As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
Dec 25, 2019
This week's rain, which has been a long time coming in a fairly dry year, made me think of stories of flooding that I read about in the December 26, 1940, issue of Western World. Ferry Creek, behind Chappell's Chevron, which can be seen at right, overflowed and flooded much of the downtown area.
Ferry Creek flood, 1940
At left you can see the Coquille Valley Dairy Co-op, and down the street is the Gilmore Service Station (now the home of Baja Imports). This was before the two-story building, now owned by Heidi Sause, was built between the cheese factory and the service station. West of the Standard station, which is now a vacant lot, you can see Coast Lumber Yard, another building which has been torn down and is replaced by a vacant gravel lot. Just west of the Coast Lumber Yard is the Southwestern Motors sales room (now the home of The Laurel).
In the article about the storm, a subhead reads: "Ferry Creek On Rampage."
Here's what the article had to say: "The work done in Bandon by the state highway department in changing the course of Ferry creek, opposite the creamery and back of the Geo. Chappell service station, will have to be done over as the flood waters washed out the rip-rapped banks of the creek and cut behind the bridges. The bridges have been torn out by the state crew and will be replaced after the creek channel has been deepened or widened to provide greater escape during flood periods."
The article went on to say that winds reached 65 miles an hour, but "the winds came in brief periods when the short gusts almost took on cyclonic aspects."
Among the places that received damage was the oil well installation east of Bandon, which I will talk about in a forthcoming column. "At the oil well it ripped off one side of the newly enclosed engine room adjoining the derrick and a pile of loose lumber nearby was scattered in all directions. Some of the pieces were found a half-mile away.
"At the Stephan bakery building (now Cranberry Sweets) it blew in two windows on the second floor."
I'm sharing the second photo, taken during a Great Decisions class at Bandon High School in 1958, because the teacher (in back), Lloyd "Gabe" Gabriel, turned 98 on Dec. 2.
Great Decisions class at Bandon High School, 1958
He was one of my favorite teachers, and I have kept in contact with him and his wife, Ruth, who taught home ec at BHS, all these years. Ruth is 92.
A couple of those in the picture still live in Bandon, including John Gamble, right front, and Joy Swenston Tiffany, top left in dark v-neck sweater. Between she and Mr. Gabriel is Kay Yockey. At left, from foreground, are Linda Sutherland, Jane Chappell, Judy Nuttbrock and barely visible, I think, is Judy Newman. Sitting next to Gamble are Gary Johnson, Butch Bohles, David Lorenz, Larry Chalfan and one of the Morris boys.
The third picture, probably taken about 1971, is of one of the greatest basketball players ever to suit up in a Tiger uniform, Bayard Forrest.
Bayard Forrest, 1971
I still remember when the Forrest family moved to Bandon ... as I had been keeping the official scorebook for the basketball team for several years, and the previous year I think we lost every league game.
We were playing at Reedsport, and I was at the scorer's table alongside the home scorekeeper Noel Aasen, who was shocked when I started crying. I said, "you don't know what it is like to finally win a game," which turned out to be the first of many wins during the Forrest era. I can tell you no one was happier than our well-loved coach Butch Neff.
Bayard, who was listed on the program as 6-9, could look extremely intimidating as he leaped into the air to dunk the ball as you can see by this picture. I think that is his younger brother, John, No. 44. His older brother, Truett, also played for the Tigers.
Bayard is married to the former Peggy Ward, and the Forrest families, which includes sister Dorothy, all have homes in Pagosa Springs, Colo.
An article in the May 11, 1972, Western World talks about Bayard signing a letter of intent.
"Bayard Forrest, Bandon's much-sought-after basketball star, revealed yesterday that he has signed a Letter of Intent to play for Grand Canyon College in Phoenix, Ariz." where his older brother, Truett, was a freshman.
Bayard rewrote local and state records, and I can tell you it was a fun time to be the official scorekeeper for the BHS basketball team...just one of my many volunteer jobs in those days.
