V33 N3/4 Storm on the Columbia

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Fall 2007 Vol.33, No.3-4

A review and newsletter from the Columbia River Maritime Museum, Astoria, Oregon

From the Wheelhouse This has been a year of great accomplishments for the Museum and as I reflect back on what we have accomplished I cannot help but share some of these achievements with you.

The Museum was honored to be the first Maritime Museum in the nation to host the stunning traveling exhibit Map-

ping the Pacific Coast: From Coronado to Lewis and Clark, The Quivira Collection.

If you have not taken the opportunity to view this exhibit you are missing a world class display of charts and the earliest maps produced of the coast of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. There is an audio tour available for the exhibit (which is free with your membership) that features narration and storytelling by the collector, Henry Wendt. This is a very enjoyable way to tour the exhibit. Make plans to visit soon; as the exhibit will close at the end of February.

This summer we also completed our longtime goal to extend our parking facilities a full city block to the east of the Museum. Doubling our parking capacity certainly helps the Museum during the peak summer season and will ensure the Museum stays healthy long into the future. One of the educational features of our new parking lot is the incorporation of a bioswale, which captures all the storm runoff from the lot. This added feature prevents pollution from entering the river, and places our institution in a stewardship

role.

The Museum has also made great strides on the renovation of our collecThe QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

tions storage facility, including the installation of two new high-efficiency gas furnaces. The old Oregon National Guard Armory building provides us with over 40,000 square feet of storage space for our world-class collections, which are now the second largest maritime collection on the entire West Coast, also something of which we can be proud.

Few things are as important to the health of a private non-profit Museum as its attendance. I have the great privilege to announce that this year, for the first time in our 45-year history, the Museum had over 110,000 people come through our door. This is an amazing number of visitors for a town with a population of 10,000 and brings credit to the whole community. This is an accomplishment decades in the making and a notable benchmark of success.

With the rush of the holiday season already upon us, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your steadfast support. None of these many accomplishments would have happened without the dedication and support from our members. I wish you safe holidays and a great new year.

Jerry Ostermiller President

Afterguard Thomas V. Dulcich, Chairman David W. Phillips, Vice Chairman Capt. Thron Riggs, Secretary Shelley Wendt, Treasurer Donald Magnusen, Immediate Past Chairman Ward Cook, Advisor George F. Beall, Advisor Jerry L. Ostermiller, President Board of Trustees Diane Beeston Peter Brix* Bruce Buckmaster Richard T. Carruthers * Dave Christensen Dale Farr Fred Fields Cheri Folk Walter Gadsby, Jr. Alan C. Goudy * W. Dennis Hall E.H. (Ted) Halton, Jr. Jonathan Harms John Hart Don M. Haskell Senator Mark Hatfield * Senator Betsy Johnson Dr. Russell Keizer S. Kenneth Kim W. Louis Larson Capt. Rod Leland Robert Lovell James McClaskey John McGowan * Prudence M. Miller Larry Perkins H. Roger Qualman Peter Quinn Hugh Seppa Mike Sorkki June Spence Ambassador Charles V. Swindells Willis Van Dusen Samuel Wheeler Bill Wyatt

On the Cover: Museum Curator David Pearson took this photo of the Columbia River from the Museum on a crisp winter morning last year.

* Trustee Emeritus

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From the Archives In a continuation of our series we have selected an article that we feel would be of interest to our readers from the Museum s Research Library.

Tug Chinook holding the 76,000 ton Pierre Victory in check after a fierce winter storm just below Longview.

Photo by Paul Gillem

Storm On the Columbia

by Paul H. Gillem Reprinted from Ships and Sailing, The Popular Magazine of Ships and the Sea. July 1951 Volume 1 1951-1952.

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It was 5:30 on the morning of December 11, 1950. A cold wind knifed over the waters of the broad Columbia River, the picturesque stream that for over 300 miles carves a rugged boundary between the two Pacific Coast states of Oregon and Washington. Huge whitecaps swept the quarter-mile width of river and slapped angrily against the sandy tip of Cottonwood Island, a low-lying wooded patch of land that hugs the Washington shore 50 miles below the city of Portland.

Rain slatted in sudden gusts across the water and enveloped the island and the channel lights in an obscuring haze of mist and spray.

In the river just abeam of the island, the 160-foot stemwheeler Henderson and two other vessels rolled in the cross-

chop. On the port quarter, fighting to hold her head into the channel where it sweeps close inshore, the Shaver Transportation Company's steel tug Chinook kept a taut line on the decommissioned steamer Pierre Victory, while, carrying a double crew of twelve-ten men and two women cooks-Captain Sidney J. Harris' stemwheeler chuffed along on the starboard quarter, her blunt bow nosing against the steamer's stem plates. The three vessels had left Portland at midnight and were bound for the Cathlamet Bay moorage near Astoria, Oregon, where the 76,000ton Victory ship was to be mothballed and added to the reserve fleet. Battered and buffeted by the high winds that shrieked through the lower Columbia Gorge, they had wallowed their way downriver all The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

Captain Sidney J. (Happy) Harris at the wheel of the Henderson . "You can't beat an old-timer like her," he says. "They built them to last in those days."

