A2 • Friday, February 5, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Cleanups ongoing as Mill Ponds see progress
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
R.J. Marx
Bill Montero was among
volunteers at the Mill Ponds
cleanup.
Cleanups at the Mill
Ponds in Seaside contin-
ued through last weekend as
volunteers braved extended
rain, and muddy, rutted trails
to pick up trash from make-
shift encampments.
The cleanups began over
a year ago to clean up the
Mill Ponds, the 26.5-acre
park which goes from the
Mill Pond to Neawanna
Point.
Originally
organized
last year by Seaside’s Jesse
Anderson and Brady Chan-
dler, 17 volunteers showed
up Saturday morning to
gather trash piled high in
encampments.
Chandler began distribut-
ing free trash bags late last
year to those living in the
woods and provided a drop-
off location for pickup.
“It’s nice because I’m
fi nally getting through to a
lot of these people,” he said.
“They’re starting to police
themselves better, they’re
starting to clean up their
spots. It’s exciting. A lot of
them are starting to appre-
ciate what we’re doing. Just
having the ability to come to
a fresh clean spot, it’s way
safer for them to come and
start their camp and not have
to worry about feces, gar-
bage and glass.”
Another
cleanup
is
planned this weekend and
Chandler hopes to make
them regular and more
frequent.
He said he sees the clean-
ups as an ongoing process,
at least until housing alterna-
tives can be found for those
living in the woods.
“Right now, allowing
them to be out here and to
avoid and evade treatment is
causing a lot of others issues
I can’t really resolve,” Chan-
dler said.
Top, site littered with garbage before last Saturday’s cleanup
at the Mill Ponds, and below, afterward.
OBITUARIES
Vance (Butchie) Alan Hensala
Troy, Texas
Oct. 16, 1950 — Jan. 25, 2021
Vance (Butchie) Alan Hensala, 70,
passed away on Jan. 25, 2021, at his home
in Troy, Texas, surrounded by his family
and friends.
Vance was born in Seaside on
Oct. 16, 1950, to Alfred and Eula
Hensala. He attended Seaside
schools and graduated from Sea-
side High School in 1968. During
high school, he and friends started
a band they called Crystal Green,
later called Fox, where he played
lead guitar.
They played for several school
events, even winning second
place in a local battle of the bands contest.
A band member, Peter Ter Har, recalls: “We
had the amazing opportunity to open for
rock-n-roll band, The Spiral Starecase.” He
enjoyed playing and listening to music all
his life.
In addition to playing music, he learned
how to drive log trucks, and was especially
thankful to Dan Hess Ltd. and Howard B.
Johnson Logging Companies for helping
him acquire his truck driving skills. Unfor-
tunately, the logging industry suffered a set-
back, and he instead worked in custodial
and maintenance for the Seaside School
District beginning in the 1970s.
He never lost the desire to someday drive
a truck, and fulfi lled that dream, success-
fully driving for 33 years with no at-fault
accidents. He was a lifetime member of the
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Asso-
ciation. He earned the Driver of the Month
Award twice, in January and March 2013,
and a retirement award from the Army &
Air Force Exchange Service in December
2013.
In between those driving years, he moved
to Texas, tracing his roots to where his
mother grew up. It was in Texas where he
met the love of his life, Cheryl, in February
2000, and later marrying on March
3, 2001. Cheryl says, “he was a
very humble man. He believed in
working for everything he got. He
thoroughly enjoyed his life as a
truck driver. He loved being able
to see the country and meeting all
types of people.”
Some of Vance’s hobbies were
elk and deer hunting, cutting
wood, farming and gun collecting.
He was a member of the Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation, Oregon Hunters
Association and the National Rifl e Associa-
tion. He enjoyed taking care of their ranch
in Moody, Texas, and visiting their vacation
home in Colorado. He liked anything west-
ern, attending truck and gun shows, logging
shows and sitting and talking with friends
and family.
He cultivated his skills of making peo-
ple laugh. He was a true friend, pure gold,
and was always concerned with the needs of
other people.
Left to cherish his memory is his beloved
wife, Cheryl, of Troy, and his three step-
children, Christy Beaird, of Troy, Mar-
cus DePriest, of Killeen, Texas, and Mary
Murphy, of Belton, Texas. He is also sur-
vived by seven grandchildren, Tyler and
Braiden Pratt, of Temple, Texas, Gracie
Pratt and Madelynn Beaird, of Troy, Remy
and Declan DePriest, of Colorado, and Pay-
ten Troast, of Belton.
Graveside services will be held at Ocean
View Cemetery on Friday at 3 p.m.
Please visit www.hughesransom.com to
leave messages of condolence.
