A8 • Friday, September 24, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Lou Solitske
Seaside Vietnam War Veterans Memorial, offi cially dedicated last Saturday.
Memorial: The City Council gave its blessing to the project
Continued from Page A1
Kent Pollock, who came
from Phoenix, Arizona, for
the dedication, said he was
amazed at how many of his
classmates are remembered
on the wall, including his
brother, Craig Pollock, Class
of 1965.
In 2016, Hansen teamed
with Jennings, Crayton
Morris, John Alto and oth-
ers to launch a fundraising
eff ort and make sure each of
Seaside’s Vietnam veterans
received recognition. They
painstakingly sought out all
those who had attended the
high school who had served
in the war.
Seltzer Park, on the east
side of Sunset Boulevard
in the Cove, was chosen
as the memorial site for its
historical connection to the
community, view of the
beach and accessibility to
visitors. The City Coun-
cil gave its blessing to the
project.
The city’s Public Works
Department cleared, exca-
vated and installed the mon-
ument in March 2020. They
R.J. Marx
Veterans came from throughout the West for the dedication.
later added sidewalks, land-
scaping and wheelchair
accessibility.
Designer Tony Goi-
burn, of OM Stone, cre-
ated the monument using
laser sketching and weath-
er-coated the granite before
installation.
“I’ve done big giant ones
and really tiny tree memo-
rials,” Goiburn said at the
dedication. “And they all
mean something to me. This
was a very wonderful proj-
Coaster Theatre reopens playhouse
with ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’
Seaside Signal
Coaster Theatre. Patrons
may display proof of vacci-
nation with the original vac-
cination card, a legible copy
of their vaccination card or a
legible digital copy of their
vaccination card in addition
to a matching photo ID.
Those unable to be vacci-
nated, such as children under
12, people with medical con-
ditions preventing vaccina-
tion, or those with religious
beliefs that prohibit vaccina-
tion, must provide proof of
a negative COVID-19 PCR
test taken within 72 hours of
the performance start time in
addition to a matching photo
ID.
Face coverings also are
required at all times for
everyone inside the theater
regardless of vaccination
status. Acceptable face cov-
erings are listed on the the-
atre’s website.
Any patron not wearing a
face covering, regardless of
a medical exemption or age,
will not be admitted to enter
the Coaster Theatre.
a Bronze Star, two Navy
Commendation Medals for
valor, two Purple Hearts
and 10 air medals. He also
writes candidly about his
struggle with post-trau-
matic stress disorder.
“You heard people say,
‘Oh, gosh, you’re a Vietnam
veteran, welcome home,’”
Marlantes said. “And quite
frankly, it sounded a little
hollow to me sometimes.
It’s a little bit lame, you
know. I came home, as all
of you did, and it wasn’t a
very good welcome.”
In Seaside, it was
diff erent.
“There was this feeling
that we were always part of
this community and always
welcome,” Marlantes said.
“The girls and the women
were always there for us
and our friends were always
there for us. And that’s
what this is all about. Our
friends, our neighbors, our
classmates who we went
to school with. They were
always there for us. And
now this is a monument to
that solidarity and that love
and that friendship.”
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E
RIL Y’
S
After 18 months of closure
due to COVID-19 restric-
tions, the Coaster Theatre
Playhouse will reopen Oct. 1
with the drama, “The Picture
of Dorian Gray.” Mask and
vaccination
requirements
will be in place.
The play will be pre-
sented at 7:30 p.m. Fridays
and Saturdays through Oct.
30. Admission is $20; tick-
ets can be purchased at the
theatre box offi ce (503-436-
1242) or online at coaster-
theatre.com. Space is limited
as seats will be socially dis-
tanced by groups.
Written by Oscar Wilde
and adapted by Gloria Gon-
zales, the play involves
Dorian Gray, a wealthy and
beautiful young man who
sits for a portrait. He worries
that his youth and beauty will
fade. Dorian curses the por-
trait, which he believes will
one day remind him of the
beauty he has lost. In a fi t of
distress, he pledges his soul
if only the painting bears the
burden of age, allowing him
to stay forever young. He has
made a pact with the devil.
This sets Dorian on a dark
path that twists his soul while
he keeps the appearance of
youth and beauty as time
moves forward.
Coaster Theatre Execu-
tive Director Patrick Lath-
rop directs the play. The cast
includes Katherine Lacaze
(Dorian
Gray),
Margo
McClellan (Margaret), John
Hoff (Lord Henry Wotton),
Rhonda Warnack (Lady
Henry Wotton), Terri Baier
(Sybil Lane) and Margaret
Hammitt-McDonald (Mrs.
Lane).
Crew members include
Colleen Toomey, stage man-
ager; Judith Light, costumes;
Mick Alderman, set builder
and light and sound designer;
Juan Lira, set painter; and
Nancy McCarthy, light booth
operator.
To ensure everyone’s
safety, patrons must show
proof that they are fully vac-
cinated when they enter the
ect because not only those
names — and we went
through the list of names a
million times — but their
stories came out.”
Karl Marlantes, the Sea-
side High School grad who
went on to write about his
decorated war service in
“Matterhorn: A Novel of the
Vietnam War,” described
the city in the ‘60s.
“When we grew up,
everybody talked about
their fathers and their
uncles being in the service,”
Marlantes said. “We call it
the military today, but we
saw it as the service. You
felt like you were part of the
republic. And just like you
have to pay taxes to make
the roads work, sometimes
you have to serve to keep
the republic safe. And that’s
what we felt.”
Seaside’s high participa-
tion in the war was “unique
to this little town,” he said.
“The percentage of kids that
went over there was huge.
There’s fi ve or six dead
from this tiny little city,
which is really unusual.”
Marlantes was awarded
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