Photo by Paul Gillem

night, finally arriving off the island in the predawn darkness of the winter morning.

At the wheel of the Henderson the pilot of the watch, Don Weik, peered vigilantly ahead through the murky, streaming night. A few miles downstream the lights of the town of Longview, Washington, blinked sleepily on the starboard bow, and unseen in the darkness to port, the fir forests of the Oregon shore rocked in the wind, sending back a roar that could be heard above the whistling gusts in the channel. It was a rough time to be on the river, and the powerful throb of the Henderson's engines was comforting as the wind mounted, smashing at the little flotilla like a steel maul in the hands of an invisible giant. Pilot Weik shifted his gaze, his eyes probing the darkness to starboard. As he made out the low mass of Cottonwood Island it suddenly seemed close-dangerously close.

Just then the inter-boat telephone The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

jangled sharply. Answering, Weik heard the voice of the pilot in charge on the Pierre Victory. "Range light ahead." The pilot paused. "She's getting hard to hold in this current," he said quietly. "Give her half left rudder before we begin picking gravel out of the seat of our pants."

"Half left rudder," Weik acknowledged.

The phone was silent then, and the quiet in the Henderson's wheelhouse was broken only by the howling of the wind and the incessant rattle of rain against the windows as the flotilla veered slightly, quartering into the current toward midchannel.

But the big steamer was hard to handle, was slow to respond to the combined efforts of the work vessels to tum her; and again an order crackled on the phone.

"Hard left!"

As the Pierre Victory's massive bulk came slowly into the wind, Weik swung

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The pride of the Shaver Transportation Company fleet, Henderson was one of the giants from the age of stemwheelers on the Colmbia River.

Henderson was launched in 1912 from the Portland Shipbuilding Company with a locomotive boiler for power. In 1929 her engines were converted to a tandem compound steam engine with the addition of low pressure cylinders.

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the stemwheeler and boosted gently on the ship's starboard side, feeling the urging of the Chinook as the tow lines tautened and strained against the weight of the "dead" Victory ship. The steamer staggered as the full force of the gale caught her on the port beam and swung her in the channel. But in response to Weik's ring the Henderson's engines coughed softly and her paddles bit harder into the rushing current. For a moment the Pierre Victory lunged with all her stubborn weight against the creaking fenders at her side, then reluctantly, with the Chinook steadying her, she yielded and came slowly about, in line with the channel.

Weik grunted in satisfaction. "That's better," he said. "I don't-" His words were cut short by a startled yell from up forward. A gust of hurricane force slammed suddenly against the flotilla and clawed at it, heeling the

Henderson over so that her main deck dipped into a trough between the hissing whitecaps. A deck hand slipped and went down in a heap, grabbing at the sloping deck with bare fingers to keep from going overboard. From the promenade deck a crash of broken crockery mingled with the shouts of the men as dishes and pots and pans flew across the galley.

Weik's voice cut through the confusion on the main deck. "Slack!" he bawled.

"Slack off those lines, dammit!"

The inch-and-a-half wire towing lines to the Pierre Victory's deck were vibrating under the strain like over-pitched fiddle strings. For a fleeting second they held, rigid as steel bars. Then, as slack was hurriedly paid out by the men on the steamer, they sagged, trailing loosely in the black millrace of water between the two vessels.

Captain Harris appeared beside Weik as he spun the Henderson's wheel hard left and rang for additional speed. The skipThe QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

Henderson making full steam on the Columbia River during the famed race against the steamer Portland in 1952. It was reported her stern wheel was turning close to 30 revolutions a minute.

Henderson was cast as the River Queen in the namesake movie. James Stewart and the cast of'l'he River Queen were on board for the race.

Henderson won the race.

CRMMPhoto

per had awakened at the first indication of trouble, and now his experienced eye took in the situation at a glance. The flotilla had been blown far off course, was perilously near the brushy shore of Cottonwood Island; and wind and current were sweeping it closer by the second. But the beat of the stemwheeler's 38-year-old engines suddenly increased in tempo as, down below, the throttle bar was jammed to full speed; white water boiled beneath her churning paddles as she came about and slowly began nudging the Victory ship away from the threat of danger.

Then, with a crash that shook the old stemwheeler from keel to pilothouse, complete disaster struck. The submerged remnants of an uncharted and long-forgotten jetty that fingered out from the center of the island had impaled the Henderson, was ripping her heart out on its jagged, water-soaked pilings.