Bayard was heavily sought after by Dick Harter, who coached the Oregon Ducks from 1971 to 1978, and was known for his smothering defensive unit, aptly named the "Kamikaze Kids." Because he knew of my association with the team and local sports, Dick took me out to dinner, hoping that I could help him recruit Bayard. But it wasn't to be.
* * *
Some of our constituents have publicly shamed us for trying to raise the utility rates. But I wonder what people would say if we didn't care enough about our utilities to protect them. Who would???
Among our many responsibilities, we were elected to make sure we provide safe drinking water, treat our raw sewage so it doesn't end up on the tidal flats and to ensure dependable electricity.
Please untie our hands .... so we can continue to do just that.
The council will be asking the voters in March for the authority to set our utility rates. As most of you know, an initiative petition was approved by voters in 1994 that prohibited the city from setting rates for its three utilities: electric, water and sewer. At that time, not only was our general property tax rate of 46 cents one of the lowest in the state (as it continues to be today), but our utility rates were already lower than most other utilities in the county even though we had set our own rates for years.
But in the ensuring years we have failed to keep up and as a result, we were unable to balance the water and sewer operating funds in the most recent budget. And that is why we decided to raise the rates enough to cover the deficit. We hoped that the community would understand. But a resident sued us and the court ruled in his favor. We are still faced with the daunting task of how to operate our utilities without the ability to set rates as do most other cities and utility districts in the country.
The ballot title that we approved last week has two clauses designed to assure our customers that we will not implement exorbitant rates: one is that the authority will sunset in three years (June 30, 2023), but more important, the charter will say that we are only authorized to set rates for similar categories of service for water, sewer and electric at a rate below the average of the utility rates for other cities and electric providers (Coos-Curry Electric and Pacific Power) in the county. The biggest, unspoken reason is that we councilors also pay the same utility rates.
We will be holding several public forum/workshops before the election. The public will be encouraged to come and ask questions. We hope you will support us!
Beating us up on Facebook does nothing to help us solve the problems of how to pay for our utilities, which belong to all of us!
Believe me, we so appreciate those of you who have reached out to us and pledged your support.
* * *
I was sorry to hear of the death of John Reichlein (Class of 1959) who died Dec. 19. He was married to the former Verlene Haga (Class of 1960). His brother Richard (Class of '63) died two years ago. His sister, MaryKay VanHooser said there will be a memorial service for John on Dec. 29 at the Greenacres Community Church, 93512 Green Acres Lane (between Coquille and Coos Bay).
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
Dec 18, 2019
While attending the Port of Bandon's Christmas dinner in the Marketplace building Thursday, it reminded me of some pictures in my collection of old photos which showed the building in a much different era.
The first picture was taken in December of 1966 as local women were busy picking crab.
Picking crab, 1966
The article that accompanied the photo explained that Bandon Seafood, which had been part of Bandon for many years, had recently been sold to Cape Fisheries of Port Orford.
"Graydon Stinnett, who owned the old market, is now one of four partners in the operation which includes the Port Orford seafood plant as well.
"Since the sale the Bandon plant has been enlarged and modernized for a modern seafood processing plant.
"Today, it is a full-fledged crab-picking operation, which, on Tuesday of this week, produced 1,400 pounds of crab meat for sale on the California market. That represents over 5,600 pounds of live crab ... and that's a lot of crab. The live crab is presently being purchased in ports such as Gold Beach, Port Orford, Brookings and Crescent City, and trucked to the Port Orford and Bandon plants for picking.
"The Bandon operation, which is daily gaining momentum, employs 27 women, three full-time men, one part-time man and two clean-up boys who work three hours daily.
"With seafood more and more in demand these days, the future of the plant can only be bright and continue to get better," said the article.
As we well know, the building now belongs to the Port, where spaces are rented to vendors two days a week for the Old Town Marketplace. The front north part of the building is leased to Lori and Barry Osborne, who own Farm & Sea fish market.
