As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
August 31, 2022
The first picture I am sharing is of the Nestle's Food Co. plant on the waterfront, taken in late 1919 or early 1920.
Nestle's Food Co.
I went to Dow Beckham's book, "Bandon By-The-Sea Hope and Perseverance in a Southwestern Oregon Town" for a bit of history to share with you. I backed up that information with a story from a March 17, 1921, Western World, which I found among my collection of Bandon history.
A condensed milk company out of Portland proposed to build a factory in Bandon in September of 1917, based primarily on the number of dairies in the area.
"The tract of property situated just to the west from the Standard Oil Company dock (second photo) and extending back from the harbor line to Division Street, we believe can be built up and arranged to meet the requirements for such a condensery as we are considering," according to the manager of the company.
Standard Oil Company dock
"In addition to the site, the proposal asked the city to drive piling and plan the street from the harbor to the south side of Division Street and thence to Main Street. The city's total cost then became $7,500. Within weeks construction began. December 6 of that year Chris Richert was awarded the contract to provide 600 piling for the plant. Giebisch and Joplin planned a two-story building 106x240 feet with an additional detached power house of 40x60 feet. This canning unit was to have a capacity of 1,000 cases of canned milk per day and employ between 50 and 60 people besides a crew to supply fuel.
"By August of 1918 workmen began installation of the machinery including a tall smokestack (visible in the first photo).
On Jan. 16, 1919, Nestles Food Company, the largest producer of condensed milk, purchased the plant. It immediately removed the equipment and took it to a plant they owned in McMinnville to enlarge that plant.
"Bandon's plant was overhauled with concrete floors, new boilers and new machinery to more than double the capacity for producing 2,500 cases daily.
"In December (1919), Nestle ordered another large boiler and announced the production of sweetened milk in addition to evaporated milk. Dairymen began increasing the size of their herds and, for several years, experienced good returns.
"In December of 1922, the Nestle's Food Company reported a big and successful year. It manufactured 6,500,000 pounds of canned, condensed milk of several varieties shipped to all parts of the world. With this large company establishing the largest plant of its kind in Bandon things looked bright for the dairy industry in Coos and Curry counties. Yet slightly over six years from the beginning, the condensery closed."
John Donaldson who lived in Bandon many years worked for Nestle. And in an interview with Bandon historian Lloyd Lyman, he talked about what led to the demise of the promising industry on Bandon's waterfront.
To make a long story short, in addition to increased freight costs to ship the milk to other ports, in 1924 the water got contaminated with yeast from the Ferry Creek reservoir. Foreign sales of Borden's sweetened milk became fermented and the company traced the problem to the Bandon plant. Nestles brought in a chemist from California to test the water and try to solve the problem.
But by April of 1924, in spite of efforts to cut costs including buying its lumber for crates from Moore Mill, their troubles mounted.
All efforts to rectify the problems failed, and in October 1925, the temporary closure of the plant was announced. But it never reopened.
The third photo features the steamer Alvarado being guided into the Port of Bandon by the Tug Klihyam.
Steamer Alvarado and Tug Klihyam
I'm not sure when the photo was taken, but by November of 1938, the port of Bandon's new tug "Port of Bandon," recently completed at the Prosper Shipyard, was put into service when Capt. Victor Laivo piloted the S.S. Alvarado to sea, the latter carrying 1,202,000 feet of lumber.
An article in the Nov. 10, 1938, Western World talks about the maiden voyage of the tug.
"The bar was quite rough but the new tug had no difficulty whatever in driving through the waves. However, the Alvarado struck bottom once on a sand shoal of the outer harbor. The shoal had been formed by the recent rough seas. The tug accompanied the ship for several miles down the coast to learn if the 'bump' might have caused a leak, but it hadn't.
"The second performance of the new tug was to bring in the S.S. Bandon which arrived at 10 a.m. Monday, with local freight and is loading at the Moore mill.
"The old port tug Klihyam has been taken to the Prosper Shipyard and put out of commission. It is being advertised for sale and it is understood that several prospective buyers have been contacted. It will probably be sold for service in a bay or river of one of the larger ports on the coast."
* * *
By now most of you probably know that the special election to increase the City of Bandon's TOT (transient occupancy tax) from 6 percent to 9.5 percent was overwhelmingly approved by the voters.
The margin was approximately 70 percent to 30 percent, with unofficial results indicating that 746 people voted yes and 306 voted no, for a total of 1,052 votes being cast.
As mayor, I want to say thank you to those who supported the fee which brings Bandon's TOT rate up to what lodging facilities charge in Coos Bay and North Bend, and many on the north coast, plus some who are higher.
It is important to point out how important the TOT is to Bandon's general fund, since we annually receive about $200,000 in property taxes (based on the tax rate of 46 cents a thousand), while the TOT brings in upwards of $600,000.
Bandon's original TOT of 6 percent was instituted before the state law went into effect governing the percentage which can go into the general fund (30 percent) and that which is designed for tourist promotion and tourist facilities (70 percent).
