A4 • Friday, March 5, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Crash survivor remembers the love left behind
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
Friends of Esperanza Martin-Ramirez are
issuing a plea for help as she recovers from
a crash at Ecola State Park that left her 3
1/2-month-old baby daughter, Kenia, dead.
“Life can change in a blink of an eye,”
wrote Seaside’s Joanna Ramos on a
GoFundMe page. “Yesterday one of my
closest friends got in a bad car accident
where her baby girl of three months lost her
life.
“Money should be the last thing a mother
should have to worry about after losing a
child. I ask our community to come together
and help this young woman with her terrible
loss. Nothing we say or do will bring that
precious angel back but we as a community
can come together and support Esperanza in
these diffi cult times.”
More than a week after the Feb. 15 crash,
Martin-Ramirez, 20, shared her thoughts on
the tragedy. Ramos served as her translator.
“She is doing better both physically and
mentally,” Ramos said in a phone interview.
Martin-Ramirez joined family in the
United States from Guatemala looking for
better opportunities. “Over there, they don’t
have much support fi nancially, so she came
to the United States looking for a better
future for herself,” Ramos said.
When her mother died, Martin-Ramirez
left school and moved in with a family mem-
ber to support her siblings.
Martin-Ramirez and Ramos met as
co-workers at a Seaside hotel.
“From the fi rst day I met her, I knew that
Kenia Esmeralda Martin-Ramirez was killed
in a car crash on Feb. 15.
she was a sweet girl,” Ramos said. “She was
so tiny I didn’t even realize she was preg-
nant until she told me she was going to give
birth.”
Kenia’s birth wasn’t planned, but her goal
for Kenia was to put her in a good school,
teach her right from wrong and always sup-
port her.
When she needed a place to stay, Mar-
tin-Ramirez moved in with Ramos and other
roommates in Seaside.
Kenia was a calm baby, Martin-Ramirez
shared. “The only time she would cry was
when she was hungry or had a poopy dia-
per,” she said. “She was a super good baby.”
Kenia loved balloons, Martin-Ramirez
said. “Every time we would go to the store,
we would either buy a balloon for her and
would tie it to her arm and she would have
fun with that,” she said. “She also loved
baths. Not a lot of babies love baths. She
would actually cry when we would take her
out of the bath.”
Martin-Ramirez shared her Catholic faith
with her child, singing church songs and
hymns. “Esperanza would play them for her
and she would calm down,” Ramos said.
On Valentine’s Day, the roommates made
cards for friends, and Kenia joined them,
gluing and playing with the balloons, mem-
ories that Martin-Ramirez will never forget.
“Those little moments are the ones that stay
with us forever,” she said.
After the crash, everything changed.
Late in the day on Feb. 15, Esperanza
and Kenia were in a Mazda driven by Rony
Tomas-Garcia, 23, of Seaside. They were
heading southbound on Ecola State Park
Road in Cannon Beach when the car veered
off the road, struck a tree and came to rest on
its top. Martin-Ramirez was taken to Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria before
being transferred to Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University Hospital in Portland.
Tomas-Garcia, who was not injured, was
arrested for manslaughter, assault, reckless
driving and driving under the infl uence of
intoxicants. He is in Clatsop County Jail.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment lodged an immigration detainer on
Tomas-Garcia on Feb. 16.
While Martin-Ramirez declined to speak
about the investigation, she refl ected on the
days immediately after the crash.
She broke bones behind her neck at the
top of her spinal cord, which must heal by
themselves — a healing that could take at
least six weeks.
“I was the fi rst one she called and I was
heartbroken,” Ramos said. “It was surreal.”
At fi rst, Martin-Ramirez was about to
give up, but relied on her faith and counsel-
ing for inspiration.
“Both her arms and shoulder blades are
very sore because of the impact,” Ramos
said. “She was wearing her belt. Every-
one was wearing their belt. She’s very sore
still, she can’t be up for a lot of time.”After
returning home, Ramos and other room-
mates have been “super supportive,” Mar-
tin-Ramirez said.
Co-workers have been in touch and
checking up on her.
“She is such a strong woman, it is amaz-
ing,” Ramos said. “I am amazed. It’s crazy
how she’s been through so much and she
still doesn’t give up. Everything happens
for a reason. Now she’s thinking positive, at
fi rst not so much, but with our support and a
counselor’s support, it’s helped a lot.”
