up, Up, UP!

Episode Highlights: 

This episode climbs on three fronts. Niki Price joins us to talk about the Oregon Cultural Trust—why culture matters, how you can support it, and what lifting the arts really looks like on the ground. Be sure to act now before the New Year to claim your tax credit! 

Dr. Ogden takes us skyward with the U.S. Coast Guard, breaking down helicopter operations and the real-world training that happens with Samaritan hospitals to help make rescues seamless when seconds count.

And with a clip clap clip and a little luck we hope to hear from Old St. Nick - Yes, Santa Claus himself on his most busiest of hours.

Culture, rescue, and a touch of magic—all rising together. Clear the decks, we’re going up, Up, UP.

• Niki Price, Oregon Cultural Trust  
• Dr. Ogden, Emergency Doctor trained and CEO of our local hospitals 
• Santa Claus,  North Pole Ambassador for Flight

Transcript

Jana 0:06

Welcome to the Double R Show, the podcast that features everything about North Lincoln County. The Double R Show, directed and produced by Paul Robertson and hosted by the voice of Lincoln City, Roger Robertson.

RR 0:30

And a very Merry Christmas to you and yours, and uh welcome back to the Double R Show. It is a Christmas day.

Son Paul 0:37

Yeah, yeah. We just uh you know at midnight as we uh open up the new podcast uh for the 25th today. So uh I think we're you know anticipating a special guest.

RR 0:48

Uh so towards the end of the program, I believe uh we we've heard that uh somebody pretty special would join us for uh you know a little bit of an interview and and uh talk about what what what's happening in his life. Okay, sounds good. We also have Nikki Price coming on board and Dr. Leslie Ogden. It's uh interesting. Dr. Ogden's gonna be on talking about helicopters, and there's somebody else that likes to fly around as well. That's right. That's right. Up, up, up. Merry Christmas to you and yours, and your Christmas beginning will continue right after this. If you're looking for great early garden fresh produce, it's Kenny's IGA in the Bay Area of Lincoln City. Four generations of Morgans caring for your every grocery need. All your favorite beverages of full deli, meat produce, and of course, groceries. Our next guest is Nikki Priest. Nikki is the past chair, past president uh of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Niki Price 1:57

Yeah, I've been serving on the Oregon Cultural Trust Board of Directors uh for the past nine years.

RR 2:02

And what is that?

Niki Price 2:03

Well, the Oregon Cultural Trust is a statewide governor-appointed board of directors that helps oversee the funds that are raised by the Cultural Tax Credit. And it's a unique way that Oregonians raise money to help support arts, culture, heritage, and humanities projects across the state. An example would be uh Well, we have a great example. It's happening right here in Lincoln City. The Cultural Center is going to be receiving a grant this year to support our arts exploration program, which sends arts programs, arts lessons right into the schools. So that's just one grant that is coming back to Lincoln City. And but there's about four million dollars worth of grants that are going around the state this year through the same program.

RR 2:49

So this is a annual give out or return to the communities, or uh uh what happens? What's the time frame?

Niki Price 2:58

Well, the whole thing is structured around a tax credit. And that's why I'm here today is to make sure that all the listeners to the podcast know about the tax credit because you have to take advantage of it to generate these funds by December 31st. So I'm here to try to you know raise awareness of it and make sure that all your listeners know how to use it.

RR 3:18

So, how do I make a gift that becomes a tax credit? What do I do?

Niki Price 3:23

So it's got two parts. And one our joke this year is uh let's do the two-step. So let's do do the two-step with me. I argue. It's got two parts. First, you make a gift to a cultural nonprofit of your choice. And there's sixteen hundred of these across the state.

RR 3:39

Oh my.

Niki Price 3:40

Yeah, yeah. So we've got, I think, 35 of them in Lincoln County alone. So you know, you can make a gift to the cultural center, the Lincoln City Cultural Center, or you can make a gift to the Oregon Coast Community Foundation or the Lincoln County Foundation, Theater West, Oregon Coast Council for the Arts, you know, you name it. Any arts, the museums, um, the Lincoln County, you know, Historical Society, North Lincoln County Historical Society, they're all part of this network.

RR 4:06

So it doesn't have to be an organization that has made an application for funding. Okay.

Niki Price 4:12

They just have to be qualified. And even if if you give to public radio, for example, you know, OPB, KLCC, even the the one in in Toledo, KYAQ, you know, you can you can give to one of those. Uh, you can give to the Oregon Historical Society, you know, you can give to the Railroad Museum. You know, anything that is heritage or history related that has a nonprofit, it's probably on the list.

RR 4:36

So you give the gift to that organization, then you file for it on your taxes?

Niki Price 4:40

Well, that that's your first gift. So that's your first step.

RR 4:43

All right. Right.

