A4 • Friday, July 1, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Seaside’s ‘Cam the Cuddler’
goes for chugging championship
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
O
n July Fourth, Seaside’s Cameron
McKirdy will join other compet-
itors in New York’s Coney Island
for the Nathan’s second annual chugging
contest. The chugging contest accompanies
the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Inter-
national Hot Dog-Eating Contest. ESPN
will air the event, with a live audience of
35,000 fans.
McKirdy is one of seven chuggers cho-
sen to take on Eric “Badlands” Booker,
the “godfather of chugging,” social media
star known for chugging gallons of liquid
in a small amount of time. Badlands was
the champion of last year’s chugging con-
test, drinking a gallon of lemonade in 40
seconds.
McKirdy, a “professional eater,” hopes
to bring the “chugging championship tro-
phy” back to Oregon, what he calls “the
true epicenter of gastric-centric sports.”
McKirdy, 38, has worn a variety of hats
in his career — none of them taught in
school — DoorDash driver, professional
cuddler, van-life afi cionado and creator of
the YouTube channel Survival Bros.
“I honestly learned about my own eat-
ing greatness at Pizza Harbor as a third
grader,” he said. “I remember eating 18
slices of pizza with cake and ice cream and
still being able to play games.”
McKirdy fi rst got into competitive eat-
ing after watching the movie “Stand by
Me.”
“I love the pie-eating scene, and wanted
to be just like Lardass,” he said, referring
to the character known for his legendary
indigestion.
McKirdy has competed up and down
the West Coast, even challenging against
hot dog champion Joey Chestnut in a deep-
Cameron McKirdy practices his technique in a video.
Cameron McKirdy at a 2013 hot dog contest
fundraiser at Broadway Park.
fried asparagus-eating competition in
Stockton, California.
McKirdy’s personal best is 26 hot dogs
and buns at a competition in Las Vegas,
only to be disqualifi ed when he was unable
to keep the food down.
“I am done eating franks in competi-
tion,” he said. “The meat sweats are bru-
tal. I prefer sweets, like pie. I will never get
sick of dessert.”
On the Fourth, McKirdy will stick to
lemonade.
He alternates speed-training one day,
capacity another. He chugs at supermarkets
and convenience stores, posting videos of
himself downing lemonade at Fred Meyer
and Gatorade at Dollar General.
“Taqueria Pelayos 3 is my go-to in Sea-
side for massive burritos and to chug
horchata. They have to make more of the
cinnamon beverage after I order.”
McKirdy, who at one time worked at
Seaside bumper cars, said the Coney Island
backdrop reminds him of his hometown.
Eric “Badlands” Booker and Cameron McKirdy at Asparagus Stockton, an asparagus-eating
competition.
“Coney Island is and was America’s
playground,” he said. “Seaside took inspi-
ration from Coney Island. Look at the
bumper cars, amusement park, and oddball
attractions. I can’t wait to ride the scooters
at Coney. I’m gonna smash everyone, no
matter the age.”
While he has the money to get to New
York, he doesn’t have enough to get back
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dehumanization is next
Regarding the Supreme Court’s over-
turning Roe v. Wade:
Roe v. Wade guaranteed a right to pri-
vacy that extended to all people, not just
women. That right has been revoked and
it will aff ect everyone, even you. And
when the court is coming for contracep-
tion next.
Men benefi t from abortion just as
much as women do. Men are the cause
of all pregnancies.
Women are going to die because abor-
tions happen in so many scenarios where
otherwise a woman would die. And all of
the girls and women forced to give birth
(no matter by whom or by what means)
will risk losing their lives from giving
birth.
There are either human rights or there
are no human rights. There is no parsing
these rights out to certain people while
denying them to others. Believing that
to be true is what got us here in the fi rst
place. This country is not even remotely
prepared for what is going to happen as a
result of this obscene decision. They are
coming for the LGBQT community next.
After that, well, who knows? One thing
is certain, no matter who you are, your
dehumanization is next.
Christina Buck
Seaside
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for latest meeting
information and attendance guidelines.
TUESDAY, JULY 5
Seaside Community Center Commission,
10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center,
1225 Avenue A.
Seaside Library Board, 4:30 p.m, 1131
Broadway.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m., www.cityof-
gearhart.com.
THURSDAY, JULY 7
Seaside Parks Advisory Committee, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
MONDAY, JULY 11
Seaside City Council, workshop, camping
ordinance, 6 p.m., regular meeting, 7 p.m., 989
Broadway.
THURSDAY, JULY 14
Seaside Convention Center Commission,
5 p.m., 415 First Ave., Seaside.
OP-ED
Oregon, the State of Homelessness, can learn from Scandinavia
GUEST COLUMN
DICK HUGHES
I
magine a community where homeless
individuals aren’t living downtown,
in parks and along busy streets and
freeways.
That might be reality in parts of Oregon,
but not in Salem, where I live, or in Port-
land, Eugene, Bend or many other cities.
Yet there are cities without visible home-
less encampments and without panhan-
dlers, without streetside trash and with little
if any graffi ti. There are cities where trust is
so ingrained in the public psyche that bicy-
cles can be left unguarded, and where out-
door cafes and public plazas have chairs
with pillows for public use with nary a secu-
rity device in sight.
It was a shock last month – a welcome
one – to discover these cities are the norm
in Scandinavia. It was with sadness that our
drive home from PDX showed we indeed
were back in the State of Homelessness.