The aim of the fundraiser is to help
Martin-Ramirez meet funeral and medi-
cal expenses. “We’re her support system,”
Ramos said. “We are here supporting her
the whole way but obviously, fi nancially it
is very diffi cult.”
The support from the community has
inspired Martin-Ramirez to look to the
future and give back to the community, just
as others are helping her now.
“Honestly, the whole community com-
ing together brings me such joy,” Ramos
said. “You never know. It was Esperanza
today, but you never know who it might be
tomorrow.
“I love her like she was my sister,” Ramos
added. “I loved that baby like she was my
niece. A couple of days ago, Esperanza
shared a quote that she saw. It said, ‘When
we lose someone we love, we must learn not
to live without them but to live with the love
they left behind.’ That touched her heart and
it even gives me chills.”
Seaside principal outlines school sports guidelines
GUEST COLUMN
JEFF ROBERTS
Dear Seaside Families and Community
Members:
For years, Seaside High School ath-
letics has realized a tremendous amount
of support for our student-athletes during
their competitive seasons. Whether pack-
ing the gyms, lining the track or showing
up to Broadway Field for a contest, you
have provided consistent and vocal sup-
port for our student-athletes.
Our athletic programs came to an abrupt
end in March 2020 and our student-ath-
letes have not had the opportunity to com-
pete again until now, almost an entire year
later. We are excited for our teams to once
again represent our school and community
with the start of the 2021 fall sports season
that offi cially began on Feb. 22.
There has been a lot of speculation
over what this looks like for our fans who
are ready to cheer on their favorite play-
ers and teams during competition. In the
current environment, watching the games
in person is going to be a departure from
“normal.” We are grateful that our stu-
dent-athletes will be able to compete
again, however, spectating will be mark-
edly different than what we are used to.
The Oregon Health Authority has outlined
provisions for continued competition and
occupancy at our venues that will, depend-
ing on current county risk levels, allow for
some spectators but certainly not to the
levels that we are accustomed to.
We are working with our Cow-
apa League partners to develop consis-
tent guidelines that would allow for lim-
ited spectators at our respective venues.
A complicating factor is that our league
spans three different counties which might
simultaneously be in three different risk
sectors.
I can assure you that the other league
schools are as committed to allowing for
limited spectators as we are and collec-
tively we plan to do all in our power to
make spectator attendance possible while
also ensuring we take the appropriate pre-
cautions to protect the likelihood of our
students remaining in school. Seaside spec-
tators will not be allowed at visiting ven-
ues until these guidelines are confi rmed by
Cowapa schools. I will notify our coaches
once that agreement is reached.
When we are able to allow for limited
spectators, the following guidelines will
be followed with zero exceptions during
the Oregon Schools Activities Associa-
tion season 2 (fall sports) and under cur-
rent Oregon Health Authority guidelines:
● An allotment of tickets will be desig-
nated for each student athlete on a rostered
team. Student athletes will be able to dis-
tribute these tickets at their discretion for
each contest.
● All spectators are required to wear
a fi tted face covering/mask regardless of
whether the activity is indoors or outdoors.
● Spectators granted access will be
required to sit in designated areas and
observe physical distancing of 6 feet.
● Spectators that are not granted access
will be asked to leave the premises. Spec-
tators that refuse to follow guidelines run
the risk of having the competition stopped
or cancelled and potentially being tres-
passed from venues.
● Outdoor venues are limited to 300
persons on-site in lower risk sectors and
150 persons on site in moderate-risk sec-
tors. These limits include all participants,
coaches, offi cials, personnel and specta-
tors. High-risk and extreme-risk sector
guidelines strictly prohibit spectators.
We are currently working on ways to
provide live streaming opportunities for
all of our contests and we will make that
information available as soon as possible.
I have outlined the proposed allot-
ment of tickets below that will be avail-
able to student-athletes throughout the fall
sports season and under the current Ore-
gon Health Authority sector risk level
guidelines. Note, again, that the in-per-
son attendee counts include all players,
coaches, offi cials and personnel support-
ing a team which is why two different
sports held in the same venue may then
have fewer spectators allowed so that the
venue remains under the cap set for total
in-person attendees. Prior to the Cowapa
League agreement we will allow home
spectators under the guideline limitations
below.
Additional information to ticket
allocations:
● There will not be admission charged
at any venue for attendance.
● There will be no concessions at any
venues.
● All spectators must be seated in pro-
vided stands and adhere to designated
home and visitor sections.