Niki Price 4:43

And then you match that gift with a gift to the cultural trust. So say you give away. Yeah, so you get say you give $100 to the cultural center, Lincoln City, and then you maybe you give another $100 to the Cultural Trust. But the cool part is that $100 to the Cultural Trust comes off your taxes next spring. So it's like a free gift to arts and culture.

RR 5:07

Very good.

Niki Price 5:08

Yeah, it's like it's like writing a letter to the governor and telling her that she must spend your $100 on arts, culture, heritage, and humanities, and she's got to do it. It's like a feeling of power.

RR 5:21

There is no takeaway to give to a uh something other than the arts and the the heritage.

Niki Price 5:28

Yeah, it's gotta go there. Yeah, and so using that tax credit, they we take those those funds that are given by Oregonians in this manner using this tax credit, and we bring all those funds together. And by in using that tax credit, we raised five and a half million dollars last year.

RR 5:44

Is there a minimum and or a maximum that uh people can contribute? That's an excellent question.

Niki Price 5:50

Five hundred dollars for individuals or a thousand dollars for couples filing jointly, or up to two thousand dollars for corporations.

RR 5:57

Oh, so corporations can be part of it.

Niki Price 5:59

Corporations can be part of it too, yeah. Well, the cool thing is is I know a lot of people out there who are already making this, you know, the the first step donation. And so they're already qualified. So this this time of year, I'm going around to a lot of boards and and other nonprofits in Lincoln County and just talking to the boards and the people who are serving on the boards because I know that they are already giving. They're probably already qualified. Um, you're you're probably already investing in some of these nonprofits in your own communities, and so for zero extra dollars, you can be you know contributing to the cultural extra.

RR 6:34

Again, bottom line is you make a contribution to uh uh X corporation company, whatever it would happen to be. Then you turn around and write another check for the same amount to the cultural trust, and when you file your taxes, that money comes back to you. The first or the second hundred comes back to you then.

Niki Price 6:52

That's right. So if you rob file your taxes, you you might notice at the end of your taxes there's a list of tax credits that you can claim. There's one for giving to political campaigns, and there's one to give, you know, maybe agricultural, there's a variety of different tax credits that you can claim. There's one for a cultural tax credit, and this that's what you claim. And you can you can claim a bunch together. It's not you don't have to itemize them. So if you give some to 300 West and some to the cultural center and some to OPB, it's an aggregate. Okay, so you so if you give a total of $500 to these cultural nonprofits, then you can give your one check to the cultural trust. And you can do it online. It's super fast and easy, cultural trust.org. And uh it takes about two minutes.

RR 7:44

And again, some of the items that has already been supported in North Lincoln County would be what?

Niki Price 7:50

Well, uh the Cultural Trust funds a lot of competitive grants. And so so some of us, when we when we do really well in the grant writing, we get some of the bigger grants, like the one that's coming to the cultural center. There's a big one coming to the Sitka Center this year. $40,000 is coming to the Sitka Center for their arts education. Yeah, there's a big one coming to the Oregon Coast Youth Symphony out of Newport. So they're getting a big one this year. And so, you know, we get a couple every year in our area of the coast. But the cool thing is that the cultural trust also gives out sort of you know participation awards through the cultural coalitions. Every county in the state has their own cultural coalition, and the the cultural trust just sends money just based on per capita right to Lincoln County. So every year the Cultural Trust sends $15,000 to Lincoln County, and the Cultural Coalition gives out grants in smaller amounts to local organizations, and those are much easier access points. So through those, we fund all sorts of smaller grants, you know, for for Missoula Children's Theater, for new microphones at on the on the stage, for for um variety. Yeah, all sorts of small things. And it's and it's a small grant, it's much easier to get, and it really helps support the I mean where else can these small nonprofits go to get a twelve hundred dollar grant? The cultural cultural.

RR 9:16

Final question: if somebody wants to sit down with Nikki Price and find out more about the Oregon Cultural Trust, we do what and how do we get a hold of you?

Niki Price 9:24

Well, I'm happy to give you my cell phone number. It's 541-921-2006. And you could also reach out to the Cultural Trust, culturaltrust.org. I'm actually at the Cultural Center part-time right now. You could drop by and see me. I would be happy to walk you through this. It sounds complicated, but it's really not. And I encourage everyone to give it a try with a small amount of money. If you're not sure how it works, just try it for, you know, $100 this year, and then walk yourself through the tax credit, claim it in April, and see how it works. And most of the time, when you do it once, you understand how easy it is. You do it every year, and it really makes a difference.

RR 10:53

They were training with your staff.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 10:55

They were.