Staggered by the impact of the colliThe QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

sion, Harris clutched at a window ledge to keep from falling. He felt a shudder run through the boat as she hung for a moment, motionless. Then as the momentum of the steamer caught her, she was jerked forward and dragged across the sunken jetty, the saw-toothed pilings driving deeper into her belly with every sickening lurch. Dazed and shaken, Harris grabbed for the wheel as she slid free and, reeling like a wounded animal, clawed painfully away from the thing that stabbed her.

She was still afloat, but her hurt seemed mortal; she was listing badly, and within seconds her main deck was shipping water and she began to settle rapidly by the head.

Reports-all of them bad-poured in on Captain Harris as he and the pilot struggled to maintain steerageway in the powerful current. The main deck was awash and the boat was listing so sharply that compartment doors were jammed;

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The 77-foot Chinook was built in 1946 by Nichols Boat Works in Hood River for the Shaver Transportation Company. She was powered with a 300hp Atlas diesel.

In 1955 she would be re-powered with a 930hp engine salvaged from a minesweeper, making her the most powerful tug of her kind on the Columbia.

CRMMPhoto

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men off watch had to batter their way to the safety of the open decks. Then the fireman of the watch, Ray Lisenby, reported the engine room flooding, the fire under the boiler secured. There was small doubt in Harris' mind then but that his boat was doomed, that it was sinking in 60 feet of channel water with the nearest safe beach more than a mile downstream.

Under the circumstances, Harris faced a difficult decision; his primary concern was for the safety of his crew, but a secondary responsibility required that his employers' property be salvaged if at all possible. Two courses of action were open to him, both of them hazardous. He could abandon ship and leave the Henderson to founder in midstream or he could try to make it to a narrow sandspit that reached out to the channel's edge, a mile downstream. Once there it might be possible to beach the boat in shallow water and save her from complete destruction.

He weighed the factors carefully and made up his mind. "Ready the small boats," he told the crew. He paused then, knowing the decision each man would have to make for himself. "I'm going to make a run for the spit below that island," he said. "Any man who wants to leave can do so now."

Not a man spoke up.

The two small boats- a workboat and a lifeboat-were readied for action. The lifeboat was swung over the lee side and the two women cooks, Mrs. Flossie Rea and Mrs. Flossie Fahey, hurriedly shoved off from the stricken boat. Their faces were pale in the rain-washed glare of the searchlight. A moment later they were lost to view as the river swept the lifeboat into darkness.

"Cast off the lines!" Harris ordered next, and the crew scrambled forward, wading ankle-deep in water on the main deck. Swiftly, the lines aboard the steamer were slackened and paid out to the men on the Henderson.

The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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Working their way through the Cottonwood Island Tum the tugs and tow hit fierce winds as they came around the tum.

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It was an eerie scene that presented itself to the watchers on the steamer.

Lighted by the huge floodlights on the superstructure, the Henderson's main deck resembled a half-submerged reef peopled with grotesque, misshapen dwarfs who ran and shouted and waved their arms in alarmed gestures. Rain squalls flared across the water and lost themselves in the shadows beneath the towering counter of the steamer. The wind chewed at the whitecaps, tore spray from their tops and flung it briefly into the glare of the lights.

Occasionally a figure wavered, stumbled and went down spluttering, but the work went on without interruption.

At last, with the lines trailing along The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

her hull, the Henderson rolled loggily free of the steamer. Threatening to plunge to the bottom at any instant, she moved slowly away from the flotilla and started down-channel. It was then that the real ordeal began for Captain Harris and his crew. There was nothing to do but watch and wait. The crew huddled on the promenade deck, in the lee of the galley, and either cursed or prayed, depending on their individual temperaments. As the minutes dragged by, the boat showed increasing signs of :floundering. She settled deeper in the water, her list became more pronounced, and she seemed to tire like a live thing. But the island was slipping rapidly past now, and the lights of a huge

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The stemwheeler Henderson lies beached in nine feet of shoal water after she was saved from sinking in the channel after a 20 foot hole had been ripped in her hull.

The hole was repaired, her hull pumped out and the oldest working steamer on the Columbia was back to work.

Photo by Paul Gillem

sawmill on the edge of shoal water grew brighter with each pulse of the deserted engines. Finally she cleared the tip of the island, turned, and headed for the shoals.

Ahead was a long pull, and as the men watched the water rising steadily higher over her main deck it seemed that she would never make it.

But make it she did. In something over seven minutes from the time she cast off from the steamer, the Henderson's round bottom grated on the sand bar, and with her paddles turning like a freewheeling windmill she settled securely in nine feet of shoal water. One of the crew later commented, "It took us two hours and ninety-nine minutes to make that run for the beach. I know, because I counted every second of it!"

