Scenes from Waldport’s Beachcomber Days as thousands come out to watch a parade, hear music, play games and watch timber competition

WALDPORT — It started with the blare of fire engine sirens and ended Saturday night with a performance from Sol Fire Dancers. In between, thousands of people lined the streets of downtown Waldport for the 2023 Beachcomber Days parade, feasted on everything from tacos to elephant ears to strawberry shortcake, listened to rock n’ roll and patriotic music, and wandered among dozens of shiny classic cars.

The 67th annual Beachcomber Days — now revitalized and easily the biggest event of the year in Waldport — finished up Sunday with more timber competition, music and vendors selling everything from tie dyed shirts to cribbage boards to guitar bases.

Here are some scenes from Saturday.

By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews

WALDPORT — The tide is in for a weekend of fun when the 67^th Beachcomber Days rolls in this weekend with a schedule brimming with free, family-friendly events to enliven downtown Waldport.

Whether you favor a car show or a kid fair, a parade or logging competitions, there will be music and food all over downtown for three days beginning Friday, all to benefit local teen-agers.

With a theme of “Driftwood and Dreams,” the weekend is produced to raise scholarship funds for Waldport High School graduates going on to college or trade schools. The funds come from participating businesses, private donations and the proceeds of a Treasure Chest raffle.

“It’s all about supporting our community and supporting our kids,” said Beachcomber Days secretary TiAnne Rios of Seal Rock. “It’s a great way to showcase what incredible gifts we have here in our small community.”

Father’s Day weekend has traditionally been the time for Beachcomber Days. The pandemic forced a move to the July 4 weekend in 2021 but it returned to mid-June last year. The event was such a hit that the Beachcomber Days committee expanded its calendar of community events to run throughout the year – organizing the Wednesday market in the spring, summer and fall, a Halloween “Trunk or Treat” in October and a lighted Christmas parade in December.

For details about the weekend schedule — which is subject to change — volunteering or any aspect of Beachcomber Days, visit the organization’s website.

“It’s like a big block party,” said the organization’s president, Tammy Abele of Yachats. “We have about 50 volunteers working to make this happen, and we could always use more to help.”

Food, music, loggers, parade

The weekend officially begins Friday night, when scholarships will be awarded during a dinner in the Waldport Community Center. After that, the festival gathers speed with two full days of fun.

In addition to a food court all day Saturday and Sunday in the parking lot of Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue, some 100 vendors will be selling trinkets, treasures and souvenirs in a market along Bay Street.

Special events include:

• A car show at 1^st Security Bank, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday;
• A parade through downtown from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday with Highway 34 and U.S. Highway 101 closed to vehicle traffic;
• A Saturday Kid Faire that’s doubled in size now that it’s located at the Community Center.
• Logging shows Saturday for professionals and Sunday for the Waldport High School state champion forestry students at the field off Crestline Drive;
• Live music from a variety of bands throughout the city, including the main stage in the Bay Street parking lot.

Logging competition

The popular timber shows — one for professionals from 2-5 p.m. Saturday and one for high school forestry students and amateurs from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday — are back for the third year. Taking place on the future site of Southworth Park off Crestline Drive, the shows will feature classic logging events like the spur climb, the power buck, log rolling and axe throws.

Saturday’s show will feature over 30 men and woman professional and novice loggers in timed events. They hail from Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Montana and Colorado. Sunday is the day for the Waldport High School forestry students to show off their award-winning skills. While forestry teacher and pro lumberjack competitor Jeff Skirvin directs the set-up of the contest field, his students themselves handle most other aspects of both shows, from recruiting volunteers to handling sign-ups.

“The whole high school pretty much puts on the shows,” said Eli Spangrud, a Waldport High senior, forestry student and member of the Beachcomber Days board. “These events are all timed, so it adds an extra element of excitement. People really enjoy seeing this old-time logging made into a competition.”

In April the WHS forestry program clinched its fourth state championship in a row, earning top honors again in the Oregon Future Natural Resource Leaders competition. It was another notch in the winner’s log for both the team and Skirvin. He guided high school forestry programs in other Oregon schools to eight state titles, then came to Waldport in 2019 when his wife, Amy, was named principal of Waldport’s high and middle schools.

Jeff Skirvin “pushes everyone to do their best,” said Spangrud. “He just wants everyone to succeed.”

The WHS senior is headed for Northwest Lineman College in Idaho, a well-respected school to prepare students for careers in the power industry. Some of his peers in the forestry program will also be studying to be linemen; others plan to train as wildland firefighters.

“We’d be really excited to see a big crowd,” Spangrud said. “Come on out and see our four-time state championship team competing.”

Sponsors make the difference

One new wrinkle this year to help support local businesses is a “receipt raffle.” Beachcomber Day visitors are encouraged to patronize local businesses and shops, then take receipts to the information booth on Bay Street. There, 10 glass floats will be raffled off.

“We’re trying to give extra help to our local small businesses,” said Rios.

Having helped guide Beachcomber Days for several years, Rios said she has “never been a part of something so big … the sense of pride and community. The smiles we’ve created is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.”

 Rios noted that the participation of local and area businesses is key to the growing success of the festival. She singled out top sponsors including the Waldport Wednesday Market, the city of Waldport, Oceanside Flooring, Ray’s Food, Sweet Homes Vacation Rentals, CP Carlson Builders, and Pioneer Connect. Rios also credited Friends of the Waldport Library, and Central Oregon Coast Fire & Rescue.

“We want to thank our whole community; they’re at the heart of this whole organization,” said Rios. “Without their support, Beachcomber Days would not exist.”

• Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to YachatsNews.com. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com