August 17, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Crafting more sustainable tourism for North Coast
T
he ongoing shift from destina-
tion marketing to destination
management is one of the most
exciting and most promising devel-
opments in tourism.
I am an outsider to this indus-
try — at least for now. I got my
start in journalism, then moved into
communications for higher educa-
tion, then onto marketing and brand
management for the creative and
technology boom happening coast to
coast. Now here I am.
I’ve begun to consider my diver-
sified background an asset of sorts
in this industry because many of the
challenges my colleagues and I are
facing at the moment fall outside the
traditional realm of marketing anyway.
Seaside’s messaging does a good
job of reaching those in the driving
FROM THE
DIRECTOR’S CHAIR
JOSHUA HEINEMAN
market (Oregon, Washington, Idaho)
through a variety of print, digital,
and radio advertisements. We’ve
seen year-over-year growth in over-
night visitors, web views, and social
media interest. Things are undeni-
ably going well on the awareness
front.
But consider the traffic that backs
up just a little quicker and further
back each season. Consider the feast
or famine of seasonal visitors. In
addition to building a visitor base
for the North Coast, how are we
working to address the livability
of Seaside and the sustainability of
tourism here.
Seaside is partnering with Travel
Oregon and communities up and
down the coast from Astoria to Pa-
cific City on a North Coast Tourism
Studio this fall. We’ll offer a series
of workshops from September
through January to empower local
stakeholders, bolster sustainable
tourism, address critical manage-
ment issues, and preserve and en-
hance our natural and cultural assets.
In other words, we’ll be work-
shopping destination management
issues. But this is not a series for
tourism professionals alone. We
need community members, public
officials, tour operators, lodging
owners, recreation enthusiasts,
conservation groups, and absolutely
anyone with an interest in strength-
ening the Seaside economy through
sustainable tourism.
Residents suffer the same down-
sides from overtourism as visitors
do. The difference, of course, is
that you aren’t on vacation and you
aren’t passing through. This is your
home.
Please join us on Sept. 25 for
our opening North Coast Tourism
Summit at the Old Mill Event
Center in Garibaldi. There will be
an overview of the tourism industry,
important trends, and best practices
for sustainable tourism to get us all
thinking how we might apply those
ideas to Seaside. The summit is free,
but RSVPs are required.
Also, there will be two events
in the series held in Seaside at Best
Western Oceanview. We’ll be con-
ducting a Destination Stewardship
Think Tank the evening of Oct. 16
and a very important Visitor Trans-
portation for High-Use Destinations
workshop during the day on Oct. 17.
For the complete series sched-
ule, more information about each
offering, and registration links for
everything, please visit Industry.
TravelOregon.com/NorthCoast.
Full-day workshops are $10 to
cover lunch, but all evening net-
working events are free. Those who
attend at least four of the workshops
will receive a certificate of comple-
tion from Travel Oregon.
As a newcomer in this industry,
you know I’m after that certificate
myself. I’ll see you there.
America’s newspapers
always by your side
W
e’ve been compla-
cent.
We thought ev-
erybody knew how important
a free press was to our world
and that all this talk about us
being the enemy of the people
would be dismissed for the
silliness that it is.
But the reckless attacks
have continued, instigated and
encouraged by our president.
When the leader of the
free world works to erode the
public’s trust in the media, the
potential for damage is enor-
mous, both here and abroad.
We once set an example of
free and open government
for the world to follow. Now
those who seek to suppress
the free flow of information
are doing so with impunity.
The time has come for us
to stand up to the bullying.
The role journalism plays in
our free society is too crucial
to allow this degradation to
continue.
We aren’t the enemy of the
people. We are the people. We
aren’t fake news. We are your
news and we struggle night
and day to get the facts right.
On bitter cold January
nights, we’re the people’s
eyes and ears at town, village
and school board meetings.
We tell the stories of our
communities, from the fun of
a county fair to the despair a
family faces when a loved one
is killed.
