Weather warm but town not full

SEASIDE – The opening weekend of spring break went smoothly with fewer visitors than expected, according to Seaside Public Safety Committee spokesman Ken Karge.

“It just wasn’t as plugged as it could have been with the weather we had,” he said. “I can’t explain why that happened. Maybe with gas prices as high as they are, people just decided not to make the drive, or just went someplace else this year.”

Police reported few problems and no major incidents.

“It was pretty uneventful,” said Seaside Lt. Dave Ham, who helped oversee operations and monitored the downtown core area. “The nice weather really didn’t seem to stir things up and the crowds that we were expecting to gather in the downtown area in the evenings didn’t really happen.”

Karge estimates there were about 15,000 people in town over the weekend, less than the 30-50,0000 he was expecting with the nice weather. Hard facts are not yet in on the size and demographics of the crowd, although many of the visitors seemed to be in family groups.

“It seemed to be a pretty good family population,” Ham said. “In the evening, typically we see the younger crowd hanging out downtown and there were definitely some there, but the numbers just weren’t what we’ve had in the past or what we were expecting.”

For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Seaside Police reported two people taken into temporary custody to become sober, one arrested on minor drug possession charges and two arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants. Oregon State Police also arrested three people Saturday on DUII charges and six people Friday and Saturday for drug possession. Gearhart Police, assisting in the downtown area, arrested three people after discovering a nine millimeter pistol and marijuana in a car. During the weekend, Seaside and Oregon State Police arrested more than 40 youths for minor in possession of alcohol. There were only three reports of disorderly conduct and a handful of noise complaints and juvenile problems.

Although reports from all law enforcement agencies had not yet been tallied this morning, overall, it was pretty quiet, said Lynn Smith, communications manager for the Seaside Police 9-1-1 dispatch center.

There was one incident of vandalism reported with $200 damage to the window of a downtown Seaside store.

Activities planned by the Safety Committee and Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District helped keep locals and visitors busy and having fun, SEPRD Executive Director Mary Blake said. A Saturday night java jam at the youth center grew from two planned bands to five, with a large crowd of young people enjoying alternative rock music.

“It was fabulous and it was a big crowd of kids that probably would have been downtown,” she said. “This ties in to the safety committee’s strategy of planning activities that were positive and good, that would break up crowds and disperse them to various places.”

Many people chose to visit Saturday’s car show at the Seaside Chamber of Commerce parking lot. People from all over the state brought their car to the show and the Special Olympics car wash was always full. Also on Saturday night, open gyms at Broadway Middle School were “jam-packed.”

“People were out to have fun and the spirit was there,” Blake said. “Everybody was really looking forward to a vacation and a good time. Without a question, it was one of the biggest efforts we’ve had with our open gyms and youth center.”

Spring break activities continue this week with the Youth Awareness Festival from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center, followed by a youth alternative rock concert. A steak feed will also be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Center to raise money for the Clatsop Community Peer Jury and SEPRD scholarships.

Also this week, a free outdoor concert will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the Seaside Factory Outlet Center. The event features the contemporary Christian music of the Jeremy Thorn Band.