A4 • Friday, February 12, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Faith led Cragin to Seaside
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
For Reginald Cragin, everything about
coming to Seaside seemed like destiny.
“I got here at the age of 50,” he said. “I
took a look at this place and I go, ‘You’ve got
to be kidding me.’ I lived in the east, but there
were no mountains. I love the mountains. I
lived in Colorado, but there was no ocean. I
love the ocean.”
The now 55-year-old musician spent most
of his life on the East Coast, growing up near
the beach on the end of Long Island surfi ng
Ditch Plains Beach and attending school in
Connecticut.
“I was a wild child,” he admits.
He chose to play the drums when he was
young.
At 13, he played the full drum set, reading
sheet music at the front of the stage with an
18-piece jazz band behind him.
At the University of Colorado, he con-
nected with fellow musicians also going to
school in Boulder, like Big Head Todd and
the Monsters and The Samples. He branched
into the visual arts, earning a bachelor’s
degree with a major in fi ne arts.
After college, he considered moves to
New Orleans or Manhattan. He chose Man-
hattan, getting a job at Cheap Jack’s, a vintage
clothing store in Union Square frequented by
artists, musicians and downtown characters.
“When I got to Manhattan, I met every
musician possible,” he said.
While “no one made any money,” he said,
the scene was thriving and Cragin worked
with legends of downtown rock.
He returned to Connecticut to help his
father, who was suffering from depression.
After his father’s death fi ve years later,
Cragin started to become depressed and
began to pray.
A year later, Cragin, turning 50, “needed
something amazing,” he said.
Photos by R.J. Marx
ABOVE: Reginald Cragin plays drums at Quatat Park on Jan. 18. BELOW: Cragin enjoys the outdoor life in Seaside.
Originally an Episcopalian, he was intro-
duced to the rosary, a form of devotion to
the Virgin Mary, by a woman named Sister
Mary while attending a Bible study meeting.
“The rosary came into my life 10 years
ago,” Cragin said. “I thought, ‘Why haven’t
I known about this before?’ I loved it. Every
single day became an opportunity.”
Not long after, a chance encounter
changed his personal direction.
Cragin was working in a package store
when a customer came in and said he needed
someone to drive a car west. Cragin saw
providence in the opportunity. He left his job
and apartment the next day.
“I had been praying for so long for some-
thing to happen that it seemed that this was
what I had been waiting for,” he said. “I took
it as a sign and went with it. I shut my eyes,
and when I opened them, God put me here.”
The Oregon Coast was everything he
was looking for.Cragin arrived in Septem-
ber 2016. He found a job as a night auditor
at a Seaside hotel and an apartment within
a week.
“I had no place to live. I had no job. One
place called me in and said they would like to
talk to me. ‘Can you come back for an inter-
view?’ I said sure. I started the next week.”
He’s had the job ever since.
The night hours remind Cragin of his
New York City days. He goes to sleep at
noon and wakes up two hours before his shift
at 11 p.m. “I wake up every night, pray the
rosary, go to my shift and then come home at
7 a.m. and I can spend each morning surfi ng.
I love Seaside.”
He’s now playing his drums every Sun-
day and Monday at Quatat Park from noon
to 3 or 4 p.m.
“I’d been depressed and suffering for so
long and praying each and every day, that
when I showed up at Seaside it was like all
my dreams and all my prayers had come to
fruition,” Cragin said.
“I thank God each and every day for liv-
ing in Seaside. All the people are so wonder-
ful and I love it here so much.”
Blake: ‘We were at home safe, healthy and blessed all the way to the end’
Continued from Page A1
1918, in Denver, Colorado.
She was 13 when her mother
died from a heart condition
at age 42. Her father, a phar-
macist, raised her and her
much older brother, Stanley.
She attended college at
Colorado State University in
Fort Collins, where she met
and “married the big man on
campus,” Walter Pershing
Blake, a veterinary student
and football, basketball and
track athlete.
They married in 1941, the
day after Walter Blake grad-
uated from Colorado State.
He taught veterinary medi-
cine and surgery at the Uni-
versity of Missouri, and then
the couple moved to Phoe-
nix, Arizona, where he had
a small animal clinic. Mar-
ion worked in the practice
with her husband as surgical
assistant and girl Friday.
Moving to Seaside to
be closer to family, she ad-
justed to circumstances after
the loss of her husband and
two daughters. She found a
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Marion Blake, right, with her daughter, Mary Blake, at home in Seaside in 2018.
happy home with her daugh-
ter Mary, living an active
lifestyle well in her 90s and
beyond.
“Marion Blake was an
avid golfer, before age
caught up with her,” Chelsea
Gorrow wrote in a 2014 pro-
fi le in The Daily Astorian.
“She now uses a cane with
four feet to get around. But
that’s the only visible sign
that she’s 96 years old. The
petite and fi t woman wears
glittery nail polish, stylish
white-framed glasses, pink
lipstick and gold jewelry,
including a beautiful ban-
gle bracelet and fashionable
rings.”
At 100, she did stretch-
ing exercises every day,
and weighed the same as
she did in college. Her busy
schedule included duplicate
bridge at the Astoria Golf
& Country Club, at the Bob
Chisholm Community Cen-
ter once a week and twice
a week in Astoria at the
senior center. She contin-
ued to sip an occasional dry
“martooni,” which, she said
in an interview with the
Seaside Signal two months
before her 100th birthday,
“was good for partying.”
