SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
OUR 112th YEAR • July 20, 2018
‘A MARVELOUS DAY’
Expansion
bond gets
board
approval
Sunset Park and Rec
district to seek $20M in
20-year bond offering
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Members of the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District approved wording of
a $20 million bond over a 20-period year
for recreation center expansion in the year
2020.
After the unanimous vote by board
members Edward Hassan, Veronica Rus-
sell, Mike Hinton, Mills said board mem-
bers want the public to realize that the num-
bers are not merely synchronous, but come
after months of discussion and public input.
Board chairman Alan Evans was absent.
“We know people like round numbers,
but we’d like to talk about increased pro-
grams, we’d like to talk about larger class-
es for the kids, we want to talk about how
we’re going to provide longer and better
hours in the wintertime,” Mills said at Tues-
day’s meeting at the Bob Chisholm Com-
munity Center. “Our goal is to make this
something that is long-lasting.”
See Bond, Page 3A
COURTESY RANDY ANDERSON
Patty Stanley-Meade gets an assist from Whitney Anderson and Randy Anderson with a beach wheelchair available through
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District. Anderson donated a wheelchair to Seaside and is proposing a similar program in
Gearhart.
Wheelchair program headed to
Gearhart after Seaside success
Randy Anderson
continues plea
for access
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
After more than 20 years,
a Seaside resident was able to
get her feet wet at the beach.
“An important day in my
life,” is how Seaside’s Patty
Stanley-Meade described her
experience.
Stanley-Meade, who said
she has been disabled for more
than 20 years, is unable to
stand long or walk more than a
few feet. “This was a most im-
portant day in my life, having
been disabled over 20 years
and not able to do what I dear-
ly love, walk on the beach.”
The chair inspired peo-
ple watching, rooting her on,
clapping and asking more
about the program.
Seaside’s example may be
replicated in Gearhart, with
access to free beach wheel-
R.J. MARX
Entrance to the beach at 10th Street. Councilors heard a pro-
posal to make access to Gearhart’s beach more accessible for
people with disabilities.
chairs for people with disabil-
ities. Similar programs serve
people in Manzanita and Can-
non Beach.
Randy Anderson, who
helped pioneer the Seaside
program, went before the
Gearhart City Council on
Wednesday, July 11, to pro-
pose a similar service in Gear-
hart. He also offered to launch
the Gearhart program with
the donation of the city’s first
wheelchair.
Anderson proposed a part-
nership with the resort Gear-
hart by the Sea to provide stor-
age closer to the beach. “Then
it’s right on the beach access
road,” he said.
Visitors could park on
Ocean Way or North Mari-
on, he said, and access the
wheelchair by using an elec-
tronic code. He said he would
provide maintenance on the
wheelchair.
“What a worthwhile pro-
gram to get started,” Mayor
Matt Brown said. “I’d be very
interested in seeing this hap-
pen.”
Seaside’s beach wheelchair
program opened for free pub-
lic rentals on July 6, admin-
istered by the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District.
The first person to use
the program in Seaside was
a 16-year-old girl, Anderson
said at the Gearhart meeting.
“This was the first time
she was able to access the
beach, touch beach sand and
touch the ocean,” Ander-
son said. “A perfect start.”
Seaside has two wheelchairs in
service, both donated by Pat-
rick and Denise Duhachek of
Wheel Fun Rentals. Anderson
See Beach, Page 3A
A delicious
new recipe —
or a recipe for
disaster?
Restaurant owners pan
food cart proposal
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Let them eat cake — or tacos or fresh
salads — whatever the creative chef can
manage in a kitchen the size of a step van.
Fans and foes of food carts came to City
Hall Monday, July 9, for a workshop driven
by residents who see an opportunity for di-
verse cuisine and a draw for visitors. Under
city ordinances, all commercial businesses
must operate within a permanent building,
but food carts may be licensed on a short-
term basis for charity and special events.
City Councilor Seth Morrisey, who mod-
erated the workshop, said a food cart could
lower the barrier to entry for entrepreneurs
and give an opportunity to those who might
not have the capital for a restaurant.
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Food, Page 3A
Finding tranquility, relief at new Seaside spa
Boucher offers wide
array of services
By Eve Marx
Seaside Signal
EVE MARX
Alishia Boucher is the primary massage
therapist and owner of Seaside Mas-
sage and Spa.
Pretty much the moment you
walk in the door of Seaside Mas-
sage and Spa located on bustling
Broadway in downtown, a feeling
of tranquility and calm overtakes
and you feel you can breathe deep.
It’s not just the décor (fresh,
clean, simple but luxurious) or the
light streaming in the reception area
windows, or the pillowy soft flokati
rug that feels so good barefoot.
It’s the love pouring from Al-
ishia Boucher, licensed massage
therapist, the spa’s proprietor.
“My aim,” Boucher (pronounced
the French way, “boo-shay”) began,
sitting on the plush and inviting sofa
that dominates the reception area, “is
providing the highest quality of mas-
sage available anywhere. Our space is
absolutely gorgeous.”
Seaside Massage and Spa opened
at 810 Broadway with a ribbon-cutting
early this month.
Boucher decided to became a mas-
sage therapist after massage helped her
with chronic pain. Two car accidents
she’d been in during her early 20s left
her with cervical strain, lumbar strain,
and a degenerative disc.
At 25, she felt crippled by chronic
pain, numbness, and headaches.
“I just wanted to get back to nor-
mal without using medication that left
me feeling unmotivated and nauseated
most of the time,” she said.
After being introduced to massage
by a friend at the Breitenbush Hot
Springs wellness retreat, she enrolled
as a student at the East West College of
the Healing Arts in Portland, graduat-
ing in 2011 with honors.
“Massage can change your life,”
she said. “It changed mine.”
Seaside Massage and Spa offers a
full menu of massage including Swed-
ish, deep tissue, myofascial, pregnan-
cy, hot stone, and traditional Thai.
Aromatherapy can be added, as well
as cupping, and cannabidiol balm.
Cupping, for those not in the know,
uses negative pressure form cups to al-
low deep lifting of all tissues layers at
specific points where range of motion
and pain are occurring.
“We use silicone cups and no fire
cupping,” Boucher said. ‘
The balm melts away aches and
pains and inflammation. There are
zero psychoactive effects and CBD is
known to boost the healing process af-
ter injuries.
“There is no THC in the balm,
See Massage, Page 3A