A4 • Friday, May 7, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Family aff air for local fi refi ghters
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
On a Saturday morning in April, Josh Lair
and his daughter, Amy, share a common des-
tination: the Gearhart fi rehouse. Both are fi re
department volunteers.
The job isn’t what most people expect.
“You think of fi refi ghters just putting fi res
out,” said Amy Lair, who recently earned her
emergency medical technician license. “But
there are some intense scenes that we come
onto, and a lot of sad things happen. It’s kind
of amazing to watch a whole group of peo-
ple come together for one common cause, and
just as volunteers.”
Josh Lair and his wife, Liz, moved with
their fi ve daughters from the Park City, Utah,
area about four years ago. He joined the fi re
department in 2018.
Amy Lair spent summers and holidays
with the family while pursuing her associ-
ate’s degree in health science at Dixie State
University in St. George, Utah. After Amy
received her degree, she moved to Oregon to
join her family in early 2020.
“Amy’s plan previous to her move was
to continue her health science degree at the
University of Maine, after receiving an aca-
demic scholarship in that fi eld,” Liz Lair said.
“However, she witnessed what her dad was
doing with Gearhart fi re and came to the real-
ization that she wanted to help people as a
fi rst responder.”
When the University of Maine decided to
suspend classes due to the coronavirus pan-
demic, Amy saw an opportunity to make
a change in her life path and joined the fi re
department as intern.
“I pretty much make sure everything’s
working so that when we go to calls, nothing
is missing and we have everything we need,”
she said.
She learned to drive the fi retruck from the
previous intern, James Hutchinson, now a fi re
lieutenant.
“There’s a process to learning to drive the
apparatus,” Josh Lair said. “Drivers must log
a certain amount of time behind the wheel
before certifi cation. It’s really up to each vol-
unteer to commit their time to that. And Amy
Gearhart Fire Department
Amy Lair and her father, Josh Lair.
R.J. Marx
Gearhart fi refi ghters Josh and Amy Lair.
did that very quickly. You want to learn how
to drive as many apparatus as she can.”
She is certifi ed on everything except for
the department’s Unimog, he added, referring
to the department’s all-wheel truck.
“We’ve been on some really basic calls and
some pretty intense calls together,” he said.
“You get a little particularly scared or upset
when you see her taking some risks. The fi re-
fi ghter part of me is saying, ‘Let’s get after it,
let’s go into it.’ But knowing that this is my
daughter, there’s a diff erent level of concern
for me when we’re on those calls together.”
Amy Lair said she found it comforting to
have her father at her side. “I know what to
expect and that he knows my abilities,” she
said. “There’s no questions there. But he’s a
person that I turn to when I think I’m going
into a stressful situation for comfort and his
experience.”
Along with fi refi ghting, Josh Lair is main-
tenance manager of WorldMark in Seaside.
Amy Lair is a waitress at Mo’s in Seaside
and coaches junior varsity softball at Seaside
High School.
Of the fi ve daughters — the oldest is 24
and the youngest 7 — daughter No. 4, Del-
ilah, is “very much willing to follow in the
footsteps of her big sister,” Josh Lair said.
“It’s pretty cool.”
Gearhart is recognized for a high number
of women fi re volunteers, with seven active
with the department. “I think a lot of it has
to do with the culture of the fi re department,”
Amy Lair said. “There are a few women that
have been on there for a while now. And they
make it a safe and comfortable place for other
women to want to join.”
The Lairs hope their model will serve as an
inspiration to future volunteers.
“It takes a special kind of person to be
able to do these things,” Josh Lair said. “And
we’re always looking for those special peo-
ple to join us. The culture of the Gearhart Fire
Department is such that we’re welcoming of
anybody and everybody who wants to learn
how to do this. And if you become an intern
like Amy, you can get a fi re science degree
and become an EMT, and the department
pays for all those things for you.
“Being on those calls with her, it just
makes me incredibly proud to be her dad and
watch her do what she does.”
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
What has changed at the
park and recreation district?
What has changed?
Several years ago, the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District board told the
taxpayers, it would be more cost eff ective
to build a new recreation center than pur-
chase the old, and dilapidated, Broadway
Middle School.
At that time, the estimate was $20 mil-
lion to buy and rehabilitate the building
for use. With very minimal input from the
public, they purchased the school last Jan-
uary with no concrete plans how to use the
building and make the necessary repairs.
This was after they were told by experts
of the health concerns and extensive work
needed to be done, i.e., mold, asbestos,
new windows, roof and so on to make the
building usable. They have now, after the
fact, formed committees for input on how
to use and pay for this white elephant.
I urge voters to elect a new board to rep-
resent the taxpayers. Vote for Al Hernan-
dez, John Huismann, Patrick Duhachek,
Jackie Evans, and Stephen Morrison to
be the SEPRD board. These people have
sound business sense, are independent
thinkers and will listen to all of the public.