A larger share of the original 6 percent goes into the general fund, with an amount over 20 percent earmarked for the Chamber of Commerce for tourist promotion expenses.
* * *
Although I have not heard the details, I learned this week that Face Rock Creamery is apparently for sale at a price of $4,250,000 for the 8,198 square foot building.
I Googled the sale, and found the sales price as well as a notice about a "newly signed NNN (triple net) 10-year escalating lease with a 10-year option."
It added that the business is a "significant tourist attraction with around 500,000 visitors a year."
* * *
While looking for the tax rate of a nearby city on the county assessor's website, I stumbled upon a list of the top 25 property taxpayers in Coos County, as of 2021.
The number one property tax payer in Coos County continues to be Bandon Dunes, with a tax bill of $1,007,182,06, based on an assessed value of $253,264,866.
Occupying the number two spot was Roseburg Forest ($922,356.46), PacificCorp (Pacific Power), $755,654; Weyerhaeuser Company, $622,322.34., and fifth was Charter Communications.
Others, in order of tax paid, include Northwest Natural Gas, North Bend Medical, Northwest Fiber DBA Ziply, Southport Lumber, First Community Credit Union, Wal-Mart, Willow Series Holdings, AT&T Inc., Ron LaFranchi ($212,732), Yoo Jin Lodging Inc., Verizon Communication, Howard Willett, EPC Landlord Group LLC, Central Lincoln PUD, Moore Mill & Lumber Co. ($160,174), Fred Meyer, Hardin Optical ($148,355), Rayonier Forest Resources, Lone Rock Timber and Georgia Pacific.
* * *
This week's Bandon police report, which appeared in The World, had 14 calls for criminal trespass, ranging from incidents at Weber's Pier, to several in the 60 block of 10th St. SE, to the 300 block of 10th.
Other calls included a noise complaint on Beach Loop Drive, theft on Grand Street SE, two calls about a disturbance in the 200 block of 2nd Street, a disturbance in the 1600 block of Oregon Avenue SW, a disturbance on Highway 101 at milepost 252, a civil problem and a disturbance in the 60 block of 17th Street SE, two more calls about a civil problem on 17th Street, a disturbance in the 600 block of 2nd Street, a theft in the 60 block of Michigan, a disturbance on Alabama avenue and Second, a hit and run in Old Town and another theft.
I have no way of knowing if the criminal trespass calls involve one individual, several people with repeated calls or if each call involves a different person. But at least the report is available.
* * *
As the statistics continue to grow about drug use and death in Oregon, more people are becoming aware of the fact that Ballot Measure 110, which made user grade amounts of hard drugs like meth, heroin and cocaine, punishable only by a $100 ticket, was tragically not the answer. Proponents, whoever they were, promised that this would mean treatment would be available to addicts.
Unfortunately that is not the case. The ballot measure did not mandate treatment.
I spoke with a professional who dealt with a number of addicted people during her long career in health care, and here is what she had to say.
"What is really frightening is that Steve Allen from Oregon Health Authority, in charge of behavioral health, doesn't get it that most people using drugs are not interested in treatment so pouring more resources into treatment is not going to help. At least when the addict was arrested there were eyes on their children, but not since Measure 110. Again, Oregon is not keeping our children safe!"
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
August 24, 2022
The first picture I am sharing this week will highlight the importance of the cranberry industry in an article headlined "Record Crop of Cranberries," which appeared on the front page of the Nov. 10, 1938, Western World, written by Ethel Kranick, secretary of the Coos Cranberry Cooperative.
Picking cranberries, 1938
Ethel and her husband Leslie, who spent several years in the Life Saving Service in Bandon before they were married, grew cranberries on their bogs south of town for many years.
The photo features men, women and children involved in the harvest. The picture that accompanied the article, but was too grainy to reproduce, featured the E.B. Fish & Son bog, situated east of Bandon. It showed 150 pickers on their knees, with guides roping off the areas to be picked.
Here is the story, in part: "The Bandon community has produced a bumper crop of cranberries. Original estimates at the beginning of the season were for a crop of from 12,000 to 15,000 quarter-barrel boxes. When harvest began it was soon revealed that the estimates were low. It was found that the district had produced some 22,800 quarter-barrel boxes.
"This amount was produced by 30 growers of whom 29 are members of the Coos Cranberry Cooperative, which was organized in 1933. The approximate acreage in the Bandon section is between 87 and 90 acres, with 15 or 20 acres planted and in growing condition. It takes from three to six years to produce cranberries and it costs from $1000 to $1300 to plant an acre, so these Bandon cranberry growers are only reaping the reward of years of hard labor and heavy financial investments.
"The Fish & Son marsh uses overhead irrigation, first pumping water from a creek into a sump and repumping through sprinklers in the berry field.
"The first cranberry planting in Coos county was done by Charles Dexter McFarlin in 1885 and it is for Mr. McFarlin that the berry is named. It was not until 1925 that plantings in Coos county began to increase and cranberry culture became a recognized industry in this section, and not until the present season has this Bandon district become the largest producing section in the state."
