For the Record

[editorsayde]

A Gentleman's Sport

For the first time in 50 years, Golden Glove champion Rich Riley returns to the boxing ring to teach his young protégé

by Sayde Moser

In 1963, Rich Riley hung up his boxing gloves. A bout with Ron Marsh, who later became Ring Magazine’s fighter of the year and was listed in the top three heavyweight challengers, left him shaking – literally.

They fought to a six round draw, but it took Riley several months to recover. A career that started when he was 13 and lasted 10 years, taking him all over the country, had come to an end.

Riley had won tournaments in the featherweight, bantamweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions in the Golden Gloves Amateur Boxing league. He even still holds a few records.

In 1959 he joined the air force and boxed his way through the service, participating in at least 45 bouts at the Golden Glove level. After his two-years was up, he was offered a professional contract, but turned it down.

Just about that time, following his bout with Marsh, symptoms of Pugilistic Parkinson’s, also known as boxer’s disease, started popping up. Several doctors told him if he continued to fight, the shaking would only get worse.

So he quit.

Now, 50 years since his last fight, Riley is back in the gym. This time it’s not to fight, but to teach.

Sixteen-year-old Chris Henley has been boxing for five years now. During a bout a few months ago at which Riley was an honorable judge, something caught the old-timer’s eye.

“I just saw myself in that kid,” Riley recalled. “He’s a good kid and I could see that instantly. I could see it in his eyes.”

Henley was matched that night against a fighter several years older than himself and nearly 100 pounds heavier.

“I went up to the officials and I said ‘don’t you ever do that to that to that kid again,’” Riley said. “You do that and you’ll break his heart. You’ll break his spirit.”

Riley knew from experience. At 16 he lost his only bout to 26-year-old Jerome Seaman.

“I was ready to quit,” he remembered. “It just broke me.”

Hoping to offer some encouragement and words of wisdom, Riley started visiting Henley at Blend of Zen, a mixed martial arts gym in Tillamook.

“It wasn’t just his boxing that impressed me,” Riley explained. “It was his manners. Everything out of this kid’s mouth is ‘yes sir’ and ‘yes ma’am.’”

Riley asked if he could help train Henley for his next bout on Feb. 15. Now, the two train together a few times a week. Riley even bought Henley some new gloves, trunks and shoes to work out in.

“I watch him go through his routine,” Riley said, “see if he has any bad habits I can help him curb.”

“Rich dedicating his time says a lot about a generation that’s since been lost,” said Blend of Zen owner Eric Beggs.

Henley will be fighting 21-year-old Daniel Moreno next month. “When I found that out, I couldn’t sleep all that night,” Henley admitted.

But that’s normal, Riley assured him. “I used to get so nervous before a fight I’d almost throw up,” he said.

Even though it’s been 50 years, not much about the sport has changed in Riley’s eyes. Other than it’s a little bit less of a gentleman’s sport.

“What’s with all this trash talking?” he asked. “We just didn’t do that in my day. We always behaved like gentlemen and treated each other with respect. Boxing taught you how to be respectful and polite, not the opposite.”

It also taught self-confidence, he said.

“I never went out looking for trouble,” Riley said. “But I always knew when I had a date that there wouldn’t be any trouble. I just wasn’t afraid to go anywhere.”

“You’re ready for trouble, but you don’t go looking for it,” added Henley.

Henley is planning on joining the army when he’s finished with school, and might even box his way through the service like Riley. “I don’t really picture myself going big, “ he said.

“I’d just like to get the ladies and protect myself at the same time,” he added with a laugh.

But one thing’s for sure, he won’t be sitting around Tillamook doing nothing. “I can’t see myself doing anything but the service,” he said. “And even if I don’t pursue boxing, I’ll still box for fun. It’s a great sport.”

“He’ll carry this with him forever,” Riley mused. “He will walk with an air of confidence that people who look for trouble will sense. He might not go looking for trouble, but if it comes I guarantee you he’ll be able to take care of himself.”

“Even with that smile he’s got, he’s confident,” Riley added. “It’s not cocky if you can do it. I’m just excited for him; he’s got a career ahead of himself if he wants it.”

Meantime, Henley is prepping for his next fight and soaking up everything Riley has to teach.

“You really never lost a fight?” he asked.

“None that I’ll tell you about,” Riley answered with a grin.

In truth, “I sparred 10 rounds for every bout I fought,” Riley said. “Nobody realizes that. And I got more hurt sparring than I ever did fighting.”

Yet the biggest lesson in boxing isn’t the physical, or even the self-confidence.

“It’s about how to always be a gentleman,” Henley answered.

“Never forget that,” Riley encouraged.

[editorsayde]

Don't Call me Homeless

by Sayde Moser

Jean Rene Dupuis says he’s a decorated veteran of Vietnam – one who sleeps every night in the entryway of the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, or in the trees up Highway 131.

But don’t call him homeless. “Just because there’s no roof over my head doesn’t mean I’m homeless,” he said. “I live in the United States of America and I have a right to live here.”                                                                                    

Dupuis, 64, said he has lived in Tillamook off and on since he returned from his service in the Army. The year was 1970 and his mother had moved to Tillamook with her new husband. Dupuis followed. “I wanted to know who this guy was that she had married,” he recalled.

His mother had the formal education of a fourth-grader, he said.

Tired of his mother’s continual cycle of new husbands, Dupuis said he left home at age 14 and, a few years later, was on his way to Vietnam. “I did fine in the Army,” he said. “I had a good rank and I was a good soldier.”

Still, “We didn’t need to be [in Vietnam],” Dupuis said. “The only reason we were there was to fight a drug war in the jungle. Why put us in that situation?”

Following his discharge, he said he was tagged with his first unwanted label: post-traumatic stress disorder. “They said I was crazy because I could still hear, smell and see the war.”

Back then, he said, he often found himself locked up in a hospital being pumped full of drugs. “I married nurses so they could try and protect me.”

Dupuis said he was employed as a lineman for a variety of utility companies. His experience in Vietnam was put to good use: “When you’ve just come out of combat, you know how to be careful, you know how to hear every sound there is, so it makes you a great employee.”

As for his readjustment struggles, “Everybody thinks PTSD is a disease and an affliction, and it’s not. It’s just a condition,” said Dupuis. “When you’re young like I was, it changes your brain; makes you more alert, more aware, more careful and everybody wants you to work for them.”

And work he did. As hard as he could. So he could forget the war for a few hours and get some sleep. “It becomes your way of life,” said Dupuis. “And it can lose you a wife or two.”

