6A • September 29, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Drumheller was a hospitality industry leader
‘Tom was the most hospitable
person to anyone, whether it be a
housekeeper at one of our hotels,
or… a billionaire developer.’
Key fi gure in
South County
tourism
By R.J. Marx and Brenna Visser
Patrick Nofi eld,
president of Escape Lodging
Seaside Signal
Tom Drumheller, chief
executive offi cer of Escape
Lodging and co-owner of
Tom’s Fish & Chips, died on
Sept. 10 at his home in Cannon
Beach after a short illness. He
was 64.
Drumheller, a former chair-
man of the city’s Tourism and
Arts Commission, played a
key role in the region’s hos-
pitality industry and beyond,
serving on the board of direc-
tors of Travel Portland and
most recently as founder of the
62,773-square-foot Colum-
bia Point Hotel in Tri-Cities,
Washington.
“I’ve known Tom for 30
years, and we’ve been business
partners since 1999,” Patrick
Nofi eld, the president of Escape
Lodging, said . “There’s nobody
like him. It’s a huge void — not
just for those who loved him,
but for our community, and the
people of eastern Washington
where he grew up.”
According to Nofi eld,
Drumheller was diagnosed
with metastasized colon can-
SUBMITTED P HOTO
Tom Drumheller, a key fi gure
in Cannon Beach tourism,
died on Sunday, Sept. 10.
cer in August . “When they
were in the hospital they found
cancer was all over his body,”
Nofi eld said. “It was totally
unexpected.”
Nofi eld said Drumheller
did not want to spend his last
days in the hospital, so he re-
turned to home hospice in
Cannon Beach.
He had friends and family
members come from all over
the Northwest, Nofi eld said.
“For the last week of his life it
was like one continuous party.
Tom was greeting everyone,
engaging people, meeting with
employees, sharing stories,
sharing humor.”
Career in hospitality
John Thomas Drumheller,
known as “Tom,” was born
and raised in Walla Walla,
Washington, on Aug. 15, 1953.
Drumheller’s family worked
in the hardware business for
generations.
Growing up, he watched
how his father used humor and
respect to develop strong rela-
tionships with customers.
That set the foundation
of his philosophy toward the
hotel and restaurant industry,
where he worked for 25 years
before establishing his own
business.
A key experience came
when Tom turned 9; he was hit
by a baseball, Nofi eld said.
The ball concaved his skull
and he lost all ability to talk.
“They were able to do surgery
and put the skull where it need-
ed to be, but he had to reteach
himself to talk,” Nofi eld said.
His mother, a schoolteach-
er, read him the Dr. Seuss clas-
sic, “Thidwick, the Big-Heart-
ed Moose.”
The incident inspired
Drumheller’s future career di-
rection, Nofi eld said.
“Thidwick always wanted
to take care of his guests, and
of all the people I have ever
met, Tom was the most hospi-
table person to anyone, wheth-
er it be a housekeeper at one
of our hotels, or whether it be
a billionaire developer,” No-
fi eld said. “He treats them all
the same. All with love and all
with encouragement.”
Escape Lodging
After graduation from the
Carson College of Business
at Washington State Universi-
ty, Drumheller participated in
the Hyatt Hotel management
training program before es-
tablishing Escape Lodging of
Cannon Beach as its chief ex-
ecutive offi cer in 2001.
Escape Lodging also owns
the Ocean Lodge, The Inn at
Cannon Beach and other lodg-
ing properties and restaurants
in Oregon and Washington
state. Drumheller served on
the Oregon Restaurant and
Lodging Association Board of
Directors, Washington State
University Hotel and Restau-
rant Advisory Board of Direc-
City Council honors fi rst responders
Responders from Page 1A
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Mayor Jay Barber and Police Chief Dave Ham at Monday’s
City Council meeting. The mayor delivered a proclamation
recognizing the contributions of fi rst responders.
him to a safe environment to
get the help he needed.”
Ongoing training is con-
sidered one of the depart-
ment’s highest priorities.
The city’s proclamation,
read by Councilor Randy
Frank, recognized the state’s
career and fi rst responders,
including law enforcement
offi cers, fi refi ghters, emer-
gency medical technicians,
911 dispatchers and rescue
personnel.
The proclamation de-
clared Sept. 25-30 First Re-
sponder Appreciation Week
and recognized the role of
fi rst responders in times in
crisis and as volunteers for
schools and community or-
ganizations.
“Acts of kindness and ap-
preciation from citizens pro-
vide fi rst responders needed
encouragement and support
to confront the dangerous
and uncertain situations they
face every day,” states the
proclamation.
“A great way to express
that is to, when you encoun-
ter fi rst responders, to tell
them how much you appre-
ciate that service,” Barber
added.
tors and Travel Portland Board
of Directors.
In 2014, Drumheller and
Tom Krueger teamed to open
Tom’s Fish & Chips restaurant
at 240 N. Hemlock St.