An article in the next week's paper said "What is believed to be a record for cranberry production is reported from the C.F. St. Sure bog, where one bog comprising seven-tenths of an acre produced 1021 quarter-barrel boxes, packed for shipping. On the high producing bogs, which are of the McFarlin variety, pickers made as high as $6 a day.
The second picture I am sharing is the cold storage plant, which was built on the waterfront in November of 1938 on property at First and Chicago, purchased from the City by J.H. Thompson, proprietor of the Bandon Seafood Market, for the erection of a cold storage plant.
Cold storage plant, 1938
"The storage plant will be 30x50 feet and contain, in addition to the plant's storage space, 100 locker boxes which will be rented to individuals for meat and other storage purposes."
The business was later sold to George and Nella Dow, who operated it for many years. At one time it was also owned by Graydon Stinnett of Bandon Fisheries for his seafood processing operation. The site is now the home of the Port's building, which is leased to The Loft.
I have chosen to illustrate the next story with the picture of the Orange Pharmacy, which was located in the Ellingson building, where the Arcade Tavern is today on the corner of First and Alabama.
Orange Pharmacy, 1915
In December of 1915, Walter Wells of the Orange Pharmacy and C.Y. Lowe of the Rexall store attended the quarterly meeting of the Coos County Pharmaceutical association.
An article in Western World explains that "in a short discussion the druggists expressed the opinion that they should not even take out a federal liquor license for next year. Such action would mean that alcohol could not be purchased at any drug store in the county, nor for any purpose. Neither could whiskey be bought for medicinal purposes.
"In short talks several of the druggists stated that they do not wish the odium that would attach to them if during dry times, they sold alcohol in any form. The opinion was expressed that in the past drug stores have been severely criticized and some, too, have sold liquor on the side; and in 1916 the criticisms would be increased ten fold. Therefore steps should be taken to clear their skirts by refusing to take out federal liquor licenses."
* * *
I want to remind those of you who live in the Bandon city limits, that the deadline to return your ballot is Tuesday, Aug. 23. The issue is increasing the transient occupancy tax from 6 to 9.5 percent, which is the same TOT assessed by Coos Bay, North Bend and most other cities along the coast. Of the revenue, 30 percent will go into the city's general fund, which primarily funds the Bandon Police Department. The other 70 percent is required by state law to be used for tourism promotion and facilities, which could include city-owned buildings like the tourist information center. If you haven't yet mailed it, I am urging you to vote yes and to drop it off in the box at the Bandon Library in City Park.
I have seen some opposition on Facebook, and my reply is this: would you rather that visitors helped pay for services like the police department or would you prefer it rests solely on the backs of the Bandon property taxpayers.
* * *
I was so sorry to learn of the passing of long-time Bandon businesswoman Dorothy Lynn Pruett Saunders, who owned D'Lyn's in the building on the corner of Second and Chicago, owned by Bill and Louise Moore. She had reportedly been ill for several months with organ failure.
In the last few weeks, the business had been purchased by Mark Grissom of Pacific Rim Abalone, who moved his shop from the Continuum Center into D'Lyn's shop. He also owns a shop, Crystal Aloha, on Bay Street in Florence.
Lynn is survived by her husband, Larry Saunders, and her daughters and their families. I have not seen an obituary, so I don't know if the family is planning a service.
* * *
A big group joined Reg Pullen and me on the history hike Sunday morning along the waterfront, while another group joined Jim Proehl on his hike up Fillmore, down 11th, past the schools and out to Coquille Point.
Our hike concluded pretty much before the fog rolled in, and it was a perfect day to be in Bandon. Reg, who is an archaeologist, shared information about the early-day settlers, while I talked about the buildings in relation to what the town looked like, particularly before the Fire of 1936.
Both Reg and I agreed we're getting too old for these hikes, but we were glad to have been able to share our love of history with so many enthusiastic people.
* * *
Friends, family and firefighters packed into the Bandon Community Center Saturday afternoon to remember Larry Sabin, Sr., who died June 9 at the age of 83. Joining his widow, Juanice, at the service were their five children, and all but one of their 20 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. Larry, who spent his life in the trucking business, had been a member of the Rural Fire District board of directors for more than 25 years, and was a member of the BHS Class of 1957. Officiating at the Celebration of Life were Robert Sprague and Charlie Valentine. Sprague is the son of the late Wesley Sprague, also a member of the Class of 1957, who was the brother of Juanice Sabin.
* * *
The Bandon Police report, posted Saturday on The World's website, showed five calls for criminal trespass, a prowler on 8th Court SW, a disturbance at a Bradley Lake address, an accident on Highway 101 and Bradley Lake Lane, one call for harassment, a disturbance on First Street SE, a theft in the 200 block of 2nd Street SE, a shoplifter, criminal mischief on Oregon Avenue, a disturbance on Harlem Avenue NE, a noise complaint on Michigan Avenue, a disturbance on Edison Avenue, a theft, and a call about threats in the 2600 block of Franklin Avenue.
* * *
My friend Peggy Hunt Goergen of Brookings said she had received word from her New Hampshire cousin about the death of a woman who lived in Bandon many years ago.
