Friday, May 13, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Clatsop County sees upward trend in recreation
I
t’s no secret that COVID-
19 completely changed
our community. The pan-
demic disrupted our entire way
of life and created completely
unforeseen challenges to the
work that we do! I’m thankful
for the hard work of our staff and
board of directors, as well as the
patience of our patrons, as we
worked to provide programming
that was on par or closely resem-
bling what we’ve always sought
to provide.
SKY BOX
SKYLER
ARCHIBALD
I’ve found some important
lessons, as I’m sure you have, in
analyzing our experience in deal-
ing with this pandemic.
I’ve learned resiliency as I’ve
watched my colleagues and our
community at large rebound from
diffi cult initial circumstances and
forced adaptability to evolving
restrictions. That resiliency con-
tinues to show out as businesses
to face the challenges of staff -
ing and the increased costs of
business.
I’ve learned compassion.
There’s been times where we’ve
all disagreed with each other,
with local, state or national polit-
ical leaders. There’s been times
where we’ve all thought that
we were the experts and there
has been times where we all felt
without any of the answers.
I’ve also learned the benefi ts
Katherine Lacaze
Park spaces have many uses. Jase and Owen Litehiser open Easter eggs with Kelly and Justin Smith at the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation District’s annual Community Egg Hunt at Broadway Field.
of managing ourselves and tak-
ing time to play, recreate and
experience nature and physical
activity.
Since this all began, rec-
reation providers have been
amazed at the increased usage
and demand for services, facil-
ities and spaces. These loca-
tions have proven to be in high
demand as folks needed places
close to home, with greater need
for recreating and staying well
during this trying time.
Google began utilizing data,
of the which they are incredi-
bly privy to an abundance of,
using location services and maps
to track how the pandemic has
aff ected human behavior. They
tracked the many locations that
people traveled to during the 26
months since we began this jour-
ney and compared that data to
the human behavior patterns of
pre-pandemic. The data is even
isolated to our state and county,
which does prove to be helpful.
Now this isn’t a referendum or
an opinion on the merit of Goo-
gle and the tracking of human
beings. That is a conversation
that is way above my intellect.
I will say that it can be alarm-
ing the amount of information
that they have on each of us. I’m
somewhat lifted or at least par-
tially gratifi ed to have access to
the information they gleamed
from us. The point, however,
is that the data exists and it’s
staggering.
The results showed that during
the time of the pandemic, mobil-
ity decreased to retail centers
(restaurants, malls, and movie
theaters), grocery stores, transit
stations and workplaces. All of
that makes sense. People were
and still are getting out less, trav-
eling less and are fi guring out
ways to get by.
Or at least for specifi c reasons.
While most places saw
decreased usage during this
time, parks have seen a dramatic
increase in their activity. Park
spaces, including locations such
as national or regional parks,
beaches, fi elds and gardens, saw
their mobility trend increase by
23% throughout Oregon and
85% in Clatsop County. That’s
a staggering number, especially
when you compare the data with
other industries and other regions
in the state.
While just about every county
in the state saw an increase in
their park space trends, Clatsop
County saw the highest jump.
This data confi rms what many
of us already saw and suspected:
park space is extremely vital to
a community and our commu-
nity is extremely popular for our
amazing outdoor spaces and rec-
reation opportunities.
If you’d like to learn more
about their data, you can see it
available here: https://www.goo-
gle.com/covid19/mobility/.
While we’re all hoping that
the pandemic is truly a once-
in-a-lifetime experience, I’m
thankful for the lessons learned
and that during these times
we’ve been able to recreate and
appreciate our community and
region!
BRIEFS
Columbia
Memorial
welcomes new
primary care
physician
Dr. Erik Nevatt has joined
the CMH-OHSU Health Pri-
mary Care Clinic in Seaside.
Nevatt’s
specialty is
family med-
icine. He is
also inter-
ested
in
dermatol-
Erik Nevatt
ogy, chronic
medical
conditions, mental health,
preventative medicine and
palliative care.
Nevatt most recently
worked at Clark Fork Val-
ley Hospital & Family Med-
icine Network. While there,
he provided primary care
services. He also held super-
vising physician and chief of
staff -elect roles.
He earned his medical
degree from Loma Linda
University School of Med-
icine. He completed a res-
idency at Montana Family
Medicine.
Nevatt is board-certi-
fi ed in family medicine. He
is a member of the Amer-
ican Academy of Family
Physicians. He also is an
author of several research
publications.
Outside of work, he
enjoys spending time with
his dog, participating in out-
door sports, playing guitar,
camping, grilling and watch-
ing movies.
Celtic harp at
Seaside Library
On Saturday, May 21,
at 1:30 p.m., the Friends of
Seaside Public Library will
welcome musical duo Lisa
Lynne and Aryeh Frank-
furter who perform together
as Lionharp. They will be
presenting their concert
experience, “Celtic Harps,
Rare Instruments, and Won-
derous Stories.”
This event will be held in
the community room of the
library.
Lisa Lynne and Aryeh
Frankfurter are a multi-in-
strumentalist duo specializ-
ing in Celtic Harps, Swed-
ish Nyckelharpa, Ukrainian
Bandura, Bouzouki, Cittern
and more.
They hail originally
from San Francisco and
tour extensively, both hav-
ing successful recording
and performing careers
built from years of street
performing and a back-
ground as rock musicians.
Lynne has gained world-
wide recognition for her
original music featuring her
Celtic Harp. She is widely
acclaimed for composing
memorable and heartwarm-
ing melodies on the Wind-
ham Hill/Sony music labels
that have repeatedly placed
in the Top 10 and Top 20
on the Billboard New Age
music charts.
Frankfurter is a renowned
multi-instrumentalist whose
career has journeyed from
virtuosic progressive rock
violin to intricate Swedish
folk and Celtic music. He
began with classical violin
at the age of three and has
studied music throughout
his life.
The Seaside Public
Library is located at 1131
Broadway. For more infor-
mation call 503-738-6742
or visit www.seasidelibrary.
org or www.facebook.com/
seasidepubliclibrary.
Golf tournament
to benefi t
scholarship fund
The Sunset Park and Rec-
reation Foundation is host-
ing a charity golf tourna-
ment on Friday, June 3, at
1 p.m. at the Highlands Golf
Course. The golf tournament
is $50 per person, and is a
two-person scramble with
contests for the longest drive
and other fundraising games
along the course. There will
also be a silent auction.
Call 503-738-3311 to
register.
This tournament will
benefi t the Sunset Empire
Park and Recreation District
Scholarship Fund, which
provides access to recre-
ational programming for
community members who
might not otherwise have
the opportunity to engage in
these activities.
Eastern Oregon
University
announces winter
term dean’s list
Kyle Harrington, of Gear-
hart, and Hillary Dochow
and Victoria Dochow, of
Seaside, were among East-
ern Oregon University
named 590 students to the
dean’s list for the 2022 win-
ter term.
Qualifying
students
achieve and maintain a
grade point average of 3.5
or higher on a 4.0 scale
while completing a mini-
mum of 12 hours of graded
coursework.
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