He avoided returning to Tillamook for years. Until his mother got cancer. Following her death, he stayed on.

For 10 years he lived in Netarts with his partner, but when she, too, passed away he was without a roof over his head once again.

Now, said Dupuis, he works odd jobs to kill time – sweeping cigarette butts from the sidewalk, doing painting for a few local businesses.

Almost daily, he walks from the tree line to town. “I made it through the jungles of Vietnam so I can live here in the trees,” he said.

“Not everybody who is homeless needs to be in the same category. They are productive members of society whose wife died, or they lost their house, or their whole world turned upside down. But it doesn’t put them in a category of being no good.”

Added Dupuis, “When you come home [from military service], you don’t know why you’re angry, you don’t know why you’re sad, you don’t know why you can’t eat, can’t sleep, why your dreams are terrible. All you know is you can’t sleep and you don’t know how to deal with it.”

Which causes him to worry about today’s returning soldiers. “But we can help them,” he added. “We need to help them. It’s not good to just throw them away.

“The longer people have to stay outside, if they can’t handle it, if they don’t understand how to survive, the crazier it will make you. Then, they become a victim. They don’t start out a victim.”

So when he heard that the Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Program, based in Clatsop County, was looking to start a homeless shelter and reentry program in Tillamook County, Dupuis was delighted.

“We had a similar program in Saint Louis,” he said. “We changed whole neighborhoods, just by giving people a place to stay and someone who believed in them.”

It might not work for everyone, he added, but those who want a chance will make themselves known. “If they’re homeless and they want to stay on the street, fine. But the ones who need help, you’ll know who they are,” he said. “You’ll recognize their hearts.”

For more information about Helping Hands, visit helpinghandsreentry.org.

[editorsayde]

Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

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Tillamook Bay Community College 'grows up'

by Sayde Moser

The long awaited letter came Jan. 23. It was official; Tillamook Bay Community College was independently accredited.

It's been a journey, noted TBCC President Connie Green. Since its inception over 30 years ago, the little community college has been operating under the instructional guidance of Portland Community College. That association made TBCC classes viable, Green explained.

Even then, up until 10 years ago, 70 percent of TBCC's classes were not credited. It was only in the last 10 years the college has gone 60 percent credited classes. During that journey, Green said the board decided it wanted to become a full, comprehensive college.

The quickest any community college can gain accreditation is seven years.

"It's very intentional," Green said. "[The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities] wants to see you can sustain the systems you have, sustain interest, and that you're financially responsible… They want to see sustainability."

Green said it can take some colleges more than seven years, but they were able to pull it off as quickly as possible.

"We knew we could do it financially," Green said. "We already had our own board but what we didn't have was all our curriculum processes in place because we were using [Portland Community College's]."

Now, for the first time in its existence, TBCC is in charge of its own curriculum and future.

This control may mean several changes for TBCC students - but all of it good, Green noted. For example, they're now able to adjust their fall-term schedule from 12 weeks to 11 to align with university schedules.

"It sounds so simple, but it was the first time we had that choice in 33 years," Green said. The reasoning behind the switch was to make it easier for students transitioning to universities.

"It's a choices we never had before."

On a bigger scale, TBCC is now looking at offering an agriculture and natural resources program – something they never had before because it wasn't a part of Portland's curriculum.

"They don't need it in Portland," Green explained. But, "We live in Tillamook County and natural resources is a lot of our economy."

So, for the past two and a half years, staff has been diligently working and waiting for accreditation to get a natural resource program off and running. "The board will see it in March," Green said.

"This will be a program we've never had before because it didn't fit the criteria and demographic of Portland, so now, we're getting to design programs unique to our areas."

Being associated with Portland wasn't all bad, Green said. "We learned a lot," she said. "It was a wonderful way to grow up."

But more important than having a viable college leading the way was having a community that supported the idea, Green said.

When the accreditation body visited TBCC, their report complimented the faculty and staff but more so had a lot to say about the community, Green said.

The report commended "the college for developing deep and meaningful connections with community partners through fostering a local culture that values the importance of education."

"Those are not normal things," Green said. "Usually they talk about the quality of instruction but when they talked about this college they talked about the integration of the community with the college."

"It's the most unique letter any community college will ever receive," she added.

Why? "Because of our community," she enthused. "We always say community is our middle name and I don't know how to thank them enough. I've never watched a community so owns and value its college before."

As a way to say thank you and to celebrate the recent milestone, TBCC is hosting an accreditation recognition celebration on Wednesday, March 12 at the TBCC South campus at Nestucca High School from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; the TBC main campus from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. and the TBCC North Campus in Neah-Kah-Nie HIgh School from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

[editorsayde]

Staying Afloat

By Sayde Moser

The sun came out last week just in time to shine on the Ebel family as it went to work dismantling its unwieldy barge.

The vessel has been harbored in Bay City – temporarily – while the family of 12 works to remove it from the bay.

“It was built to be modular,” said Eddie Ebel, “so this has been a good test to see just how modular it is.”

The Ebels have been tested aplenty. The family’s relocation of its barge from the Old Mill Marina to Crab Harbor on the Tillamook Bay side of Kinchloe Point prompted investigations by the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office’s marine deputies, the Department of State Lands (which owns the land under Tillamook Bay) and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Ebels were offered 30 days to use an unimproved boat launch in Bay City to dismantle and remove their vessel from the bay.

Eddie and his wife, Denise, might not know the next step of their journey, but they’re confident the journey will continue. “There’s been a lot of blessings already,” said Denise Ebel.

A family living in Arizona that owns a house and 40 acres on Miami Foley Road has offered its residence to the Ebels as a place to stay and to store the barge. The Ebels had been living aboard the barge while it was under construction.

Eddie, originally from Vietnam, and Denise, from Washington state, were living in New Mexico and home schooling their four biological children when they decided to move to Garibaldi. In 2009, they adopted Denise’s sister’s six children and suddenly became a family of 12.

Subsequently, Eddie said, God told him to move as far north as Alaska and to build a barge. He and Denise looked at several places along Oregon’s north coast where they could assemble their craft, and Denise chose Tillamook Bay.

Within 24 hours, they had signed a contract with the Old Mill Marina in Garibaldi for a location to construct their barge. “It really looked like the Lord had opened up all the doors,” Denise recalled.