Sandra Lemire died at the age of 90 in the Laconia, N.H., area. When she lived here in the '50s, she was married to Al Martin, the principal of Ocean Crest Elementary School. I know they had at least one son, Stan, but not sure about other survivors.
* * *
I received a call from Jolly Hibbits, whose daughter Holly Sylvester is the one who recently chased down the guy who had stolen her catalytic converter from a motel parking lot in Kent, Wash., where she was attending a meeting.
We remember that Holly was able to save the catalytic converter after chasing the guy, but her mother says it cost her $700 to have it replaced so she could drive back to Bandon.
Jolly said Holly was upstairs when she saw the guy trying to steal it, and knowing she wouldn't have time to get through the front door of the motel, she raced through a back door, which set off an alarm. As a result, someone was able to capture what was happening on video.
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
August 17, 2022
The big news in October of 1938 was a big oil drilling project near Bandon.
"All eyes in this community, in fact throughout the state, are focused in the direction of the Pacific Petroleum Corporation's derrick (first picture) in the outskirts of Bandon where the heavy rumblings of gas in a live sand at approximately 1500 feet depth are said to have given the working crew the jitters.
Oil drilling project, 1938
"So positive was President John Ewell, directing the work in person, that they have tapped production that all further drilling was ceased until sufficient casing could be brought to the ground and put in place as a safeguard in the event of a sudden eruption.
"Charles Glenn of Roseburg, a driller of many years experience, has joined the crew and is assisting in the work at what is considered the most critical period in the operations. 'Anything is liable to happen,' Mr. Ewell said, 'and we must be prepared for we don't want to take chances of losing any possible results of our efforts.' "
The site was two miles east of Bandon, where rotary drilling equipment had tapped favorable oil and gas sand and was expected to bring production within the month of October.
From all reports that I found, the well never produced measureable oil.
I've chosen the second picture of a celebration on Front Street in front of the Hotel Gallier (which was just east of the present Coast Guard station building) because I wanted to share a story from April of 1922, but didn't really have a photo to go with it.
Hotel Gallier
It seems that ten counterfeit half dollars, found under a sidewalk on Ocean Drive, caused considerable curiosity.
"The coins were found by Nora Culbertson, a 16-year-old girl who in company with smaller children, was on her way down town. One of the children had dropped a nickel through the crack in the walk and when she looked under the walk for the nickel she found the half dollars and she thought they were real money.
"On Saturday the girl and some of her friends spent the coins. The Bon Ton millinery store got $3 worth, the Home Grocery got $1 and the Stillwell candy factory got $1. When she found out that the money was bogus the girl got it all back and turned it over to the officers. Deputy Sheriff Malehorn investigated the matter. The coins have since been sent to the feds.
"The coins showed that they had lain exposed to the weather for a long time. They are good specimens of counterfeiting and all are dated 1912. Local bankers believe they were hidden there by a gang of counterfeiters who visited Bandon during the Cedar Festival in 1913. At that time quite a lot of bogus money was in circulation here and government detectives traced two counterfeiters into Curry County where they made their getaway into the mountains."
The third picture is of Mary Capps and me at the Centennial Banquet on Feb. 18, 1991, which was attended by quite a few dignitaries, including Governor Barbara Roberts, Coos County commissioners Doc Stevenson and Jack Beebe, State Senator Bill Bradbury, Secretary of State Phil Keisling and Tony Tanner, Chief of the Coquille Indians.
Mary Schamehorn & Mary Capps, 1991
Jim Cawdrey was the mayor, Reed Gallier was council president, and councilors were Blythe Tiffany, Pat Watson, Lee Sutton, Judy Densmore and Frank Maciejewski. Ron and Judy Knox were co-chairmen of the Bandon Centennial Commission. Mary Capps, who was founding chairman of the Bandon Centennial Commission, will celebrate her 98th birthday on Aug. 17. I was there as a reporter for the Western World.
* * *
I mentioned recently that Bandon Dunes caddie Wil Lozano was on the bag for Wenyi Ding, the young man from China, who won the US Amateur event hosted at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
But what I did not know is that he is the son of Bandon native Susan Laub Lozano, and the nephew of Jim Harris, who is married to Claudia Biggar, another BHS graduate.
* * *
A faithful reader of my column, Don Campbell (who lives in Eugene) provided me with an interesting bit of history concerning Frank Moore, a BHS track star who graduated from Bandon High in 1955.
It seems that Frank was the first ever Tiger to qualify for the state track meet, an event held in Corvallis where he finished second in the 880-run. But that wasn't the news. The kid who won the race was Jim Grelle of Lincoln High in Portland, who went on to finish 8th in the 1960 Olympics, and won gold and silver medals at the Pam American Games in 1963 and 1959.
But even that wasn't what Don wanted me to see. The stats showed that the guy who finished third was none other than Phil Knight, who went on to become the largest donor to athletic (and other) causes in the history of University of Oregon sports.