We are always by your
side. We shop the same stores,
attend the same churches and
hike the same trails. We strug-
gle with daycare and worry
about paying for retirement.
In our work as journalists,
our first loyalty is to you.
Our work is guided by a set
of principles that demand
objectivity, independence,
open-mindedness and the
pursuit of the truth. We make
mistakes, we know. There’s
nothing we hate more than
errors but we acknowledge
them, correct them and learn
from them.
Our work is a labor of love
because we love our country
and believe we are playing a
vital role in our democracy.
Self-governance demands
that our citizens need to be
well-informed and that’s
what we’re here to do. We go
beyond the government issued
press release or briefing and
ask tough questions. We hold
people in power accountable
for their actions. Some think
we’re rude to question and
challenge. We know it’s our
obligation.
People have been criticiz-
ing the press for generations.
We are not perfect. But we’re
striving every day to be a bet-
ter version of ourselves than
we were the day before.
That’s why we welcome
criticism. But unwarranted
attacks that undermine your
trust in us cannot stand. The
problem has become so
serious that newspapers across
the nation are speaking out
against these attacks in one
voice today on their editorial
pages.
As women’s rights pioneer
and investigative journalist
Ida B. Wells wrote in 1892:
“The people must know be-
fore they can act and there is
no educator to compare with
the press.”
This editorial was writ-
ten by Boston Globe staff.
The Seaside Signal joins
more than 300 newspapers
in supporting freedom of the
press.
TIME MACHINE
FROM THE PAGES OF THE SIGNAL
30 YEARS AGO
August 1988
• Documents concerning
tax lots subpoenaed and area
remains a parking lot, put-
ting plans to build a 10-sto-
ry Holiday Inn south of the
Seaside turnaround in lim-
bo. Information on the mat-
ter is sketchy, but the dispute
appears to be over property
rights of two apartment
buildings south of the pro-
posed hotel site on the Prom.
• Income trends for
workers show an increas-
ing gap between Oregon
and the United States from
1979 to 1986 according to
Labor Trends, and an even
bigger gap in the north coast
region with Clatsop County
showing the second great-
est difference: In 1979, the
average income for Oregon
was $13,197 compared to
the U.S. at $13,155. In 1986,
the average fell in Oregon
at $18,311 while the coun-
try increased to $19,966 —
Clatsop was at $17,127.
• GARAGE SALE —
Wanted mail order bride,
reply to Elsie route: Box 70,
Seaside, OR 97138.
• POLICE LOGS — July
24: The city of Seaside re-
ported slashed tire, valued
at $100 on car in the police
department parking lot.
July 24: The City of Sea-
side reported slashed tire,
valued at $100 on police car
at 11th Avenue and Franklin.
July 30: Cannon Beach
Police Department took a
Forest Grove man into cus-
tody for climbing Haystack
Rock, who was cited and
released.
95 YEARS AGO
August 1923
• All business and social
affairs ceased promptly at
noon for two hours on Fri-
day, Aug. 10 so Seaside
citizens and beach visitors
could attend a memorial ser-
vice to honor President War-
ren G. Harding at Central
school auditorium with Rev.
J.R. Jeffrey of the Methodist
Church presiding.
• FOR SALE — Good
cow; will come fresh soon;
apply at 917 Ave. H.
• Along with thousands
of cars visiting Seaside,
came King Tut’s chariot, ac-
cording to a legend painted
on the side of a Stephens
touring car occupied by
four young men from Long
Beach, California, who ex-
pressed themselves in the
most enthusiastic terms and
dared to say that Seaside and
its beach was only second
in the country to their own
home town and its attrac-
tions.
SUE CODY PHOTOS
Participants in the Healthy Hearts walk in Seaside.
A ‘perfect fit’ for a healthy lifestyle
By Sue Cody
For Seaside Signal
Infectious laughter erupted
as participants gathered at 12th
Street for a group photo at the
beginning of a Healthy Hearts
3K/5K walk along the Seaside
Prom July 14. Camaraderie
was obvious from the teasing
and bragging.