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
Property crimes are reported.
SEASIDE POLICE DEPT.
Jan. 26
PUBLIC SAFETY LOG
5:44 a.m., Post Offi ce: A tran-
sient sleeping and blocking the
entrance to the post offi ce is
advised to move along.
Jan. 22
shots or fi reworks are reported.
Police canvass the area with
negative results.
SEASIDE FIRE & RESCUE
PUBLIC SAFETY
LOG
1:16 a.m., N. Prom: Police
speak with a subject who
hotel employees say is making
guests uncomfortable. Subject
agrees to move along.
8:52 a.m., Peter Iredale Road: A
park ranger locates a reported
stolen vehicle.
6:29 a.m., Chamber restrooms:
A transient man sleeping in
front of the bathroom doors
and blocking access is advised
to move along.
Jan. 27
11:31 a.m., 400 block N. Holla-
day: Fire investigation.
12:02 a.m., 2100 block S.
Edgewood: Suspicious circum-
stances are reported.
2:19 p.m., 1200 block S.
Wahanna: Emergency medical
response.
Jan. 23
5:20 a.m., Holladay and
Avenue G: A person is cited for
careless driving.
8:08 p.m., 3000 block Sunset
Boulevard: Emergency medi-
cal response.
8:05 a.m., Cooper and
Huckleberry: Police and other
agencies on scene at the scene
of a crash.
Jan. 23
1:13 a.m., 700 block Tenth
Avenue: Structure fi re.
2:42 p.m. Shore Terrace and
Wahanna: Caller reports a
person walking a horse down
a city street. Police contact
horse and owner who advises
a trailer is on the way to pick
them up.
Jan. 24
3:54 p.m., 1200 block S. Holla-
day: Caller reports a man with
duct tape across his mouth
banging on the wall at the side
of a business. Subject recently
displayed similar behavior
earlier at police headquarters.
The subject advised his duct
tape was his COVID mask. He
agreed to move along.
4:52 p.m., 400 block Third Ave-
nue: A disturbance is reported.
10:35 p.m., 700 block S.
Wahanna: Police respond to
a report of someone causing
a disturbance at the hospital.
Police stood by while patient
waited for a cab and left the
premises.
Jan. 29
2:52 a.m., City Hall: A transient
on the property was advised to
move along.
Jan. 25
1:55 p.m., Subway parking
area: A person is arrested and
charged with possession of
heroin.
2:32 p.m., 900 block Avenue S:
8:39 p.m., Ocean Shore: Gun-
Jan. 22
2:01 p.m., Indian Beach: Water
rescue.
Jan. 24
Fire: 1:34 p.m., Avenue A
and Beach: Fire
investigation
Jan. 25
10:48 a.m., 1300 block N.
Holladay: Emergency medical
response.
Jan. 27
2:45 a.m., 300 block Fifth
Avenue: Emergency medical
response.
7:08 a.m., U.S. Highway 103
and U.S. Highway 202: Water
rescue as vehicle veers off
roadway into river.
Presented By
James Franklin Furnish
Gearhart
Sept. 8, 1950 — Jan. 30, 2021
James “Jim” Franklin Furnish
passed from this world on Jan. 30,
2021, in Gearhart, surrounded by
family.
He was born in Portland on
Sept. 8, 1950, and came to the
North Coast when the family
moved permanently to Gearhart
in 1959.
A bright and eloquent racon-
teur, he became an encyclopedia
of North Coast history and knew
stories he was happy to share with
anyone interested. Many people
did listen, and knew they were
hearing or reading the real stuff.
Jim graduated from Seaside
High School in 1968 and went on
to work as a commercial fi sher-
man and clammer extraordinaire;
he herded cattle and sheep on the
family ranch outside of Pilot Rock
and worked as a drug and alcohol counselor
in Astoria, something he was proud of.
Perhaps his favorite job, after fi shing,
was the years he spent as a fi xture
at Bell Buoy in Seaside.
He is survived by his children,
James and Hylah Furnish, who
were born in Astoria; his grand-
daughter, Emelia; his brother,
Jeff; his sisters, Myra Lee and
Laura Furnish Stewart; and a host
of nieces, nephews and cousins
all over the world. He is also sur-
vived by a legion of friends and
compadres, some of whom called
him “Mr. Gearhart,” and will con-
tinue do so.
A public celebration of Jim’s
life will be held as the coronavi-
rus pandemic and weather allow.
In lieu of fl owers, please
donate to the American Cancer
Society or an account being cre-
ated at U.S. Bank to fund a Jim
Furnish memorial bench in Gear-
hart. You can also donate to the North Coast
Land Conservancy or a charity of your
choice.
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