4A • August 3, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
If it’s Tuesday, this
must be Old Town
B
PATRICK DUHACHEK
Trains get a makeover for their return at the new Wheel Fun Rentals facility coming to Seaside.
Wheel Fun gets on track
F
ormer Signal columnist Claire
Lovell would be happy. Lovell,
who often lamented the passing
of what she lovingly referred to
as “old Seaside,” wrote in 2015: “Why
doesn’t the person who owns the little
train on Broadway either fix it up or
remove it so someone else can use the
space?”
Lovell, of course, was the long-run-
ning columnist and chronicler of old
Seaside. Lovell died at age 96 in 2017.
“I see little children with their fingers
clasped in the fence, look longingly at
the little choo-choo and wish they could
take a ride,” she wrote. “Now there are
the carousel, bumper cars and a bucket
on the beach. Whoopee!”
Recalling Claire, I think that was a
sarcastic “whoopee” on her part.
But her longing for the return of the
miniature train, which ran for years
on Broadway on the site of the former
Strand Theatre, will soon become a
reality.
Patrick and Denise Duhachek are
redeveloping their South Holladay Drive
property and adding a quarter-mile min-
iature ridable railway.
“It makes you feel like you’re 13
again,” Patrick said in early June.
“It’s Pat’s hobby,” Denise added. “He
loves it. He has so much fun restoring
stuff.”
Family affair
In years past, visitors to Seaside
enjoyed classic rides like the Octopus,
Rock-O-Plane, an ornately decorated
carousel and a roller coaster called the
Wild Mouse.
The Duhacheks purchased the half-
acre South Holladay Drive property on
Avenue C from the estate of Denise’s
father, Jimmy Rogers. Rogers owned
Wheel Fun for 25 years before his death
in 2013.
Now the couple plan to build a
storage barn and retail facility, adding
the miniature train — purchased from
the Mark and Marci Utti, owners of the
Times Theatre, Finn’s and Twisted Fish
among other downtown properties — as
an added amusement.
Designs show a motorized vehicle
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
rental and storage facility, along with the
outdoor amusement ride.
With Planning Commission approval
in early June, the Duhacheks now have a
go-ahead.
The showroom will be one of four
Wheel Fun locations in Seaside. Their
two downtown shops offer pedal-pow-
ered vehicles: surreys and bikes “and
stuff that goes on the beach.”
Another location offers paddle boats
on the river.
While the train will attract the kiddos,
the surreys remain Wheel Fun’s most
popular attraction.
“We rent more of the double surreys
with the two bench seats than anything
else,” Patrick Duhachek said. “There
are some specialty bikes each offers,
but each has a niche of what they might
offer.”
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
Denise and Patrick Duhachek of Wheel
Fun Rentals.
public viewing, will offer surrey bikes,
bicycles, mopeds and motorized electric
golf course, along with a small shop for
bicycle repairs.
The storage area will shelter train cars
at night, along with boats, surreys and
other vehicles.
Working on the railroad
To learn the ins and outs of railroad-
ing, Patrick Duhachek has been taking
his studies seriously by visiting amuse-
ment parks with similar attractions,
participating in online railroad forums
and reading specialty publications.
At its former location, the train ran on
aluminum track. The new rails will be
made of steel.
“I still have a bit of a learning curve
for putting down train track,” he said.
“I’m learning as fast as I can.”
Duhachek is not sure yet what the
scenery around the track will look like,
whether it be old Seaside — or whatever.
“We know we have to have a tunnel,”
he said. “There will be some landscap-
ing, a water feature — we’re kind of
making it up as we go along.”
The battery-operated train will be
followed by six cars and a caboose.
The conductor will sit in the second car
and run the train around a quarter-mile
track. The new showroom, with three
18-foot glass-paned garage doors for
25 YEARS AGO
Aug. 5, 1993
• Daring rescue saves life of 15-year-
old boy: A 15-year-old Washington
state boy swimming with his youth
group was saved from drowning by
U.S. Coast Guard personnel Friday,
July 30, off of Gearhart. The Coast
Guard launched an HH-65A Dolphin
Helicopter to rescue the boy
• Police reports: An 11-year-old
Seaside girl and 12-year-old Cordova,
Alaska girl were arrested July 29 on a
charge of third-degree theft, a Class C
misdemeanor. According to police, the
two stole $13.90 in Mickey and Min-
nie Mouse mugs and different types of
candy.
• Births: Spencer Raymond Maine.
