — including the river which offers us a liveli- hood — just to fi ll the pockets of others. The Columbia is much more valuable than to serve as a “highway” of hazardous products. John Green Gearhart Letter: Too much congestion Dear City of Seaside. You have a heart problem. Your arteries are clogged and you need a bypass. I know this issue has come up in the past and the consen- sus was that if Seaside had a bypass that people may not stop to shop. Well… people are stopped for sure. In fact, they are dead stopped on 101 going both directions most days and certainly on week- ends. They are able to pick up an order of Grizzly Tuna or a coffee from Human Bean or shop at Nike outlet that is how slow the traffi c moves. There are more travelers on the road than in previous years and it is only going to get worse, not just here but everywhere. The local businesses are the losers because local resi- dents stay home to avoid the traffi c and it is becoming in- creasingly diffi cult just to go to the grocery store. Those vehicles that are waiting to move through Sea- side are not going to veer off and lose their place in line and most are wondering if there has been an accident as there is no signage that tells them why traffi c is congested. Travel time from Gearhart to Highway 26 Junction can take up to 45 minutes. As a business owner, it has made it almost impossi- ble for me to accommodate my customers with deliveries of wedding cakes from my shop in Cannon Beach travel- ing north and is affecting my bottom line. I now have been forced to redesign my busi- ness plan and re-evaluate my customer service. The issue of a bypass around Seaside needs to be made a priority sooner rather than later. Jae Young Gearhart Whose quality of life? The supporters of David Townsend’s initiative to re- peal Gearhart’s existing short- term rental ordinance and re- place it with their own version claim in their recent mailer it is necessary “to maintain the quality of life for our city.” Whose quality of life is maintained by allowing an unlimited number of vacation rentals in residential neigh- borhoods throughout the city? Whose quality of life is maintained by allowing nine people over 12, plus an unlim- ited number of children under 12 in a three-bedroom house? Whose quality of life is maintained by not requiring rental owners to provide on- site parking to help alleviate parking congestion on narrow city streets? Whose quality of life is maintained by not requiring rental owners to demonstrate that they have a functional septic system capable of han- dling sporadic use by large numbers of occupants? Whose quality of life is maintained if overworked septic systems fail at an ev- er-increasing number of rent- al units lead the Department of Environmental Quality to mandate a citywide sewage system that, over time, will be paid for by all property own- ers? Whose quality of life is maintained by not requiring rentals to be inspected by the local building offi cial, the only inspector permitted by law to evaluate life safety conditions? Whose quality of life is maintained by not requir- ing rental owners to provide for the trash created by their guests over a weekend to be safely stored until trash pick- up day? It seems that the only peo- ple whose quality of life will be maintained are the out- of-town investment property owners behind this initiative. The don’t seem to realize that degrading the overall quality of life in Gearhart will even- tually degrade their own prop- erties, as well as the rest of the town’s. I urge the council to reject the initiative, place it on the ballot and allow the voters of Gearhart to vote it down in November. Dianne Widdop Gearhart MEETINGS Monday, July 24 Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. Tuesday, July 25 Seaside Airport Advisory Committee, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Tuesday, Aug. 1 Seaside Community and Se- nior Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m., Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway. Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way. Thursday, Aug. 3 Wednesday, Sept. 6 Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way. Monday, Sept. 11 Thursday, Aug. 10 Monday, Sept. 25 Seaside Convention Center Commission, 5 p.m., Seaside Civic and Convention Center, 415 First Avenue. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside Planning Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Monday, Aug. 28 Wednesday, Aug. 2 Tuesday, Sept. 5 Seaside Improvement Com- mission, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside Planning Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Residential & Commercial: Burglary & Fire Protection, Video Surveillance, Central Station Monitoring, Remote Arm/Disarm LICENSED • BONDED • INSURED Seaside, Oregon • www.CoastalAlarm.net • info@CoastalAlarm.net CCB# 201010 • Reg.# 977689-99 F LOORING Laurelwood Compost • Mulch • Planting MacMix Soil Amendments YARD DEBRIS DROP-OFF (no Scotch Broom) 503-717-1454 34154 HIGHWAY 26 SEASIDE, OR Laurelwood Farm L ANDSCAPING B oB M c E wan c onstruction , inc . E xcavation • u ndErground u tiitiEs r oad w ork • F ill M atErial s itE P rEParation • r ock owned and operated by M ike and C eline M C e wan 503-738-3569 34154 Hwy 26, Seaside, OR P.O. 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