After seeing an article about the harvesting of razor clams being shut down in our area, I decided to share this picture taken in August of 1962 of two well-known Bandon men, John Conrad Sr., left, and Ray Bates digging clams on the mudflats west of the Bullards Bridge.
Digging clams, 1962
Another of the pictures in that series featured John Conrad Jr., who may be one of those digging at far right.
A press release from the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced this week the closure of commercial and recreational razor clam harvest along the entire Oregon Coast after high levels of domoic acid were found.
In addition harvesting mussels is closed in southern Oregon from the south jetty of the Coquille River in Bandon to the California border after high levels of the paralytic shellfish toxin were found during testing. Recreational harvest of bay clams and crabs remains open.
Before heading out, people are advised to check for the latest closure information by calling the ODA's shellfish safety hotline at 800-448-2474.
The third picture was taken in 1972 of Leisure Living By the Sea, which sold mobile homes, and was owned by Tom Campbell.
Leisure Living By the Sea, 1972
I had other photos in my collection but I could not remember for sure the exact location of the business until I saw this picture, which clearly shows Ocean Crest Elementary School at back right. Leisure Living was located about where the building which houses Bart Stein's Edward Jones business, Bree's and an office of Juul Insurance sits today.
* * *
The decision by Judge Stone last week overturning the rate increase, which was helping to fund the operation of the water and sewer departments, was disheartening to say the least.
This will have a tremendous impact on our financial situation. Water and sewer are enterprise (business) funds and like any business should pay for themselves. It was because of that shortfall that the city council felt compelled to raise the rates, and we hope that our customers will support our next attempt at returning rate-setting authority to the council.
If we can't get the voters to allow us to set our own utilities rates, as every other city in the country is able to do, we will have to look at cuts in those departments funded by the general fund. We may have to reduce the number of police officers and staff at the library. The Barn and the Sprague Theater are also funded by the city's general fund and could suffer.
This is the painful reality of our sewer and water funds not being self-supporting.
Many of those who have moved to Bandon in the last couple of decades may not be aware that an initiative petition, started by Bandon businessman Francis Stadelman, and approved by the voters in the mid-90s, added a restriction to the city's charter that prohibited the raising of rates for our utilities, without a vote of the people. We felt we were in an emergency situation; but Bandon resident Rob Taylor sued us and Judge Stone ruled against the City.
This ruling will not have any impact on the passing of the bond issue in November, which will provide the funding to upgrade and maintain the water and sewer systems ... but not to operate it.
I have heard people say that if the council were granted the right to set rates, which had been the norm for many years, that rates would skyrocket. I think you can see that the rate increase was not drastic, nor would it be as members of the city council don't want to pay exorbitant rates any more than our customers do.
I served on the city council from 1977 until 1986 at a time when the council set its own utility rates ... and we were still lower than Coos-Curry Electric, Pacific Power and other cities (water and sewer), and I have no reason to believe that would change.
Further crippling the financial situation is the fact that the city's general fund property tax rate is 46 cents a thousand, compared to others in Coos County which are much higher, including Myrtle Point City, with a rate of $7.99 a thousand. The city rate for Powers is $7.39; it's $6.36 for Coos Bay; $6.18 for North Bend and $6.10 for Coquille.
We receive more revenue from the Transient Occupancy Tax for the general fund than we do from property taxes.
* * *
The November rainfall of 3.05 inches was the lowest in the last 15 years. The next low was in 2013 when 3.74 inches were recorded. The high in those 15 years was in 2006 when we had 18.10 inches of rain.
I can still remember one November when we had 30 inches of rain in that month alone, but so far I have not determined what year that was. I know I will come across it one of these days as I go through old copies of the Western World.
* * *
I saw in the minutes of the Southern Coos Health District that Dr. Douglas Crane is purchasing the Rauschert building, just north of the hospital, and will open a clinic there. In other news from the hospital, Dr. Noel Pense is returning (or has already returned) to Arizona. He has served as the hospitalist for the district. His father also previously worked for the district as a surgeon, but he left some months ago.