Drumheller said in a 2014
interview his goal was to “try
to make it really, really cozy,
especially during the off season
for the locals.”
Drumheller and Krueger
opened a second location in
Seaside this summer.
“I was very fortunate to
have some great mentors I
admired and learned a great
deal from,” Drumheller said
in an alumni magazine profi le.
“When one of them passed
away, it spurred me, along
with my future business part-
ner, to take what I had learned
and start my own company. It
was both very scary and excit-
ing. The risk-to-reward ratio
has been better than I could
have imagined.”
This spring he was induct-
ed into the inaugural class of
the Carson College of Busi-
ness Hall of Fame.
The city mourns
Friends and family gath-
ered in his last days to salute
the man they had grown to
know and love.
Robin Risley was among
the founding members of the
arts commission when Drum-
heller served as chairman.
“He was such a fun person
to have at the meeting,” Ris-
ley said. “He did things with a
sense of humor. We didn’t all
come from the same place, but
he was so inclusive that most
of the decisions were made
were fair and forward think-
ing. I just appreciated him so
much. He always had such a
twinkle in his eye.”
Cannon Beach Police Chief
Jason Schermerhorn knew
Drumheller as a member of the
Tourism Advisory Committee.
“When I started with the
city fi ve years ago, the city
manager at the time said,
‘There’s a list of people you
need to meet,’ and he was at
the top of the list, ” Schermer-
horn said. “He always had a
smile on his face, and very
generous when he gave back
to the community.”
“He was a huge rock here
in Cannon Beach,” said Court
Carrier, the executive director
of the Cannon Beach Chamber
of Commerce . “He was im-
portant — a hospitality execu-
tive for decades.”
Drumheller and his wife,
Christy Lynn, have two adult
daughters, Brook Burnett and
Britney Drumheller.
A memorial service will be
scheduled .
DINING
on the
NORTH COAST
Great Restaurants in:
GEARHART
SEASIDE
CANNON BEACH
Rescued olive ridley turtles get second chance
Trio is returned
to the ocean
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Three olive ridley turtles
discovered comatose along
the Oregon and Washing-
ton state c oasts after winter
storms returned to ocean wa-
ters in early September.
Solstice, Tucker and
Lightning returned to the
ocean after treatment at Sea-
World in San Diego. Olive
ridley sea turtles are listed on
the federal endangered spe-
cies list as threatened.
SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO
Underwater photo of the
turtle named Solstice.
Tucker, a male olive rid-
ley turtle between 15 to
20 years old , was found at
Cannon Beach after storms
in December 2015. He
had a 40-degree body tem-
perature when rescued.
Staff at the Seaside Aquarium
rescued the male olive rid-
ley sea turtle after it washed
ashore south of Tolovana ,
likely pushed into colder wa-
ters by strong winds, aquar-
ium a dministrative a ssistant
Tiffany Boothe said at the
time. Juvenile olive ridleys
sometimes travel in warm
currents offshore.
Tucker developed severe
pneumonia and had to be
treated in a hyperbaric cham-
ber because he developed air
in his tissue and a buoyancy
problem.
He was transferred to
the Seattle Aquarium after
his initial care then fl own to
SeaWorld San Diego by the
Coast Guard in April 2016.
Lightning is a female
olive ridley turtle that was
stranded in Pacifi c City, suf-
fering from hypothermia,
buoyancy issues and injuries
to both eyes.
After treatment at the
Oregon Coast Aquarium,
Lightning, along with Thun-
der, an olive ridley found in
Gearhart, were escorted by
the Coast Guard and a reha-
bilitation team to SeaWorld .
Thunder died while complet-
ing her fi nal rehabilitation
stage before release into the
wild.
Hundreds of volunteers
in the South County came
to Cannon Beach, Gearhart
and Seaside beaches Satur-
day, Sept. 23, for the annual
SOLVE Beach and Riverside
Cleanup, presented by the Or-
egon Lottery.
More than 4,600 volunteers
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Lighter
appetite
menu
• Junior
Something for Everyone menu
Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak
Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib
Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight
All Oregon Lottery products available
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BREAKFAST
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MAZATLAN
Annual beach cleanup hauls
in about 36 tons of trash
Seaside Signal
WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO?
M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T
joined for the event, which
collected an estimated 72,000
pounds of trash and marine
debris were collected from
140 project sites including
rivers, neighborhoods, parks,
historic cemeteries, and other
natural areas across the state.
According to SOLVE,
cleanups took place along all
362 miles of the Oregon Coast.
Phone 503-738-9678
1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside
NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD
R E STAU R A N T S
Join Us for the Ladies of the Lake
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Oct 6, 10 am - 7 pm
Oct 7,10 am to 4 pm
$5 Admission
CANNON
BEACH
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907 Douglas Avenue,
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Ocean Front at
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Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days)
Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily)
Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144