The couple was attracted to the marina because of its proximity to a U.S. Coast Guard station, lumber mill and other amenities. But when the insurance provider at the marina said the docks were too dangerous for the Ebels’ project, a year ago the family was forced to relocate.

Initially, they were living in a trailer until the barge could house them. “While we were waiting [to build], we wanted to help the community as much as we could,” said Denise. So the family volunteered at the local food pantry, during “Garibaldi Days,” at God’s Lighthouse Church, and helped with the school backpack program hosted by the Elks Lodge and Salvation Army.

“We wanted to be a blessing while we were here,” Denise said, “and to teach our kids to help their community. So we had a neat opportunity to do that even once we started building.”

At that point, their barge was equipped with four portable toilets, a shower that ran off solar power, generators to watch TV, a fireplace, a stove and other conveniences. “It wasn’t primitive living,” said Denise.

The children were kept involved in the project. “They got to build their own beds,” Eddie said. “They’re learning skills that will benefit them the rest of their lives.”

While the family’s goal continues to be getting to Alaska to bring food, supplies and faith to those in need, “Our mission starts where we’re at,” Denise said. “Our goal might be Alaska, but God has bigger plans for us.”

There’s 3,000 miles of coastline in the Northwest, added Eddie. “And we’re on the coast, so our mission has already started.”

Once the barge is completed, the Ebels’ plan is to go wherever there’s a need anywhere between Garibaldi and Alaska. They’ll be building churches, stocking food pantries and serving those they come across. “Between here and Canada, there’s 150 little communities along the bay and rivers that we can reach with our barge,” said Eddie.

With 500,000 pounds of supplies aboard the vessel, they can reach areas that no other boat has been able to serve. “From a logistical point of view, a barge is your best bet to carry supplies to where you need to go,” Denise said.

The Ebels had planned to take two to four years to build the barge, and were only about a third of the way done when they were forced to move last month. “This project was nowhere near completed,” Eddie said. “It was never our intent to try and take it out in the ocean.”

But they’re okay with the delay, because it opens up opportunities to help nearby. Eventually, though, the dozen family members will be setting sail for Alaska.

“At least here, we have food pantries and access to wood,” Eddie said. “So many places don’t even have that.”

The Ebels will be hauling wood with them for those in need, as well as a lumber mill of sorts so they can build houses, decks, help with plumbing, electricity and whatever else is needed.

“We’re here to help, not just to pray for them,” Eddie said. “We want to get involved with these peoples’ lives. Whatever they need, let’s do it.

“This isn’t a one-year deal,” he added. “I’m hoping to pass it down to my kids and their families.”

Right now, the Ebels are looking for a suitable place to continue building their barge.

For more information, contact Eddie and Denise at their website, pacificiceberg.org.

[editorsayde]

Tillamook Bussiness to test Drones

by Sayde Moser

Near Space Corporation in Tillamook is part of one of the six teams selected nationwide to test unmanned aerial systems – often nicknamed “drones” – for the Federal Aviation Administration.

It’s a three-year research project that began just this month, said Eric Simpkins, Near Space’s manager of business development.

The six teams were selected from 25 applicants. In the Pacific Northwest region, Alaska, Oregon and Hawaii are representing the only multistate team, with the University of Alaska spearheading those efforts.

The Northwest team includes 13 different test sites, three of them in Oregon – Near Space in Tillamook, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Madras and the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport in Pendleton.

“We’ll be conducting research in these three test ranges,” said Simpkins.

And don’t call their products drones, he added.

“Drones were used in WWII, usually towed behind another aircraft for target practice,” said Simpkins. “Ours are strictly used for research and to lead to the safe integration of these unmanned systems into the national airspace.”

They could be anything from small “quad copters” to larger airplanes – each a different research platform for carrying out different activities.

“They’re not mindless killer machines,” emphasized Tim Lachenmeier, president of Near Space Corporation. “They’re not weaponized or anything.”

They’re also not spying on people. “We’re not going to be looking in people’s houses,” declared Simpkins.

Each test site must have a privacy policy that is reviewed annually. While the participants don’t yet know precisely where they will be testing the unmanned craft, “The FAA will direct us to fly in remote, unpopulated areas,” said Simpkins.

The testing regionally will take place above the Pacific Ocean and over the Cascade Mountains, he added, where population and air traffic are minimal.

Simpkins said the goal is to gather data on how to safely operate these systems, to develop proper procedures, and eventually to integrate them into the national air system.

Each team of test sites was chosen for its geographical diversity, said Lachenmeier. The other five teams are at sites in Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia

“They were chosen based on their location, the strength of the staff in the different facilities and what research activities were already ongoing,” he said.

Lachenmeier said Near Space would be continuing the company’s focus on high-altitude balloons, as well as integrating the testing of the unmanned systems along the Pacific Coast and surrounding areas.

In the Northwest region, he said, those systems might assist marine research, search-and-rescue missions, emergency response, fighting wildfires and a variety of other tasks.

“Today, the Forest Service will send manned aircraft over a fire to find hot spots and the best way to combat [the fire] with the least amount of cost and expense,” Simpkins said. “But that’s dangerous territory.”

Pilots can find it difficult to identify the precise borders of the wildfire, he said, whereas unmanned systems can fly day or night using inferred technology to track the fire and direct on-the-ground resources, all without putting a pilot in harm’s way.

“The main goal is to learn the subtleties of operating these systems so they can be more widely deployed throughout the U.S.,” said Simpkins.

By January 2017, the FAA will have reviewed the research data compiled by the six teams to determine if these systems can be flown safely.

“While we’re the ones conducting the research, we’re operating under the rules and regulations of the FAA,” said Simpkins. “And at the end of the research period, the FFA will determine what the new rules are for operating these systems on a national level.”

[editorsayde]

Milk Delivery Returns to Tillamook

by Sayde Moser

Levi Bennett moved back to his hometown of Tillamook six months ago with one thing in mind: to start a home milk delivery service.

“It’s something my grandpa always talked about doing,” he recalled. “My dad wanted to do it as well but couldn’t make it happen.”                                                                                                                  But thanks to some hard work, good deals and help from his wife Courtney, the Bennetts plan on having their milk-delivery service up and running by mid-January.

And not only will it be one of a kind for Tillamook County, it will be the only milk delivery service in the entire state, Levi Bennett said.

“Home delivery services are nation wide,” he said. “They’re all over Washington and Idaho, but for some reason we don’t have any in Oregon.”

