WALDPORT — The sun came out for the 66th annual Beachcomber Days.
So did crowds of thousands of people, families young and old. A parade marched through town, kids waving at the entrants and scrambling for candy, beach balls and frisbees. Vendors lined the streets to hawk their goods and gear and food booths were doing a brisk business. Bands played, shiny classic cars were on display — and later in the afternoon, logging competitors from Oregon, Washington and as far away as New York state demonstrated their skills for an appreciative crowd.
Here are some photographs from events Saturday.
Quinton Smith
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By CHERYL ROMANO/YachatsNews.com
What’s happening this weekend? In Waldport, the question is, what isn’t happening?
Back for its 66th and biggest year ever, Waldport Beachcomber Days has a packed schedule of free, family-friendly events to kick off summer beginning Friday evening and going through Sunday.
From outdoor dancing to monster truck rides, a car and bike show to log-rolling, the weekend — themed “Sea of Dreams” — is shaping up as a community festival, all to benefit local teen-agers. The purpose of Beachcomber Days is to raise scholarship money for Waldport High School graduates going on to trade, technical schools or traditional colleges.
“Everyone who turns out for Beachcomber Days will be helping kids to better themselves,” says TiAnne Rios of Seal Rock, the organization’s secretary. “Every part of this is volunteer, or donated.”
Scholarship funds come from participating businesses and the proceeds of a Treasure Chest raffle on display at Columbia Bank.
Father’s Day weekend has traditionally been the time for Beachcomber Days. After missing a year in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced a move to July 2-3 last year, but returns to its traditional June days this week. The event was such a hit that the Beachcomber Days committee expanded its calendar of community events to run throughout the year, including sponsorship of the Waldport Wednesday Market, Friday night drive-in movies during the summer, and events during Halloween and Christmas.
Vendors, mini-golf, beer gardens, pro loggers
Some 100 vendors will be on hand selling food and beverages, plus merchandise including jewelry, art, T-shirts, pottery and sea glass.
“We’ve doubled our number of vendors this year,” said Beachcomber Days president Tammy Abele of Yachats.
New and notable this year are a mini-golf course at the corner of Bay and Hemlock Streets; two beer gardens (one offering donated Rogue Brewing merchandise, with proceeds going to a Ukraine relief fund); a pet fun run; a “Kid Faire” featuring a balloon artist and face-painting, plus pro and amateur timber shows Saturday and Sunday.
For a full schedule of events, times and locations go to the Beachcomber Days’ website.
Most events are centered around Waldport’s downtown area. Attendees are urged to park in public spaces along city or state roads, but to avoid parking at Ray’s Food Place — “Please leave that for customers,” Rios asked.
Back for a second year are the timber shows — one for professionals and novice competitors on Saturday, one for high school forestry students and amateurs on Sunday. Taking place on the big field off Crestline Drive, the shows will feature classic logging events like the speed climb up 40-foot high Douglas fir poles donated by Tyler Smallwood of Waldport, the springboard chop, log rolling and axe throws.
Logging pros and students compete
“We’ll have 32 pro and novice competitors from all over the United States, including nine women,” said Amy Skirvin, principal at Waldport High School, who with her husband, Jeff, helped organize the timber events. Jeff Skirvin is the forestry instructor at Waldport High and students in his program did much of the work setting up logs for the competitions.
The students and others will be showing off their award-winning skills on Sunday. In late April, the school’s forestry program won its third straight state forestry championship, and Jeff Skirvin was honored as natural resources educator of the year for Oregon.
“It’s cool to see the competitors,” says Amy Skirvin. “A few of the pros have been on ESPN on the Stihl series, and it’s fun to watch them in a local show.”
“It’s really a representation of how things were done back in the day, a way to experience part of Oregon’s logging history,” said Jeff Skirvin.
Jeff Skirvin, who competes as a pro lumberjack in the USA Stihl Series competitions, comes from an Oregon logging family that staged timber shows for 40 years. He guided high school forestry programs in Knappa and Clatskanie to state titles in eight different years, then came to Waldport in 2019 when Amy was named principal of Waldport’s high and middle schools.
With that background, he knows “what really gets the crowd going” at timber shows: events like the hot saw and tree climb, and the springboard chop. He describes the chop this way: “There’s a nine-foot pole stuck in the ground. You chop a notch and stick a springboard in; then you stand on that board to chop another notch for a second springboard, and stand on that one. So you’re standing on a board in the air, chopping a block of wood in two as fast as you safely can.”
Recalling his work teaching and staging timber shows in other communities, Skirvin says, “I have never had so much support and help from the community as here.” His wife echoes that support, citing Waldport City Manager Dann Cutter especially for his help in putting on the shows.
“A lot of logistics go into putting on a timber show,” said Amy Skirvin, who occasionally competes in “Jack and Jill” events with her husband. “You can’t just pick out some wood from your back yard. The professional axes cost about $400, and you don’t want to be cutting into wood that has a lot of knots; you have to have the right kind.”
Stihl Corp. in Washington has donated some giveaway goods like hats that will be distributed to spectators on both days of the timber show. While there will be limited bleacher seating available, audience members are urged to bring their own lawn chairs, since large crowds are expected.
The “crowd” that puts on Beachcomber Days isn’t large by any means. According to Rios, the committee has about “17 active members, with 20-25 people involved in the planning.”.
Dozens of area businesses and civic groups support Beachcomber Days. Among the biggest sponsors are Sweet Homes Vacation Getaways, the city of Waldport, Waldport Liquor, Grand Central Pizza, and the Army National Guard, 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
Tammy and TiAnne are what this community needs — people who are willing to go the extra mile to get all these events organized and make them work. Great job to you and all that helped.
Lazy Dayz Cafe