That is why I am writing this column, the
second and presumably fi nal one related to
my May trip to Northern Europe, primar-
ily Scandinavia. It’s not to say, “Look at me.
I spent almost three weeks in Europe and
came home with the answers to Oregon’s
problems.”
Not at all. My look was cursory. How-
ever, one value of travel is it can shake us
out of ruts and broaden our perspective.
If the Nordic countries can substan-
tially reduce homelessness, they give hope
for the rest of us. We must fi gure out what
works best in our situations and be fully
committed.
Two things stood out: 1. Finland and Nor-
way took concrete steps and didn’t let up. 2.
They addressed homelessness as a housing
issue, not a moral failing. That should give
reassurance to public offi cials who doubt
the “housing fi rst” model and who believe
homeless individuals who are drug/alco-
hol-dependent or mentally ill should fi rst be
“cured” before receiving housing.
I’m not suggesting Scandinavian systems
could or should be transferrable to other
countries, particularly the United States. But
our minimal progress through the decades
– despite thousands of committee meetings,
umpteen bookshelves of plans we’ve writ-
ten, and millions or billions of dollars we’ve
spent – is a local, state and national disgrace.
This is not to disparage the boots-on-the-
ground work being done in my community
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
to Oregon.
But, he added, “I’m fi ne being stranded
there.”
McKirdy is confi dent he can stand belly-
to-belly with Booker, who he described as
a “6XL beast, a living legend.”
“I’m gonna get in his head,” McKirdy
said. “I could be named the best chugger on
Earth.”
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff TerHar
IF THE NORDIC
COUNTRIES CAN
SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE
HOMELESSNESS, THEY
GIVE HOPE FOR THE REST
OF US. WE MUST FIGURE
OUT WHAT WORKS BEST
IN OUR SITUATIONS AND
BE FULLY COMMITTED.
and elsewhere by many excellent organiza-
tions. But where is the overwhelming public
leadership and political will to match Orego-
nians’ belief that homelessness is the state’s
No. 1 issue?
Some ideas can be transferrable. For
example, visits by Oregon legislators and
corrections offi cials to Norwegian prisons a
few years ago inspired prison reform here.
The Department of Corrections has launched
initiatives on employee wellness, the institu-
tion environment and rehabilitation of adults
in custody.
However, Scandinavian society is unique.
The countries are smaller in population than
the large U.S. states. Trust in government, in
the private sector and in collaborative deci-
sion-making is woven into their societal fab-
ric. Though Scandinavians have an exceed-
ingly high cost of living, they report a high
quality of life and rank high on the global
happiness scale. In contrast, Oregonians and
our fellow Americans remain distrustful of
government … and of one another, it seems.
Scandinavia and the other Nordic coun-
tries also embrace an unusual welfare sys-
tem: Everyone receives services regardless
of household income. To support that sys-
tem, Scandinavians pay far higher taxes and
have a far larger public sector workforce
than in America. Citizens receive mostly
free universal health care; free education
from preschool through college; and gener-
ous old-age pensions. Many of the benefi ts
enhance participation in the workforce, such
as highly subsidized childcare and after-
school programs.
Make no mistake. This is not a paean to
how wonderful Scandinavia is.
For example, the region lags the U.S.
on accessibility for the mobility impaired.
The absence of ramps around steps, the lack
of curb cuts, and the ubiquitous cobble-
stone streets and paths made wheelchair use
diffi cult.
I experienced this fi rst-hand. I’m still
regaining strength from my breakthrough
COVID-19 case last fall and wound up
breaking a wheelchair on Stockholm cob-
blestones. And at one museum, the elevator
didn’t work. At another, there were escala-
tors but no elevator.
In contrast, it was good to read that Lin-
coln City is following other communities by
providing rollout pathways and free beach
wheelchairs at three beaches.
A few other things that struck me about
northern Europe:
Patriotism, participation in national holi-
days and reverence for history were evident
throughout the culture.
Scandinavian students are required to
learn English in school and often must take a
third language.
Movement among countries is normal.
Our Stockholm minibus driver was from
Estonia. Our Copenhagen driver was a
69-year-old Brit who lives in Denmark with
his Danish wife and their family. They also
have a vacation home in Spain.
Public university in Poland is free to stu-
dents who earn high enough scores in high
school. Students whose scores are too low
can pay to attend private universities.
Norway, Denmark and Sweden are
democracies with monarchies. People appar-
ently like having royalty although their gov-
ernment runs on a parliamentary system.
Scandinavia is becoming more reli-
giously diverse, including an increasing
number of Muslim residents. The population
as whole is turning more secular, like the
Pacifi c Northwest.
Norway has a love-hate relationship with
fossil-fuel industry. North Sea oil drilling
has saved the economy and the national trea-
sury. Yet a majority of new passenger vehi-
cles sold are electric and are heavily pro-
moted by the government. Fuel prices are
so high that many commuters rely on bicy-
cles. Everywhere we went, pedestrians were
alerted to watch out for bicyclists.
Drivers seemed less aggressive than in
the U.S.; a recent report by Insurify said
Oregon motorists rank sixth nationally for
rude driving. Meanwhile, Oregon is ranked
as our nation’s second-most bicycle-friendly
state, trailing only Massachusetts in the
League of American Bicyclists’ annual
report.
Dick Hughes, who writes the weekly Cap-
ital Chatter column, has been covering the
Oregon political scene since 1976. Contact
him at TheHughesisms@Gmail.com, Face-
book.com/Hughesisms, YouTube.com/Dick-
Hughes or @DickHughes.
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