Spencer Raymond Maine was born to
Michael and Sandra Maine of Seaside
on July 18. He was 20 inches long and
weighed in at 8 pounds. He becomes the
brother of Dallen Maine, age 5, and the
grandson of Neal and Karen Maine of
Gearhart and Avery and Dora Russell
of Seaside.
• Classified ad:
Divorce $68*
All types of uncontested Divorce
situations – including one signature
actions, children, property and missing
R.J. MARX
TIME MACHINE
FROM THE PAGES OF THE SIGNAL
spouses.
Bankruptcy $68*
*Excludes gov’t. fees
50 YEARS AGO
Aug. 1, 1968
• Sunday traffic jams on Sunset.
Three special events in Clatsop County
— the Oregon Republican convention
and the annual Clatsop County Rodeo,
both in Gearhart, and the Oregon Coast
Invitational Match Play golf champion-
ships at Astoria Country Club — com-
bined with prospects of cool tempera-
tures at the beaches while there were
high ones in the interior and normal
vacation travelers to create a traffic jam
on Sunset highway at the Wilson River
highway junction and on the single east-
bound lane to the east Sunday night.
It got so bad at about 8:30 p.m. that
the string of cars, campers, and camping
trailers and boat trailers was slowed to
about 20 miles per hour.
State policemen of the West Slope
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
John D. Bruijn
ADVERTISING
SALES
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
April Olsen
Carl Earl
CLASSIFIED
SALES
Danielle Fisher
All aboard!
Wheel Fun’s newest venture will join
a surge in local amusements, from the
Seaside Inverted Experience, the Seaside
Shootout and the laser tag arena at the
Seaside Carousel Mall.
The Duhacheks hope to open next the
new facility next summer. “I have a lot
of people who are grown-ups now and
remember riding the train, and they’re
excited to have their children ride it,”
Patrick Duhachek said.
For the rest of us, whether we re-
member “The Little Engine that Could,
“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” or “Thomas
and Friends,” the train will be a nostalgic
nudge to put us all on track.
“We’re excited to get going, to have
a new building,” Patrick Duhachek said.
“We’re excited with the support from
friends and support from the city.”
He would get a nod of approval from
our former Signal columnist.
“I always believe old Seaside was a
lot more fun,” Lovell wrote in 2015.
station moved in to relieve the conges-
tion and diverted traffic south on high-
way 47 to Forest Grove and thence east
through Hillsboro to Portland for about
20 minutes until the peak of traffic had
passed.
• Accident victim, reported better af-
ter struck accidentally on the forehead
by a golf club in a neighbor’s yard July
19. The man’s family was to leave for
Norway, Sweden and Denmark July 22.
The trip was cancelled. The family will
leave by plane for Norway August 23.
75 YEARS AGO
Aug. 5, 1943
• City takes first place. Seaside won
first place for traffic safety in Oregon
for cities of its population class for the
quarter just ended, according to word
from the office of the secretary of state.
Seaside has ranked high in traffic safety
for several years.
• City blacked out. Rumors spread
thick and fast Tuesday night when lights
went out throughout this area at 10:46
o’clock. They remained out until about
1:30 a.m. Wednesday. A break in the
power line between Seaside and War-
renton was responsible for the blackout.
It was repaired just as rapidly as possi-
ble after the break was located.
STAFF WRITER
Brenna Visser
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Skyler Archibald
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
ecause visiting the Georgia O’Keeffe museum has long
been on my bucket list, we took a vacation this month
to Santa Fe. Years ago, my father in law (who lives in
Michigan) gifted me with the book, “Georgia O’Keeffe” by
Tanya Larson; a decade ago I read “Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life”
by Roxana Robinson, a New York Times Notable selection,
but there’s really nothing like seeing the work and appreciating
O’Keeffe’s life in New York and New Mexico up close and in
person.
They were experiencing a heat wave in Santa Fe, but the
museum was cool inside. Our hotel was conveniently located
just off the historic
plaza and only a few
blocks away. The
VIEW FROM
museum is dedicated
THE PORCH
to the artist’s legacy,
EVE MARX
her life, and Amer-
ican modernism.
It’s a relatively new
museum, opening
in 1997. Walking
around in a daze for
an hour, I regretted
we weren’t delving
deeper and traveling
to Ghost Ranch,
O’Keeffe’s Abiquiu
house.
Our days in
Santa Fe passed as
though in a dream.
It was hot, very
hot, and we’re not
EVE MARX
used to heat. We got
“Barn Dog,” a steel sculpture by Don
up in the morning
Kennell, on the corner of Grant and
and walked to the
Iconik Coffee Bar on Federal in Santa Fe.