Meanwhile, the tug Chinook, skip-

pered by Captain Dennis Brown, was having troubles of its own. With the freeing of the Henderson the "dead" Victory ship became a problem in irresistible force. Swinging like a giant pendulum, she responded to the urging of the current and began a free-running rampage that promised to land both herself and the tug in the middle of the main street of Longview. For 10 hectic minutes the two vessels fought it out. Like a determined terrier with its jaws clamped on a mastiff's ear, the Chinook hung on, worrying at the Pierre Victory, struggling to turn her and hold her in the channel. The tip of Cottonwood Island sped past; the lights of the sawmill loomed ahead. Then the lights were gone, their glow only a reflection on the starboard quarter. Flying down channel with her diesels roaring a full-throated The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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protest and her powerful screw backing water, the Chinook fought on. Finally, more than a mile downstream, her dogged efforts turned the trick. The Pierre Victory gradually lost momentum. She slowed, came to a halt, and while the Chinook held her in the channel a radio-telephone call for help went out to the tug's Portland moorage.

As daylight neared and the gale subsided somewhat Captain Harris sent his men ashore in the Henderson's workboat, carrying lines which were lashed to trees near the river bank. In the meantime, other hands had spotted the lifeboat carrying the two shivering cooks floating some distance downstream. The workboat was dispatched to bring the women back to the stranded steamboat, and once safely aboard again they nonchalantly turned-to The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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In 1956, Henderson, the last of the active woodenhulled stemwheelers, was badly damaged in a collision with a liberty ship off of Tongue Point. She was retired from service after 44 years on the Columbia River.

on morning chow for all hands.

After a diver's inspection a few days later, the Henderson was refloated, hauled off the sand bar, and towed to her berth at the Shaver company's Portland moorage for repairs. There it was found that a 20foot hole had been gashed in her bottom, but she was soon patched up and within weeks was ready to go again. Once more, with Captain Harris in the pilothouse, her paddles are frothing the rivers and the hoot of her whistle is echoing among the tall firs along the wooded shores. •

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"Quick Lunch Harolds" in 1927. Still a restaurant today it is now occupied

by Tokyo Teriyaki.

Photo from collection donated to CRMM by Harold Johansen in 1973.

"Pea Soup Harold" Nothing better on a cold winter day than a bowl of Harold's pea soup while waiting for the next ferry to arrive. We hope you enjoy this article and photos as much as we did.

Article as published in the Astoria Daily Budget Date unknown

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Harold Johansen, 790 10th St., who will be 89 years old on June 24, continues to be one of the Vikings most closely identified with West Marine Drive as a growing legend.

Many Astorians know him as a sailing ship and logging camp cook who made a fortune after giving up bartending by turning out a superb pea soup in the still surviving restaurant at 225 14th Street.

In fact, his pea soup won such acclaim that its maker was nicknamed "Pea Soup Harold."

On his latest visit to this newspaper at 1193 West Marine Dr., Johansen recalled that its site had been occupied before the Astoria fire of December 8, 1922 by Our Comer Saloon at which he had been once employed as a bartender during winters.

He had come to Astoria in 1897 after serving as a cook and able-bodied seaman in sailing ships.

He had gone to cook in a logging

camp for a railroad construction crew.

When the snow came, he was out of work.

He got the bartender job and was able to bring in logger trade. In those days Our Comer Saloon was next to the wholesale liquor firm and that was next to a restaurant.

The saloon could not serve women, but was able to get liquor to them in the restaurant and it provided curb service to the women taken for carriage drives from brothels.

Our Comer Saloon had a free lunch counter, but no free pea soup. Johansen said that the saloons then had no locks on the front door since their swinging doors were open round the clock. When a closing hour was first imposed, he recalled that the front doors were locked for the first time by two by four inch bars.

Even after the Astoria fire, this town continued to have many loggers, seamen and fishermen for restaurant and other trade. Johansen had his Harold's Quick Lunch at the comer of 14th and West Marine Drive.

His wife worked with him. They fried The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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20 hamburgers at a time, 10 cents each, and served five gallons of pea soup daily.

The menu included clam chowder, sturgeon chowder plus corned-beef followed the next day by corned-beef hash.

According to Johansen, his restaurant became Pea Soup Harold's and he, himself, Pea Soup Harold, as a result of a sign writer at the counter being impressed by many customers (the place had 18 stools) ordering, "Pea soup, Harold." The sign writer thought, "Pea Soup Harold" had more appeal than "Quick Lunch Harold's" and Johansen agreed with him. Sign writers go after business even during lunch hour.

The pea soup, which became known as a choice dish far and wide, was no ordinary product. Its secret, Johansen now relates was Gule, a yellow whole pea, which he imported from Sweden 900 pounds at a time.