Part of that could be because of co-ops, such as the Tillamook County Creamery Association, that don’t allow members to “double dip.” Also, milk isn’t generally where the money is at, Bennett said. But at $3 a half-gallon, the two think it’s affordable enough to entice customers. And with enough regulars, they can make a living doing it.

While they’re not associated with the Tillamook County Creamery Association, Bennett said people trust that brand because they can drive around to the farms and see where their food is coming from.

“It will be the same with us,” he said. “People can come here and see the process of milking, pasteurizing and bottling.”

Their farm on Chance Road, where they were married in March, comes equipped with a barn, a shop for the bottling processes and a milk parlor built in the 1970s. And yes, it still works.

“It probably hasn’t been used in 15 years,” Levi Bennett guessed. A few other farms in Tillamook use the old-fashioned milk parlors, he said, but most of them were built in the 1950s or later.

The Bennetts will deliver the milk weekly to their customers, with a half-gallon being the minimum. The milk comes in glass bottles, which can be left for pick up the following week.

“We have a fancy bottle washer to wash all the bottles,” Bennett said.

The whole process is pretty “old school” he said, but they’re hopeful it will be widely accepted by the county.

“The milk is all natural,” he said, meaning there’s no additives, preservatives or chemicals. “It’s better for you than store-bought milk.”

“And it tastes better,” added Courtney Bennett.

Conventional milk is pasteurized with hot temperatures, Levi Bennett explained, which kills all the vitamins and enzymes. But, it gives it a longer shelf life.

“Our milk is pasteurized at a low temperature, but isn’t homogenized,” he said. The homogenization process breaks down the fat globules so your body can’t digest them. “By us not doing that, your body is able to use everything in the milk,” he said. “There’s a higher fat content, but it’s all absorbed [by your body] as energy.”

The Bennetts will have 10 cows, producing roughly 100 gallons a day, which could serve about 500 customers at an average of a gallon and a half of milk a week.

Levi Bennett said he hopes even people used to store-bought milk will try theirs.

“Try it for a month and then go back to store bought milk for a week,” he said. “I guarantee you’ll be calling us, just based on taste alone.”

“It’s a lot sweeter,” he said, “almost like candy.”

Courtney Bennett said they’ll be tracking customers’ milk intake and sending out monthly invoices with the milk deliveries. Or, they’re setting up a website where people can go to pay, increase or reduce their orders or put their home delivery on hold for a vacation.

And eventually, they’ll start delivering farm-fresh eggs from Misty Meadows, butter, and bricks of Tillamook cheese.

For more information, or to sign up for home delivery, find the Bennett Family Farm on Facebook, or call 503-815-1974.

[editorsayde]

Who Protects the Bay

Netarts Couple concerned over who’s jurisdiction Netarts Bay falls under, and who’s making sure it’s not being over-harvested

John and Jan Stahl sit at their kitchen table in their home off Whiskey Creek Road. The couple built the house 30 years ago. Several windows reveal serene and nearly unobstructed views of Netarts bay.

Together, they’ve watched the bay change and fluctuate for three decades, and they are concerned with its future.

John Stahl flips through binders he keeps close by that detail the different oyster plats active on Netarts Bay. Currently, there are 21. And Stahl is worried that no one is keeping track of how many is too many.

In the 1980s, Stahl actually applied for a plat, but he was denied. Back then, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife told him they were saving the estuary for the Black Brandt, a type of goose that migrates to the bay in the wintertime.

But since then, The Oregon Department of Agriculture has taken over the issuance of oyster plats after the state legislature deemed oyster harvesting an agriculture issue, not a wildlife one. In that time, the number of plats on the bay has increased exponentially, which alarms Stahl.

For one, the leased plats act as private land, he said, restricting the general public from enjoying it.

“Is that what we should be doing with public land?” he asked. “These oyster plats are private making them virtually inaccessible to people.”

And access is important, especially for those who enjoy clamming, he said.

“Thirty years ago, you could just pull your car off along the side of Whiskey Creek Road and walk out on the bay and catch all the clams in the world,” Stahl recalled. “You can’t do that anymore. The easily accessible places are being clammed out so we need other places to clam.”

That’s partially due to the greater number of people clamming the bay than ever before, Stahl reasoned.

An even greater issue to Stahl, however, is that no one seems to be monitoring how many oyster plats the bay can sustain.

“I don’t mind people harvesting oysters out there,” he said, “but when is enough enough?”

Stahl is worried about the health of the Black Brandt, which he says has declined on the bay, as well as the overall health of the entire estuary.

“Estuaries are important to the entire ecosystem of an area,” he said. “So who is making sure these oysters aren’t damaging it?”

But the science isn’t there to back up Stahl’s concerns, says Matt Hunter with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“Oysters have been found in ever estuary since prehistoric times,” Hunter said. Granted, the oysters in the bay now aren’t the same species, “but they still have the same ecological nitch,” he said.

Numerous studies have been done that show the benefits of oysters in estuaries, Hunter said. In fact, not many studies have been done to try and prove the opposite.

“The amount of research on the benefits they have on an eco system far outweigh any data that proves that it doesn’t,” he said.

And, an oyster plat lease doesn’t make the land private, Hunter said. “That’s a misconception we deal with a lot,” he said. “Just because they lease the land doesn’t mean they have proprietorship of the land… They can’t prevent someone else from being on the plat and harvesting clams.”

So who is regulating the bay, making sure the 21 oyster plats aren’t having an unintended adverse affect on the bay?

The short answer: no one.

“But what metrics do you want to look at?” Hunter asked. One could look at the overall health of the estuary, overall populations of species, water quality etc. Yet there’s not any research being done in any estuary in Oregon, Hunter said. At least not by ODFW.

Any kind of survey, though, would have to be based on a historic time series, Hunter said. “It would be mice to have information on the bay prior to all the oysters, but the fact of the matter is we don’t and we have to look at the here and now.”

And the here and now says there aren’t a lot of huge changes. Hunter said even the decline of the Black Brandt could be cyclical and have nothing to do with the estuary. “That population has been going down for years,” he said.

All in all, Hunter said that ODFW has to look at the science. “If there is no science and no literature to support a theory, then I can’t support it,” he said.

However, that doesn’t mean ODFW isn’t interested in the health of Netarts Bay, or any estuary, Hunter said. Just recently, the agency finished up one half of a two-year survey on the bay – the first of its kind in 30 years. Hunter said that survey, while not perfect, is important for the future.

“We wanted to get the most bang for our buck,” he said. “And we’ll come back in following years to do spot checks and see what’s happening.”