An article about the event, for which I received a byline in the Western World (as a sophomore in high school), also covered local sports, reporting that Mike Jesperson, Gary Scorby and Wayne Campbell, among others, had starred in the interclass track meet. The three, and Don, were at the all-school reunion.
* * *
It was neat to see that Bandon was listed as No. 2 on Conde Nast Traveler's 10 best beach towns on the West Coast.
Here's what they had to say about our community.
"Located on the south side of the Coquille River, Bandon is the perfect transition between California and Oregon -- it has the same soft, golden sand you'll find further south, as well as the epic rock formations (and indisputable Oregon coolness) as its northerly neighbors. Get some of the best views along the five--mile Beach Loop Drive, or walk down the stairs at Coquille Point and try to spot sea lions and -- if you're lucky -- a gray whale or two. Then head back inland to Old Town Bandon for seafood shacks, old-fashioned candy shops, and indie bookstores."
The first town listed was Avalon, Calif. Others were Cannon Beach, Carmel-by-Sea, Calif., Florence, Friday Harbor, Wash., Newport Beach, Calif., Port Angeles, Wash., Port Townsend, Wash., and Sausalito, Calif.
I'd say we are in pretty prestigious company ....
* * *
I've learned that two of Bandon's oldest Old Town restaurants, The Minute Cafe and Lloyd's, are for sale.
The Minute, owned by the late Pat Taylor, has been on the market for some months at $1.2 million, but I understand the price has been lowered to $900,000. Not only does it have a well-maintained building, but the adjacent parking lot, which was the site of M&L Grocery for many years, is apparently part of the sale.
My source says that Lloyd's Cafe, owned by Mike and Melanie Collins, has been listed for $899,000. The couple also own the Blue Moon in Coos Bay, and Melanie is a nursing supervisor at Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center. Lloyd's not only has a large restaurant, but a spacious bar. The restaurant side was built by George Erdman, as City Meat Market (later Erdman's Market) after he lost his business on First Street in the 1936 Fire. Before the Fire, the site was the home of the Dreamland Pavilion.
* * *
Bandon High School has a new head football coach and a new varsity volleyball coach, according to postings on Facebook this week.
Dustin Carmack, who will also teach in the district, is the new football coach. He moved here from Brookings with his wife, Jasmine, and two children, Marlie and Caleb. People with questions or whose child is interested in playing football this year can call Coach Carmack at 262-745-6877.
Raelyn Freitag, a graduate of Bandon High, is the new varsity volleyball coach after having served as an assistant last season. Haley Freitag will be the new junior varsity volleyball coach. Volleyball practice started Monday, Aug. 15.
* * *
Last week I mentioned the effort that a Bandon woman, Holly Sylvester, had gone to as she chased down a thief who had just stolen the catalytic converter from her vehicle while she was at a meeting in Kent, Wash.
Last week, the Beaverton police nabbed a $22 million catalytic converter trafficking ring with the arrest of Brendan Doyle, who was living in a rented house on the shores of Lake Oswego. He and his associate, Tanner Hellbusch, were the alleged ringleaders of the operation, trafficking 44,000 catalytic converters from thieves in the Pacific Northwest.
No doubt Holly's would-be thief was part of that ring. But he didn't end up with her catalytic converter.
* * *
People in the Bandon city limits are reminded to mail in their ballot on Measure 6-197, which will increase the lodging tax from 6 % to 9.5 %, with 70 percent to go to tourism promotion and tourism related facilities, and the other 30 percent will go into the general fund, which primarily supports the Bandon Police Department. This is one way that visitors to our community can help pay for things like public safety rather than have the entire burden fall on our local taxpayers.
* * *
Last week's police report had 10 citations for criminal trespass in various parts of the community, two cases of counterfeit money, fraud, theft, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, a disturbance on Rusty road, a suspicious person on Seven Devils Road, a disturbance on Boak Lane, an overdose on Elmira, a hit and run on Beach Loop Drive, an accident on First Street, illegal camping, an accident at the Port, a disturbance on Alabama Avenue, a DUII on Bear Creek Road, disturbance on Oregon Avenue, illegal dumping on Beach Loop Road, an attempt to elude and an accident on Highway 42S.
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
August 10, 2022
The first picture I am sharing is a real classic, having been taken in 1897, and then appearing in the Western World in 1938 and again in 1951.
Bandon, 1897
The caption under the picture the last time it was printed reads: "What was Bandon like before the fire?
"This question has been asked so many times, especially by some of the many new people who are establishing residence here, that Western World has decided to publish an old-time picture now and then and give such information as is available.
"The above picture was taken in May 1897. The cameraman must have stood part way up Tupper Rock (second picture), pretty close to where the Franklin Auto Court is now located. The view is toward town."
Tupper Rock
The only thing that remains of Franklin Auto Court is the home that was surrounded by smaller cottages, just west of what is now the gaping hole left by the mining of Tupper Rock to build the jetties.
"On the left in the foreground is Tupper Rock, which at that time stood some 60 or more feet perpendicularly above ground.
"There was a stairway leading to the top where a bandstand had been built and the city 'brass band' gave Sunday afternoon concerts.