Marion loved football
and cheered for the Den-
ver Broncos. She watched
Rachel Maddow and Ste-
phen Colbert. She went to
bed at 1 a.m. and woke up at
“6 or 7 ... I don’t waste a lot
of time sleeping too much,”
she said.
Last year she professed a
desire to be a police detec-
tive, and the Seaside Police
Department drove up to
make her a dream come true
with an honorary badge.
Marion lamented that she
was “always the oldest one
in the crowd,” and said she
had no regrets over the years.
At age 100 her goal was to
“just play more bridge and
kick butt.”
She achieved a wish of
living her last years at home.
“Heaven forbid assisted liv-
ing!” she said. “You know,
there are a lot of old people
there.”
Marion regretted that
the coronavirus pandemic
reduced her bridge-playing
and was “heartbroken” by
the U.S. Capitol insurrection
on Jan. 6.
“She did feel that after
the (Biden) inauguration
we would make our way
back to a more truthful and
connected society,” Mary
Blake said. “She was espe-
cially excited to see the fi rst
woman of color become the
vice president.”
She wants her moth-
er’s message of positivity to
survive her. “There wasn’t
a day that went by that we
didn’t thank our lucky stars
that we had each other’s
company. We were at home
safe, healthy and blessed all
the way to the end. Mud-
der watched as her genera-
tion was so vulnerable and
that they went through such
an unimaginable lonely and
painful crossing, without
family holding each other
close and heart to heart.
“She would always sign
off with ‘Happy trails to
you,’” she added. “‘Aloha,
xoxo — moi.’ Please, always
remember to love your
mother.”
the Oregon State Police, Clat-
sop County Sheriff’s offi ce,
Seaside, Gearhart, Astoria,
Cannon Beach and Warren-
ton police departments and
the Seaside, Astoria, Jewell,
Knappa and Warrenton-Ham-
mond school districts.
For more information, con-
tact Angel Escobedo at esc-
obedoa@careorgeon.org.
annual scholarship program.
Awards up to $1,000 will
be granted to one or more high
school seniors who reside in
Clatsop County and whose
further education at college,
university, vocational school,
or training program will help
them develop skills that con-
tribute to the advancement of
sound gardening practices.
Applications
can
be
obtained by contacting high
school counselors’ offi ces,
downloaded at www.clatsop-
mastergardeners.org/CCM-
GA-Scholarship, via email
at lindabrim@gmail.com, or
503-325-0916.
BRIEFS
Applications
invited for
grant funding
Seaside is now accepting
tourism grant applications
for the 2021-22 fi scal cycle.
Up to $50,000 in grant funds
are expected to be available.
Those with a proposal
encouraging
overnight
stays in Seaside between
July 1 and Dec. 31, 2022
are encouraged to apply.
The application deadline is
May 7.
For more information,
visit the city’s tourism grant
program webpage.
Last year this program
funded:
Seaside Chamber of
Commerce, Pouring at
the Coast Brewfest; Sun-
set Empire Park and Recre-
ation Foundation, Art in the
Park ... Naturally and Virtu-
ally; the Seaside Downtown
Development Association,
Halloween Happenin’s; Sea-
side Museum and Historical
Society, Lewis and Clark Salt
Makers and Seaside Prom
Centennial Photo Exhibit;
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy, CoastWalk Oregon;
and Knights of Columbus,
Oktoberfest.
‘Handle With
Care’ addresses
childhood trauma
A new initiative, “Han-
dle With Care,” partners
local school districts and law
enforcement agencies in an ini-
tiative to support children who
experience traumatic events.
When law enforcement
encounters a child at the scene
of a traumatic event, the child’s
name and three words, “Han-
dle With Care” are commu-
nicated to the child’s school
before the school bell rings the
next day. This enables teachers
and school personnel to offer
support, rather than discipline
to a student. For example, the
teacher might provide extra
help with coursework, refer the
child to the school counselor,
be fl exible with deadlines or
delay or reschedule exams or
projects.
The initiative protects the
child’s privacy as no details of
the traumatic event are shared
with the school.
Handle With Care is pre-
sented through Columbia
Pacifi c CCO and the Resil-
ient Clatsop County network,
to prevent and heal child-
hood trauma and build fam-
ily resilience. Partners include
Master gardeners
seek applicants
The Clatsop County Mas-
ter Gardener Association is
accepting applications for its
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for latest
meeting information and atten-
dance guidelines.
TUESDAY, FEB. 16
Seaside School District, 6 p.m.,
www.seaside.k12.or.us/meetings.
cityofseaside.us.
THURSDAY, FEB. 18
MONDAY, FEB. 22
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., work session,
Seaside Tourism Advisory Com-
mittee, 3 p.m., cityofseaside.us.
Seaside Transportation Adviso-
ry Committee, 6 p.m., cityofsea-
side.us.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Darren Gooch
Joshua Heineman
Rain Jordan
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District Board of Direc-
tors, regular meeting, 5:15 p.m.,
1225 Avenue A.
TUESDAY, FEB. 23
Seaside Signal
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