He also retailed Gule in one-pound bags two for a quarter. But the amateurs couldn't make Gule soup as he could. In his restaurant, Gule was given piquancy from a bag of leaf thyme which was dipped in at the same time as the bag of ham shanks, which came from several restaurants.

Among the many pea soup patrons were penniless transients who walked down the railroad tracks. Pea Soup Harold is proud of his reputation of never The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3.4

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Pea Soup Harold's MEAL TICKET $5.50

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Meal ticket from CRMM Collections. Donated by Harold Johansen

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turning down a hungry man's request for a free bowl of Gule.

That nourishing pea is sold by Safeway, its local trade enhanced by Pea Soup Harold who has never ceased to boost it.

Johansen started the comer restaurant in 1923 and in 1930 sold out and went with his wife to Sweden, the land of Gule, where he created quite a stir for having made good money with Swedish pea soup in America. He returned from New York in a Ford car he purchased after Dun & Bradstreet told the Ford dealer that Pea Soup Harold's credit rating was A-1.

The Astoria man who had bought Pea Soup Harold's restaurant couldn't make it on pea soup or anything else so he gave up and the old master made good on Gule again. By then the restaurant, which thrived on ferry trade, was up 14th Street from the comer. He and his wife, who baked pies every morning, retired in 193 7.

It is remarkable that the same restaurant, now the Koffee Kup, has become known for a second popular dish, a Finnish stew, which the present proprietor, Helmi Melin, has prepared as a special Friday treat. It is esteemed by seafood fans. But the pea soup survives-and from Gule peas, too.

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News and Notes The Museum was honored this past month with the opportunity to host the Oregon Museums Association's Annual Meeting. Over 50 museum leaders from across the state were in attendance. Museum President Jerry Ostermiller opened the meeting and welcomed our guests to the Museum.

Museum Staff: Blue Anderson Celerino Bebeloni Linda Bowen Ann Bronson Charlotte Bruhn Betsey Ellerbroek Helen Hon! Kathy Johnson Arline LaMear Lorraine Ortiz Jerry Ostermiller David Pearson Deb Pyle Nathan Sandel Hampton Scudder Cheryl Silverblatt Jeff Smith Cynthia Svensson Patric Valade Jackie Welborn

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Thanks to the generous donation of the Seaside Christian Church an Astoria built double-ended gillnetter is now in the Museums collections. Built by Ame Wall in 1928 the historic fishing vessel is still in good condition.

The Museum is proud to report our monument sign, a symbol of the Museum for the past two decades, is back on display at the East entrance to the Museum's new parking lot. The sign is a welcome return to our campus landscape.

Hail and Farewell Cheryl Silverblatt joins us in Visitor Services. Cheryl moved to Astoria last year after working as a public librarian for 25 years.

We welcome Blue Anderson as our new Store Manager. She has experience working in natural history museums as a museum store manager and buyer, as well as working for major retailers such as Nordstrom.

Charlotte Bruhn is a long time Astorian. She utilizes her strength in retail experience and her artistic background as a new employee for Visitor Services and in the Store. Many will recognize Charlotte as past owner of Old Town Framing Company.

We welcome our newest employee, Jackie Welborn, to Visitor Services. Jackie's wide range of experiences from an administrative assistant to retail manager gives her plenty of opportunities to use her skills at the Front Desk and in the Store.

Welcome all.

Custodial Supervisor Jim Nyberg, longtime Museum employee and good friend to all, has retired after 15 years at the Museum. A true gentleman, we will miss his great sense of humor and stories from over the years.

Volunteer Coordinator Cynthia Svensson has retired after almost 5 years at the Museum. Invaluable to the museum and to all our volunteers, Cynthia will be missed by all.

Fiscal Officer Deb Pyle is also leaving the Museum. Deb has been a key part of our operations and will be greatly missed. Deb is going on to specialize in human resources work. We wish her all the best.

A Bravo Zulu goes out to Jim, Cynthia and Deb for a job well done!

The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

Upcoming Events

New Educational Experience for Families

Sentinel of the Seas

A new Museum backpack program has been created to include hands-on activities for children and their parents, or grandparents, while exploring the galleries. Two age appropriate backpacks were developed and are available at the Front Desk. Each backpack is filled with items to handle and learn more about. Drawing sea monsters, hearing a story, and sending Morse code messages are just a few of the projects included. The cost is free to members.

Dennis Powers Friday, November 23 at 2:30 p.m.

Miles off the coast of Northern California lies a mariner's nightmare. Concealed by a roiling sea and thick fog, the jagged edges of a submerged volcanic mountain chain await approaching vessels like predators in the mist. This is one of the most hazardous reefs off the West Coast.