Rebecca Kimmel said she
had difficulty getting into the
swimming pool before start-
ing the Healthy Hearts pro-
gram. After 12 weeks, she is
now swimming one hour three
times a week. Other partici-
pants reported similar success.
Healthy Hearts started as a
collaboration between Colum-
bia Pacific Coordinated Care
Organization’s Community
Advisory Committee, Prov-
idence Seaside Hospital and
Seaside Park and Recreation
District to provide Oregon
Health Plan members ways to
reduce risk factors associated
with heart disease. It provides
walking opportunities, recre-
ation passes and one-on-one
coaching to lose weight, move
more and eat healthier over 12
weeks.
“We thought a 3K/5K walk
would be a way to celebrate
the spring cohort,” said Sarah
Brown, CAC member and ad-
ministrator of Healthy Hearts.
“Healthy Hearts is a pro-
gram to connect people with
community resources and sup-
port their overall health and
wellness over time. We don’t
expect to create wellness in 12
weeks, but we hope to provide
an avenue to grow and access
resources down the road.”
On finishing the walk, Re-
becca said she exceeded her
own expectations, walking far-
ther than the 3K return marker.
“I told myself if I can make
it to the turnaround, maybe I
can make it to the next point.
I made it to 0.75. That’s going
to be a mile and a half! That’s
huge, huge for me.”
Rebecca said she al-
most lost her foot to disease.
Through Healthy Hearts, she
received a recreation pass that
allows her to use Sunset Pool.
When she started, she had to
use a cane to get in the pool.
Through the aerobics class,
she learned how to safely exer-
cise her foot. “And now I have
enough strength to do this,”
she said.
“You don’t know what it
means when they’re going to
take your foot, and you’re not
able to get up. And now, I’m
going to walk a mile and a
half. That’s unreal. Oh, god it’s
just like a miracle.”
At the finish line, proud
participants returned, with sto-
ries of their own. Denise Ad-
ams said summer will be her
third term of Healthy Hearts.
It’s the longest she has stuck
to any program in years. She
walks about 10 miles a week,
and logged 50 miles the week
before.
“I am out here helping oth-
ers,” she said.
Meeting new friends, form-
ing bonds through Facebook
posts, sharing recipes, walking
together, taking classes has
been transformative for many.
“It’s a confidence builder,”
said Michelle Franklin. “As
the mother of boys and run-
ning two households, I was
always inside. Then I got to
meet these women at Healthy
Hearts, and it gave me hope.
It’s a lifestyle change. That’s
what it is.”
“All these women’s recov-
ery stories are so awesome,”
said Rebecca. “Healthy Hearts
is a lifeline. I’m doing this and
I’m not going to give up.”
Program coach Alix Rich-
ardson cheers the participants
as they reach the finish line.
With a degree in public health
and health education, she says
Michelle Franklin partici-
pates in the Healthy Hearts
walk in Seaside.
Alix Richardson, program
coach of Healthy Hearts.
Healthy Hearts is a perfect fit
for her skills and passion for
being active.
She encourages people to
go through the program more
than once. “It’s good for par-
ticipants to hear everything
twice, to fully comprehend
mindful eating and yoga class-
es,” she said.
“I am very thankful to be
doing this. I can give people
resources, but I like to help in
other ways, offer encourage-
ment,” Alix said.
“Oh, that Alix,” Rebecca
said, “what a jewel.”
Healthy Hearts is a pro-
gram for Columbia Pacific
CCO members who are on
the Oregon Health Plan.
Established in September
2012, Columbia Pacific CCO
coordinates health services
for more than 25,000 Oregon
Health Plan members in Co-
lumbia, Clatsop and Tilla-
mook counties; colpachealth.
org. or email lacostebrowns@
careoregon.org.
That’s a
relief
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