* * *
I love to see how beautifully decorated our shops are for Christmas, and I just hope that as you finish your shopping, you will think of our local merchants.
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
Dec 11, 2019
The first picture I am sharing was taken over 60 years ago when Floras Lake was a thriving recreational site. This picture was taken in September of 1957 as boats line the bank for the speedboat races, sponsored by the North Curry Boat Club.
Speedboat races, Floras Lake, 1957
Several hundred spectators were there for the event. At left you can see the Floras Lake lodge, which was part of the resort.
Among those assisting with the race were Alma Deets (sister of Mary Capps); Jerry Boice (one of Mary's six brothers) and Dr. Donald B. Crane of Bandon, who served as the race doctor.
An article from 30 years earlier, in the Sept. 1, 1927, Western World, talks about improvements made by the owner, John R. Smith. The article says: "The popularity of the Floras Lake resort has increased materially during the past summer and is becoming widely known as a favorite stopping place.
"The lake is an ideal place for boating and swimming and the hotel and campground is well protected in all kinds of weather. Mr. Smith has just completed erecting another cottage ... which has two bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen with range and hot water tank, a shower bath and a wood shed. Mr. Smith now has hotel and cottage accommodations for 40 people."
The lodge and several of the cottages are visible in the picture.
I know the lodge is no longer there, but I am not sure if any of the cottages remain.
I am sharing the second picture, taken Dec. 30, 1960, at Davis Slough during the dedication of the Bandon-Davis Slough portion of Highway 101, because it is one of the photos from my collection that is being displayed at Robin Miller's law office.
Dedication of the Bandon-Davis Slough portion of Highway 101, 1960
Robin put together a fantastic display of photos, mostly taken by my uncle Lou Felsheim, which are part of the more than 30,000 negatives (from about 1955 through 1981) that I saved from being hauled out to the dump. For those of you who did not attend his Christmas open house Friday night, I know that he would love for people to stop by and look at the photos, most of which were taken between 1955 and the early '60s, and line the halls of his building.
In this picture, I am the cub reporter taking notes for the dedication article as state and local officials gather for the ceremony. The man to the left of me is chamber president Ralph Swenston. The man at the microphone is Bandon Mayor Eddie Waldrop, who joined the mayors from the other cities linked by the new highway. Later more than 100 people gathered in the Sunset Room at Lloyd's Cafe for a no-host luncheon.
Other locals in the picture include, to the right of me, Ernie Wehner (owner of the Wayside Motel), Max Howe (Standard Oil Co. dealer) and with his head bent, Robert G. Norton (owner of the Golden Rule department store).
"As the final surface of the highway will not be completed until next summer, Coos County Judge James Harrison urged that all motorists drive with care and use caution while traveling the new stretch of highway."
Bullards Bridge was completed in 1954 and replaced the Bullards Ferry, which had operated for many years. But it was not until six years later that Bandon people could travel Highway 101 to Coos Bay rather than having to travel the highway to Coquille, which is now 42S.
The third picture shows city manager, and former school superintendent, John Fasnacht during a tour of the water plant in July of 1967.
City manager John Fasnacht, 1967
The article that accompanied a series of pictures explained that the City of Bandon water department "is mostly responsible for a fire insurance reduction inside the city limits because of increased pressure."
The article goes on to say that the increased water pressure was made possible by replacing the old wooden water mains and installing more modern pipe in their place, with the work done by the city crew.
* * *
Bandon lost one of its best known native sons and dedicated public servants Thursday night with the death of Don Goddard, who celebrated his 96th birthday in June. Don was the longest-serving elected city official in Bandon, having served 24 years on the city council and later as mayor.
He continued to live alone at the home he and his late wife, Marge, shared for many years on Franklin Avenue. Marge died in October of 2006. Among his survivors are his son, Donny, and his daughter, Nancy Goddard Murphy, and their families.
I believe a Celebration of Life for Don will be held at the home of Donny and Anne Goddard later this month.