Called "Dragon Rocks" in 1792 by British explorer George Vancouver, the area became known as St. George Reef in the hope that its new namesake might slay the dragon. But the beast claimed its greatest victim in 1865 when the sidewheel steamer S.S. Brother Jonathan sank on one of the rocks with the loss of 225 souls, inspiring an extraordinary effort to make the waters safe. The result took 10 years to construct and cost as much as 20 conventional lighthouses. In a Sentinel of the Seas presentation, Dennis M. Powers chronicles the heroic stories of men and women who have gone where land and sea collide.

Fishes I Have Known and Loved: Confessions of a Wandering Marine Educator and Fisherman Stephen Theberge Saturday, January 26 at 2:30 p.m.

Join us for an entertaining presentation about some of the unusual sea creatures that Stephen Theberge, an OSU Sea Grant educator, has encountered over the years. This program will include photographs of some of the many fish and ocean animals Theberge has documented while working on education programs and fishing in the Pacific Northwest, the Bering Sea, the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.

The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

Family Programs Join us in the Ford Room 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on December 26- 28 and March 24- 28 for Family Programs.

Education Department Receives Grant The Education Department is pleased to acknowledge the Quest for Truth Foundation for their generous grant of $30,000 to support CRMM's education programs.

Quest for Truth has been a strong supporter of our programs for many years and we are deeply indebted to them for their commitment.

In Memoriam We note the passing of two prominent individuals from the Museum's history.

Ernest E. Brown, longtime Astoria architect has passed away. He was the prominent designer of the Columbia River Maritime Museum's original building with the firm of Brown, Brown & Grider.

Ernest and Ebba Brown were longtime supporters of the Museum and will be missed by all.

Maritime artist and historian Hewitt R. Jackson has passed away. Hewitt Jackson approached his art with an extraordinary amount of detail and research. His paintings of the early exploration ships of the Columbia River are on display in the Exploration Gallery here at the Museum.

In 1993 Hewitt was award the Fellow of Maritime History award, the highest honor the Museum can present.

The QuarterDeck Volume 33, No. 3-4 Fall 2007 The QuarterDeck is published by the Columbia River Maritime Museum, 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, Oregon 97103.

Tel: (503)325-2323 Fax: (503)325-2331 www.crmm.org Editor: David Pearson Editorial Staff: Betsey Ellerbroek Lorraine Ortiz Jerry Ostermiller Jeff Smith Printed by Printgraphics Beaverton, Oregon

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Development Opportunities for Charitable Giving Through Individual Retirement Accounts Update: Pension Protection Act Ends December 31, 2007

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Did you know that a powerful and valuable giving incentive was passed in 2006 which allows donors to make charitable contributions directly from their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) without suffering adverse tax consequences? This is good news, as it has stimulated vital support for non-profits such as the Columbia River Maritime Museum who are in the business of doing good work for their communities. The urgent news is that this opportunity ends on December 31, 2007.

Commonly known as the "rollover IRA gift" it works like this, if you are over the age of 70 ½, the Federal government permits you to rollover amounts from your IRA to charity without claiming any increased income or paying any additional tax. These tax-free rollover gifts (Roth or traditional IRAs) could be $1,000, $10,000 or any amount up to $100,000 for 2007.

Many individuals over 70 ½ are in the advantageous position of having an IRA that has increased in value. If you don't require your tax-required minimum distribution, the IRA rollover gift is a simple and easy way to provide for your favorite non-profit organization while not increasing taxable income. Now is the time to check with your qualified tax advisor to learn about possibilities for your IRA charitable rollover tax benefits.

The rollover IRA gift is one way to donate through your independent retirement account. However, while you may appreciate the desire of Congress to assist in charitable giving by permitting current

IRA rollover gifts to charity, perhaps you are making good use of your IRA income and may be interested in helping charity in the future rather than right now. There are several other ways to make a future gift of your IRA to charities such as the Columbia River Maritime Museum. One simple option is to designate the Museum as the beneficiary of your IRA. This permits you to continue to take withdrawals from your IRA during life and then leave the remaining value of your IRA to charity.

And, by designating a charity as your IRA beneficiary, your heirs are not burdened by associated taxes.

We encourage our members to talk to their tax advisors and learn more about tax consequences for IRA beneficiaries. With a little planning, you can rest assured that your assets will remain intact to provide opportunities for meaningful support for organizations you value.

If you would like to discuss more ways to support the Museum and its programs, contact our Development Department, 503/325-2323.

