Friday, September 20, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Cleaning up
diamond
on the
Volunteers Ila Bowles, Coach Jessica Garrigues, Emma Taylor and Abby Nofi eld.
Volunteers, players help restore playing field
By CARA MICO
For Seaside Signal
J
essica Garrigues, head softball
coach for Seaside High School and
Seaside Kids Inc. Softball Liaison,
hasn’t been in Seaside long but is
already making signifi cant strides
in improving opportunities for local kids
to play softball and baseball at the Wah-
anna Ballfi eld, a 4 ½-acre park located
on South Wahanna Road owned by the
school district.
Seaside Kids Inc. is a nonprofi t that
provides sports equipment and facilities
for Seaside youth. Seaside Kids brought
the community together to repair and
renovate the Wahanna Ballfi eld, which is
used by the school and others, in April of
this year. Garrigues hopes to inspire an
annual event.
When Garrigues fi rst arrived in Sea-
side she was quickly identifi ed by local
players and parents as a great softball
coach and took the position of head Sea-
side High School softball coach this year
after serving as the assistant coach in
2018. Garrigues holds a master’s degree
in education and English for speakers of
other languages, and has a passion for
instilling a sense of leadership in the kids
she mentors and trains. The Wahanna
Ballfi eld cleanup is one way of teaching
Seaside youth about the importance of
giving back.
Wahanna Ballfi eld was ranked in a
2018 Seaside parks master pan as one of
the lowest quality parks in Seaside, sec-
ond to only the Mill Ponds. Except for
sports and school activities, park visitors
are more likely to visit other area parks
on a weekly basis.
Garrigues met with local youth and
coaches to see what was needed to make
the programs shine. After receiving laun-
dry list of repairs Garrigues organized a
group of SKI participants, parents and
local volunteers to revamp the dugouts,
repair the backstops, improve fencing
and batting cages, and deep clean the
concessions. Over 50 people, mostly
players and their parents, helped out on
the fi rst day.
“After refl ecting with the Seaside
Kids Youth Softball Coaches on the sea-
son and discussing out biggest “wins” as
a program, this event, where softball and
baseball came together to make major
improvements to the Wahanna fi elds and
facilities, stood out as a gem,” Garrigues
said.
While most of the volunteers were cur-
rent Seaside Kids players and their par-
ents, some of the older players returned
to “give back” to the program.
“Some of the older kids who aged out
helped, it was neat to see their leadership
skills,” Garrigues said.
That leadership is exactly what Sea-
Preparation started early for the Wahanna softball fi eld.
side Kids is hoping to instill in local
kids as their catch phrase implies,
“Active Youth Today ... Active Leaders
Tomorrow!”
Garrigues wants to give a “huge thank
you” to all of the business and peo-
ple who donated materials, equipment,
time, resources and energy to the Wah-
anna Ballfi eld cleanup including the vol-
unteer players, parents and community
members of SKI. She added an extra
big thank you for Coastal Restoration,
Jason Kraushaar Contracting, Forest
Betts Construction, All Rents, Builders
First Source, Sherwin Williams, A1 Con-
crete, Coaster Construction, Brims Farm
& Garden, Trails End Recovery, Home
Depot, Pacifi c Paint, Osburn Olson Con-
struction, Ryan Osburn Plumbing, Dave
Aho Roofi ng, Advanced Roofi ng, Whites
Heating and Sheet Metal, Clean Sweep,
Ace Hardware, Knife River, Keith Ker-
anen Excavating, Clatsop Concrete and
Clatsop Power.
Garrigues hopes to continue with an
annual cleanup next April, keep an eye
on their website or Facebook page for
more information.
“There won’t be as much work next
time,” she said with a laugh.
Medical Reserve Corps helps with post-disaster prescription drugs
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
The Medical Reserve Corps
held a learning session on
Saturday, Sept. 7, at City Hall
to teach people how to obtain
prescription drugs after a
Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake and tsunami, as
well as techniques to manage
pain without medication.