"The rock is believed of glacial origin and is much harder than any other rock in this section. The federal government took over the rock and established a quarry, using the rock in local jetty construction.
"Today (1951) instead of rising 60 to 80 feet above the surface, it is a hole in the ground of equal distance."
When you look into the hole today (2022) you will see Pacific View Assisted Living Center.
"The roadway in the foreground is now part of Ocean Drive.
"The large building to the right is the Ocean House, one of the very first hotels in Bandon. It was a popular stopping place in its day. It was destroyed by fire a few years after this picture was taken."
The third picture I am sharing shows the Safeway store during a World War II parade along Second Street.
Safeway first came to Bandon when the organization bought the Dunham stores in Coos and Curry counties in August of 1935. They operated here in the Garoutte building (on First Street) until the fire of 1936, when they were burned out. Immediately they had a temporary building erected on property adjacent to the Harrison Garage where they operated until April of 1939 when their lease on the ground terminated.
While they were out of business temporarily, they negotiated for a new location, taking a 10-year lease on ground owned by Mrs. E.A. Hartman of Estacada (who had owned the Hartman Theatre here for many years).
"The land was at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Second Street, which is the corner east of the New Bandon Theatre (the large building at left). The lot was recently vacated by the removal of the Electric Shoe Rebuilders shop and the Legion Hall," said the July, 20, 1939, article in Western World.
In a later article, announcing the opening of the new store, it was reported that K.I. Franklin was awarded the contract for the construction of the new building, which was to be of frame construction 35x80 feet, with large plate glass display windows and two large skylights.
Franklin is the one who built the Franklin Auto Court mentioned in the first segment, and he also served as mayor of Bandon in 1939 and the early '40s.
"Safeway has been interested in Bandon from a buying as well as a selling standpoint. During recent years it has bought the cheese and butter output of the local creamery and the entire cranberry crop of the Coos Cranberry Cooperative."
Safeway operated in Bandon until the mid-'40s when they moved out of the community and sold the building to McNair Hardware, at that time one of Bandon's oldest businesses, being founded in 1899 by Archibald McNair.
The frame building was destroyed by fire during a burglary attempt in 1975 and was later replaced by a concrete building, which is the nucleus for the Bandon Brewing Co./Bandon Vision Center building which now sits on the property.
In the picture, Ben's Shoe Repair is west of the Safeway building, owned by Ben Lessard, who ended up in an Ohio Mental Hospital in the 1950s. His wife was killed in a car crash in December of 1957 enroute to visit him in the hospital.
The larger building just west of the shoe shop is Sadye's Fountain (now the home of Alloro Wine Bar). Between that and the theater was the liquor store operated by Reta Gartin and her sister Alda Mars, and Tuttle's Fountain. In the back on the waterfront at First and Chicago is Bandon Seafood, owned by George and Nella Dow. Today that is the site of the Port building leased by The Loft.
* * *
What a great weekend. Not only did I celebrate my 83rd birthday, but on Friday night I attended my 65th class reunion and on Saturday, I spent the afternoon at the all-school reunion connecting with people, many of whom I had not seen in years.
Since ours was the oldest class observing a reunion, I will share with you those who attended, which included Merrilie Hultin Jewell of Arizona, Dian Newman Bowerman of Utah, and closer to home, Mike Jesperson, John Sweet, LaDonna Holman Hinerman and her husband Don, Bobby Asay and his wife Sally, Larry Wold, Wayne Campbell, Larry Cox, Art Fish, of course me, and Jerome Johnson and his wife Danielle, who hosted the event in the backyard of their beautiful home. On Saturday, classmate Barbara Hurst Siewell joined us at the all-school reunion. In the last several months, we've lost two classmates, Mary Bowman Cullen and Larry Sabin (whose memorial will be Aug. 20 at the community center).
I do not have the list of those who attended the all-school event, but I know it was over 150 who signed in. Several of the older grads that I saw were Jim Gant and Tom Gant, both Class of 1948; Karen Bowman (with her sister Kristy), Class of 1954; and Don Campbell and Gary Scorby, Class of 1955. It is quite possible that I didn't see (or know) everyone who was there, so I may have missed someone.
The reunion was organized by the Bandon History Museum and sponsored by the Gant family of Bandon Rain.
(Monday morning Randy Texley texted me to say that Bob Dahl, who attended the all-school reunion, is in the hospital with Covid. People who may have been close to him Saturday need to be aware that they could have been exposed).
* * *
A Bandon woman, Holly Sylvester, who is married to teacher Jim Sylvester and is a mainstay in their band, had a frightening experience in Kent, Wash., recently where she had gone to attend a week-long class.