* * *
Business people and property owners in Salem and Eugene are fed up with the vandalism, drug dealing, feces and needles on the street and much of what is occurring in their communities as elected officials seem unable, or unwilling, to deal with the problems.
Two years ago, at a Salem City Council meeting, Salem Police Chief Jerry Moore spoke in favor of a proposed ordinance that would have outlawed daytime sitting and lying on city sidewalks. City councilors rejected the ordinance, and instead voted that the mayor establish a task force to study homelessness in downtown and North Salem... which had gotten steadily worse.
Chief Moore said the ordinance would have given police a reason to approach someone who is homeless. The first thing police would do is attempt to get the person in touch with services, he said. He described some of the homeless who have camped in the city as "very service-resistant." He said those people "don't want to follow rules" or go somewhere "they know they can't do drugs or drink or whatever."
He said people are tired of it. "And those are the complaints and the calls that we get all the time."
Many of the downtown Eugene business people have formed a group to try and get Eugene officials to address the problems that they face daily. One business owner said he had been repeatedly vandalized and burglarized.
Recently, after a multi-agency search through a residential neighborhood, a man was apprehended in an area where he had apparently gone to deal heroin. A resident was interviewed by KVAL, but would not show her face for fear of retaliation. She said drugs are dealt regularly in her neighborhood, but the only time police respond are when drug dealing causes traffic problems. She said that to her it appeared that no once cared about the drug dealing.
Just to get an idea of how unlivable she feels Eugene is becoming "for the ordinary citizen," she is moving back to Portland... where liberal politics have allowed riots to become commonplace on the downtown streets.
* * *
The Gorse Action Group is presenting a special "Bandon Fire Awareness Night" program on Wednesday, Dec. 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sprague room at the library in City Park.
"Come learn about the science behind catastrophic fires and what we can do as a community to prevent fire and be better prepared should a quick moving fire knock at our doors," said a GAG spokesman.
* * *
I saw an interesting article in the Salem paper last week concerning the conviction of the former Oregon State Sheriff's Association executive director ...who happens to be the former sheriff of Curry County, John Bishop.
The 57-year-old man was sentenced to two years probation for embezzling more than $13,000 from the organization. Much of the equipment that he charged to the Association's credit card was for the Regis High School football team ... which he coaches.
Investigators said that Bishop was suspected of committing 17 thefts and computer crimes from 2017 to 2019.
As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn
Dec 04, 2019
The first picture I am sharing this week was taken in October of 1971 when a fully loaded chip truck broke through the Moore Mill & Lumber Co. dock.
Moore Mill & Lumber Co. dock, 1971
The dual wheels of the chip truck broke through the planking in front of the mill office. Walt Miller, mill owner, estimated that damage to the dock would cover an area of about 12x20 feet.
"By presstime Wednesday, the truck still remained with its duals hanging over the water.... and Miller said Monday that it would probably be necessary to remove the chip cargo before the truck could be lifted out of the hole," according to an article in Western World.
I worked in the mill office for 6 months before going to work at Western World as news editor in February of 1959 after deciding I probably was not cut out to be a payroll clerk.
The second picture was taken during the Fourth of July celebration in City Park in 1961.
Pie-eating contest, 1961
Pie-eating contest winners were, from left, Jeff Hess, third; Billy Burgher, first; and Cary Baker, second. During the day, over 600 fish and chip dinners were served by the Bandon Chamber of Commerce. Chairman Bob Schultz and chamber president R.L. "Rollie" Parks said the festival was successful in every way except financially. It seemed that they had prepared for 1,000 people, and ended up being $400 to $500 short of making expenses.
The third picture was taken in 1973 of Bob Elliott, owner of Bob's Shell Service.
Bob's Shell Service, 1973
I wondered what my reason was for taking the photo, and I discovered a rather lengthy article about it in the May 17, 1973, issue of Western World concerning the major gas shortage that was sweeping the country.