Margene Ridout
Former SEPRD Board member
Everyone must get
vaccinated
Today’s headlines in the Daily Astorian,
one on top of the other, with absolutely no
irony: “County appeals to governor to lift
virus restrictions,” and “County reports 14
new virus cases” (note there have been 36
cases in the last seven days).
Clatsop County has a goal of vaccinat-
ing only 70% of its population and it has
not even achieved half of that to date. But
the county wants the governor to allow
everything to be open for business with no
restrictions? The endless opening and clos-
ing of businesses is frustrating and there is
only one way to stop it.
Every single person must get vaccinated.
Enough with allowing people to refuse to
get vaccinated and demand that they have
the right to go about life as usual, while it
puts the health and well being of others at
risk. They’re blocking COVID herd immu-
nity. They are solely responsible. Cases in
the state keep going up by the hundreds. It’s
time to require that people get vaccinated.
No one has the right to continue to perpetu-
ate a deadly public health risk. No one.
Either everyone gets vaccinated and
everything is able to open up and come
back to life or COVID cases continue to go
up and restrictions are imposed, eased, and
re-imposed because of a never ending cycle
of illness.
Christina Buck
Seaside
New rec center comes
with many memories
When I look at the new Sunset Recre-
ation Center, formerly Broadway Middle
School, I remember …
I remember being a toddler, accompa-
nying my father, Wally Hamer, to school
athletics’ practices. I remember every
sight and sound of the old gym, watch-
ing my parents coach basketball, volley-
ball, and every other recreational activity
you could imagine. I remember learning
to swim in the Sunset Pool, my wonderful
teacher, Ann Shaff er, helping me to fl oat
on my back and looking up at the ceil-
ing daydreaming as the water rushed over
my face. I remember SEPRD’s gymnas-
tics’ program for youth, taught at Broad-
way Middle School by our wonderful PE
Teachers in the Seaside School District,
Ginny Hamer and Brian Sigler.
Now, as a parent, I have been able to
watch my children grow up in SEPRD.
They have learned to swim in our new
learners pool and have established friend-
ships and life skills through the preschool
and the Start Smart sports program. They
have learned a love for recreation and
sports through SEPRD.
Imagine the possibilities that the Sunset
Recreation Center, formerly old Broadway
Middle School, can bring to our commu-
nity to expand these already great pro-
grams and initiatives and improve the local
economy through sports tourism.
When I look at the new Sunset Recre-
ation Center, I see the center of our com-
munity. I see the future of our community
within the walls of the school. I see a rec-
reation center that will draw new fami-
lies to our community. I see sports and rec-
reation for the young people of Seaside,
where they can play and learn within a
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
R.J. Marx
It has been just over 100 days since
the Sunset Empire Park and Recreation
District closed on the Broadway Mid-
dle School Property at 1120 Broadway.
That acquisition represents a historic
landmark in the provision of indoor
recreation space, expanded preschool/
child care programs and the continued/
expanded usage of that space for con-
tributing to sports tourism.
In the time period since then, the
district has completed a deep analysis
and review of the building and prop-
erty. There is a lot of potential for great
programs and services to the commu-
nity. There is also a need for the district
to fully understand the building con-
dition and we have invested resources
and time to complete that assessment.
For a review of the reports and infor-
mation compiled, we encourage you to
look on the district website.
Despite our best eff orts, we recog-
nize that there are some in our commu-
nity who still express concern about the
condition of the building and the safety
of using it. In response to that, we’d
like to share with you the below points:
• The building is 72,557 square feet
in total. The vast majority of that build-
ing (45,000 sq. feet approximately)
was constructed in 1994 and built
using standards and materials that are
completely safe.
• The entire building was used by
the Seaside School District as a middle
school building as recently as March,
2020.
• The portion of the building that was
constructed in the 1940s is not being
utilized by the district for program-
ming but rather for storage and potential
development in the future.
• The older portion of the school does
contain some asbestos containing build-
ing materials. The contractor hired by
the district tested 60 sites and 10 came
back positive for those materials.
• Based on industry knowledge, the
presence of asbestos containing building
materials is expected for a building of
this age. The materials are encapsulated
in the fl oor of the building and, just as
it was safe for children in the middle
school, it is still safe for district patrons,
staff and guests.
• While there are other areas of
potential improvement for the build-
ing to operate at its maximum effi ciency
including the roof, windows and HVAC
system, the building is in very good con-
dition and usable for recreation purposes.
The building has been approved for
conditional use by the city of Seaside,
the Clatsop County Health Department
and the district’s insurance provider.
We invite you to come and tour the
building on these dates:
• Monday, May 10, 5-7 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 12, 12-1 p.m.
• Thursday, May 13, 5-7 p.m.
We also invite you to share and col-
laborate with the district on the future of
this signifi cant property. The district has
a long history of dedicated service and
with this landmark acquisition, we are
poised to continue that dedicated service
moving forward.
Staff and Board of Directors
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation
District
See Letters, Page A5
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
Kari Borgen
Take a tour of the Sunset
Recreation Center
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Darren Gooch
Joshua Heineman
Rain Jordan
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
Seaside Signal
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