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Friday, November 1, 2024 | Vol. 48, Issue 11
www.cannonbeachgazette.com
A citizen, a hero
Cannon Beach Police get assist with arrest PIERCE BAUGH V for the Gazette
The Anagama kiln during the firing process.
Clatsop potters support local domestic violence centers with artisan bowls WILL CHAPPELL Gazette Editor
For more than twenty years, a group of Clatsop County potters have crafted thousands of bowls to support The Harbor in Astoria and Tides of Change in Tillamook in their missions of outreach to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Over five days in Octo-
ber, volunteers stoked an enormous kiln buried deep in a forested hillside, and on October 26, more than a hundred people gathered at Pacific Restaurant in Tillamook for Tides of Change’s Soup Bowl event. “It’s the idea of working together, collaboration, because if you get good people working together you can do
anything,” said Richard Rowland, the potter who coordinates the bowls’ production on his property outside Astoria. Rowland has a long history in Clatsop County, having purchased the property from a timber company following a clearcut in the 1970s, when he was teaching pottery at Clatsop Community College.
Rowland built his first Anagama kiln on the property in the early 1980s, bringing the medieval Japanese pottery technique to Oregon for the first time. Anagama kilns are wood fired and require constant stoking for five days to a week to give pieces a unique finish thanks to the variance in the fire’s heat and intensity in different parts
of the kiln. The kiln, nicknamed the dragon kiln, became an asset for the local pottery community, with Rowland offering free use, as long as artists participated in the long and physically intensive stoking process, which usually occurs twice or thrice annually. Rowland began See POTTERS, Page A2
Many live in and visit Cannon Beach for its tranquility. The ocean, the art, the giant rock jetting out of the beach all make this a place sought after for relaxation. But just because Cannon Beach is a peacelovers’ paradise doesn’t mean that the occasional incident doesn’t happen, like on September 26th. Cannon Beach Police Chief Rob Schulz received a call around 9 a.m. about an alleged shoplifter at the Mariner Market, reportedly stealing beer and a hat among other items. Chief Schulz, who was working solo that day, went to the location but couldn’t find a person who matched the description. Close to 11 a.m., Chief Schulz received another call. Someone had allegedly tried to enter a vehicle by climbing through the open passenger door window while the car was driving downtown. The description given for the man matched the description of the man who stole from Mariner Market. Chief Schulz went back See ARREST, Page A2
Council candidates Achieving a dream participate in forum Longtime proprietor purchases Lazy Susan Café building WILL CHAPPELL Gazette Editor
PIERCE BAUGH V for the Gazette
When patrons walk into the Lazy Susan Café, Rosa Alvarez greets them with a warm smile. It’s the smile of someone who has achieved their dream, in this case owning not just the Lazy Susan Café but the building where it is located as well. “It’s my dream,” Alvarez said of her acquisition of the Lazy Susan and the building that has housed it since it opened in the 1970s, adding that she had not imagined it would be possible to achieve. Alvarez emigrated from Mexico in 1995. Seeking small-town charm and a cooler climate, she ended up on the northern Oregon Coast. That same year she started working at the Lazy Susan as a dishwasher. She eventually transitioned into the kitchen before buying the business in July of 2007. Though the café might be named Lazy Susan, there’s nothing lazy about Alvarez who arrives at three in the morning to bake and prepare to treat patrons to customer favorites like gingerbread waffles, ham and cheese omelets, and Mediterranean Seafood Stew. And after a long day at the café, she comes home and works on the books. See CAFÉ, Page A8
Rosa Alvarez outside the Lazy Susan Café in 2023.
PHOTO BY DEB ATIYEH
Three candidates vying for two open positions on Cannon Beach’s City Council participated in a forum hosted at the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce on October 18. Mike Bates, Deanna Hammond and Erik Ostrander responded to questions from former State Representative Deborah Boone at the event hosted by Cannon Beach Together. Bates said that he hailed from the Great Basin and that he had been compelled to move after finding that the community’s trees spoke to him. Bates said that he had spent half his time in Cannon Beach understanding what they were saying to him and the other half figuring out what it means. Bates currently serves on the city’s planning commission and said that he was motivated to run because he felt an obligation to give back to the community. Bates said that he wanted to see the city look at expanding housing options in downtown Cannon Beach, especially multifamily units. Bates said that he thought the community needed to have a conversation about instituting paid parking downtown and stop shortterm rentals from being located in new construction.
Regarding the Cannon Beach Elementary rejuvenation project, Bates said that he understood the reasons that the project’s budget has grown significantly and still supported it. He said that while he was glad citizens were voting on the project, it was the least important issue facing the city. Hammond owns the Cannon Beach Bakery with her husband and had a background as a financial controller prior to that. Hammond said that she was running for the council because she felt that businesses needed to have a voice in the community, and she doesn’t feel that is currently happening. Hammond said that she thought the shortage of housing options for area businesses was a major point of concern. She said that she would bring knowledge from her previous work experience to bear on addressing it, including by looking at the possibility of building at the city-owned Southwind property and applying for state funding. Hammond also spoke forcefully in favor of the city’s tourist economy, arguing that without tourists, transient lodging tax revenues would dry up, property taxes would only go so far and eventually the town would go away. She said that there had See CANDIDATES, Page A2