Friday, May 21, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
The tufted puffi ns are back at Haystack Rock
SEASIDE
AQUARIUM
TIFFANY
BOOTHE
Haystack Rock is home to the
largest tufted puffi n breeding col-
ony in Oregon. In early April
approximately 100 individual puf-
fi ns show up at Haystack Rock.
Most of the puffi ns have already
found their lifelong partners and
are returning to the same protected
burrow they used last year to raise
their young.
The tufted puffi ns will spend
about 16 weeks at the rock. For the
fi rst couple weeks the puffi ns stake
out their territory and clean up their
burrow. Once their burrow is ready,
the female puffi n will lay a single,
chicken-sized egg, which both the
male and female incubate. Incuba-
tion usually lasts 41 to 54 days.
Though usually tucked back
inside the burrow, newly hatched
puffi ns appear at the ‘Rock’ begin-
ning in late June through mid to
late August. Despite the fact that
you may not be able to see the puf-
fl ings, activity around the rock
is hectic and plentiful: it is fun to
observe the parent puffi ns making
multiple trips to their burrow with
bills full of fi sh for their young.
Thirty-eight to 59 days after hatch-
ing the puffl ings will leave their
burrows. Under the protection of
dark (to escape the ever-watchful,
hungry eyes of bald eagles), all the
puffl ings will leave the safety of the
rock and return to the open ocean,
where they will spend the winter.
The Great Puffi n Watch, July 1
through July 4, is your best chance
to view these miraculous sea-
birds at Haystack Rock. This sea-
bird watching event, sponsored by
the Friends of Haystack Rock, is
part of a fi reworks-free weekend
in Cannon Beach. Spotting scopes
and binoculars will be available for
the public to view these magnifi -
cent birds up close.
Friends of Haystack Rock pro-
motes the preservation and protec-
tion of the intertidal life and birds
that inhabit the Marine Garden and
Oregon Islands National Wildlife
Refuge at Haystack Rock. We do
this in cooperation with the Hay-
stack Rock Awareness Program
and other partners.
Tiff any Boothe/Seaside Aquarium
Tufted puffi n in the water near Haystack Rock Cannon Beach.
Dahlgren: Band director known for his optimism and encouragement
Continued from Page A1
band director in the fall of
2002.
“I remember that fi rst
group of kids very fondly,”
he said.
Coming into a smaller
district, he was willing to
assess the attitude of the stu-
dents and set goals for the
program accordingly. How-
ever, about halfway through
the year, he said, it became
apparent the students “were
really eager to do as much
as they possibly could.”
That attitude, combined
with the administrative
support Dahlgren received
from the get-go, gave him
confi dence there were no
limits to how successful the
program could be — despite
the size of the district.
“They
collectively
decided, ‘Let’s give this
guy a chance, let’s take this
pretty seriously as see what
happens,’” he said. “It just
kept building year after
year.”
‘Lightning in a Bottle’
Dahlgren’s unyielding
optimism, high expecta-
tions and advocacy for the
students are embedded in
the motivation he passes
onto them regularly. Some
of his most common and
heartfelt words of encour-
agement include: “I think
you might be underesti-
mating what you’re capa-
ble of,” and, “I know what
you’re capable of, even if
you don’t.”
The eagerness and dedi-
cation of that fi rst batch of
students set the program on
a fi rm foundation for future
success.
Younger students wit-
nessed their siblings play-
ing at sports events and
concerts and traveling for
competition, and it moti-
vated them to get involved.
Overall,
Dahlgren
describes his experience
with the band in Seaside as
“lightning in a bottle.”
“I am very, very fortu-
nate to have been able to be
a part of it,” he said.
However, as he refl ects
over a long and fruitful
career — and many fond
memories — he feels there
has not been a more import-
ant time to positively impact
the students than right
now, amid the COVID-19
pandemic.