According to a Facebook post, "Holly came home to her hotel after her class. She went out to the balcony that overlooks the parking lot just in time to see a man roll out from under our Honda CRV with a car part about the size of a couple of loaves of bread. 'Hey, You put that down?' She yelled at the thief. 'Sorry,' he said as he loped away. Holly responded, 'You most certainly are NOT sorry!' Of course, Holly took off after the man with our car part on foot. I guess he was a pretty fast runner, even with the big car part in hand (it turned out to be a catalytic converter), and she was having a hard time staying with him. As he got further and further away from her, she saw him duck left. In a minute he emerged with no car part in hand. She looked where he had gone, and sure enough, found the part wrapped in a coat on the ground. She grabbed the part and was heading back to the Hotel, wherein the guy grabs the part away from her and says, 'Let me help you with that.' Again he takes off, Holly in pursuit. "I'm calling the police!' she says, and does. Another lady was also videoing the whole episode on her cell phone. The Catalytic Converter must have been heavy because he drops it after some distance and again hides it and take off. Holly again finds the concealed converter."
The police show up a while later and tell her there's a lot of copper and metals in the thing, probably worth $600 on the street. It apparently took some time, maybe hours, to saw it from beneath her car. She was expected to be able to drive home without it. So far they hadn't caught the guy.
Jim expressed a sigh of relief that she was Okay, but was a bit worried about what could have happened to her. The majority of Facebook posts were overwhelmingly in support of her courage.
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After I posted the Bandon police report in my column last week, one which included an assault on Second Street, but with no information, I received a message from Brenda Wilson who rents the house where it took place, although she was not there at the time it occurred.
"Let me tell you how major this really is. The person/persons entered the house at about 2:30 a.m.. One of them had a sawed off shot gun. He demanded money. He hit a friend in the face with the gun and broke his nose. They walked away with over $3,000 in cash, a wallet with cards, many car keys, all of my friend's diabetic supplies and prescriptions. This is not a simple assault. It's a home invasion. Kind of hard to feel safe in my home. The icing on the cake is the man that got his nose broken and knocked to the ground is disabled," she said.
I hope to have more information about this for next week's column. I also urge people to support the city's ballot measure, which will bring the Transient Occupancy Tax up to what other coastal cities charge (with 30 percent going into the general fund which primarily funds the police department) and also to vote yes on the county's measure on the November ballot which will guarantee the opening of more jail beds. I don't have to tell you how serious the issue of crime is becoming in Coos County!
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The July rainfall was scant, with only .04 inches of rain recorded. The lowest amount for the same month in the last 17 years was .01 inches in 2018. The only time during those years that there was over an inch of rain in July was 2007 (1.05) and 2016 (1.12).
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
August 03, 2022
I continue to be fascinated with stories about our area more than a hundred years ago, and to realize just how much good roads meant to our pioneer forefathers. This week I will utilize all three of my photos to emphasize "What a Coast Road Would Mean For This Section," which was the headline of a Dec. 16, 1915, article in the Western World.
For years, Coos County had been advocating for a year-around highway from the mouth of the Columbia river to the California line, and it appeared that a solution might be worked out so that the federal government could share in the $7 million project. The plan was for the highway to be considered a coast defense highway to follow the shore line of the Pacific ocean from Puget sound to Mexico.
"To Coos and Curry counties the construction of a coast Highway means infinitely more than a means of defending our 300 miles of coast line from invasion by an enemy; it means a vast improvement in social and economic life of the rural districts and development of their resources. Primarily, lumbering is the leading industry of these two counties and will be for years to come, but as the timber line gradually recedes from the towns and cities that are now the center for the extensive logging and milling operations and new centers spring into existence, the present towns must look to the land for permanent support. Bandon, North Bend and Marshfield will always be the shipping centers for this part of the state because of their facilities for cheap transportation by water, provided they get into closer communication with the rural districts and the source of supply of the agricultural products which will eventually be more valuable than the timber."
Because the area is so isolated, "A man might as well take his family to a small island in mid-Pacific as onto a large portion of these ranches and homesteads. He could hardly be more effectively cut off from his fellow man and markets for his produce.
"Such life is a mere existence and its victims can hope for nothing else until these isolated districts are connected with the shipping points and markets by roads -- good roads that may be traveled the year around (by vehicles like photo one, which I found in the same issue of the paper)."
"The region of southern Coos and northern Curry counties presents a fair example of what the farmers and dairymen must face, even where they are situated along the roads leading to Bandon (the second photo shows what it was like driving north into the valley along the Umpqua River).
"Nine months in the year the roads are passable only to teams (like photo number three) hauling light loads and the haul of from 16 to 20 miles consumes an entire day. Five dollars is the average cost of transporting each ton of freight to Bandon, making the freight rate to San Francisco and Portland $8 and $8.50 respectively.
"With a hard surfaced road along this route it is estimated that auto trucks would cut the hauling cost to about one-tenth the present figure.
"Some of the families residing back in the hills are of necessity almost self supporting. Flour, salt and other foodstuffs and clothing which they cannot raise or make, must be transported for miles over narrow trails on pack animals. Children must be educated at home and many families are beyond reach of medical aid in times of sickness.
"A convincing instance of the isolation of some of these families is the case of a boy of 18 years old and his sister, aged 20, who were born and raised on a homestead several miles from the coast.
