June 24, 2020
The official celebration for the improvements to the CZ Trail has been postponed due to Covid, and the memorial plaque to Wayne has not yet been installed. But check out this article in Portland’s BikePortland e-newsletter:
https://bikeportland.org/2020/06/22/the-crown-zellerbach-trail-is-better-than-ever-especially-for-families-317461———————————-
February 6, 2020
1. Doug McMahon (aka Wayne’s Problem) will be showing Wayne’s 1973 Triumph X-75 Hurricane at The One Motorcycle Show this weekend Feb 7-9 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. See the photo above. Also see Doug’s blog about Wayne’s bikes at
https://waynesproblem.blogspot.com/2. Put Thursday May 21 on your calendar for the official dedication of the new CZ Trail improvements that were partially funded with Wayne’s Memorial Trail Fund. More later.
——————————
December 16, 2019
You may recall that after Wayne passed away in 2016, an anonymous donor made a substantial donation in his memory to the Tillamook State Forest for use in maintaining the many trails on the Forest.
With a small portion of those funds, two new bridges were built along the Wilson River Trail in March. See pictures in the Gallery. The bridges are 20’ and 40’ long and cross Jones Creek. Along with the bridges a 1/3 mile section of trail was constructed that routes the Wilson River Trail north of Jones Creek Campground. This reduces user conflicts during the summer months where the trail goes through Jones Creek Day Use Area and provides a much better trail experience for users. With it’s proximity to Jones Creek Campground, this new section of trail has created a nice loop that allows campground visitors to easily get out on a trail. Wayne would be proud.
The staff at the Tillamook State Forest really appreciate the support for maintenance projects in his memory. If you are interested in donating, send your tax deductible check to:
Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust
Attn: Ross Holloway, Executive Director
2600 State Street, Bldg B
Salem, OR 97310
Checks should be made payable to the Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust and note that it is in memory of Wayne Naillon.
Dale Latham
—————————————-
November 30, 2019
Columbia County has just installed several improvements to the Crown Z Trail from Scappoose to Vernonia. And next spring they will install a plaque on the Trail to acknowledge Wayne’s contribution to those improvements. See photo gallery for a peak of the plaque. The watercolor of Wayne was painted in the 1980’s by Wayne’s close friend, Carol Ann Stafford.
The County wants to honor Wayne because we donated $6000 from his memorial trail fund as a match for a $150,000 grant to install trailhead signage, bike repair stations, and other improvements to the Crown Z Trail.
Those improvements also feature large trail maps (see photo gallery) at 10 trailheads along the Crown Z Trail. The map was created by Jeff Smith, another close friend of Wayne’s for over 30 years. The County will also produce a brochure of the Trail featuring this map.
There will be an official celebration by the County next spring, probably in May, and I’ll let you know once a date is set.
Dale Latham
—————————————————————————————
October 30, 2018
Hello Friends of Wayne
Arvell Wilson, the purchaser of Wayne’s house, has just completed a two year remodel of his home in Irvington. Wayne was very proud of the fact that his house was built by a timber baron and featured Povey stained glass windows and inlaid oak floors.
Arvell plans to offer it as lodging for an Airbnb and is having an open house this Saturday November 3 from 12-4:00 p.m. for us to view the remodel. Wear clean socks please! Wayne’s house will be shoe-free so you can fully appreciate the inlaid oak floors.
In other news, construction is beginning soon on improvements to the Crown Zellerbach Trail between Scappoose and Vernonia that will include bike repair stations, improved signage, and other Trailhead improvements. The $6000 that we raised in Wayne’s memory was used as the cornerstone match for a $150,000 Oregon Parks and Recreation Department grant that is funding this project. Construction should be completed by next July and I’ll let you know when we are ready to gather to remember Wayne once again.
Also, one of Wayne’s dreams was to complete the last mile of the CZ Trail to Vernonia and complete the Salmonberry Trail which will then connect the CZ Trail to the Oregon Coast. I am currently serving on a new CZ Trail Advisory Committee whose charter is to complete that last section to Vernonia. We hope to complete construction in the next two years. I’ll keep you posted.
Best wishes,
Dale Latham
—————————————————————————————————
April 14, 2018
Several of us met at the CZ Trail near Vernonia to remember Wayne by placing a memorial plaque on his bench, planting some trillium and flower seeds, and spreading some of his ashes nearby. See the pictures we have posted in the Gallery tab. Note the guy with the shovel. It may look like Wayne but it’s Wayne’s beloved brother Wes. There are now two benches in Wayne’s honor. The first at the Tillamook Forestry Center on Hwy 6 and this bench on the CZ Trail. You can visit it by hiking, biking, or even driving to the intersection of the CZ Trail with Pioneer Road just off the Scapoose-Vernonia Hwy. The bench is just about a hundred feet from Pioneer Road towards milepost 5 on the Trail. See the NEW map of the Trail in the Gallery tab that was created by Wayne’s friend Jeff Smith. Jeff created this map at no charge for the grant that we got to improve signage and other improvements along the Trail. It will be posted prominently at all CZ trailheads by next year. T
It’s been almost two years since Wayne passed away and his house on NE 15th near Tillamook is still a work in progress. The outside looks great but they still have months to finish the remodel inside. The owner plans to remodel it as an Airbnb and will open it for us to see when it’s done. We will keep you posted.