For Stahl, he just wants to make sure someone other than himself is watching. “My investment is the estuary, and public land,” he said. “That’s my only investment.

“I have to speak out a little bit. I can’t just sit and be passive about this. I’d like to entrust agencies to take care of our assets on this earth.”

[editorsayde]

Will Tillamook support the Air Museum?

by Sayde Moser

It’s been an icon in Tillamook since WWII – the massive wooden hangar used to house blimps in the 1940s.

Dubbed “Hangar B,” it measures 1,072 feet long, 296 feet wide and 175 feet high and includes 10,349,500 board feet of lumber – one of the largest wood clear span buildings in the entire world.                                                                                                                    

Similar hangars were built all over the country to house blimps, with a few still standing and being used for various different things. In 1973, the Navy vacated its base in Tillamook and in 1973 the structure was deeded to the Port of Tillamook Bay.

Since 1994, Hangar B has been home to one of the top five privately owned aircraft collections in the nation – but not much longer.

Erickson Group LLC, which owns the planes and operates the museum has informed the Port of Tillamook Bay that it won’t be renewing its lease in January of 2016. The planes are being moved to a facility in Madras as soon as next summer.

While port general manager Michele Bradley said the port could decide to continue using the structure as a museum (they have several planes on loan from the Department of the Navy), it still raises the question: what will happen to Hangar B.

“It wasn’t built to last this long,” Bradley said. “There is a lot of work that needs to happen to keep it standing.”

Some of that includes repairing the roof. (A similar hangar in Tustin, Calif. that was built by the Marine Corps Air Station just suffered partial roof collapse, causing county officials to question the safety of the structure. The hangar is owned by the Dept. of Navy but is in the process of being conveyed to the county, which has plans to incorporate the northern hangar, which had the partial roof collapse, into an 84.5-acre park.)

The north door is also in need of some repair, Bradley said, and unfortunately, these repairs are all in the millions of dollars.

Bradley said they were contacted by Wings of Freedom, a restaurant/museum out of Milwaukie, Ore. who was interested in expanding their operation into Hangar B. According to their website, their mission is “to increase community awareness through education and showcasing World War II live.” However Bradley couldn’t say how serious they were about leasing the space from the port.

Port Commissioner Bob Olsen suggested putting the fate of the building in the voter’s hands with a possible bond on the May 2014 ballot. The money generated by such a bond could help repair some of the damages and help the port assess whether or not the community is interested in investing in the building.

If not, Bradley said she didn’t think it should be the port’s responsibility to maintain the building.

“Regardless of who is in there that building was not meant to last 70, 80, 90 years,” she said. “We still need to deal with the structure itself… If we put $15 million in it, how many years will it take to recoup that? We don’t want the burden all on our shoulders.”

One option might be going back to the Navy and asking for help. Another might be petitioning for some of the Transient Lodging Tax dollars, should that measure pass the November ballot.

“Even if we could get some to do some engineering to repair the doors would be a help,” she said.

If not, Bradley said that once Erickson Group’s lease is up if no one else has shown interest to take it over, the port might have to consider tearing it down. Yet even dismantling it would cost in the millions of dollars, Bradley said.

“For 20 million we could take it down, or put 15 million into and try to get it to last another 50 years,” she said.

[editorsayde]

Hangar B Brewing Co.

No, Hangar B Brewing Co. is not a real thing, but bare with me while I run you through an interesting (and totally possible) idea.

I know everyone has thoughts about what to do with the Air Museum now that Erickson Group isn’t renewing its lease to operate it, but I really do have a winner of an idea. What that building needs is a brewery.

It’s plenty large enough to brew and bottle massive quantities of beer. And, there’s already a restaurant so patrons could come for dinner, drinks and tours of the brewing process (because everyone loves tours of the brewing process, right?). Since the port still has about 10 planes, it could also still operate as a museum. Maybe a flat rate would get you a tour and an opportunity to see the plans that the beers are named after – because of course the beers brewing in an old air museum/even-older blimp hangar would be named after the planes housed there.

This could be great for Tillamook. How? While people in Portland are sipping on a Hangar B beverage and reach for their smart phones to learn more about their tasty brew only to read that it’s brewed in an old blimp hangar, guess what? Those people are coming to Tillamook! Because so far the Internet hasn’t shown me that anyone anywhere has a brewing facility in a blimp hangar. Water parks, sure. Science manufacturing centers, sure. Storage for hay, sure. But a brewery? Now that’s something different.

And let’s face it people – the micro brew industry has been nothing but good to Oregon. It’s also been nothing but good to our county, thanks to Pelican. And people who enjoy brew pubs also like to wander and check out other brew pubs. I think Astoria is up to three or four now and they’re all unique and doing remarkably well. If Tillamook had two or three, we’d see a huge uptick in the economy and number of people spending the night. Oh and did I mention we’d be the only place in the country with a brew pub in a blimp hangar? (And how convenient it’s right next to landing strip for people who just have to fly in to check it out.)

It would be tragic to lose that old, iconic building when there are so many great ideas on what to do with it – some better than others. So who knows an aspiring brewer with a little cash to spend? Anyone?

[editorsayde]

The town that disappeared

It’s been 60 years since the final family moved away.

What’s become of Bayocean?

The town was created in 1906 on what now is called Bayocean Spit, a small stretch of land forming the south end of Tillamook Bay.

Perry Reeder’s family moved to Bayocean in 1944 when he was 6. His mother was the community’s postmistress.

Now, Reeder says, he can count on one hand the people still alive and living in Tillamook County who were raised in Bayocean.

“It was really a good place to grow up,” he recalls. The once-thriving community boasted hotels, motels, vacation rentals, natatorium (a building containing a swimming pool), dance hall, and miles of paved roads with a dozen different businesses.

At the corner of 12th and Bay Street, Reeder and about 20 other youngsters would wait to catch the school bus. “It was the heart of the town,” he says.

Not any longer. It’s all flat, open land. No houses. No buildings.

Just a single sign sticking up out of the ground that reads “Bayocean Townsight 1906-1971.”

Reed and his daughter, Sarah Macdonald, built and placed the sign as a reminder of what Bayocean used to be – and where it used to be.

“It’s the only place, after the county surveyor went out there, that we knew exactly where it was,” said Macdonald.

Her dad still owns property on the spit, along with 43 other titleholders.

“People don’t realize most of that out there is still private property,” Reed says, although the sign technically sits on county property.

The extinct town site has been rezoned for recreational management.

