As I See It by Mary Schamehorn This weeks photos include one taken before the Fire of 1936, and two photos of three members of the Bandon Jaycees preparing for their big raft race . . . over 50 years ago. Its easy to spot the old Breuer Building (now a vacation rental dwelling just east of Edgewaters Restaurant) as it survived the Fire. Mike Breuer had his shoe shop in the west end of the building for many years. Across the street, which appears to have been mostly mud and piling, is the cement wall that is still prominent at the west end of First Street. None of the other buildings survived the Fire. Before the fire of 1936 There was no identification on the envelope containing the Jaycee raft race pictures, taken in June of 1961, but I think I have identified them: from left, Bob Martindale, Don Potterf and Gene Scott. Jaycee Raft Race 1961 I chose the third picture of the same three guys because most of us have probably never seen Bullards Bridge . . . from underneath it. I thought this was such a cool picture. Although I was working at the Western World in 1961, I think my uncle (Lou Felsheim) probably took those pictures. I do, however, remember the raft races, and they always drew a big crowd. Jaycee Raft Race 1961, under the bridge * * * Just after I wrote this, I received a call that my long-time friend, Gordy Hayes of Powers, had died. Gordy owned a large ranch at Gaylord (between Powers and Myrtle Point) and had served on the Coquille River Port Commission for many years. Hed suffered a lot of health problems in recent years, mostly brought on by diabetes, which resulted in losing both of his legs. Last week he had fallen and broken his collar bone, and was rushed to the hospital, where he apparently died on Sunday. * * * Some of my readers will remember the Powers family (Max and Mary) who lived in the single-story blue house along Beach Loop Road on the sweeping corner north of Table Rock Motel. Mary, who was in a wheelchair during the last years of her life, died some years ago. But Ive learned that Max died last July at the age of 96, according to one of his sons during a phone call with a city official. Max and Mary loved Bandon and the beach and were ardent supporters of protecting the beauty of this area. The Powers family still owns the house, which belonged to Beulah and Denny Kay and their son, Donny, when I was growing up. * * * This year there are four people running for three seats on the city council, and if you would like to hear what they have to say, there are two candidate forums on tap this week. The first is Wednesday night, beginning at 6, at The Barn/Community Center, sponsored by the Bandon Chamber of Commerce. Although I am running unopposed, I will be talking about Measure 6-150, which will return limited rate-setting authority to the council. Friday night I will be moderating the forum at Brewed Awakenings, which will begin about 6:30 and last until 8. There will also be an opportunity for people to ask questions from the floor. Incumbents seeking re-election are Chris Powell and Mike Claassen. Also vying for a seat are Peter Braun and Madeline Seymour. Incumbent Nancy Drew decided not to run again. This is a good opportunity to hear what the candidates have to say and get to know them better. * * * To make sure that I comply with the public records law, I have established an email at City Hall for emails pertaining to city business. You can email me at [email protected]. Personal emails can continue to be sent to me at marys@coosnet. Also, as has been the case quite a bit lately, people can always call my cell phone at 541-404-7291. That way we can talk about concerns that you may have without putting it in writing, which is subject to the public records request. I am certainly not trying to dodge the law, but some people simply will not open up about their concerns if they know that it can become a public record. I have become more sensitive to this since a Bandon woman recently requested to see a copy of an email between a friend and me, which was mostly personal, but contained a positive comment about what she would like to see in our new city manager. People need to be aware that emails sent to my city email are subject to the public records law, so if you want to talk about something that you might not want shared with the world, feel free to call me on my cell as several of you have done lately. Or send me an email, with your phone number, and I will call you. When the public records law went into effect many years ago, I am sure the framers did not envision that someones email correspondence could be subject to review by whoever decided to ask for it ... and for whatever the motive. * * * I learned last week that a couple who live on Bills Creek Road, not far outside the city limits, had a pretty frightening experience recently. An older couple were sleeping when someone entered their house . . . went into their bedroom and stole her purse and a diamond ring, as well as other items ... all while the couple slept. They found the purse outside their house the next morning, minus the credit cards, etc., and later learned that someone had used one of the credit cards in the Medford area. I know its tempting to leave your windows wide open at night, especially with the hot days that weve had lately, but since I dont believe theyve caught the burglar, I would suggest that you make sure the doors are locked and the windows are closed. This isnt the first time a house in Coos County has been entered while the residents slept, and it is certainly frightening to think what might have happened had they awoken and confronted the person. * * * I always tell people that September and October are our Indian Summer, and certainly that has held true this year. Not only was the weather gorgeous for the Cranberry Festival, but the last few days have been some of the warmest of the year. I think the weather report said it hit 81 degrees in the Coos Bay/North Bend area Saturday, and depending on where you live in Bandon, some said it was even hotter than that on Friday. Its been so hot on my back deck and I have to keep moving the chairs into the shade to even be able to stay out there . . . but my tomato plants love it. Heres hoping we have a mild winter . . . * * * I picked a bad day to buy frozen food at Rays Saturday. I dont think they are sure what happened, but they were having all sorts of trouble with their credit card machines. People from corporate were there working on it, but it was hard to explain to people who waited in line for what seemed to be an eternity. I felt sorry for the employees, because it definitely wasnt their fault. After several failed attempts, we were told that in order to use a debit card, you had to enter it like you would a credit card . . . without your pin number but with a signature. I know the problem lasted for several hours, and hopefully they got it straightened out . . . * * * This Saturday (Oct. 11) is the date for the 2014 Oregon Coast Film Festival, which has been expanded to include an afternoon workshop and a feature film. The full program includes an afternoon workshop feature film screening, artist reception and an evening of short documentary films. Last years film festival attracted over 200 people to the Best of Festival evening at the Sprague Theater. An early afternoon interactive workshop Storytelling: Through Pictures and other Digital Media begins at 1 p.m. The feature film, Reclaimation, begins at 4, with an artist reception from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by the Best of Festival Short Films program from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 and include admission to all the film festival events. Tickets are available online at Eventbrite or at the door. * * * A friend of mine from Chicago arrived Wednesday evening ... after a harrowing trip. Actually, the plane trip from Illinois to Eugene was basically uneventful. He and his sister (who lives in Powers) were met at the airport by a friend and headed onto Powers. At about 9:30 that night, he borrowed his sisters car and headed to Bandon. All went well until he got about two miles from Bandon, and encountered what he thought was one deer alongside the road, but it turned out it wasnt alone. He was trying to maneuver out of the deers way, when the other one struck the side of his car and tore off the drivers side mirror. By the time he got here at a little after 11 p.m., he was a nervous wreck, and was worried both about the deer he hit . . . and his sisters car. He got out and searched for the animal, but could not find it, so hopefully it was only stunned and not seriously injured. A press release from the Oregon State Police, which was sent out on Saturday, reminded people that a third of the vehicle/wildlife crashes occur between September and November. I printed it off for him so he could see that he wasnt alone . . . as he headed to town to pick up his new $85 side mirror.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 12:29:32 +0000
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