The guest speakers were
Nate Nerenberg, a pharma-
cist and manager of the phar-
macy department at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria, and Kathleen Bell, a
registered nurse and teacher
for the American Holistic
Nurses Association integra-
tive healing arts program.
Nerenberg taught peo-
ple how to incorporate med-
ication into their emergency
kits, while Bell shared meth-
ods to relieve and manage
pain and fi nd increased lev-
els of comfort.
Nerenberg told people to
include a typed copy of their
prescriptions, supplements
and medical equipment and
supplies. He said to update
the list every six months and
to include expiration dates
and any drug allergies. In a
disaster, if no computers are
working, a pharmacist or
Monday, Sept. 23
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Tuesday, Sept. 24
Seaside Airport Advisory Com-
mittee, 6 p.m., Seaside Munici-
pal Airport, 2797 U.S. Highway
101.
Wednesday, Sept. 25
Necanicum Watershed Council,
4 p.m., Seaside Library, 1131
Broadway.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
To prepare for a disaster, everyone should have medications
in their emergency kits, according to Columbia Memorial
Hospital pharmacist Nate Nerenberg.
doctor could use the lists to
get people their medication.
Leaders of the Medical
Reserve Corps have been
training since 2015, but the
learning session was the fi rst
public training. They hope
to have an emergency pre-
paredness event for the com-
munity every quarter.
The goal is to empower
the community, said Lila
Wickham, co-coordinator of
the Medical Reserve Corps.
“Our demographics are
older ... which means you’re
going to have more peo-
ple with chronic disease. So
that’s why we focused on
how can we help people be
prepared,” she said.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Monday, Sept. 30
Using a survey conducted
by the Medical Reserve
Corps, they identifi ed places
where people who might
have mobility issues live and
used the fi ndings to divide
the city into six geographic
areas.
“Our plan is to work in
neighborhoods and create
neighborhood captains who
will do door-knocking and
have neighborhood events
where people are really
engaged at their community
level. Because if we have a
major event, people will be
isolated in their little com-
munities if the roads are bro-
ken,” Wickham said.
Clatsop County Com-
City Council/Planning Commis-
sion Joint Workshop, City Hall,
989 Broadway.
Tuesday, Oct. 1
Seaside Planning Commission,
7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway.
Seaside
Library
Board,
4:30 p.m., Seaside Public Li-
brary, 1131 Broadway.
it’s fundamentally the rela-
tionships. I mean, you need
skills, you need ... appropri-
ate equipment and the skills
to use them.
“Fundamentally, it’s a
matter of proper relation-
ships, people relating to each
other and empowering life-
saving ways.”
roots planning is critical to
making sure people are pre-
pared for a disaster.
“You empower people
because you’re not going to
be able to command and con-
trol your way out of this,”
she said. “It’s empowering
the grassroots to do well —
that’s the answer because
WKH
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Sunday, October 13, 2019
10K Run/Walk across the Astoria-Megler Bridge
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Oregon Coast
503.738.5242
Sunset Empire Park and Recre-
ation District, 5:15 p.m., board
workshop, Bob Chisholm Com-
munity Center, 1225 Avenue A,
Seaside.
Community Center Commis-
sion meeting, 10:30 a.m., Bob
Chisholm Center, 1225 Avenue
A, Seaside.
missioner Lianne Thomp-
son, who represents South
County, said training is
essential to educating peo-
ple and knitting communi-
ties together.
Thompson was part of
the Nehalem Bay Commu-
nity Emergency Response
Team and Medical Reserve
Corps and trained people on
the Cannon Beach Commu-
nity Emergency Response
Team.
She said Nehalem Bay
is leading emergency pre-
paredness on the North
Coast, but Cannon Beach is
following and leading the
way for Clatsop County.
“Nehalem Bay is grass-
roots and it draws from the
grassroots all the way up and
has the buy off so there’s a
clean, pure line,” Thompson
said. “Cannon Beach does
wonderful things. In terms
of Clatsop County, Can-
non Beach is absolutely the
leader.”
Thompson said grass-
Wednesday, Oct. 2
Seaside Improvement Com-
mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989
Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way.
Lincoln City
541.994.9954
SW Washington
503.738.5242
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