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Veterans Day in Tillamook
Cheesemakers State bid Ends in Scappoose
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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, November 18 | Vol. 137, Issue 46
Vets honored at Air Museum
Sammy’s Place prepares to break ground on Thompson Springs
WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
n recognition of Veterans Day on November 11, veterans and their families gathered at the Tillamook Air Museum for a complimentary breakfast and ceremony celebrating their service. At the ceremony, veterans were treated to music and speeches, with a special focus on service dogs, as Tillamook Air Museum Curator Christian Gurling shared the story of Spike, an English bulldog that lived at Naval Air Station Tillamook, and Marine veteran Kris Torrey shared his experience with service dog Gunner, who has helped him cope with PTSD. The ceremony kicked off at 11 a.m. with Tillamook County Veterans’ Services Officer Nick Torres welcoming the veterans and their families before a presentation of the colors. Each of the military branch’s service anthem was then played and veterans from each branch were invited to stand during their respective anthem. A prayer followed before a rock song performed by No Pros. Gurling then told the story of spike, a white English bulldog born in March 1941, whose master, aerial photographer Private First Class Phil Morley, took him to Fort Lewis, Washington, where Spike logged over 300 hours of flight time. Tragically, Morley died in a routine flight in October 1942, plunging Spike into a depression where he lost almost half his body weight. Morley’s parents retrieved Spike from Fort Lewis and returned with him to Forest Grove, hoping that familiar surroundings would lift his spirits. However, improvement only came when they gave Spike to the Marines at Naval Air Station Tillamook. “But what truly revived him wasn’t rest of comfort, it was duty,” Gurling said. “In June of 1943, Spike returned to service, this time at the Marine detachment right here at Naval Air Station Tillamook. Surround by Marines who understood loss, Spike thrived again. He
WILL CHAPPELL
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A color guard retires the colors at the end of the Veterans Day ceremony at the Tillamook Air Museum.
regained his strength, his appetite and his spirit, serving proudly as a member of the Marine Corps.” Spike took up residence in a small house next to the guard’s post at the main gate of the air station and was known by all the Marines on base. Eventually, Spike was recommended for promotion from private, with the note accompanying the recommendation reading, “his habits were generally good, he didn’t drink or use profanity, and he was never AWOL.” Unfortunately, on the same day his promotion came though, December 26, 1943, Spike was killed in a vehicle accident, being buried with full honors three days later. After Gurling told Spike’s story,
Torrey discussed his experience with Gunner and Paws Assisting Veterans, a charity dedicated to pairing veterans with service dogs. Torrey, who served in the Marines from 2001-2008 with stints in Iraq and Cuba, said that after leaving the service, he had struggled to cope with the lingering effects of PTSD, coming close to taking his own life. Then, in 2019, Torrey found Paws Assisting Veterans and was paired with Gunner, an 18-monthold golden retriever specially trained as a service dog after his personality was judged too friendly for work as a guide dog for the blind. Following a two-week training
Photo by Will Chappell
class with Gunner, Torrey said that his life has been transformed, with Gunner helping to ease nightmares by laying over Torrey, allowing the veteran to return to public life, joining the Masons, Shriners, Knights Templar and VFW. “The program itself has literally been a lifesaver,” Torrey said. Donovan Goff, commander of Tillamook VFW Post 47, then spoke saying that it was time for younger veterans like himself to step into larger leadership roles at the VFW and American Legion to relieve WWII and Vietnam Veterans. A second prayer was offered and “God Bless the USA” played, before the colors were retired and the ceremony concluded.
TELC and Headstart host Friendsgiving for students WILL CHAPPELL
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www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Headlight Editor
illamook Early Learning Center and Tillamook Head Start students were treated to a special Friendsgiving event on November 12, with Food Roots helping teach the students to prepare three dishes before they sampled them. The event included food from local producers and gave students an opportunity to learn about food preparation and locally sourced, healthy food options. At the event, Food Roots Executive Director Lindsay Ward, Tillamook Head Start Center Manager Hallie Edgmon and Tillamook Early Learning Center (TELC) Executive Director Vanessa Cham led students through the activities. Cham first read students a book to prepare them for the food preparation process, before they washed their hands and got down to business in the school’s cafeteria. Students were split into two groups, with a classroom from TELC and Head Start being paired to form each. In the cafeteria, students were split into three groups to rotate through stations to prepare the elements of their meal. At the first station, kids were asked to strip kale and spinach from their stems and rip them into bite sized pieces. At the second, Ward showed kids how to combine berry jam with vinegar and olive oil to create a vinaigrette dressing. And at the third, students were asked to mash cooked squashes. Several grants, including one from the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook, made the event possible and students’ parents were also invited
Students shaking their homemade dressing with guidance from Ward (center).
to participate. The greens and squash for the event came from Fawcett Creek Farms and Josi Farms, both of Tillamook, while the berry jam for the salad dressing was provided by Gingifer’s Kitchen out of Otis.
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After preparing the food, the kids enjoyed the fruits of their labor and at the end of the day were sent home with a bag full of supplies and an instruction sheet so they could repeat the activity at home.
Headlight Editor
ith millions of dollars raised, land use permission granted and permits for site work issued, Nehalem-based charity Sammy’s Place is set to begin construction on its Thompson Springs project as soon as weather allows. Sammy’s Place Board Member Kevin Shluka told the Headlight Herald that while fundraising will continue to help lower the cost of mortgages for future residents of the community, the team was eager to break ground on the project. “We’re excited to tell you that we’re on the cusp of breaking ground,” Shluka said, “it’s been a long, difficult journey and we’re there, and we’re super excited about that.” The journey towards building Thompson Springs began in 2019 when the Tillamook County government donated a piece of land on Thompson Lane in Nehalem to the nonprofit, which focuses on supporting those in the community with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). After Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality and the United States Environmental Protection Service donated staff time to remediate environmental concerns, planning began for a housing development on the site. What emerged was a plan to construct six one-bedroom and four two-bedroom homes that will be available for purchase at affordable levels, with five units designated for people with IDD. Eight of the units will be affordable to people making 80% of the area’s median income or less, while the final two units will be affordable to those making 120% of that figure or less. Fundraising in support of the project began this year and has progressed successfully, with almost $4 million already raised, with Oregon Housing and Community Services granting $1.8 million, the Fairview Trust $1.2 million and the KUNI foundation $840,000. With those funds secured and initial permitting complete, Sammy’s Place’s leadership and the project team decided to start construction while working to raise more money. “It’s a little bit of a complicated step-by-step process, but we are excited that we finally get to start really moving forward on that process,” Shluka said. “However, we still need to raise some money.” Thompson Springs is being constructed as a planned unit development, which will allow each of the ten dwellings to be individually sold to residents and requires the completion of site preparation work and platting before final construction approval. Shluka said that crews from Cove Built LLC will begin working on site improvements as soon as weather allows and aim to complete the work by See SAMMY’S, Page A3
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