Newsie Features

It started with a note. “We loved the hopscotch. Can we get a new course? [From] your friendly trash guys.” Shelly Wagner posted a picture of the note in a Tillamook community Facebook page. Since then, she’s made it a tradition for her weekly trash pickup from City Sanitary Service .

It’s always cooler at the beach. And the Rockaway Beach Music Festival is keeping the cool vibe going this summer with a free, two-day long music festival hosted at the Rockaway Beach Wayside August 16-17. Hosted by Neah-Kah-Nie Coast Art and Music Cultural Foundation (NCAM) , the event will feature twelve, live performing musical artists. The lineup includes local bands Mercury Coast and Hope Montgomery; as well as: Glitterfox, Mitch Whitaker, members of Typhoon, The Dead Lines, Nik Xandir Wolf, Doral Vance, Blaine Heinonen, Sunkicks, and Dylan Crawford.

For every 10,000 students who take the SAT, only seven will earn the coveted perfect score of 1600. That’s less than half a percentage of all test takers. And Neah-Kah-Nie High School senior (‘26) Dillon Gardner is one of them. “I was pretty shocked, I didn’t believe it at first,” Dillon said. “It was a quiet day in April and I opened up my computer to check on it and I see ‘1600.’ I was shocked and spent a minute or two just surprised because I didn’t expect to get a perfect score. But, it turned out to be real.” Comically, Dillon (and his father Jared Gardner) joke that it was the mocha his mother [Hilary Foote] gave him on the morning of the test that made all the difference. But, Dillon detailed that taking the test twice probably played the most to his advantage. “A few weeks prior I took the SAT a first time and got a score of 1480,” he said. “I decided to take another test because the second math section surprised me with its difficulty. I didn’t get the opportunity to answer half of the questions. So, I went back and took a different approach to solve those problems and thought I could do better, and I did.” While a perfect score is a momentous achievement, prepping for the test was not even remotely Dillon’s main focus during his high school years. During his time as a Pirate, he’s been involved with the robotics team, speech and debate, and is a member of the Dungeons and Dragons club. “The teachers and the tightness of the community are the main things I love about being here at Neah-Kah-Nie,” said Dillon. “Even though it’s very small, I get to know and see other students in multiple classes a day. But, it’s especially the teachers who put in the effort way beyond what they’re compensated for.” “The Argonauts,” Neah-Kah-Nie’s robotics team, made it to the state competition for the first time since the COVID pandemic. The team placed sixth out of 24 teams. “I’ve received quite a bit of mentoring from the volunteer programming assistant and I’m hoping to give back as much as I can,” Dillon said about returning to the team during his senior year. In addition to taking AP level classes at Neah-Kah-Nie, Dillon is also virtually enrolled at Tillamook Bay Community College through which he hopes to finish his Associate’s in Computer Science by the end of his senior year.

At age 9, Chloe Rieger began showing horses in 4-H. At 10, she welcomed home her horse, Ruby, who she raised and trained herself. “I’ve done about 90 percent of all her training, but that means that all her quirks are my fault too,” Rieger laughed. “It was a life-changing experience and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Horses have taught me so much about life and caring about something other than myself.” Rieger grew up in Tillamook just south of town on Bewley Creek Road which she describes as “her little slice of heaven.” Last year, Rieger took on the challenge of learning breakaway roping. “I’ve always been interested in rodeo competition,” she said. “It looked fun and I decided that I wanted to learn. And then I decided to pair that with trying out to be the Rodeo Queen. I felt like it was a good way for myself and Ruby to get some exposure and experience.” Rieger was crowned Miss Tillamook Rodeo in November after winning the queen pageant last June.

Receiving a citation from a police officer is not something one really wants publicized. But, Tillamook Police officers are on the lookout to cite citizens for their kindness. Back in April, the Friends of Tillamook Police joined “Kindness 911.” The program is a non-profit and support organization that connects local law enforcement agencies with those that they directly serve. The funds to participate in the program were raised when Tillamook Police officers spent an evening delivering Domino’s pizzas. “As law enforcement, we hope to catch somebody doing something nice, a kindness act, and issue kindness citations,” Tillamook Police Chief Nick Troxel said. “We want to notice good things occurring in our community and create the opportunity for us to show some compassion and goodwill towards those folks and say, ‘Thanks for doing what you’re doing. We appreciate you.’” Since joining the program, Tillamook Police have issued six kindness citations. “It’s been a super fun way to engage with the community,” Chief Troxel said. “The feedback has been awesome.” The following community members have been recognized for their positive actions in the community:

Beginning in 2014, the Tillamook School of Dance has dedicated admission funds from their spring dance showcase to local hospice care. Since its inception, the benefit show has raised nearly $60,000. This year’s performance, “A Tribute to the King,” paid homage to Elvis Presley, and Tillamook School of Dance Owner and Director Pink Colleknon-Eggert said it was the studio’s most well attended show. “The meticulous details that Scott Casey and I have been working on are like nothing I’ve ever done before,” she said, noting all the work to make the dancers hair and makeup look like Priscilla Presley. “We’re so proud of what we’ve created together.”

Let’s hear more cowbell for the fastest growing sport in the country: pickleball! The Tillamook Pickleball Club is bringing the competition and hype to the coast this month. The “Cowbell Classic” will be hosted June 21-22 at the outdoor courts at Al Griffin Memorial Park in Bay City, as well as the indoor courts at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds. The pickleball tournament is round robin style with events in men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles that are also categorized by skill and age groups. The cost is $50 for one event, and $25 for an additional event. All participants receive a commemorative t-shirt and gift bag. A raffle and barbeque will be held at Al Griffin Park in Bay City following the completion of events on Saturday, June 21. “This is our first tournament, so we’re trying to make it memorable,” Tillamook Pickleball Club President Roger Miller said. “We have enough players that are pretty active and have played in other tournaments. We felt that the time was right and we had some people who were willing to step up and pull this together.”

More than a dozen community partners were selected to receive funds as a part of Tillamook High School’s Charity Drive Community Grants. In total, $57,000 was awarded. Some of the receiving organizations included: Tillamook Fire Department, Tides of Change, Tillamook VFW Post 2848, Tilly Tots Preschool, Tillamook Oddfellows, Compassion Tillamook, The Grinch Gang, and the Tillamook Early Learning Center. A complete list of recipients is below.