Finally, here is an update on the work being done on the Tillamook State Forest this year with the generous donation made anonymously in Wayne’s memory: According to Randy Peterson, friend of Wayne’s and Recreation Program Manager on the Tillamook, “We have three trail bridge projects on the Wilson River Trail that will be completed with Wayne's trail fund money. One will be a new bridge on a year round stream and the other two bridge projects will be replacing a bridge on the Wilson River Trail near Jones Creek Campground that is at risk of being washed out by the Wilson River. We will be purchasing materials for the bridge projects this winter and spring and the bridges will be built by our South Fork inmate crew later this summer.
We have also been working with our volunteer groups to develop trail tool caches to support volunteer program activities. We expect to start purchasing the tools for the tool caches later this winter. There will be two tool caches. One based on the west side of the forest and one based on the east side of the forest. We are working on building a more "self directed" volunteer program, which was part of Wayne's vision, and the trail tool caches will definitely help us do that.”
—————————————————————————————————————————————
February 17, 2018
Wayne left his derelict motorcycles to his friend Doug McMahon (commonly known as “Wayne’s Problem”). Doug has created a blog about them and we thought you might be interested. Be sure to subscribe to his blog for future updates.
http://waynesproblem.blogspot.com ______________________________________________________________________________
January 10, 2018
Do you remember the $6000 many of you donated in Wayne’s memory a year and a half ago? Well, here’s what happened to it: Columbia County issued the following press release today.
Columbia County approved for grant to improve CZ Trail
Oregon Parks and Recreation matches $75,000 for $150,000 in total funding
A desire to memorialize a friend has turned into $150,000 in grants and services for Columbia County’s Crown Zellerbach Trail.
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department approved a $75,000 matching grant request to provide improved access, safety and services along the 23-mile trail, which runs from Scappoose to Vernonia. Additions will include kiosks, maps, signage, safety crossings and user amenities.
It all started with an idea to memorialize a friend and $6,000 to do so. After Wayne Naillon, a cycling enthusiast and trail advocate passed away in 2016, family members and friends gathered the funds in the hopes of finding a way to honor him.
“Wayne loved the CZ Trail and wanted more people to know about it, so we thought that promoting use of the trail would be a good way to memorize him,” said Dale Latham, Naillon’s friend and co-manager of the Wayne Naillon Memorial Trail Fund.
Latham and family member Marcus Iverson approached the county with the idea of using the $6,000 to improve access to the trail. That’s when Casey Garrett, the county’s General Services Manager, suggested the county apply for a grant from OPRD, which they did in May 2017. By December, the initial donation of $6,000 had turned into an approved $150,000 matching grant, with promises from the county, Oregon Equestrian Trails, and cartographer Jeff Smith partnering to provide labor and pro bono personal services. Smith was a good friend of Naillon’s and is an active advocate for biking trails in Oregon.
Much of the work will take place at the Chapman trailhead, which is located 8.5 miles west of Scappoose. A covered picnic area, bicycle rack, bicycle repair station, signage, ADA horse mount assist and an ADA-approved vault toilet will be constructed near the trailhead.
Kiosk signage for five other existing trailheads are also planned along the trail, and maps designed by Smith will be made available. Safety features include installing a flashing crossing at the intersection of Scappoose-Vernonia and Cater roads, additional safety crossing signage at other intersections with county roads, and adding milepost markers to the last seven miles of the trail.
Oregon Equestrian Trails, which has provided a significant amount of labor in other county parks, will construct the ADA horse mount, similar to the one the group built at Camp Wilkerson. The county’s Parks and Road departments will provide labor for other trail work as well as landscaping at the Chapman trailhead.
“The CZ Trail is a jewel, and we’re thrilled to be able to make it safer and more accessible, and to spread the word about this beautiful place,” said County Commissioner Margaret Magruder. “I thank the friends of Wayne Naillon for starting us on this incredible journey.”
Work will begin in spring, and is expected to last up to two years.
Approval of the grant comes at a time when the county is developing a renewed CZ Trail Advisory Committee. In 2006, the county formed an ad hoc committee to study how to develop the trail into a recreational facility for cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians. A concept plan was also drafted.
