GLORY OF THE DORY
ALL STAR PLAYERS
DORY DAYS THIS WEEKEND IN P.C., PAGE B1
TILLAMOOK YOUTH BASEBALL, PAGE A10
Headlight Herald TILLAMOOKHEADLIGHTHERALD.COM • JULY 18, 2012
LONGEST RUNNING BUSINESS IN TILLAMOOK COUNTY • SINCE 1888
SO LONG, SAFEWAY (The old, unused building, that is) BY JOSIAH DARR sports @orcoastnews.com
JOSIAH DARR/HEADLIGHT HERALD
Workers remove shingles from the old Safeway building in flood-prone north Tillamook. The property, now owned by the city, will be cleared to make way for a public park.
But is it renewal?
Demolition of the former Safeway building on Hwy. 101 in north Tillamook is underway. When the ground is settled, about 70 percent of the building will be recycled, and Tillamook will have a clean slate for a new park. Local business Averill Trucking and Recycling won the contract to destroy and remove the building with a low bid of about $150,000. A
total of four companies bid on the contract to tear down the building. “We were willing to do the job for considerably less than the other offers,” Project Manager Aaron Averill said. The reason? Averill will take longer (perhaps 60 days to competely remove and clear the property) but will make money by recycling more.
See SAFEWAY, Page A8
time to
explore
Pirate’s plunder plucked
Council votes 4-3 to seek TURA funds for city shops BY MARY FAITH BELL mfbell@countrymedia.net
During their Monday meeting, Tillamook City Council discussed the Kinsman property on Third Street, which will be the new home of Public Works and perhaps the future home of the police department. The price tag for the improvements the City would like to have done before they move in is approximately $225,000. The Council debated at length whether to request $225,000 from the Tillamook Urban Renewal Agency (TURA) for the construction project, ultimately voting 4-to-3 to request the funds. Doug Henson was vehemently opposed; stating that remodeling the City shops doesn’t qualify as proper use of TURA funds.
See RENEWAL, Page A8
INDEX Classified Ads .........................B5 Crossword Puzzle....................B2 Fenceposts ..............................B3 Obituaries................................A6 Letters......................................A4 Opinions..................................A4 Sports......................................A9 Tides .....................................A10
1908 2nd St. 503-842-7535 www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Vol. 123, No. 29 75 cents
SAMANTHA SWINDLER/HEADLIGHT HERALD
Eric and Emily Byers found the Tillamook Ford and Headlight Herald “Treasure of Neahkahnie” chest worth $500. They plan to give half their prize to the Pioneer Museum.
BY SAMANTHA SWINDLER sswindler@countrymedia.net
MARY FAITH BELL/HEADLIGHT HERALD
Beach art and exploration with Neskowin Valley School.
Neskowin Valley hosts summer school BY MARY FAITH BELL mfbell@countrymedia.net
N
ESKOWIN – Summer school is in full swing at Neskowin Valley School. The popular program offers weeklong classes for students of all ages through the month of July. Last week, 3- to 5-year-olds wrapped up a week of beach art and exploration with a hot dog feast, marshmallow toast and ping-pong ball races on the beach at Neskowin. Students played in the gentle Neskowin Creek inlet under the watchful eye of teacher Kate Parker and the lucky parents and grandparents who spent the day having fun in
the sun with the kids. Some children had their first ever s’mores, faces full of wide-eyed wonder, and sticky with marshmallow and sand. After lunch, the kids released personally decorated ping-pong balls in the inlet, and then the entire class raced alongside the creek as their balls bobbed in the water headed for the ocean. Teacher Kate caught the balls before they entered the surf and tossed them to students on shore. It was a dreamy week at the beach for 10 little kids, many who are visiting the coast, summer vacationing with grandparents.
See SCHOOL, Page A8
Hazel Fielder wades in Neskowin Creek.
A Tillamook couple has solved the mystery and claimed the $500 prize in the Tillamook Ford and Headlight Herald “Treasure of Neahkahnie” contest. Emily and Eric Byers, both 27, found the chest Monday morning at Twin Rocks Turnaround in WERE YOU Rockaway Beach. ON THE Thirteen clues had HUNT? GET been posted online THE MEANING and in the print edition of the Headlight BEHIND THE Herald since the con- CLUES, PAGE A8 test began on July 4. Over the past two weeks, the couple joined many other Headlight Herald readers who searched a myriad of Tillamook County locations for the chest. “A lot of the clues could be interpreted to match up with some of the history that happened at Kilchis Point,” Emily said, leading the couple to initially search there. The Byers also searched near the Air Museum and at several pioneer family cemeteries. And they spent a lot of time at the Pioneer Museum, where director Gary Albright gave them helpful tidbits about Tillamook County history. Alrbright was such a help, Emily and Eric have pledged to donate half of their prize money to the Pioneer Museum, and to “celebrate” with the rest. Monday’s clue was a line from the Ramones’ song, “Rockaway Beach.” Emily saw it a few minutes before she was headed to work at the Tillamook Library.
See PLUNDER, Page A8
Trouble for iconic Barview tree BY ERIN DIETRICH edietrich@countrymedia.net
BARVIEW – Tillamook County appears to be losing an icon. The beloved, windblown sitka spruce that clings tenuously from one of the Three Graces rocks seems to be dying. For at least a century, the rocks and the adorning tree have enchanted residents and travelers alike, as they pass the formations that jut out near the mouth of Tillamook Bay. “The tree is on its way out,” said Jim Reeb, Associate Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at Oregon State University. The top is broken and it is losing needles. Visible from Highway 101, the tree is often seen backdropped by a watercolor of stunning sunsets, with a bald eagle perched in its branches, or hosting a flight of cormorants as they dry their wings in the wind. While the exact age of this particular tree is unknown, sitka spruce can live up to 700 or 800 years, under the right conditions, and can reach up to 300 feet in height. The Three Graces tree, however, nowhere near that height or age, is approaching the end of its life
span. Despite being a hardy species of tree, Reeb explained, the precarious position of this particular sitka spruce leaves it vulnerable to root exposure from erosion on the rock, among a host of other forces hindering its survival. “The better the site quality, the longer it will live,” Reeb said. “A rock is not a good site for that tree.” While the tree must be rooted in at least some soil to get necessary nutrients to grow, it appears to be growing on almost bare rock. The tree also faces the pounding wind and salt spray, although these adverse conditions have also contributed to its unique, windblown shape. “A lot of times, the (sitka spruce) looks like it’s being blown inland,” Reeb said. “It’s the salt spray killing the buds on the sea side.” Photographs of the sentinel date back to at least 1919. Longtime local resident Don Best, whose grandparents were early settlers of Rockaway Beach, described the tree as the last of its kind on the rocks. “There used to be more trees – this tree is the ‘last of the Mohicans’ – the last of its kind,” he said.
See TREE, Page A8
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PHOTO COURTESY OF DON BEST
The tree at Three Graces.
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