OAP Trail Report, July 2024

I recently saw an article naming Oceanside one of the friendliest cities on the west coast (“6 Friendliest Towns,” 2024). Deb and I moved here in May of 2023 and often met neighbors as they were walking by our home. Many we met were from different neighborhoods in our community and we might not have met them apart from their walks by our home. Many of us love to walk and what allows us all to “cross paths” is the network of trails, paths, and streets in our community. We are a friendly community and these neighborhood encounters are one way we grow our relationships. Thus the “mission” of our team is to look for opportunities to improve our trails and paths to maintain the relational connections to each other and our beach.



Gail Chun-Deduonni first led this team with this mission in mind and invited Deb and I to participate. This last spring I took the leadership baton from Gail to continue her pioneering work and mission. Thank you Gail for your efforts to start and establish this work!

Beach Clean-Up July 5th

The beach is our longest and largest trail! We organized a beach clean up on July 5th to follow up the festivities on the 4th of July. The clean up event attracted 25 volunteers for the 2 hour scouring effort focusing on the Oceanside beach from the tunnel to Fall Creek. Thank you to those who served:

• Sheri Swindler
• Deb Sprague
• Amber Sprague
• Nicky Jaeger
• Bruce Jaeger
• Cynthia Miller
• Caroline Neunzert
• Michael Neunzert
• Cathy Hendrix
• Dan Hendrix
• Markku Lemetyinen
• Martha Richards
• Sarah Heiner
• Kyle Heier
• Dianna Fitzgerald
• Cobalt Coy
• Allison Cobb
• Elsa Menendez
• Bob Wanta
• Jose Olavarieta
• Celeste Colasurado
• Lars Fjelstad

A thank you also must go to the Current Cafe in the village of Oceanside as they generously supplied coffee and “trash pickers” for all the volunteers. Additionally they gave us a place to gather to organize the beach clean up effort. Thank you Tyler and Corey for your commitment to our community.

Short Beach Trail Update

Access to Short Beach will soon improve. Chris Laity, reports that Brian Ollie, Public Works Engineering Project Manager, is actively at work coordinating the redesign and redevelopment of the trail. Funding has been awarded. Trailkeepers of Oregon may partner in the effort. The trail team and volunteers from OAP may also have opportunity to serve the effort to maintain the trail after construction is completed. When we know more construction detail we will post the information on our website.

Future Efforts

As we discovered in the clean up effort after the 4th of July there is an interest in maintaining our trails and outdoor spaces. After Labor Day our team will meet and begin to develop plans for future work. These details will be established in the days ahead and posted on the OAP website.

References

6 friendliest towns to visit on the Pacific Coast in 2024, World Atlas. https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/6-friendliest-towns-to-visit-on-the-pacific-coast-in-2024.html