Beach Bill History Talk

Gov. Tom McCall confronts would-be beach privatizers at the Surfsand in Cannon Beach.

We’re winding up our year-long celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Oregon Beach Bill with a last hurrah.  Most of our events honoring the bill have, for obvious reasons, taken place on the beach, but this last time around, we’re giving those in the Metro area a chance.  On Thursday, Nov. 30, we’ll be hosting a casual “history pub talk” by Chuck Johnson, author of “Standing at the Water’s Edge:  Bob Straub’s Battle for the Soul of Oregon.”  The event takes place at the Lucky Lab (the Southeast Portland location, 915 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.).  Gather beginning at 5:30 p.m.; the talk will begin at about 6.  The event is free and open to all—food and drink from the Lucky Lab on your own.

As he did last May when we commemorated the Mother’s Day March that kicked off the struggle for the state’s beaches, Chuck will describe the battle to save the coast from a freeway, and the role of then-future, now former Gov. Straub’s key role in the larger battle to preserve Oregon’s beaches for the public.  He will go on to describe the Beach Bill campaign of 1967, and what it has meant for Oregon’s conservation history.  The talk will be casual, with plenty of time for questions and discussion.