A4 • Friday, April 2, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Ghost Conference taps into paranormal
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
Rocky Smith, organizer of the Oregon
Ghost Conference, presented the fi rst con-
ference in his hometown, Oregon City, in
2012. In 2016, he brought the conference to
the Seaside Civic and Convention Center,
with exhibits, psychics, authors and tours
of haunted Seaside. This year’s conference
was held last week, with Zoom events and
socially-distanced walking tours in Sea-
side and Astoria. The Signal spoke with
Smith at the convention center about the
conference.
Q: In 2020, you canceled the Oregon
Ghost Conference at the last minute.
Smith: We had thousands and thou-
sands of dollars of tickets and events. You
don’t want to take the risk that someone got
sick at the ghost conference. It’s not worth
it. We were two weeks before the event.
That’s when everything was canceled. It’s
just horrible to spend a year working on an
event and then it all just goes.
Q: How did you plan this year’s Rocky Smith of the Oregon Ghost Conference.
conference?
Smith: I was reluctant to put months and
Q: Does Zoom technology encourage
months of planning into another event if I communication with spirits?
didn’t know what was going to happen. So
Smith: I did a virtual seance with (mys-
I waited, and right around January, every- tic and conference presenter) Yitzhak
one was still in really high risk.
Schlomi. I felt like I met a spirit connected
with Oregon City’s past. I can’t really
explain it.
Q: How do you open yourself to see or
experience ghosts?
Smith: I think people don’t take into
consideration their gut feeling. People just
disregard that a lot. People need to be aware
of what happens when they walk from one
room to another. Does the temperature
change? Does the feeling change? Not that
that could all be related to the paranormal,
but it starts getting you in tune with where
you are going. There are some rooms that
I’ve walked into that it just hit you so hard:
‘Oh my gosh, what happened in there?’ You
just know something was wrong.
Q: Who has psychic or paranormal
abilities?
Smith: I think everyone does. But I
think people have a choice to how much
they want to open themselves up to it.
Q: Are you on call as a ghostbuster?
Smith: I don’t like the idea of doing
paranormal investigations as a job. That’s
hours and hours and hours of watching
video tapes, hanging out at a place, and then
you write a report. I don’t want to write a
report. I have an interest in history and peo-
ple ask me to check things out. If someone
says, ‘Hey, come check out our house, we
want to know if there’s something going on
here,’ I can do that. I have enough friends
who not only know if something is here,
but can say ‘this is who they are.’
Q: What are your plans for next year’s
conference?
Smith: Yesterday we signed a contract
(with the convention center) for the next
fi ve years through 2025. So we’re kind of
invested in staying in Seaside. We miss
being here. Next year’s dates are March 25,
26 and 27, 2022.
A focus on children’s play equipment and play space
GUEST COLUMN
PAULINA COCKRUM
Last month I received a letter
from Berkley Sturgell, a 9-year-old
Gearhart Resident, about the lack of
play equipment for kids in Gearhart
now that the play structures have
been moved to Pacifi c Ridge Ele-
mentary. She was heartfelt in her
request for some playground equip-
ment for the children of Gearhart.
Her letter got me thinking, why not
purchase some equipment now, then
wait until the parks plan is com-
pleted to acquire any other equip-
ment or structures.
After several conversations with
both the Master Parks Plan Subcom-
mittee and the City Council, I am
proposing a temporary new play-
ground be established at Trail’s End
(Centennial Park) at the town center
to serve Gearhart kids and families.
While the master parks plan is
under development, this location
will be considered temporary while
the committee looks for alternatives
or deems this location the perfect
place for a play center permanently.
I am proposing a 50-50 split on
cost sharing with tax-deductible
donations from residents and tax-
payer dollars from the city. My goal
is to raise $50,000 to fund the equip-
ment and wood chips for the area. A
fund has been established at Gear-
hart City Hall (make check out to
City of Gearhart-play equipment
fund). We have already received
pledges for more than $5,000.
Donations may be placed in the
water bill slot at City Hall or mailed
to the city at P.O. Box 2510, Gear-
hart, OR, 97138.
I know the pandemic has caused
a lot of hardships, but if you can
please donate now, we will have
some play equipment in place hope-
fully by summer.
Paulina Cockrum is mayor of
Gearhart.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Michael Hinton
seeks your vote
My name is Michael
Hinton and I’m a candi-
date for the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict board of directors
Position 3.
I’m asking for reelec-
tion with this fi ne group
of individuals; board pres-
ident Katharine Parker,
Celeste Bodner, Erika
Hamer Marshall and Su
Coddington. The board is
proud of our decision as
we move to the next phase
of planning for the aban-
doned Broadway Mid-
dle School, now Sun-
set Recreation Center. A
request for proposals has
been released to guide
our vision which began
in 2014 with community
charrettes.
The RFP is to evalu-
ate the highest and best
use and has been issued
as we enter a new period
of public engagement
toward three priorities:
1: Increase desperately
needed preschool, child
care and after-school
activities.
2. Expand indoor recre-
ation for all citizens.
3. Contribute to local
economy with sports tour-
ism strategy.
The immediate need
is clear. Entering into the
COVID-era emergency
child care programs were
established to expand and
consolidate stressed kinder
care and preschool gather-
ings into smaller cohorts
ensuring safety for the chil-
dren and staff . All of chal-
lengers for the district board
falsely claim many things.
Staff has spent many
weeks now cleaning and
mitigating identifi able
issues. Both gyms are
being rented and utilized by
the COVID-19-emerging
Pacifi c Basketball League.
The school is planning
to use our locker rooms.
Please stick with us. Reject
the irresponsible challeng-
ers who “seek to throw
out the baby with the bath
water!”
