Dan Riggs, 16, scratches his head in wonderment as he views his partially submerged car, which rolled down a gentle slope into the Columbia River near the foot of 15th Street in 1971.

10 years ago this week — 2011

The Night Crawlers have run the Hood to Coast race for 29 years.

“For me it’s the camaraderie and teamwork that make it worth it,” said Paul Arbisi, a Night Crawler from Minneapolis. “Every year it is a new adventure for us. We get to meet new people.”

The weather on Saturday could not have been better for the 12 veterans to finish the race. The Night Crawlers, along with 20,000 other runners and walkers from 50 states and 35 countries, converged on Seaside for the 30th anniversary of the “largest relay in the world,” which raises money for the American Cancer Society.

The start of school is right around the corner.

With most area schools set to begin in the next week, students aren’t the only ones packing bags and preparing for the next year of education.

“I think everyone is hungry and ready to get started,” said Larry Lockett, principal at Astoria High School. “It’s time to get the kids back to school. Teachers are already showing up and getting things ready. We feel like we’re ahead of schedule, and this year we have extra time to prepare.”

SEASIDE — The green carpet was rolled out Wednesday morning, and several people cheered.

They called the event a “great happening,” a “dream come true” and a “red letter day.”

The carpet — actually artificial turf — was the first of 135,000 square feet of turf to be applied to the Broadway Park field.

“Let’s push turf!” shouted Jason Boyd, Seaside High School athletic director, and several people leaned down to put muscle to one of the first of many rolls to come.

50 years ago — 1971

The Astoria Regatta’s “Fun in 71” was:

An abundance of royalty — the Regatta Queen and court, Miss Oregon, Miss Loyalty, Miss Clatsop County, Miss Scandinavia, the Clatsop County Rodeo Queen and a former Miss Oregon — Margie Huhta — judging.

A parade review stand that looked as if it were at church as it constantly rose to honor passing American flags.

A line of cheering and clapping parade watchers encouraging the Angel Job Corps drill team’s intricate maneuvers.

Kids racing down Commercial Street in Kiddies Day competition. And young people sauntering down the mall all afternoon.

Everyone forgetting that a street is closed to let people roam on it, and walking instead, sardine-crowding the sidewalks.

Five children swarming on one piece of salt water taffy thrown from a novelty act trooper or rushing to ride the miniature tractor at the carnival, playing big papa.

Police at the beer garden dance gate, spotlighting for kids. The youth standing outside the gate, too young to enter, but having as much fun dancing to the rock band as those inside.

Portland is going to be bypassed by the contingent of Green Berets retracing the route of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

That word first came Friday from an advance man for the 22 U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers, but it was not until later in the weekend that verification was received, according to Jean Hallaux, manager of the Astoria Area Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Oregon Lewis and Clark Heritage Committee.

The Green Berets will be at Fort Clatsop for welcoming ceremonies Sunday afternoon, as scheduled by the local welcoming committee.

The Berets will arrive in Astoria Saturday afternoon and bivouac at the Astoria Yacht Club on Youngs Bay.

A compromise was worked out in a meeting at the chamber of commerce Thursday afternoon, after it was learned that the Special Forces troops and their welcoming committee were aiming at different dates for the 120-day trek completion.

75 years ago — 1946

The biggest fleet of boats in the history of the Columbia River salmon derby was estimated to have been on the river estuary Sunday, as bright sunny weather stimulated fishermen and apparently also stimulated salmon to take the hook more eagerly.

Fishing was the best of the derby so far, with a substantial run of silversides apparently in the river in addition to the Chinook run. Many catches of silversides were reported.

The “catch” of five wardens of the Washington Department of Fisheries during the derby included eight arrests and convictions for using extra lines and taking of too many fish; six arrests and convictions of visiting sports fishermen catching too many clams during their off hours from the river, and the arrest of a custom cannery operator in Washington who did not obtain a license for his business before cutting up and canning fish.

The “catch” of two Oregon State Police officers who spent some time on the river during the derby, and that of a U.S. game warden from Portland, was one angler, arrested for having extra fishing line.

ILWACO — Mayor Norman Howerton today announced that Pacific coast mayors will seek fishing recruits from mayors of British Columbia to challenge in 1947 the mayors of leading eastern seacoast cities for the mayoral fishing championship of the United States.

Plans for the 1947 championship were enthusiastically discussed by the leading Pacific coast mayors at a reception in Howerton’s home. Further details were taken up at a dinner Saturday night.

Sailors walked off ships in major Pacific coast ports today at the beginning of a progressive nationwide shipping tie-up and established soup kitchens for the AFL seamens’ strike scheduled to become fully effective at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Responsibility for accidents along Taylor Avenue must be assumed by the City Commission if they maintain their present stand against the divider solution offered by the state, Oregon Highway Engineer R.H. Baldock has indicated in a letter to the city.

Baldock reminded the city that the state had made numerous surveys of the area and that no further studies of traffic problems was justified.

Astorians thus far have made little progress in getting into the movies. But it now appears that the town’s fish flash on the screen.

R.T. Whiteleather, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is in Astoria today on what might be described as a “fish talent” scouting trip.

He conferred with Fred Sandoz, of Columbia River Packers Association, in connection with its inquiries into the possibilities of producing an educational film on filleting. Fish will not talk in the picture, but filleters and other performers will have something to say.

TOKYO – Signe Pekuri, whose home is in Astoria, is one of a handful of Americans who have climbed Fujiyama, the 12,425 foot sacred mountain on the island of Honshu, this season.

Astoria’s chances for getting the proposed western naval academy or post-graduate work are none too bright and, for that matter, neither are the chances of any other Oregon or Washington site. This was the impression gathered Friday by chamber of commerce officials who met the sub-committee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Naval Affairs, which is on a tour of the Pacific coast and which visited Astoria overnight.