Reeder and his daughter would like to see some sort of trail put in, one that accurately depicts what happened to Bayocean … nicknamed “the town that fell in the ocean.”

In fact, “It never fell into the ocean,” Reeder stops to correct. “It slowly washed away over 30 years.”

Reeder is well versed in geology and regularly offers detailed accounts of what happened at Bayocean to geology students at Tillamook Bay Community College.

The peninsula’s history dates to the 1700s, he says. Maps show how stable the peninsula once was – until a north jetty was built on Tillamook Bay, a project that created what some might recall as the “Bayocean wars.”

Reeder says few are alive today who remember the contention that centered on construction of that jetty. “It caused a major disagreement around here,” he says, “that never let up until they built the south jetty.”

The north jetty was created to enable the entrance to Tillamook Bay to maintain a certain depth. Back then, oceangoing vessels ventured into Tillamook Bay for timber and cheese. Without the jetty’s protection, it could be a treacherous, often-fatal journey.

According to Reeder, who skippered a boat for the Army Corps of Engineers as the federal agency designed the jetty, the corps told county officials that two jetties on either side of the bay’s entrance needed to be built at the same time. But the county was unable – maybe unwilling – to pay for both. Only the north jetty was constructed.

What resulted was a change in the hydraulic motion of the bay – which began to erode the community of Bayocean.

“There wasn’t some big storm that came in and wiped the whole town into the ocean,” insists Reeder. “It was a slow, steady process.”

When the town’s road eventually washed out, the power and water lines went with it, he said.

Reeder moved to Cape Meares in 1950. But a few families stayed out in Bayocean, going to and from by boat.

Some of the houses came to be moved. Others were snagged by the ocean, among them the natatorium.

Still other structures were sacked when residents of Tillamook, Bay City and Garibaldi came over by boat and vandalized the town, taking the copper wire off the power lines and anything else they could carry with them.

After that, the town was condemned, Reeder said. It was burned to the ground. The Army Corps of Engineers covered it with a hydraulic fill.

And the land continued to erode, until the south jetty was built in the 1970s.

Bayocean's last house was washed away in 1960.

In 1971, the last remaining building – a garage – fell into the sea.

Thus, says Reeder, an extraordinary feature of the Oregon coast came to be forever lost.

The bay side of Bayocean had been covered in beautiful sugar sand, he says. The water would wash over the sand and warm itself in the sun, creating a great swimming hole.

“We called it ‘the plunge,’” Reeder remembers. “No other bay on the Oregon coast had that white, beautiful beach sand like we did.

“We really lost a unique feature you can’t find anywhere else.” Not to mention its shrimp and clam beds, he adds.

It was the destruction of these landmarks that spurred Reeder and his daughter to place the sign. The pair hopes it’s just the beginning.

“We don’t want the town lost and forgotten,” says Macdonald. “We want it passed on, what happened there.”

Reeder will be talking about Bayocean and sharing his memories during the community potluck Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Oceanside Community Club.

[editorsayde]

Painting the Community

by Sayde Moser

Breanna Moran’s fingers are speckled with different colored paints. Her hair is tied up in a maroon colored bandana. Underneath it, her eyes narrow as they switch focus from her pallet to the canvas. 

Moran, 32, is the local artist painting the mural on the repository at Latimer Quilt & Textile Center – one of three planned for the City of Tillamook.                                                                                                                

For the month of August, she’s been up on the scaffold every day bringing the mural to life. Most days she’s there in the morning and works till sunset.

“I have to keep reminding myself to take a step back and see the whole picture,” she says.

The mural was the brainchild of the Tillamook County Quilt Trail Coalition, Terra Wilcoxson, a member of the Tillamook Urban Renewal Agency and Gary Albright, executive director of the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum.

Albright recruited Moran for the job. “I had told him I was looking for work during the summer and he told me not to accept anything yet. Then he called back a few days later and said I would be painting a mural.”

During the school year, Moran works full time as the art teacher at Tillamook High School, where she’s just about to start her second year.

“It’s the best job in the world,” she says. “I was told it’s the hardest job you’ll ever love and that’s the truth.”

Teaching wasn’t ever on her bucket list until a vacation trip to Italy a few years ago.

“I booked the trip because I wasn’t wanting to move forward in the career I was in and I wasn’t sure what direction to go,” she says. “So I decided to take a tour of Italy and figure out my next step.”

Thanks to a less-than-perfect tour guide who refused to stop at any of the designated spots, Moran lead a revolt. The rest of the tour group followed suit and she ended up giving the tour herself.

“I’d never even been to these places before, but I had so much fun,” she recalls. “And here were these other tour guides making money doing this and I was just doing it because it was fun.”

When she returned, she headed back to school to get a Masters in teaching. A few years later the job at THS opened up.

Before that, she worked as a set painter in California for many years. So while the mural isn’t the biggest piece she’s ever worked on, when it comes to fine art she says it takes the cake.

“My own work tends to be pretty large though, so this is right up my alley,” she says.

The design for the mural was chosen to represent different aspects of the community, from farming to boy scouts to, of course, quilting.

“It will be good for Tillamook County because it will make people aware of what they have,” Moran says. “Too often smaller rural communities like this have this shame hanging over them. But these people take pride in who they are and what they have.”

There was some debate over who the woman in the center should be, Moran says.

“There’s so many strong women here in Tillamook and throughout the history, and we were afraid of offending anyone,” she says.

So who is the lady underneath the quilt?

“It’s actually my nana,” Moran says. “Now she gets to be everyone’s nana.”

Moran says her grandmother was excited to be the model for the main art, although, “I don’t think she quite understands the scale she’s being represented.”

As the pieces have come together, Moran says she gets at least a dozen visitors a day who stop to see the progress.

“It’s been really exciting to have as many interested people come by to look at it,” she says. “It’s nice to see that much support for the arts and local culture.”

A product of bigger cities, Mordan says she’s fallen for the “Tillamook charm” and looks forward to helping with more public art projects.

“The people here are so polite and friendly,” she says. “They’d give the shirt off their back if they thought it would help you. It’s the strongest community I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

[editorsayde]

Protecting Netarts Bay's Sand dollars

by Sayde Moser

It’s one of Netarts Bay’s hidden treasures.                                                     

On the north end, just beneath the water’s surface lies a sand dollar bed with hundreds upon hundreds of the magnificent creatures.

“It’s really quite something,” said Lisa Phipps, executive director of Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP). “Most people when they see sand dollars they’ve already died and washed ashore. It’s really something else to see them alive and moving. They’re just gorgeous.”

