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VOL. 47, ISSUE 10

Cannon Beach Arts Association Celebrates “Honorary Artist of Oregon Day!”

Captain Robert Gray and the Columbia River

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FREE

MAY 12, 2023

CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM

The Tale of One Rock and Two Partners By ANGELA BENTON Friends of Haystack Rock Board Chair

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f you have been to Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach at low tide between February and November, you probably noticed a red truck and people with red jackets. Who the red jackets are remains a source of confusion and mystery among locals and visitors alike. Some call them Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP), some call them Friends of Haystack Rock (FOHR), and some call them volunteers. If you interacted with these folks you know they are Rocky Shore Interpreters. They are part of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) and are on the beach to educate visitors about Haystack Rock and the surrounding Marine Gardens. Their focus is to protect, through education, the ecosystem and species inhabiting the area. It all started way before 1985, when locals who loved the tide pools and Haystack Rock found themselves frequently answering questions from visitors about the marine life, tide pools, geology, and birds. They became concerned that as the area grew in popularity, it was at risk of being over-loved and ruined. In 1985, Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) was formed as a City of Cannon Beach sponsored program. HRAP had one part-time staff member, a shoestring budget, and was dependent on passionate volunteers to educate and protect at Haystack Rock. As the popularity of Haystack Rock and the Marine Gardens grew, the HRAP program had trouble keeping up with demand. The aging volunteers chose their hours with greater care, younger staff needed to work paying jobs, and coverage at Haystack Rock was a challenge. Again a group of concerned citizens stepped in. They formed a committee to explore the benefits of establishing a non-profit. They determined that a non-profit could raise money through donations and grants to provide equipment and financial support to the city program. In November, 2004 Friends of Haystack Rock (FOHR) was confirmed by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Fast forward to today and what you see on the beach is a robust Haystack Rock Awareness Program with a red truck, staff, and volunteers on the beach during low tides. HRAP is a program sponsored and funded by the City of Cannon Beach. The program is led by a program coordinator, an educational/volunteer coordinator, and a communications coordinator, with a team of part-time staff working on the beach. Trained volunteers assist the program staff during beach shifts. While the city provides the majority of the funding for the program, Friends of Haystack Rock, the non-profit, partners with HRAP and provides project-specific funding. Examples include funding for binoculars and spotting scopes, purchase of a new canopy system for the HRAP truck, and funding for a pilot program this past winter to provide staff on the beach during low tides. Friends of Haystack Rock (FOHR) has also evolved since its origin in 2004. FOHR is recognized as a Wildlife Refuge Friends organization, in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, since Haystack Rock is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The focus of FOHR now includes Haystack Rock, the health of the surrounding ecosystem, and

Spring Unveiled at Dragonfire Gallery in Cannon Beach! Blown Glass Garden Art by Artist Andrew Holmberg with family attending the event this evening…Music, food, smiles, and colorful blossoms of delight…

at-risk species such as Tufted Puffins. Guided by a volunteer Board of Directors and funded by donors, FOHR (the non-profit) engages with HRAP and other organizations including other north coast nonprofits, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The National Audubon Society, and Oregon State University. FOHR leads the “Protect Our Puffins” campaign, and provided funding for the West Coast Project Puffin including a Tufted Puffin Conservation Coordinator, in partnership with The National Audubon Society. While fundraising is an important part of the work of FOHR, engaging the community and visitors through outreach is also core to what they do. That outreach includes hosting Library Lectures during the winter, providing opportunities to see Tufted Puffins during “Puffin Watches” throughout the summer, participating in Farmers Markets, engaging in beach cleanups, providing educational materials, and engaging in issue based advocacy. We have concerned citizens to thank for the origin of both HRAP and FOHR, most notably Neal and Karen Maine. It is an outstanding example of the lasting impact passionate, concerned community members can have on the future. So next time you see the red truck and red jackets on the beach at Haystack Rock, think City of Cannon Beach Haystack Rock Awareness Program. Thanks to the City, HRAP staff, volunteers, and Friends of Haystack Rock who work together to protect this special place. Mystery solved.

Nature Inspires Art in Cannon Beach By DEB ATIYEH

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annon Beach was shaped by the vision of Maurie Clark, a Patron of the Arts, and his spirit lives on in many of the Galleries in Cannon Beach. Maurie brought his vision to life in Cannon Beach and today the Art community remains. As an artist, one is inspired by the profound beauty of nature that exists here. Nature connects us to the soul and Art expresses itself through quiet inspiration and reverence, like the feeling of wanting to paint the sky and the sea and write poetry. It is beyond words, and finding expression through Art abundantly manifests itself in Cannon Beach. Art and Nature attracts people from all over the world to come here to experience Nature, Art, Sea Life, and Haystack Rock; with days that end with the ever changing colors and beauty of the sunsets. It is a sacred place and people feel their inner significance when they spend time here. They leave with a feeling of revival like they have just been at a sanctuary that fulfilled their soul. Many do not want to leave

and liken it to their “happy place” or their “little bit of Heaven”. Here Art picks up where Nature ends and manifests in all sorts of colors. Art deepens the mystery of your inner world and brings one into the light of being in Cannon Beach... Walking on the beach, hiking in Ecola State Park, experiencing sea life and the Tufted Puffins at Haystack Rock is magical. Colorful starfish, endangered birds that perch on the rocks, eagles that soar in the sky, and elk that wander our streets awakens the imagination. It is why Cannon Beach is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world. Art in Cannon Beach is also part of that sacred experience. To walk through the wonderful galleries and contemplate the color, beauty, texture, sculptures, glass art and the light that is part of the Nature that they have just experienced here, makes one want to take it home with them so they remember just how special it was to be here and experience such wonder. To “Sea Art” in the ocean and sky one experiences infinity...

Cannon Beach, Tom McCall and the 1967 Oregon “Beach Bill” By BOB ATIYEH

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n the sunny Saturday morning of May 13th, 1967, several helicopters flew over Tillamook Head and landed on the beach just north of Haystack Rock. Out stepped Oregon Governor Tom McCall accompanied by an entourage of legislators, OSU oceanographers, surveyors and reporters. Cannon Beach had become the flash point in the debate over public access to the dry sand areas of Oregon’s beaches, and Cannon Beach was the second of his stops along the Oregon coast that day. Oregon House Highway Committee members were in a deadlock over House Bill 1601, known as “The Beach Bill”, and Governor McCall was trying to determine the best place “to draw a line in the sand” concerning the public’s right to use the dry sand areas, as well as alert Oregonians as to what was in danger of being lost. It all started in front of the Surfsand Motel in mid-town Cannon Beach during the previous summer SEE BEACH BILL PAGE A6


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