Although
trying
to
translate band into a vir-
tual program at the start of
the school year presented
unprecedented challenges,
Dahlgren is convinced it
was worth the eff ort. He
recalls discussing the option
with the administration and
expressing to them that, “I
may not have the magic
solution to make this go,
but I think we need to try.
To not try is unacceptable.”
The band plays on
Fortunately, lack of sup-
port — from the administra-
tion, parents and the com-
munity at large — hasn’t
been a problem for Dahl-
gren, which is not a given
for performing arts pro-
grams at schools.
“Not every band director
has that,” he said. “I’ve been
in schools where you can’t
even take band, because it
doesn’t even fi t in the day.”
Emboldened by this sup-
port, Dahlgren has been
able to invest in mak-
ing sure the band program
makes it through the pan-
demic intact, without los-
ing signifi cant momentum
or the fervor of the students.
“This, while the most
challenging part of my
career, has also been the
most rewarding, because I
really wanted to be the one
to bring them back into the
school,” he said. “Any suc-
cess we have this year is
just golden to me, because
no one has ever done this
before. … The goal is to get
them back in the building
and get them playing with
each other; that is really the
only goal.”
He has about 65 high
school students participat-
ing in band. They are split
into fi ve groups — four
which meet on campus in
the gym during the week
socially distanced and wear-
ing facial coverings specif-
ically designed for musi-
cians. One group of high
schoolers, as well as the
middle schoolers, are con-
tinuing online for the 2020-
21 school year.
Although administrators
and school board members
have noted that Dahlgren’s
retirement creates a signif-
icant loss for the district,
he is confi dent the pieces
are place for the program to
continue thriving, regard-
less of who takes over.
“The commitment is
there,” he said. “We’re all
on the same page. Every-
body knows what needs to
be done.”
DINING
on the
NORTH COAST
Housing: ‘We want to be prepared for anything’
Great Restaurants in:
GEARHART • SEASIDE
Continued from Page A1
CANNON BEACH
WANT TO KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO?
• Breakfast
• Lunch
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• Junior Menu
RESTAURANT & LOUNGE
• Lighter appetite menu
E
RIL Y’
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Council to proceed to a bond
vote in the fall. “Ultimately
it’s the citizens of Gearhart
that will choose in Novem-
ber,” Sweet said.
The land exchange pro-
posal comes as the city con-
siders recommendation from
a housing study delivered to
the city earlier this year call-
ing for increased workforce
housing opportunities.
The building and land
inventory analysis delivered
to the City Council in March
showed a need for 234 new
housing units by 2038. The
study indicates a need for
more rental supply for lower
and moderately priced rental
units.
The lack of a city sewer
system “more than any-
thing aff ects our maximum
density despite how much
land we have,” City Planner
Carole Connell said at last
Thursday’s meeting of the
Planning Commission. “Our
septic will continue to con-
strain us.”
The
housing
study
pointed to “a number of
things” the city could do to
meet future needs, includ-
ing a new high-density res-
idential zone, duplexes and
accessory dwelling units,
Connell said.
“We really need to stay
ahead of the curve because
Gearhart has been notori-
ous for falling behind the
curve,” Planning Commis-
sioner Terry Graff said.
“And I’m not sure that I’m
the only one who makes this
a priority.”
Cottages at Gearhart
LLC hopes to exchange
two lots outside Gearhart’s
urban growth boundary with
the city for use as a park and
a new fi rehouse and resil-
iency station. Approval
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for the process must fi rst
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trative process. Once land is
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Any land exchanged
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idential density use, City
Attorney Peter Watts said.
“Unfortunately, the Oregon
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swap and don’t contemplate
up-zoning.”
For now, the city is eval-
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tectural proposals to obtain
property development and
structure estimates and may
be ready for preliminary
conversations with the Plan-
ning Commission in June.
“We want to be pre-
pared for anything,” Plan-
ning Commissioner Chair-
woman Virginia Dideum
said. “No matter who comes
up with what, it’s going to
be a process.”
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