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North Coast
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February 24, 2022
Volume 28, No. 4
Hoffman Center announces March Gallery Show T
he Hoffman Center Gallery is pleased to bring in three artists who are showing at the gallery in March. Alana Garrigues, Susan Walsh and Rick Crawford works will be on display fro March 4-27 in the gallery and admission is free and open to the public. Alana Garrigues Alana Garrigues is an intuitive artist and poet, and co-host of {within} community, an online collective of female artists and makers. Her artwork is deeply informed by the nature of the Pacific Northwest and a sense of innate relationship between human story, memory, and art itself. Susan Walsh Two things inspired me to do this work. First and foremost, working with Master Cabinetmaker, James Krenov. His books and his teachings have inspired
my work throughout my career. The second inspiration was reading the book “Overstory” by Richard Powers. One of the main characters in the book is a majestic Redwood Tree. Rick Crawford Rick Crawford is a sculptor and jeweler in Astoria, Oregon.
He strives to utilize as much repurposed materials in his pieces as possible. His influences range from interests in the natural world, ancient history and archaeology, and ancient tribal iconography, as well as the various cultures that he encounters in his travels. Learn more about the March
artists at https://hoffmanarts. org/events/march-2022-galleryshow/ Hoffman Gallery March Open Friday through Sunday March 4-27 | 1-5 p.m. Free and open to the public Hoffman Center for the Arts | 594 Laneda Avenue | Manzanita
Seaside surfer has history on coastal waters
The religion of being in the water and the adrenaline of catching a wave Seaside Surf Legend, Josh Gizdavich
Ashley Tike
I
Staff Writer
f there’s a good ground swell with crystal-clear east winds and high tide is in the middle of the day you’ll probably find Seaside surf legend, Josh Gizdavich out catching some waves. Born in 1956 in Seaside, Oregon, Gizdavich has had a front-row seat as surfing has grown in popularity along the Oregon coast. “My older brother, who’s about 10 years older than me, was actually one of the original surfers here,” Gizdavich said. “In those days no one really surfed around here so my parents probably thought he was a little bit crazy,” he added. According to Gizdavich, in the 60s the surfers went out into the 50-degree ocean water without any gear to protect against the cold. They ordered custom boards from California and had
Gizdavich on the hood of his car checking the surf. very unique group of people back then, they were the pioneers of Oregon surfing. Marching to the beat of their own drum,” he said.
Gizdavich displays surfboards used in the 80s. Photos courtesy of Josh Gizdavich them shipped up on the train. “The surf community was a
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Gizdavich found his own inspiration to surf in 1969 while driving home from church on a winter day with his parents. “The ocean view was really pretty that day so we stopped and pulled into the surfers parking lot,” he said. The lot, which was often nearly empty in those days, was covered in a foot of snow. 13 year-old Gizdavich noticed a van parked in the lot; the doors opened up and three guys walked into the snow and out into the surf. “That was my inspiration, after seeing those guys, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he remembered. When Gizdavich was surfing
in the 70s in Seaside there were about 20 guys surfing and he personally knew every single one of them. “If we saw someone driving through town with a board on their car that we didn’t recognize, it was a big deal. We would pull over and ask them to come surf with us,” he said. Back then, it was rare for newcomers to surf the Oregon coast, so it was common for locals invite them to learn a new surf style and exchange surf stories. The surf culture today is completely different. “Nowadays, it’s gotten so busy I can barely find a spot to park,” said Gizdavich. “A lot of it is because the wetsuit technology is so good more people are willing to get in the cold water,” he added. Similar to fisherman and mushroom hunters, surfers are often protective of their territory and skeptical of newcomers. According to Gizdavich, good surfers spend their whole life learning the good spots, playing the surfer-ocean chess game. “I would travel hundreds of miles a day searching for the right place to be and when; and then the next day I would know exactly where to go back again,” he said. After dedicating your life to finding gold, would you openly share it? Growing up, Gizdavich never felt the need to formally compete in surf contests. “I competed everyday on a personal level, always trying to be a better surfer than I was the day before,” he said. “Competition isn’t my thing, it doesn’t feel soulful to me and I’m a soul surfer,” he said with a smile. Over the years Gizdavich has traveled the world surfing various international waves but when asked where the best surfing in the world is he said, “Definitely