Michael Hinton
Seaside
District ignored
will of taxpayers
The board of directors
of Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District, has
decided to move young, vul-
nerable children entrusted
to their care, to what they
call Sunset Recreation Cen-
ter. This is the very same
asbestos-contaminated,
black mold-infested Broad-
way Middle School that the
board purchased without
taxpayer approval. The only
thing that’s really changed
is a small, sad banner at the
front of the building claim-
ing that it’s now a recreation
center.
Is this the best that we
can expect from this board
of directors? They are plac-
ing the young children of
this community in a building
that has been professionally
identifi ed as having asbes-
tos, black mold and lead
paint among other problems.
They are actually moving
the children out of a clean
and safe building in favor of
Broadway Middle School.
Is this what you would want
Joe Goff man, President
Biden’s assistant adminis-
trator of the Environmental
Protection Administration’s
Offi ce of Air and Radia-
tion is attempting to sneak
around Congress a further
tightening of carbon monox-
ide standards by tightening
ozone standards.
Congress has been delib-
erately passing legislation
since 1992 strengthening
clean air rules.
Between 1980 and 2019,
Co2 emissions dropped 75%
with an 85% improvement
in air quality according to
the EPA’s own data.
Sneaking around Con-
gress isn’t the way to do this.
Try this instead:
Impose a tariff on all
goods produced in coun-
tries not meeting Ameri-
can EPA standards. This will
reduce Co2 plus sulfur diox-
ide, arsenic, mercury, and
other poisoning particulates
emitted from dirty pacifi c
rim coal.
Domestic companies
struggle to compete with
production in India, China,
Vietnam, and others largely
because they abuse the envi-
ronment. If we bring pro-
duction back to America, the
EPA can monitor it.
The whole world wins.
Wayne Mayo
Scappoose
played in the U.S. Capitol
building for a year. All stu-
dents who participate in the
competition will be invited
to a virtual reception with
Bonamici, during which
time the winner will be
announced and all submis-
sions will be shown.
The deadline to sub-
mit art is April 30. Entries
can be mailed to U.S.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici,
12725 S.W. Millikan Way,
Suite 220, Beaverton, OR.,
97005.
Staff will be available to
receive art outside the front
entrance to the building
from 8 to 11 a.m. April 28
and from 2 to 5 p.m. April
30.
For information, rules
and guidelines and how
to participate, go to bit.ly/
SB_Art.
Committee, 6 p.m., cityof-
gearhart.com.
cityofgearhart.com.
MONDAY, APRIL 26
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21
Recreation District Board
of Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225
Avenue A.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
TUESDAY, MAY 4
TUESDAY, APRIL 27
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
done with your children?
Are you going to allow this
outrage to continue?
The board of directors
has placed you $2.5 million
further in debt without your
consent. You own a build-
ing that will not be safe and
usable unless you spend, in
my estimate, at least twenty
million dollars more. We
can’t know for sure, as the
board didn’t do the part of
due diligence where you
fi gure out what it will cost
to rectify all defi ciencies
before making a purchase
decision. They did a fi ne
job of identifying the many
faults and then completely
ignored them and made the
purchase.
So, where do we go from
here? I believe that the peo-
ple of Seaside need a new
board of directors that will
not only listen to the tax-
payers, but will also make
it easier for them to partic-
ipate and contribute to the
operation of the district. This
will begin with having board
meetings at an hour that an
average citizen can partici-
pate. Five-fi fteen is the per-
fect hour to hold a board
meeting if you want to pre-
vent citizen participation.
This is the board that you
have now.
I am a candidate for
the board of directors of
SEPRD. I oppose Celeste
Bodner. I am working with
the following people as I
am concerned about how
SEPRD is being run. I sup-
port their candidacy for the
SEPRD board as they sup-
port mine. They are; Al Her-
nandez, Jackie Evans, Pat-
rick Duhachek and Stephen
Morrison. Please vote for us
in the May 18 election. The
future of SEPRD is in the
balance.
John Huismann
Seaside
Use tariff s to
improve our air
NEWS NOTES
Trail ambassador
volunteers needed
This spring, volun-
teers who possess knowl-
edge of Gorge, Mount Hood
and North Coast trails are
needed to serve as trail
ambassadors.
Volunteer trail ambassa-
dors hike trails on weekends
during peak season; engage
with the public to answer
hiking and recreation-re-
lated questions; promote
responsible hiker ethics;
and direct people to useful
resources.
Taking an online training
is required before signing
up to volunteer; those who
complete 24 hours of vol-
unteer service earn a North-
west Forest Pass.
For details, and how
to sign up, go to trail-
keepersoforegon.org/
trailambassadors.
Bonamici
announces art
competition
U.S.
Rep
Suzanne
Bonamici, an Oregon Dem-
ocrat who represents the
North Coast, is accepting
submissions for the 2021
Congressional Art Compe-
tition, which is open to any
student in grades 9 through
12 who lives in or attends
school in Oregon’s 1st Con-
gressional District, which
includes Washington, Yam-
hill, Clatsop and Columbia
counties and part of Mult-
nomah County.
Local artists will select
the winning student artist,
whose artwork will be dis-
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for
latest meeting information and
attendance guidelines.
TUESDAY, APRIL 6
Seaside Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7
cityofseaside.us.
Gearhart City Council,
6 p.m., work session, cityof-
gearhart.com.
TUESDAY, APRIL 20
MONDAY, APRIL 12
Seaside School District,
6 p.m., www.seaside.k12.
or.us/meetings.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
Gearhart Small Business
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
Gearhart Parks Master Plan
Citizens Advisory Commit-
tee, 5:30 p.m., work session,
Sunset Empire Park and
Seaside Signal
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