Scenes from a Celebration

Here are some images from last Friday's Centennial Celebration.

There was live music by Tony Johnson, who is a Port employee, he works with Maintenance Supervisor Les Hall on most everything that needs to be done for the Port properties... he and Les do an awesome job. Terry Dillman of the News-Times and Fire Chief Will Ewing peruse the historic photo albums and scrapbooks on display.

People entered their suggestions far a new name for the property. The list of suggestions will be put before the Port Commission so they can choose the very best one. Here former Port Manager Penny Ryerson, Anne Stangeland and Commissioner Stu Strom give us their best ideas. Folks had a good time rubbing elbows with others and taking a closer look at the hand-crafted wood boats that were on display.

Commission President Chuck Gerttula said a few words about the Port's history and future.

People enjoyed the new art park during a brief sunbreak. It's a beautiful spot to sit and rest a while, with metal sculptures, bordered by beautiful mature trees and some newly-planted ones as well.
The new Art Park is officially dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by Port Staff, Commissioners, CSC students and the metal sculpturists whose art is featured at the park.

Many thanks to everyone who was involved in the project, and also a big thanks to everyone who attended, making the Centennial Party a great success! Special thanks to Island Wild Seafoods for providing the yummy seafood treats and to Toledo JC Thriftway Market for donating the soft drinks and a beautiful (and yummy!) custom-made cake.

It's a Party!

Come join the party tomorrow (Friday May 21st) from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Old Fire Hall. We'll be celebrating 100 years (to the day! The Port was incorporated on May 21st, 1910) with cake from Toledo JC Market (thank you!!), refreshments from Island Wild Seafoods (thank you!!), a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly-finished adjacent Art Park, and an opportunity to rub elbows with local dignitaries. A special treat will be live music from Tony (the Kid) Johnson, and an opportunity to enter your suggestions for a new name for the "Old Fire Hall". See you there!!!

Progress!

The Port of Toledo has successfully applied for funds from the State to purchase the former Fred Wahl Boatyard at Sturgeon Bend in Toledo, Oregon. The Port received its letter of award on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, informing the Commissioners and staff that Oregon Business Development Department’s new Infrastructure Finance Authority will award a $1.2 million loan from the Port Revolving Fund. An additional grant for $350,000 has been approved by the Governor from the Strategic Reserve Fund. These awards secure the needed funding to close on the purchase with Fred Wahl.

Trace amounts of contaminants were discovered in the sediments in the waterway adjacent to the property. The upland areas tested qualify for a 'no further action required' ruling, with a deed restriction placed on the property that calls for industrial uses only. The contaminant clean-up will be aided with the recent award of a $250,700 Brownfields Redevolpment Fund Grant from Business Oregon, using lottery funds.

A prospective purchaser agreement will be entered into between the Port and DEQ. We hope to have the transaction completed by mid-July.

Boat-Building 101

Wooden boat enthusiast and South Beach resident Michael Bogoger has been heading up an interesting project lately. At the Toledo Junior/Senior High school, he instructs students in the processes of building a 16-foot 'Bank Dory'. He says that this particular design was the same one he used to build his very first wood boat 35 years ago. Here he is rough-cutting one of the two hand-made oars.
Students Tyson Hottinger and Sam Brandt help with the cutting.
According to Bogoger, the Bank Dory design has been used for many years in the Newfoundland cod fisheries. Tyson, left, and Sam gamely pose for a photo op.

The detail on this boat is just beautiful.

Michael Bogoger has more pictures of this project (and others) on his Flickr site. He is a Port of Toledo moorage holder and also serves on our Wooden Boat Show Advisory Committee.

He has promised to have this beautiful new boat on display at our Wooden Boat Show, August 21st and 22nd. Come down and have a look for yourself!!

Celebrating the first 100 years!

On Friday, May 21st, we will be throwing a bash to honor the Port's Centennial year. It will be in conjuction with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Toledo's former public safety building, at 496 NE Highway 20, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

The party will include live music and refreshments... and birthday cake!

The public is, of course, invited to attend! Come and take a look at the newly remodeled building, the new adjacent art park, and the historic information and photos we'll have on display.

You'll have an opportunity to meet some of the CSC staff, the Youth Construction Program students and their leader, who have worked so hard on the 'old fire hall' project, and the Port Commissioners, crew and staff who have all been instrumental in bringing the vision to fruition. Here is a recent picture of the CSC students and crew leader Peter Lohonyay working on the park.
Since we still haven't settled on a name for the property, we'll be soliciting suggestions for a clever and suitable name. Bring your ideas and your friends and join us for our Centennial Party!!

Upcoming Highway 20 Closure

Work continues in earnest on the US 20: Pioneer Mountain to Eddyville project despite some recent setbacks.

According to the Yaquina River Constructors/ODOT project website, "We are planning a full closure of U.S. 20 beginning at 6:00 p.m. Friday, May 14 until 6:00 a.m. Monday, May 17. There will be no through-travel between the valley and the coast along U.S. 20 during that time."

It continues: "We apologize to the fishing community for the inconvenience caused by scheduling the blast during the opening weekend of Halibut Season. All of the weekends in May impacted people traveling to and from the coast for major holidays and events. We couldn’t wait much longer to do the work because we can’t close the highway during the summer months. OR 34 is the primary passenger and recreational vehicle detour. " You can also view the detour map on their website.

The YRC/ODOT website also features some awesome still images and video of the project. (Quick Time software required, which is a free download.)

An update on this project is also featured on the front page of today's Newport News-Times... you can view that story here.

And on YouTube, you can watch a video, shot about 6 months ago by local man Brad Moore from his GyroCopter, of a fly-over of the entire project, end to end. It's a very impressive project!

Depoe Bay's Wooden Boat Show

Depoe Bay's 14th Annual Wooden Boat Show is scheduled for April 17th and 18th this year. Featuring many beautiful wooden boats on display, boat building demonstrations (including participation by the Port of Toledo), a crab feed and ducky derby, this is a fun annual event on the coast. Make sure you put it on your calendar of things to do!!

Here are some images from past events...

Below, Rick Johnson, Michael Bogoger of Toledo and Jack Brown (right) of Depoe Bay work on the boat they built in the Port of Toledo's booth. Rick, Michael, Jack and his wife Maggie have all been amazing supporters of our own Wooden Boat Show, offering lots of time, effort, help, resources and advice. We wouldn't be able to do it without them!! When you go, make sure to look for the Port of Toledo booth and say 'Hi' to the crew! We'll be building another boat on site this year, and will be on hand to answer questions and to offer information and a friendly 'hello' to everyone.

See you there!