● Per Oregon Health Authority, the
venue capacity limits include the perime-
ter fence line, skate park, and parking lot
at Broadway Field. Spectating from these
locations will not be allowed.
● Cross-country meets will abide by the
300/150 person maximum attendees at an
outdoor venue and observe physical dis-
tancing protocols.
Our coaches will further communicate
this information with our student-athletes
and will be the primary contact regard-
ing ticketing to events for their respective
sports. Other questions regarding our ath-
letic programs should be directed to Aaron
Tanabe, athletic director, at 503-738-5586
or atanabe@seasidek12.org.
I acknowledge that these guidelines and
restrictions may be frustrating; however,
in order to resume competition they must
be followed. I am thankful that the oppor-
tunity to resume these activities for our
students has been provided. Please con-
tinue to partner with our school commu-
nity through responsible actions to ensure
these athletic opportunities continue to be
available to our student-athletes through-
out the remainder of the year.
Thank you in advance for your cooper-
ation as we continue to move through this
challenging time.
Jeff Roberts is the principal of Seaside
High School and Middle School.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District needs
to step up for homeless
I am very saddened and very upset with
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District
last meeting report. You have failed to live
up to the high caring and helping standards
of the people of our area.
First, you did not listen to the many folks
that questioned your purchase of the old,
unsafe middle school. You paid no attention
to professional people telling you how dan-
gerous and in need of repair and the costs
associated.
Even as the nation was in a COVID-19
pandemic you felt you could move ahead
without truly involving the community and
listening. Your director and you had big
dreams and big ideas about what you might
provide the community. You forgot that our
community doesn’t have extra funds ready
for your use in the coming year.
As the temperatures dipped, rain and
sleet were predicted. You did not wish to use
your golden purchase as a safe haven for the
homeless. While an old building sat empty
and you sat in warm homes you general-
ized that you were being pushed, that you
did not have the plans done and you worried
about what the neighbors might think. So,
no action.
The building sat empty as a man slept on
the sideway next to the public restrooms and
others in the damp woods.
Campers know you do not sleep on a cot.
You sleep on a mat. Cots allow the cold air
to go all around you. Where are the old tum-
bling mats from the schools? Can they be
used?
Your board president needs to call for an
emergency meeting. Maybe two or more
meetings and get some humane action plans
in place.
1. Form committees of members of
the public to help speed up the prog-
ress and become part of the plan. We cer-
tainly feel we have not had our opinions
asked for. Don’t form huge committees, just
action-oriented groups.
2. Use the Bob Chisholm Community
Center go you can have your committees
come together, and yet safely sit apart. To
assist these committees, ask for assistance
from staff of the organizations that stepped
up to help and use their expertise.
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
3. Set fi rm and timely dates for report-
ing to the board in the big community hall.
Report to the community. Put it on Zoom.
Be transparent.
4. My own suggestions: Use the big gym
so bathrooms and shower are right there.
Enter the gym from the back door next
to community garden. Should animals be
a problem they can be put in fence-pens
between the two gyms, already fenced at
both ends. Cover with tarps. Personal items
place in tagged, black sacks then placed on
upper stage by the door.
Send all board members to look at a well-
run warming center Astoria. They have it
fi ne-tuned. You don’t need to feed or clothe
them like they do in Astoria but it would be
very easy since the kitchen is right next door
and our community would provide clothing.
Forget the classrooms. You have security
gates in all the hallways so the gym can be
closed off. There is no reason for a homeless
person to leave gym area, with seating feet
apart, in the stands if needed.
Take temperatures before they enter
building
Get COVID shots for your volunteers.
Check and see what Astoria uses for
shower towels.
Report weekly to your community what
you are doing and how it is working and
how we can help achieve success.
Take pride in this program and continue
to make it better
Use this as a trial run for the rest of the
winter.
It was noted the plans are not done for
the building use and this is a reason to not
shelter the homeless. That is exactly why
your community is upset. There was no
master plan. Not even now! You had ideas
without any thought on how you as a board
were going to pull this off, what would each
room be used for, or who would pay for
this in yearn to come? So you spend more
money to have someone else do the board’s
work.
In closing, I strongly urge board mem-
bers to step up and demonstrate the human-
ity of our community. Provide a warm spot
for those less fortunate and defi nitely in
need.
Kathleen L. Samsel
Former Sunset Empire Park and Recre-
ation District board member
Seaside
Seaside Signal
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