The most important Oregon story, on film
by Matt Love
[Oregon Coast Today; Posted April 30, 2009]
In November 2005 I gave a presentation on the history of Oregon’s famous 1967 Beach Bill to the Cannon Beach Historical Society. At the time, I thought I was the expert on the subject because my research had debunked the popular myth that Governor Tom McCall almost single-handedly steered the bill into law and saved our ocean beaches from the sinister forces of privatization.
In the audience that afternoon was a man in his thirties named Tom Olsen Jr. He came up to me after the presentation and introduced himself as someone from Portland who owned a cabin in Cannon Beach. His family had a long and distinguished history in the community and he shared my passion for the Oregon Coast. Tom told me he was a filmmaker with a documentary to his credit, “Killingsworth,” which chronicled the rise of Portland’s African-American gangs in the 1980s.
As I recall, he said my presentation intrigued him and that he might have an interest in making a documentary on the hard fought legacy of Oregon’s publicly owned beaches. Might I be interested in helping him out? I was intrigued and gave him my card and never expected to hear another word.
But I did hear from Tom, and three years later, he not only made the film, called “Politics of Sand,” but he went so far beyond my original research that I must now give up my self-appointed title. He now reigns as the official expert on the incredible history of Oregon’s Beach Bill.
Tom Olsen can also claim another title: he has made the best film about an Oregon historical subject in the state’s history. It’s simply a must see for everyone who has ever recreated (for free!) on a publicly owned Oregon ocean beach. Isn’t that everyone reading this column? If you love this glorious tradition, you owe it to yourself to see how it all came about, and more importantly, how close it came to not happening. And it was close, harrowingly close, as the film shows.
You might also want to see the film if you need a little inspiration to help protect Oregon’s beaches and oceans today. Forty years ago, Oregon citizens and politicians looked to the future to protect a natural resource for their children’s enjoyment. Can we honestly say that’s happening today? Watch this film and consider that question.
Yes, I’ll say it again. “Politics of Sand” is the greatest film about Oregon history ever made. And you can judge for yourself this Sunday, May 3, at 2 p.m. when the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport hosts a free screening of “Politics of Sand.” Tom will attend the event, discuss his documentary and sell copies of the film. If you have other plans, change them.
This is Oregon and a native Oregonian who loves the Oregon Coast made a film about Oregon’s beaches. Learn how and why we did it different back in 1967. Then after you seeing it, go up and thank Tom Olsen for his role in keeping this important, maybe the most important Oregon story of all, alive, and in play.