"In 1912 they saw their first automobile while on a visit to Port Orford and during the summer just past they saw an electric light and attended a moving picture show for the first time in their lives, at Bandon. Neither have ever seen a railroad train or a street car."
"The Coast Highway will be the main artery from which branch roads can be easily built to tap the rich inland sections. Such a road would not only develop the agricultural resources, but also the great amounts of valuable timber and the rich deposits of gold iron ore and coal of the inland country. The tie and matchwood timber alone in the inaccessible parts of the country is worth millions of dollars."
The article adds that because of a lack of roads, fewer tourists visit our beaches than those of any other sea coast state in the country.
"Only at three or four points is Oregon coast accessible to the motorist from the inland section of the state and to open to vacationists and tourists the paradise of our beaches would justify the expenditure of the sum necessary to construct the Coast Highway," said the article.
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Realizing how important the transient occupancy tax (TOT) is to the financial health of the City of Bandon, the council recently approved going to the voters at a special election Aug. 23 to raise the TOT from 6 cents to 9.5, which would bring Bandon in line with neighboring tourist communities including Coos Bay, North Bend and the Coquille Indian Tribe, all at 9.5 percent. The TOT is 10 percent in both Seaside and Tillamook.
An increase to 9.5 percent would yield an additional $400,000 to $500,000 per year for Bandon. By law 70 percent of those additional funds must be devoted to tourism promotion and tourism related facilities. Only 30 percent of the new money can go to general government purposes. The biggest expense in the general fund is the Bandon Police Department.
It is important to point out that because of Bandon's very low property tax (.46 cents a thousand), the city receives only about $200,000 in property tax revenue, but more than $600,000 in TOT dollars... none of which is paid by our local residents. This is just one opportunity for our visitors to help defray the costs to maintain tourist facilities, including the tourist information center.
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I had heard and read about pigeons decimating local blueberry crops, but until I read an item in Darcy Grahek's column this week, I did not realize that it was such a huge problem.
One local farmer posted that they had closed their farm because of the lack of berries caused by the birds.
Grahek said, "our South Coast farmers have been under siege by a local native bird called the band-tailed pigeon. Farmers have been challenged to keep the birds from devouring berries just as they are ripening for harvest or u-pick customers. Shooting off a shotgun will scare the flocks the away, but it is only a temporary measure. These farmers only get one crop a year from their plants so it is quite a hardship to lose berries to the birds. This is not a problem every year, why this year?"
Grahek pointed out that this time of year, the pigeons would be feasting on red elderberries, but because of a warm period that encouraged shrubs to bloom followed by a long cold period that kept the pollinators from showing up, the result was fewer blooms pollinated, thus less fruit.
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Although details are not available, the Bandon police report, posted in the World for July 19-25, ranged from two disturbance calls, a hit and run in the 60 block of 10th St SE, an overdose on Two Mile Lane, an assault at a Second Street address, four theft calls, a criminal trespass, a burglary in the 300 block of 11th Street SE, and a DUII.
I wish I had more information to share on some of these calls, but I don't.
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Two Bandon business people are on stage this summer with the Coquille Sawdust Theatre, including Melanie Collins and Dan Barnett.
Melanie is the emergency department nurse manager at Southern Coos Hospital and Health Center and she and her husband, Mike, own Lloyd's Cafe in Bandon and the Blue Moon Saloon in Coos Bay. She plays the villainess and will be on stage Aug. 13, 14 and 27 and Sept. 2.
Barnett, who owns Billy Smoothboars, has the role of the villain, and he will be on stage Aug. 5, 6 and 20, and on closing night, Sept. 3. All shows are at 7 p.m. and tickets are available at TIX.com or sawdusttheatre.com.
I've heard the show is great and I'm hoping to attend before the season ends.
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There are currently openings on the city's Housing Advisory Committee, Transportation Advisory Committee and the Committee for Citizen Involvement. The housing and transportation committees are temporary and will meet only a few times over the next year. The CCI will meet on a regular basis. People can fill out a form on line or pick one up at city hall.
"We encourage people to get involved," said City Manager Dan Chandler. "It is a great way to learn about your community and help direct our future."
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Just a reminder that the Bandon Library Friends are sponsoring a program Friday, Aug. 12, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Sprague Theater billed as an author talk with Mark Yaconelli, who wrote "Between The Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us."
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Saturday, Aug. 6, from noon to 4 p.m. at the high school gym, Bandon's History Museum will host the all-school reunion, which is being sponsored by Bandon Rain Hard Cider.
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For those of you who tuned into the Golf Channel on Friday and Saturday, volunteered or were a spectator, for the semi-final and championship rounds of the 74th U.S. Junior Amateur golf championship, I know you share in the pride we all feel as Bandon Dunes, who hosted the tournament, was showcased for the world and the nearly 900 people who were at the Resort as part of the event. I often watch the Golf Channel, but it is so special to realize that it is being filmed right here at home.
The champion was 17-year-old Wenyi Ding of the People's Republic of China, whose caddy was Wil Lozano, a Bandon Dunes caddie.
Previous columns by Mary Schamehorn
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