The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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Membership

WELCOME BACK TO MEMBERSHIP

May 8, 2007 - October 31, 2007

ENSIGN Sandra Lee Swain CREW Elizabeth K. Barker Thomas & Laurie Connolly Jim & Michele Gardner Larry & Joy Goh! Elizabeth & Chris Grant Mr. & Mrs. Joel Hernandez John Hinshaw & Sherry King Mr. & Mrs. Craig Hoppes Dr. & Mrs. Daniel J. Hull Mr. & Mrs. Roy Kirkham Mr. & Mrs. Michael Leamy Mark & Lisa Tolonen Mr. & Mrs. Michael Vorwerk HELMSMAN Jackie Branch Victor & Kitt Cordero Mr. & Mrs. James Trofitter BOATSWAIN James Coffee & Erik Tannler Gayle A. Harrison Mr. & Mrs. Ernest H. McCall PILOT Harvey N. Black CAPTAIN Mr. & Mrs. Dave H. Christensen

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

STATESMAN Jack Becvar Nancey L Olson ENSIGN Elaine Bauer Laurence Cotton Carol Hahn Tammy Herdener Stephen Kahl Jim McGuire Scott Miller David Moore Edward Niemi Susan F. Park Page Stockwell Christopher Sutton Judy Woodward CREW Crystal Anderson & Ann Wilson John Atwill & Laura Hull Doug & Cecilia Balcomb Dan & Linda Berger Dr. Nancy Carritte Ronald & Laurene Church Gregory Cross Joseph Daniel Thom & Susan Dickerson Scott Docherty Robert Forster Kenny & Melanie Hansen Greg & Robyn Haynes Don Larsen H. Antonio Martinez & Kathy Mathews Stan & Charlla Peck Michael & Roberta Perry Byron Pinkney Randy & Debbie Stemper Hans Tonjes & Olga Oleynikova Robert & Darla Workman HELMSMAN Jill & Brian Faherty Greta Klungness & Chris Paasch Don Sitts BOATSWAIN Mr. & Mrs. Bennett Gamer Mahlon & Joyelyn Heller PILOT Capt. & Mrs. Peter Troedsson, USCG CAPTAIN Bruce & Lynn Buckmaster

The QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

UPGRADED MEMBERSHIPS

CREW Marvin Chapman Alice Codd Mr. & Mrs. Kenton Cruzan Warren & Cheryl Evans Judith E Grotjahn Mr. & Mrs. John Holmstedt Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Johnson Richard B. McCoy Bruce & Barbara Purdy Mr. & Mrs. Nels Rasmussen Mr. & Mrs. Paul See HELMSMAN Mr. & Mrs. Rodger Adams Mr. & Mrs. Ike Bay Sharon Bergman George & Sue Brice Mr. & Mrs. John Clemson Jr. Freda Englund Mr. & Mrs. Robert Erickson Jan Faber & Vicki Baker Bernal & Cathie Hutt Brian H. Kelly Mr. & Mrs. Michael P. Lemeshko Josh Marquis & Cynthia Price Betsy Priddy Patricia M. Reese Mr. & Mrs. Harold A. Snow Mr. & Mrs. Roger Truax Norman & Becky Whitten

M A R I T I M E - M-- U S- E U M BOATSWAIN Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Atkinson Mr. & Mrs. Fred L. Barnum Robert & Sheryl Ginn Joe & Teresa Hubbell Steve & Jean Mann Mr. & Mrs. Michael C. Warren PILOT Gail Collins & Nancy Hakala Curtis & Honora Dahl Richard Reiten Mr. & Mrs. Robert H. Richardson NAVIGATOR Mr. & Mrs. Jim H. Branson Mr. & Mrs. John L. Christie, Jr. Charles & Denise Lilley CAPTAIN Dr. Russell & Linda Keizer David & Marcy Phillips ADMIRAL Mr. Robert M. Drucker COLUMBIA RIVER SOCIETY MEMBERS

INDIVIDUALS Peter & Noydena Brix Bruce & Lynn Buckmaster Gerry & Marilyn Cameron Geraldine Chisholm Robert & Margaret Chopping Ward & Lois Cook Franklin & Harriet Drake Tom & Cindy Dukich Dale & Linda Farr Del & Cheri Folk Alan C. Goudy John & Dori Hart Don & Carol Haskell Marcella L. Hatch Dr. Russell & Linda Keizer Ken & Dean Kirn W. Louis & Mary Ann Larson Mr. H. Kirke Lathrop Captain Rod & Lynne Leland Don & Veronica Magnusen Jim & Kay McClaskey Prudence Miller David & Marcy Phillips Roger & Katy Qualman Capt. Thron Riggs & Betsey Ellerbroek Mike & Julie Sorkki June Spence Ambassador Charles & Caroline Swindells Dr. Gerald Warnock Samuel C. Wheeler CORPORATE MEMBERS AIMCO Bank of Astoria Halton Company Lindblad Expeditions

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Benefits of Museum Membership Your membership plays a vital role in supporting the Museum's mission to collect and preserve the history of the Pacific Northwest. Your membership gift is also critical in supporting the Museum's educational programs such as

the Museum in the Sr,hoo\s Program, which reaches more than 15,000 students each school year.

