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Tillamook Lions Totem
Pearl & Oyster Festival Photos Page B2
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Headlight Herald
Tuesday, August 26, 2025 | Vol. 137, Issue 34
$2.00
www.TillamookHeadlightHerald.com
Pearl & Oyster Music Festival Headlight photo/Will Chappell
A front-end loader at the secondary staging area near the jetty’s trunk with stockpiled stones.
Stone placement resumes at south jetty
Headlight photo/Will Chappell
Grande Royale performs at the Pearl and Oyster Festival on Saturday afternoon. More festival photos page B2.
WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
rews from Trade West began placing stones near the head of the south jetty at the entrance to Tillamook Bay in the second week of August, after working to stockpile stones since last fall. Originally scheduled as a threeyear project but eventually contracted for completion in two, workers are now pushing to complete the 800-foot section before high tides shut down operations at some point in October, though they are unsure if that will be possible. The repair of the south jetty began last year, with Trade West first spending months preparing the area at Bay Ocean County Park between Kincheloe Point and the root of the South Jetty to support the repair. This included the repair of an existing road and the construction of a new segment so that it could serve as a haul road for transport trucks between the offload point at Kincheloe and the Jetty. Crews also cleared a ten-acre site at the base of the jetty to serve as a secondary staging area for rocks. After completing preparatory work, stone placement began in June of last year, with crews completing the 600-foot section of the jetty with around 5,500 tons of rock placed by September. Since completing that section last fall, work had shifted into lower gear, with workers transporting stones from the Port of Garibaldi to the secondary staging area near the jetty’s base, creating a large See JETTY, Page A3
Staff REPORT
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eautiful weather set the stage for a weekend packed with music and family fun at the fourth annual Pearl and Oyster festival on August 23 and 24. On Saturday, bands played for eight hours as festivalgoers enjoyed vendors and food, while on Sunday kids took center stage with a talent show, kid vendors and pet parade.
The Music kicked off in Al Griffin Memorial Park on Saturday with Tombstone Shadows, a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band performing., before Beastie Boys tribute Grand Royale played a second afternoon set and Eagle Eyes finished the night with favorites from the Eagles. Dozens of vendors set up on A and 4th Streets selling crafts and food across the weekend and on Sunday a local kids’ band performed ahead of the talent show.
Cape Meares Lighthouse turns 135 WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
n August 16, the Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse and other community organizations welcomed the public to a celebration of the lighthouse’s 135th birthday. Staff from Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Tillamook Pioneer Museum, and volunteers from the Tillamook Master Gardeners, Garibaldi Cultural Initiative and Friends of Netarts Bay Watershed, Estuary, Beach and Sea offered activities and tours of the lighthouse during the event. Travis Korbe, Park Ranger and Supervisor with the Cape Lookout Management Unit of OPRD, led tours of the lighthouse, giving its history and treating visitors to an in-depth look at the building and beacon. Originally opened in 1890, Cape Meares Lighthouse is the shortest of 15 on the Oregon coast at 38 feet but sits at the highest elevation. Oregon’s lighthouses were installed to aid marine navigation, as boats in sight of the shore would always be able to see one of the beacons and identify it by a unique light pattern to determine their location. Cape Meares Lighthouse was constructed from bricks mined onsite and plated with iron for weather reinforcement. It originally used kerosene to light its beacon and a manual winding mechanism, similar to a clock, to rotate the light, before a diesel generator was installed in the 1930s to power the light and an engine to turn it. The lighthouse was operated by two keepers working twelvehour shifts, with the day shift
Headlight photos/Will Chappell
Korbe discusses the lighthouse’s history with a tour group. (Bottom) Korbe explains how the beacon’s turning mechanism used to work.
dedicated to cleaning and night to maintaining the light and rewinding the turning mechanism. The site remained primitive throughout the lighthouse’s operations with the road accessing the site not paved and electricity not added until after the lighthouse’s decommissioning. Originally operated by the United States Lighthouse Service, the lighthouse eventually ended up under the purview of the United States Coast Guard after the lighthouse service was folded into
the guard in 1939 in the leadup to World War II. Operations continued at the lighthouse until 1963, at which point the facility was decommissioned and replaced by a beacon on top of the building that previously housed the lighthouse’s diesel See TURNS, Page A3
Wharton resigns as south county school super WILL CHAPPELL
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Headlight Editor
estucca Valley School District Superintendent Misty Wharton resigned, effective immediately, at the district board of director’s August 18 meeting. Wharton’s departure comes after eight years in the role and 24 with the district, from which she also graduated. The board will meet to identify a Misty Wharton replacement this week. In a letter dated August 19, Wharton thanked the community, staff and students for their support, while declining to elaborate further on the reasons for her departure. “This decision was not made lightly, and it comes with a profound sense of appreciation for the years I’ve spent serving this incredible community,” Wharton wrote. Wharton, who grew up in south Tillamook County and graduated from Nestucca High School, became superintendent on an interim basis in January 2017 after the resignation of her predecessor David Phelps, assuming the role on a permanent basis in June 2018. Previously, Wharton had served as principal of Nestucca Valley Elementary School, after teaching at Nestucca Valley High School for nine years. In addition to her superintendent duties, Wharton also served on the board for the Oregon School Activities Association and was recently named to the board of directors for the National Federation of State High School Associations. Wharton shepherded the district through the coronavirus pandemic but in recent years had been criticized by vocal community members over issues of trans youth participating in sports, the criminal convictions of former district staff and alleged incidents of mishandling of situations with students. Board Member Kayla Cole sent an emailed statement to the Headlight Herald on behalf of the board, reading, in part, “while we are sad to see Wharton go, we respect and support her decision and wish her best in her endeavors. The board is committed to ensuring a smooth transition in the coming weeks.”
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