The bed is unique because sand dollars don’t usually live in low salinity waters, said retired marine biologist Jim Young. Yet because of limited fresh water inlets, this colony has been able to survive – the only one on the bay.

“It’s kind of a favorite for people who like to go out and marvel at it,” said Young.

Kayakers especially love it, Young said. Even Clair Thomas Tillamook High School natural resources and science teacher, likes to take his students out there to study it.

But Young is worried about the fate of the sand dollar bed, since a local company, Shuckin' Food Oyster Company, LLC recently applied for a 32-acre oyster plat through the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) right on top of the bed.

“It would likely destroy the bed if you spread oysters overtop of it and get people tramping through there,” he said. “In my opinion that kind of activity will wipe it out.”

And it’s not just the sand dollars, he said. There’s also bay mussels and eelgrass that would be affected.

“It’s probably the largest batch of bay mussels on the bay,” he said. “I’m not talking the kind you see on the side of rocks, but the kind you eat in restaurants.”

The eelgrass is important, too, said Phipps. About 60 percent of the proposed site is covered in it.

“They’re pretty important for estuaries,” she explained, “because they provide a number of different benefits including cover for small fish and it’s an important food source for Brant geese.”

It also helps stabilize the substrate, keeping the sediment from moving around.

“It provides good cover for economically important species like salmon and Dungeness crabs that utilize the area but also a number of other, smaller fish and wildlife species.”

Not to mention, Young said this area of the bay isn’t the best for growing oysters because of the cold water current that runs through it, which would affect how fast oysters would grow.

Phipps said TEP will be submitting a letter asking ODA to recognize there are some valuable and unique resources in the proposed plat location and to take those into consideration when reviewing the application.

“For us, it’s not the farming in and of itself, it’s that this location has some significant resources that are unique in Netarts Bay,” she said. “Maybe there’s a better location or the plat can be adjusted to take this into consideration.”

According to an ODA representative, the application was submitted on June 24 and there is a public comment period. Comments can be submitted until Aug. 30 and should be sent to the Oregon Department of Agriculture, 635 Capitol St NE, Salem, OR 97301.

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[editorsayde]

The Old Things in Life

by Sayde Moser

Doug Hendrickson likes taking things apart. And he likes putting them back together again.

“It’s what men do,” he said. “We like to make noise and tinker with things.”

He especially likes old things.

“It’s kind of neat when you look at these old machines and think, someone had to wash their clothes with that. Or make hay. If we had to do it like that today, nothing would ever get done.”

Hendrickson isn’t alone in his passion for old things. A retired fireman, Hendrickson, 67, was the chairperson for the 10th annual Old Iron Show last weekend.

‘Old iron’ can mean a variety of things, usually unique to the area. It could mean threshing machines or combines, old tools or engines as well as old cars and trucks.

The Old Iron Show is put on by the NW Old Iron Club every year at Blue Heron in Tillamook. The club was started by Vince Bogard and his wife, Louise, who became members of the Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Association while living in Medford. When they moved to Tillamook, Louise said they thought there must be some old barns and sheds in Tillamook with old farm equipment hiding away just waiting to be restored.

In 2004, they officially started the club (a branch of the Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Association) with just 20 members – the only one like it in the Northwest part of Oregon.

The annual event, held this year on Aug. 16-18, is a chance for members to showcase a more interactive rendition of history and share a bit about what it takes to restore these antiques.

“This is living history,” Hendrickson said. “This is what farming and logging used to look like – and it still works. It’s just incredible.”

Hendrickson is one of 70 members that belong to the NW Old Iron Club from all over Oregon and the northwest. Nearly 40 members came for the event to exhibit their treasures.

“People spend a lot of time and effort to get here and show off their stuff,” said Hendrickson, who had on display a Fairbanks Morris type 2 stationary engine.

While the event drew several hundred people, Hendrickson marveled at the lack of young people.

“Almost everyone here has grey hair,” he said. “It’s kind of a dying hobby… My favorite customers to see are the little kids, especially the ones who get excited to see old stuff. We need them in order to carry on the tradition.”

Louise Bogard said of the event, “It’s unlike anything else you’ll see happening on the coast. But there’s a real niche for it and it’s really quite localized – you’ll see the dairy and logging industry represented and you’ll meet people from all over.

“Technology now is just so different. It’s a whole different world and it’s neat to see things as they used to be – and see that they still work and still do the job they were built to do.”

Anyone interested in joining the NW Old Iron Club, or having them out to look at some old farm equipment that’s hiding under cobwebs in your barn, call Hendrickson at 503-842-8460.

[editorsayde]

Phoenix Exchange brings new life to old downtown Tillamook

by Sayde Moser

The philosophy behind The Phoenix Exchange, a new clothing store on the corner of Second Street and Pacific Avenue, is in the name.

“A phoenix rises from the ashes,” said co-owner Beth Venti. “The end is only the beginning.”

So how does that relate to retail? It’s simple. Venti and her partner, Chella Herder, buy used clothing, shoes, jewelry and other unique items and resale them.

Not exactly a novel idea for a business, but Venti and Herder are certain their store, which opened two months ago, will attract shoppers because of its unique style.

“We are buy, sale trade,” Venti explained. “We really do think of our customers as our own personal vendors, too.”

She said while they’re picky about the items they buy, they offer sellers cash on the spot or in-store credit. So unlike consignment, sellers don’t have to wait until someone buys their item before they receive any money.

The majority of the store is clothes, with other unique treasures sprinkled here and there beneath antique-looking chandeliers.

“If we had to describe our style, I guess it’s part gypsy, part bohemian and a little country western,” Venti said.

Herder added, “We wanted a store that when people walked passed they’d want to come inside and see what it’s about. And where everywhere you look there’s something amazing.”

They have their own style when it comes to apparel too, Herder said, but they offer a wide variety of clothing options for different tastes.

“It’s not just about brand names either,” Venti said. “It’s things we think are cute and that we would want to see people in the community wearing.”

They also try to keep the prices low.

“If people think we’re too expensive, then they won’t shop here,” said Venti.

Venti is originally from Eugene and then Portland before moving to Pacific City where she owned a similar clothing exchange. Someone who’s always considered herself an entrepreneur, she moved to Tillamook and met Herder, who was running a clothing exchange out of the 2nd Street Market.

“I found the only other gypsy in town,” Venti said.