As a thank you for your support, your membership package includes free year-round admission to the Museum, invitations to special events and advance notice of exhibits, a subscription to the Quarterdeck and a 10% discount in our beautiful Museum Store.

Did you also know that your Museum membership also gives you automatic enrollment in the Time Travelers program? Just show your CRMM membership card at any of the 250 participating museums and historical societies in 43 states across the country. As a member of Time Travelers, you will receive a variety of special benefits such as free or discounted admission or gift shop discounts when you visit the Time Travelers affiliates.

For a list of these affiliates call the Museum at (503) 3252323 and we will be happy to send you the information.

17

Memorials Celebration and Memorial Gifts Many of our members choose to donate to the Museum in honor of, or in memory of people or events.

These gifts are acknowledged in the pages of the Quarterdeck as well as in a special gift card sent to a designated person of your choosing.

To make a gift in memory of, or in honor of, call the Museum at 503/325-2323. We can take your information over the phone or feel free to stop by at your convenience and we will happily assist you in person.

Your donations to the Museum are fully tax-deductible and send a special message of value to those notified of the gift.

We thank you for your continuing support.

IN MEMORY OF ...

Alice K. Ala Robert Swaggert Ruth Truman Jensen Gary Angberg Ron & Vicki Westerlund Lawrence & Lela Newell Allan Maki Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams Peter Barney RADM & Mrs. Edward Nelson Jr. Frank Bonanno USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Ernest Brown Florence Kelly William F. Callahan GM3 USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Barbara Carrigan John & Rea Christoffersson Erma Cullen Gurie O'Connor Edith Dahl June Spence Mary Dant Mr. & Mrs. Richard C. Tevis Mr. & Mrs. Walter Gadsby, Jr. John W. Dawley Sr. Kathryn Penstone Capt. Taylor K. DeMun RADM & Mrs. Edward Nelson Jr. June Spence Stanley M. Geak WT2 USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Richard "Butch" Godwin Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams Don A. Goodall Mr. & Mrs. Burr Allegaert Harvey Hendrickson Mr. & Mrs. Donald Magnusen Ron Roy Hubbard Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Oja Albin E. !hander Mr. & Mrs. Howard Lovvold Scott Burke Beverly Aspmo Katherine Kama Jon W. Westerholm Ella P. Hill Salmon For All, Inc. Jerry Ostermiller & Lynne Johnson Pacific Star Seafoods, Inc. Edward A. Niemi Alice Codd Priscilla Gauthier Harry Phillips Eldon Korpela

Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Hjorten Bart Oja & Family Jerry & Gloria Roberts Nancy L. Grimberg Mr. & Mrs. David Hoyer Mr. & Mrs. Gerald Westerholm Mr. & Mrs. Jerry F. Gustafson Mr. & Mrs. Joseph E. Bakkensen Dr. & Mrs. Joseph F. Lambert Mr. & Mrs. Robert M . Oja Donald Fastabend Ben Bay Michael & Linda Shaw Lawrence & Lela Newell Gary & Sally Goodman David Mebust & Merry Togliavento Gail Jervik Bob & Virginia Kearney Marietta Hill Esther K. Jerrell Captain Fred Jerrell Betty Johnson Ward & Lois Cook Betsey Ellerbroek & Capt. Thron Riggs Lorraine Ortiz & Terry Pullan Virginia Johnson Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams Mr. & Mrs. Richard D. Johnson Dennis Josephson Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Oja Terry Krager Mrs. Gurie O ' Connor Fred Lawrence Mr. & Mrs. Nicholas D. Zafiratos Richard Samuel Lee Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams Mr. & Mrs. John L. Christie, Jr. Florence Lindgren Mr. Robert Swaggert Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. Oja Michael McGovern USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Robert McNeil Mr. & Mrs. Harry Easley Dorothy R. Mickelson Kristina Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Steve Johnson Linda Niemelin Jerry Niemi Beverly Aspmo Randy K. Graves Gary & Sally Goodman Ben Bay Merle E. (Bud) Otto USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Joseph Rolfes GM2

USS Knapp DD-653 Crew Ellen K. Sanford Mr. & Mrs. Robert M . Oja Brad Schade Jeff & Joyce Holznagel Robert H. Scott Mabel Herold Richard F. Skipper Dorothy Labiske Mae Wheeler Dr. & Mrs. David I. Williams Ann Wood Mr. & Mrs. Donald Magnusen

18 Th e QuarterDeck, Vol. 33 No. 3-4

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COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM 1792 MARINE DRIVE ASTORIA, OREGON 97103 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Astoria, Oregon Permit No. 340