The new committee, which was formalized by county ordinance in January 2018, will focus on the goal of previous plans to connect the CZ Trail with the Banks-Vernonia Trail in Vernonia, along with related land transfers and possibly developing Camp 8 as an equestrian camp.
Columbia County commissioners believe finalizing these projects will elevate the CZ Trail and serve as a catalyst for linking to other trails in northwest Oregon such as the proposed Salmonberry Trail, which would run from Banks to the coast, and the Trees to Seas Scenic Byway along Highway 6.
The county is also joining a coalition organized by the Washington County Visitors Association to connect these bike trails and scenic byways as a way to promote visitor activity in Washington and Columbia counties out to the Oregon coast.
“We’re excited about joining this effort,” said Magruder. “Increasing visitation to smaller communities like Banks, Vernonia and Scappoose will have a positive economic impact for all of us.”
The CZ Trail is a regionally significant part of a larger trail system in northwest Oregon. The property lies along a trail constructed in the early 1800s to transport logs harvested from county forests. It was purchased by the Crown Zellerbach Corp. and converted to a road in the 1950s, and then sold to Hancock Timber Resources, which maintained the road for access and fire suppression. The corridor was purchased by Columbia County in 2004.
——————————————————————-
June 17, 2017
I took the photos of Wayne's new bench on the CZ trail that were in Dale's June 16 post and participated in the putting in of the bench on the CZ, though Lori and Marcus did the main work, I was able to field the camera, dig a few shovelfuls and hold boards. Audrey was with us the whole time, and as they worked we all regaled Lori with great and funny stories of Wayne so she felt she knew him. Lori was incredible throughout the process and is such a fantastic person. She is someone Wayne would have really appreciated and vice versa. Thank you, Lori, for this huge gift and your sensitivity and company, which are both outstanding. Not to mention your great skills handling all those tools! .
Though I had thought ahead of time it would be so hard to be there, quite the reverse was true. It was an unexpectedly amazing time as I felt Wayne gave me, us, a huge additional abiding gift that in that the place is one of the most peaceful, beautiful spots in the woods I can imagine. I felt serenity wash over me there. It was dusting us with rain as we found the spot which brightened the deep green of that forest. The bench is nestled in below some huge alders near the creek. It gave me great comfort to imagine the deep peace of those woods for Wayne, and this place I can go sit over time and know he chose this cathedral in the woods for us to return to..We felt closer than ever to Wayne there. There is good access from a road nearby so it isn't a long walk which made it so accessible for Audrey.
You can now go and sit and/or walk a long ways on that beautiful trail, now that the cement has hardened. I know Marcus will be adding a plaque on the bench. Audrey and I plan to add some trilliums, foxglose and ferns around the bench.
Virginia
----------------------------------------------------------------
June 16, 2017
On Sunday June 11 we gathered at Kinship House in Wayne's neighborhood to dedicate a therapy room in Wayne's name. Kinship House provides mental health services to foster children, adopted children, and their families. Here is their blog with pictures.
https://kinshiphouse.org/honoring-wayne-t-naillon-friend-of-the-children. Additional pictures are posted in the Photo Gallery.
In other news, Columbia County Parks Department has placed a bench in Wayne's memory on the Crown Zellerbach Trail, near the area where Wayne died. It's about 2 miles above the County Shed Trailhead along the CZ Trail. Here are some pictures of Wayne's nephew, Marcus Iverson, and Lori Baker, of Columbia County, installing the bench. Wayne's sister Audrey joined them for the finished bench.
Finally, many of you donated to the Wayne Naillon Trail Fund last year after his death. We currently have over $6000 in the Fund and have decided to use it to improve the CZ Trail as the first step toward completing the trail to Vernonia. Using our money as a "match," Columbia County has applied for a $150,000 state grant to improve signage and trail access. We will let you know when we find out whether our grant proposal was accepted, probably later this summer.
Best wishes,
Dale Latham
-----------------------------------------------------
April 30, 2017
About 35 of us met today at the Tillamook Forest Center to celebrate Wayne's birthday and dedicate a bench in his memory overlooking the Wilson River. Wayne's birthday was yesterday and close to 1st anniversary of his death. See the Picture Gallery. To find his bench, just turn right after crossing the foot bridge that crosses the Wilson River at the Tillamook Forest Center (located about an hour west of Portland along Hwy 6).
The Center has also created a fund in Wayne's memory dedicated to maintenance of the trails Wayne loved so much. You can donate by sending your tax deductible check to:
Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust
Attn: Ross Holloway, Executive Director
2600 State Street, Bldg B
Salem, OR 97310
Checks should be made payable to the Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust and note that it is in memory of Wayne Naillon.