Seaside,” without hesitation. Gizdavich opened Cleanline Surf Shop in 1980 and from the start it was pretty successful. “I spend my younger years surfing the coast from Canada all the way down to California and along the way I built relationships with other surfers and they trusted me,” he said. The Oregon coast surfers of the 80s were excited to finally have a shop where they can get surf gear from someone knowledgeable. The surf gear today looks nothing like what the guys were using in the 70s and 80s. According to the Cleanline founder, the old school surfers were great athletes using not-sogreat equipment but today’s surfers get the best of both worlds; great athletes using great equipment. The sport has changed and it’s a direct correlation to the advancement of the gear. “Personally I like the old school “soulful dancer” surf style versus the new ripping gymnastics style, but you really can’t deny these new guys are incredible,” he said. The ocean temperature is similar year round on the Oregon coast, it pretty much hovers around 50 degrees. For really experienced surfers, the winter surfing is what they wait for because the swells and the wind conditions are better. “In the wintertime you’d typically see surfers wearing a 5mm thick hooded wetsuit. O’Neill and Patagonia are solid brands but I think my own Cleanline wetsuits are the best,” said Gizdavich, the founder of Cleanline Surf Shop. Photos provided by Josh Gizdavich Comments: headlightreporter@countrymedia.net
Bringing Internet to underserved areas F
Ashley Tike Staff Writer
riday, February 18, the Tillamook Board of County Commissioners (BOCC), Tillamook Lightwave, Tillamook People’s Utility District (PUD) and the Port of Tillamook Bay met together to discuss how to finally bring Internet service to residents and businesses that don’t currently have access. County leaders have been talking about doing this for 20 years, at the meeting the groups came to a consensus on how to move forward. They plan to form an expert task force and assign them the goal of implementing a hybrid public/private fiber optic Internet system. Tillamook County Commissioner David Yamamoto said, “Fast affordable Internet is a necessity.” He added, “We have those who win and those who don’t win on this issue. The rural places are the losers and they are very far behind.” The pandemic has highlighted this issue like never before. With schools going online, parents without Internet at home found themselves parking near a school or a library to get connection for their children to learn. Worse yet, back in 2020, a reported 100 of the approximately 300 students at Liberty Elementary School didn’t receive any kind of education from the beginning of the school year until Christmas because one third of parents weren’t able to provide their child with access to the web. “This is going to be a long term, expensive project but it’s necessary, we have a solid fiber backbone across the county,” Yamamoto said. Samantha Goodwin, the broadband coordinator fellow at Tillamook County Board of Commissioners said, “Oregon Broadband Advisory Committee found that our rural communities have 5-years to get up to the level that we need, or else we are going to fall too far behind to be able to catch up.” So, how long will it take? There is a lot of federal money coming down the pipeline to fund these projects. Goodwin said, “I think they are going to be fast. The next 5 years is the obligation to get the funding out, of course everyone wants it now.” In addition to federal money, community leaders are applying for grant money that can supply 1,000 households that are currently un-served with reliable, fast and inexpensive Internet in the next year. “I think we could see money arrive in our community in about 2-years. As far as build-outs go, if we have the funds and personnel ready to go, barring any continued supply chain issues, they can lay a lot of miles of fiber in a day,” Goodwin said. Providing access to Internet gives a myriad of community benefits, some that wouldn’t initially come to mind. For instance, this could improve our healthcare system by providing reliable Internet to patients in home for virtual visits, people in rural emergency situations, access to doctors for those incarcerated and for those who yearn for mask-less conversations. In addition, these improvements will make advancements in the county economy by removing the digital divide and provide the option for high performing remote workers to live in more rural areas. In the past, local governments that have rolled out fiber, essentially stepping on the toes of the “big boys” like Spectrum and CenturyLink, has caused complications. The boards jointly decided they will work to figure out a hybrid “public/private” system. Yamamoto said, “Other counties have found a path forward, we will also find a path forward.” Comments : headlightreporter@ countrymedia.net