OUR 114th Year
December 24, 2021
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
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Local
veteran
remains
missing
Search and rescue phase
comes to an end for now
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Rachael Wolford collected numerous antique ornaments that are part of the Christmas tree decorations at the Butterfield Cottage.
Cherished Christmas ornaments
sparkle at Butterfield Cottage
Evan Goin, a veteran with four over-
seas tours, was reported missing from his
U.S. Highway 26 home
last week.
Searchers and canine
crews have been unsuc-
cessful in their search,
Sgt. Bruce Scott of the
Clatsop County Sheriff’s
Office said Monday.
Evan Goin
“We have called off
the search as far as the
search and rescue aspect of it for now,”
Scott said.
Goin is a supply specialist and liaison
officer with the Oregon National Guard at
Camp Rilea.
See Missing, Page A3
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
A rattled
community
after school
threats
S
easide resident Rachael Wolford
has fond memories of Christ-
mastime during her youth, when
her family lived with her grandmother
in a three-story Victorian home in
Portland during World War II.
They would cut down a giant tree
and set it up in an alcove with large
windows on three sides. She recalls
her grandmother resting in a chair
while the rest of the family gathered
around to hang up lights and baubles.
In the following days, Wolford
would sneak into the room at night,
turn on the Christmas lights, and then
sit at the foot of the tree to watch them
glow for hours. On the 12th night of
Christmas — also her grandma’s birth-
day — they would have a big celebra-
tion, taking down the ornaments, chop-
ping up the tree, and burning the logs
in the fireplace while they ate cake and
ice cream.
Even after her family returned to
England at the close of the war, Wol-
ford had spent nine years practic-
ing these beloved traditions with her
family.
“By that time, it was really instilled
in me what Christmas was,” she said.
“It kind of splashed over into the rest
of my life.”
Even now, she’ll leave on her
Christmas tree lights throughout the
day and night, “and I still sit there
and look at it,” she said. Another
way she’s worked to keep her memo-
ries alive is by collecting ornaments
reminiscent of those used at grand-
mother’s home, which itself was full
of antiques.
District seeks to
reassure families
Photos by Katherine Lacaze
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
ABOVE: Rachael Wolford, left, donated
several antique ornaments to the
Seaside Museum & Historical Society
that Butterfield Cottage curator
Robin Montero used to decorate the
Christmas tree at the cottage. RIGHT:
Patrons can see Wolford’s treasured
ornaments on the Christmas tree at the
Seaside Museum & Historical Society’s
Butterfield Cottage. The museum is
open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays and
Saturdays.
Three recent potential school threats
have stirred concern among parents and
the Seaside School District community.
Jeff Roberts, the high school princi-
pal, addressed the potential threats of vio-
lence faced by Seaside schools over the
past few weeks.
Roberts emphasized the importance
of parents and guardians being educated,
involved and vigilant.
“From a programming standpoint, I
think we need to do some more education
around this,” Roberts said during a school
board meeting Dec. 14. “But that educa-
tion isn’t effective unless we are part-
ners with families that are taking a vested
interest in what is going on in the hand-
held devices … of their students.”
“I kind of fell in love with them
when I was a child,” she said.
When Wolford and her mother were
cleaning out the Portland home and
preparing it to be sold, they couldn’t
find the trunk with all the tree orna-
ments. They only recovered a few,
which were split between them.
See Ornaments, Page A5
See Threats, Page A3
Park district concerned Seaside looks to Coos Bay for camping ordinance
public between the hours of
about pot shop location Aims to address
8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The law
Director claims
retailer too close
to rec center
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
The Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation Dis-
trict wants the city to block
a cannabis shop seeking to
move into property near
the Sunset Recreation Cen-
ter, but it is unlikely the
city will take action.
The property on N. Roo-
sevelt Drive is less than
500 feet from the north-
west corner of the recre-
ation center, which was
formerly Broadway Mid-
dle School. State law gen-
erally prohibits marijuana
retailers within 1,000 feet
of schools, but the recre-
ation center does not meet
the definition of a school.
The recreation cen-
ter houses the catalog of
the park district’s youth
programs, including the
preschool, after-school
programs and summer
camps.
See Pot shop, Page A6
homelessness
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside’s camping ordi-
nance left more questions
than answers last Monday
night as the City Council
sought to update city ordi-
nances to meet state and fed-
eral requirements.
Seaside’s ordinances, like
others throughout the state,
have been struck down by
the courts at this point, City
Manager Mark Winstanley
said.
The purpose of the ordi-
nance is to protect the safety
R.J. Marx
Campers and their belongings at the public restroom next to
the Seaside Visitors Bureau.
of citizens and regulate use
of publicly owned property
by establishing time, manner,
and place guidelines for trail-
ers, tents, campers and RVs.
The ordinance recognizes
the federal court ruling,
Martin v. Boise, as well as
newly adopted Oregon laws
that make it legal to camp
overnight on publicly owned
property which is open to the
has been in effect in Coos
Bay since August.
“This is patterned off of
an ordinance that was devel-
oped down in Coos Bay,”
Winstanley said. “What will
be the legal criteria of the
courts at this point? This is
one that, at least up until this
point, has been able to stay
on the books.”
The Coos Bay ordinance
makes it legal to camp —
including under tents, tarps,
sleeping bags and temporary
huts — on most publicly
owned property within the
city limits between the hours
of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
See Camping, Page A6