I had interviewed most of the service stations in Bandon, including several of the independent stations. I interviewed Gordon Texley, who had just built a new independent station about six months prior to the article, who felt that the shortage was artificial, and a power play by the big oil companies to "squeeze out the little guy." He told WW that he would have gas, but the shortage was forcing him to raise his prices from 31.9 cents for regular to 37.9.
Elliott, who represented one of the area's largest dealers, Shell Oil Company, said he had not been served notice of a pending shortage. "Shell doesn't sell to independents so their prices should remain more stable," Elliott said. Shell's pump price was 39.9 for regular and 43.9 for super.
Standard Oil had advised local dealer Don Goddard that he could not take on any new fuel customers.
According to the article, "Jack Chappell, owner of Chappell's Chevron Station, learned this week that he would now receive gas on a quota basis."
Jack Paulsen, owner of Jack's Phillips 66 station, said he had not received any notice about a price increase, "but I personally don't believe gas is going to be any 50 or 60 cents a gallon .... but I think it will raise a cent or two."
I definitely remember cars backing up the highway hill going north out of town as drivers tried to get into Chappell's, which was directly across from what is now the Face Rock Creamery, and next to the driveway that I had to access to get to my house. When I would try to ease my way through the wall of cars to get to my house, drivers thought I was trying to cut into the line. It was a real mess.
* * *
Will Bailey of Bandon, who was a member of the Coos County Weed Control Board and a dedicated volunteer in Bandon's efforts at controlling the spread of gorse, has sold his home, and he and his wife are moving to Eugene.
Last week he sent an email to acknowledge the tremendous work that ODOT, along with the Shutter Creek crews, are doing to remove all the mature gorse along the highway.
"This will greatly reduce the spread of gorse seed along this stretch of road. If this can be followed up next summer with herbicide spraying of the re-sprouts and new seedlings, this will go a long way toward eliminating this major vector of gorse seed spread north of Bandon.. Great work and many thanks!!!," he added.
Tim Lollar of ODOT responded by saying: "Rest assured, ODOT will be spraying sprouts next year! It is my goal to remove that ugly eye sore and stop it where it stands between 254.4 and 260 on ODOT right away."
Will Bailey will be hard to replace, and I hate to see him leave the community.
I also credit Will with introducing me to Knotweed, which is another very invasive species that is hard to control and even harder to kill.
* * *
After the wonderful weather (well, with the exception of last Tuesday's storm) we have had in November, including a beautiful Thanksgiving day, an icy rain fell Saturday evening during the lighting of the Christmas tree. But it didn't stop hundreds of people, many with children who wanted to see Santa, from lining the streets of Old Town and the adults from enjoying the Nog Walk.
The weather man had been telling us for several days to expect rain Saturday afternoon ... and he was right. But, after all, we need to remember this is winter.
* * *
A big crowd was on hand Friday afternoon to honor long-time museum supporter Mary Capps, who recently celebrated her 95th birthday. Not long after her August birthday, Mary fell and broke her hip. But she's as "good as new" now and instead of spending the afternoon on a comfortable chair at the table that we (museum board) provided for her, she preferred to circulate through the crowd.
She's an inspiration for all of us!
The inscription on the beautiful cake said it all: "Thank You Mary."
* * *
I have learned that for drivers who may be wondering about conditions on Beaver Hill north of Bandon, all they have to do is go to ODOT.com and click on the Beaver Hill camera.
I understand the camera is now back on line and can provide a real service for a stretch of Highway 101 that can be pretty icy in bad weather.
* * *
I've often heard people say that they felt one of the earthquakes that periodically hit off the southern Oregon Coast, but personally I had never felt one .... until Friday night. At exactly 5:45 p.m., the computer chair in which I was sitting began to move.
Wow, I thought, that must have been an earthquake. I immediately went to Facebook and sure enough, the first thing I saw was "EARTHQUAKE" in big blue letters.
The US Geological Survey said the 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck Port Orford, with its epicenter about two miles inland. No damage was reported but plenty of people felt it.
Previous columns by Mary Schamehorn
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