Galisteo Street. We
poked around in the shops. We spent a lot of time at La Casa
Sena Cantina and Wine Shop in the Sena Plaza where we split
a BLT with avocado and drank alcohol. I developed a taste for
Marble Brewery Pilsner, an Albuquerque beer. In the after-
noons we hit the hotel pool before moving on to dinner. We
had a nice meal at the Rio Chama Steakhouse and a divine one
at L’Olivier. An old friend I knew in New York who relocated
to Santa Fe took us to her favorite hole in the wall haunt, Tune
Up, on Hickox Street. I had a soft shell crab sandwich minus
the bun and a crazy good salad of butter lettuce, peaches,
blueberries and chevre I’d love to duplicate at home. While
we were there, the skies opened up and from the safety of the
restaurant, we experienced what I read the next day in the
New Mexican newspaper was a 1,000-year storm. Down the
rain came violently for about 40 minutes, dumping more than
3 inches of water that overflowed the arroyos, causing major
flooding. My friend, who is used to New Mexico weather,
remained unperturbed.
On her advice, we spent a few hours at a spa called Ten
Thousand Waves. I could have stayed there all day. We opted
for the private (read: you go naked) hot tub and sauna with a
plunge pool when the heat became too much. They reputedly
have a killer Japanese restaurant, although it is closed Tues-
days, the day we were there.
Feeling utterly relaxed we were in better shape to deal with
the Santa Fe traffic with its five lanes across highways and the
75 mph speed limit. I’ve owned a couple of signed and limited
edition photographs by the noted Santa Fe artist David Michael
Kennedy for about 20 years and was incorrectly under the
impression the arty outpost is a quieter and more serene place.
Our last day was a bit of hassle as we had to check out of
our Santa Fe hotel at 10 a.m. but our flight out of Albuquerque
wasn’t until 7 p.m. That left a lot of time to kill, so we hit a
mall and then a movie theatre. The multiplex where we saw
“Sorry To Bother You” had BarcaLounger-style reclining seats.
The film was mind blowing. I totally recommend.
On the way to the airport our GPS led us astray. Much to
our horror, we were directed to the Kirtland Air Force Base,
adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. To say this
was a shock is an understatement. After a terrifically awkward
encounter with a person wearing full-on military gear, we
arrived at our proper destination, desperate for margaritas.
I’d like to return to New Mexico one day, but preferably not
in a heat wave. Meanwhile if “Sorry to Bother You” comes to
the Seaside Cinema, go see it.
• Shell man here. J.C. Morgan has
arrived in Seaside to take charge of
the Shell Oil company plant here. He
succeeds Hal Eustis, who is now in the
navy and on recruiting duty in Astoria.
Mr. Morgan, who has had many years
of service with the Shell company,
comes from Myrtle Point.
• Graham Drug Co. ad:
Woman lost 52 lbs. That’s what
Mrs. C.D. Wells, Ft. Worth, says the
AYDS Candy Plan did for her. Writes
“I weighed 170 lbs. when I started the
Ayds plan and now weigh 118 lbs., can
wear size 14 again.” The experience of
Mrs. Wells may or may not be different
than yours, but why not try the Ayds
Plan. Look at these results. In clinical
tests under the direction of Dr. Von
Hoover, 100 persons lost 14 to 15 lbs.
average in a few weeks with the Ayds
Plan. (Sworn to before a Notary Public.)
It’s an easier way to reduce. No exer-
cise. No drugs. No laxatives. Satisfac-
tion Guaranteed. Only $2.25 the large
size, 30 days supply Graham Drug Co.,
Broadway and Holladay
100 YEARS AGO
Aug. 1, 1918
• Gets Big Flag. A United States
flag, measuring 20x30 feet, was pur-
chased by the Hammond company
through Lipman & Wolfe last week
and will be placed on the large flag
pole at the Hammond camp on the
Cannon beach road. The flag is the
largest now floating in Clatsop coun-
ty.
• United States Food Administra-
tion ad:
“Beat Germany
Support every flag that opposes
Prussianism
Eat less of the food fighters need
Deny yourself something
Waste nothing.”
• Soldiers’ chances: An official
bulletin, just issued by our govern-
ment, states that the individual sol-
diers’ chances are as follows, based
on mortality statistics of the allied
armies:
• Twenty-nine chances of coming
home to one of being killed.
• Forty-nine chances of recovering
from wounds to one chance of dying
from them.
• Only one chance in 500 of losing
a limb.
• Will live five years longer be-
cause of physical training.
This official information will be a
great comfort to anxious parents.
Seaside Signal
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