By Jerry Keene, Editor, The Oceansider
The Oceanside Protection Society and OVERT have announced that they received donations totaling $7075 over the past two weeks, exceeding the $6000 fundraising goal in its year-end drive to fund the purchase of a generator at the Oceanside Chapel emergency assembly and assistance center. OVERT Co-chair Rob Hoeper indicated that any extra funds will be reserved for installation costs and future generator supplies. Upon hearing the news, Netarts-Oceanside Fire Chief Jeff McBrayer responded, “This is incredible! Thanks to everyone for this incredible support!” The Fire Department has agreed to fund ongoing maintenance costs for the generator along with the generators already being maintained at its two fire stations.
NOFD Rescues Rare Sea Turtle at Short Beach
Oceanside firefighers were in the news today December 29th with coverage of last night‘s intrepid rescue of an injured loggerhead sea turtle discovered at Short Beach. A crew of Netarts-Oceanside Fire Department volunteers responded to a call for help from Oregon State Police. They utilized a custom stretcher-harness designed at NOFD itself to haul the large tortoise by hand up the steep access stairs and load it in the back of a pickup truck. The tortoise was then transported to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport for care by its team of experts. 
The Pioneer has reached out to the Aquarium for an update on the turtle’s condition and will follow-up with more information. Here are some more photos
from the rescue from the Netarts-Oceanside Fire Dept. Facebook page:
Storm Damage at the Tire Trail Bridge
This past week’s windstorms blew several trees onto the Tire Trail bridge access, severely damaging its wooden railings. Local volunteers have cleared the debris (thank you John Barker!) but folks braving the bridge are cautioned that it is unknown whether there was further structural damage. It should also be noted that Tillamook County Public Works closed and posted the bridge as hazardous, even before this incident. A team of Oceanside Action Partnership volunteers has been researching options for repairing the bridge, which many Oceansiders in the Camelot, Terrasea and Avalon East areas use for pedestrian access to the Village.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
January 6 Oceanside Community Club Potluck – 6 p.m. @Oceanside Community Hall
And that’s the view from Oceanside!
jerrykeene@oceansidernews.com