OUR 115th Year
June 17, 2022 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
Upgrades
coming to
Broadway,
Highway 101
intersection
CLASS OF 2022
Infrastructure projects in
Seaside run through 2027
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Photos by Katherine Lacaze
Seaside High School graduates celebrate during the school’s ceremony.
Seaside seniors are stars at graduation
Grads ‘grow and succeed’
with help of each other
See Upgrades, Page A6
McCloud named
interim CEO of
Seaside chamber
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For Seaside Signal
G
athering in the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center, surrounded
by a fl urry of fl owing red gowns
and a large crowd of spectators carry-
ing signs, fl owers and balloons, there
were no indicators of COVID-19 in a
graduation ceremony that had all the
markings of a normal year.
Yet the pandemic inevitably
cropped up in the speeches delivered
by graduating seniors, whose upper-
class years at Seaside High School
were defi ned by this worldwide event.
“The pandemic was a circumstance
we were never supposed to go through,
but we did, and that is what makes our
See Graduation, Page A5
New signals and turn lanes coming to
U.S. 101 and Broadway will replace sig-
nals, add turn lanes, install a transit stop
and make other improvements to help
traffi c fl ow smoother along the route.
The $5.2 million eff ort is one of eight
projects selected for the 2024-2027 State-
wide Transportation Improvement Pro-
gram’s Enhance funding. Projects in this
category are aimed at improving safety
and reducing congestion on some of Ore-
gon’s busiest roadways.
“This project is years in the making to
bring funding, utility providers, ODOT
and their team of professional engineers
and consultants and the City of Seaside
all together to improve traffi c on U.S.
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside School District board chair Brian Taylor congratulates Class of 2022 graduate
Skyler Archibald during Seaside High School’s graduation ceremony June 9.
Katie McCloud joined the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce a little over a
year ago. Last week, the board of direc-
tors announced she will be serving as the
chamber’s interim CEO if the position is
unfi lled by July.
Brian Owen, the outgoing CEO, was
named general manager of the Seaside
Civic and Convention Center in May. He
has served as the chamber’s CEO since
2016.
See Chamber, Page A6
After crash damage,
fundraiser aims to
restore historic mural
Work captures
history of Clatsop-
Nehalem tribes
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
An empty portion of a
wall along Broadway needs
an assist. The 60-foot-long
mural mounted on the Ace
Hardware building was
damaged in November and
sent for repair.
To complete the cul-
tural history art piece, a
GoFundMe fundraiser is
underway to benefi t the
Clatsop-Nehalem Confed-
erated Tribes to restore and
repair the historic mural.
“A lot of people are pitch-
ing in, and of course the peo-
ple at the hardware store are
always awesome to let us do
and have this on the side of
the building,” tribe mem-
ber and architectural repre-
sentative Todd Lawson said.
“This just makes the build-
ing better for everybody. It’s
a great location.”
The mural, by art-
ist Roger Cooke, “brought
the culture and heritage of
the Clatsop and Nehalem
people to downtown Sea-
side,” organizers wrote in a
GoFundMe post.
Cooke, a Sandy resi-
dent who died in 2012, is
best known for his histori-
cal depictions of Northwest
tribes.
He painted more than
60 murals across the coun-
try and illustrated several
books, working closely with
Clatsop and Nehalem to
bring the mural to Seaside.
The 60-foot-long mural
Fireworks are planned as
donors help meet costs
Seaside closes
the shortfall
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
R.J. Marx
A fundraising campaign is underway to replace the mural on the
Ace Hardware building along Broadway, damaged in November.
mounted on the Ace Hard-
ware building in 2008 cel-
ebrates Seaside’s Native
American history and iconic
Necanicum Estuary and Til-
lamook Head. On the left
of the mural are elders of
the tribe. Among vignettes
are a man carving a canoe
and children playing on the
beach.
The mural also includes
historic images of Tos-
tum, headman of the Clat-
sop in the mid-1800s, and
Joe Scovell, chief of the
Nehalem. In November, a
car went over the curb, up
on the sidewalk, and dam-
aged the mural. This inci-
dent, along with years
of wear and tear, left the
mural in desperate need of
restoration.
See Mural, Page A6
Members of the Sea-
side Chamber of Com-
merce and the Seaside
Visitors Bureau, along
with business backers,
are teaming to bring back
a July Fourth fi reworks
show in Seaside.
The chamber received
a $25,000 grant from a
Seaside Visitors Bureau
tourism grant, but needs
to raise an additional
$55,000 for this year’s
display. A $10,000 pay-
ment for next year’s show
is due in November.
Amid a donation cam-
paign, chamber CEO
Brian Owen is confi dent
they are well on their way
to fi lling the gap.
“With over three weeks
Astoria July 2-3
Clatsop Co. Fairgrounds
Saturday: 9 am- 4 pm ◆ Sunday: 10 am- 3 pm
You Never Know What You’ll Find At
A Collectors West Gun & Knife Show!
collectorswest.com
ADMISSION $ 8:00
until the event, we are on
track if the donations con-
tinue at this pace,” he
said.
Western Display Fire-
works will run the fi re-
works, which begin at
10 p.m. Grocery Outlet is
the presenting sponsor.
In past years, the show
has brought nearly 50,000
people to Seaside and
serves as the kickoff to
the summer season. Offi -
cials estimate a $20 mil-
lion economic impact to
the city.
The last show was
in 2019, as the city cur-
tailed events during the
pandemic.
Katie McCloud, mar-
keting and events man-
ager of the chamber,
acknowledged the rapid
approach of the holiday.
“While we are on
a short time limit, we
are confi dent that the
See FIreworks, Page A6