Herder had been in business about eight months and said she wanted to find a storefront, so meeting Venti was perfect timing.

“It was a unique opportunity to own a business in Tillamook County that was something different for this area,” said Venti. “It gives us a chance to be different and stand out, whereas in Portland we might not stand out as much.”

And the location is perfect, they agreed.

“We feel very strongly about doing something for downtown Tillamook,” Venti said. “There are a lot of great businesses in the area but the downtown corridor could use some love and attention.”

So far, they’ve had a steady stream of both shoppers and sellers.

“The buy, sale trade aspect really brings the community together,” said Venti. “They feel like it’s their store and we’ve been getting a lot of returning customers.”

[editorsayde]

Eight-year old Passionate about Giving Back

by Sayde Moser

Jonathan “Auggie” Gingerich of Bay City isn’t your average eight-year-old.

 Last year he saved his grandfather’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver. And this year, he’s starting his own non-profit organization to raise money for different charities that support special needs children.                                                                                                                

With help, of course, from his mom, Bren Watts, step-dad Nick Watts and sisters Chloe, 10 and Abby, 4.

“We’re making it a family thing,” said Nick. “We want to facilitate Auggie’s dream of helping kids with special needs.”

Auggie was diagnosed with autism as a toddler.

Two weeks ago he participated in the Mudd Nick Foundation “Music and Motion” day camp for kids with special needs. When he came back, he told his parents he wanted to raise money for the Mudd Nick Foundation located in Manzanita.

The Mudd Nick Foundation celebrated 20 years of helping local youth in April, 2013. They formed a 501(c)3 in 2006 and since then have raised more than $625,000 and supported more than 30 programs for youth each year.

“We are always trying to teach our kids the importance of giving back,” Nick said. “So when Auggie came to us with this idea, it was an opportunity practice what we preach.”

Auggie’s goal is to host a doughnut eating “cop-itition” where local police officers and members of otherservice organizations would compete in fun games to raise money.

“Because cops like doughnuts,” Auggie said when asked where he came up with the idea.

His parents are working on finding sponsors, and Rockaway Beach Volunteer Fire Fighter Nancy Albro, who coordinates the department’s events has agreed to help. Auggie’s sister Chloe has sketched up some logos and a picture of what the first-place prize will look like.

Auggie already has plans of different games to play, including eating a doughnut on a string while blindfolded, who can eat the most and how many you can stuff into a sack.

“Then, we take all the money we raised and send it to the Mudd Nick Foundation and everything is ok and everyone is happy,” Auggie explained.

“Most kids with special needs have bigger hearts than us normal people,” said Auggie’s mom, Bren. “Helping people is what Auggie is all about, it’s his soul, and we want to promote that… It makes him feel good to give.”

Nick has created a Facebook page titled Auggie’s Hope, formulated a board of directors and is learning how to become an official non-profit organization to continue to support different charities that Auggie is passionate about.

Auggie is already planning a lego-building contest and eventually also wants to help Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. Chloe has expressed an interest to fundraise for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Portland.

“There’s a myriad of options. We’ll never be short of ideas to send the money to,” Nick said.

If the doughnut eating “cop-itition” is a success, Auggie’s parents would like to see it become an annual event.

Nick added that Auggie has always had grand ideas and he wants to make sure he has the opportunity to make them happen.

“It’s a positive thing for all of us and it teaches the kids what giving is all about,” he said. “We want him to know he has no limits to what he can accomplish.”

For more information, visit Auggie’s Hope on Facebook.

[editorsayde]

Skaters rally for their own park

by Sayde Moser

Noah Palter, 15, stood before the Tillamook City Council last week with several of his friends and one thing on his mind: he wants a skatepark.

“I came in here when I was nine years old,” he told the council, “talking about the same thing that I am today.”                                                                                                                    

The council held a public hearing in regards to the parks and master plan. The plan addressed a plethora of park ideas and aspecs; yet the skaters and BMXers dominated the hearing, making their voices heard for the addition of a skate and bike park.

Six years ago Noah asked his dad why the skate park at Goodspeed Park had been taken down.

“I told him I didn’t know,” recalled his dad, Aaron Palter, Port of Tillamook Bay’s Project Manager. “But I said, ‘I know who does’ and I took him to see the city council.”

A few years later - and still lacking a proper place to skate - Palter tried again to get something going for his son and his friends, but he said the timing just wasn’t quite right.

“Timing is everything for a project such as this,” he said. “And the timing just wasn’t appropriate.”

But after attending the city council meeting and the beautification and parks committee meeting last week, Palter said he thinks it might finally be possible to give these kids what they want.

“In my opinion, it will take an organized group with a handful of parents to lead the way and work with the city,” City Councilor Doug Henson said, adding he is more than willing to volunteer his own time to help the process.

Palter told the beautification and parks committee that if they would give him a “footprint” of dedicated space for a park, he would form a committee and get the ball rolling.

The committee adopted a recommendation to send to the council to dedicate a 22,000-square-foot lot at Goodspeed park (encompassing the former skate park and tennis court) for a skatepark. The council will consider the recommendation at one of their next meetings and Palter has already started creating a skate/bike committee to formulate designs and raise money. His son, Noah will serve on the committee as a liaison for the other kids.

Tyler Lind, a BMX rider who also spoke at the city council meeting said he would go out of his way to help build the park and keep it clean and the rest of his friends would pitch in too.

“I hear from every skate boarder and BMX rider I know that they’re tired of having to go to Bay City all the time,” he said. “We deserve this park.”

Noah Palter’s mom Dawn agreed, telling the council, “When we ask for a plan it shouldn’t take from the point of fifth grade to college before these kids get to see anything done. They won’t have any faith in a system where they don’t see anything completed.”

According to research Aaron Palter has conducted on how to build a skate park, it costs roughly $40 per square foot - so a 22,000 square foot park equals $880,000. Although Palter estimates it would be more in the ballpark of the Bay City skate park, which totaled $150,000.

“That’s still a lot of money,” he said. “Where’s it coming from? No idea.”

Councilor John Sandusky said he would make a skate park his number one priority in terms of finding the money to fund it.

“In a perfect world we could break ground next summer; all we need is the money,” Palter said, adding that the most important thing will be getting the kids involved.

Palter is enthusiastic this time it will happen, and it will be a tourist attraction for Tillamook. “We go out of town all the time to visit other skate parks, so if we’re doing it other families have to be doing it too,” he said. “If the council would just follow through and everyone stays positive, I really think we have a chance here.”