RR 10:56

Tell me about that.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 10:58

Well, it's very exciting because uh we know how important a partnership is with the Coast Guard for saving lives. And we know now more than ever, because we're we're hearing about it almost daily, how important the Coast Guard is to the work that we all do, whether that be you know, fishermen or someone hiking or a visitor to our coast. But when they rescue somebody and they bring them to our local hospitals, we need to be ready at that drop of a hat to assume care of that patient and whisk them inside for whatever life-saving type of care that they need.

RR 11:41

Now you found out that there is some interesting protocol that goes into getting that person into the helicopter, off, out of the helicopter, and into the hospital.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 11:51

Correct, correct. They do things a little bit differently than some of our other helicopter partners.

RR 11:57

Specifically for reasons.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 11:59

Specifically for reasons. They do what's called hot loads, meaning that they are not going to shut down their helicopter when they land. And we are going to be able to take that patient from them when it's the right time. But there's very specific protocols to make sure that we're all safe in doing that. So the reasons why they prefer that hot load is for number one, they have limited fuel. Number two, they don't want to break down on our helipad and turn the thing off and it not turned back on. And number three, they could be called at a moment's notice to go back out and do uh other rescues. So they want to come to us, unload that patient as fast or hot load that patient had it, had it, you know, if you want to use that terminology, uh, as fast as possible, get that patient into our care and be right back at it so that they can save more lives.

RR 12:59

Now, this training that you just went through with both hospitals, is that something that you do annually, semi-annually, or monthly, or how often does this happen?

Dr. Lesley Ogden 13:10

Well, we'd like for it to be annually, and I think we're gonna really push for that. Years and years ago, I went through the training when I was uh an ER doc, and uh we just haven't done it as frequently as we should. And so at a recent tabletop exercise where we had all of our emergency preparedness folks and the Coast Guard and all of our other partners, we said, boy, this is really something that we need to focus on. And so we're so pleased that the the Coast Guard devoted an hour at each of our hospitals for all of our emergency department staff, uh house supervisors, anyone else that will be involved in this to get out there and to get this training.

RR 13:54

Before we went on the air, you were talking about some of the things that uh the personnel have to do, even to the height of the people going out to get that person off the helicopter.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 14:04

Correct, correct. We need to be aware that if you're one of those people that's very tall in stature, you you might be very aware that there's some uh circling blades and want to, of course, duck down you know how you approach the aircraft. We're taught how to do that. We have to have hearing protection, so many different things, um, down to the signals that the pilots and others will give us when it's time to approach the aircraft. So um it is it is very definitely uh training with safety in mind for everyone on board the helicopter as well as all of our ground personnel who are running up to the helicopter and extracting the patient.

RR 14:49

We know that most people come in or a lot of the people come into the hospital because of those Coast Guard helicopters. Do they take them out of the Samaritan or Pacific Communities Hospital to the valley?

Dr. Lesley Ogden 15:02

No, no, that then is our our other partner, which is Lifelight. Because once the Coast Guard drops them with us, then we do whatever care is appropriate. And oftentimes if they're coming to us, they need a lot of care. If they're they could be hypothermic, they could, you know, have um respiratory distress, they can, you know, just have a number of issues associated with exposure uh to the outdoors, whether that be water, whether that be forest for too long. So oftentimes they need uh a higher level of care. We'll stabilize them, but then we'll want to get them somewhere else. And of course, our partners, LifeFlight, they have flight nurses that are trained in advance life uh saving capabilities, and we'll want them to go with the folks uh for the remainder of their treatment, you know, time in route.

RR 16:01

From the time that the Coast Guard gets the person uh picked up, beat it out of the water, the woods, whatever it would happen to be, it is just a matter of minutes before they're on your doorstep, right?

Dr. Lesley Ogden 16:14

Correct, correct. And that's their goal, and that's our goal as well, to minimize the time that they spend with the Coast Guard simply because the Coast Guard doesn't have as many medical personnel on board. In fact, the majority are non-medical, and so what we need is we need to get our medical personnel, you know, uh really interacting with the patient and treating them as quickly as possible.

RR 16:39

All the more reason for that helicopter to be positioned in Newport.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 16:44

Correct. Absolutely. You said it, Roger.

RR 16:47

Absolutely. I mean, it is critically important. It's not a nicety, it's a critical item.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 16:55

It is a matter of life and death.

RR 16:57

Dr. Leslie Ogden, Samaritan Northleague Hospital, Pacific Communities Hospital. And again, the having that helicopter in Newport is critical. The training that goes in with your staff and the staff on board that flight, again, critically important as well.

Dr. Lesley Ogden 17:15

Critically important, and we hope to do it again and again and again.

Zantello 17:19

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Jana 17:33

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RR 17:37

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NW Septic Service 17:46

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Jana 17:52

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RR 18:00

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Lehto 18:04

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RR 18:20

Up on the rooftop, click, click, clop, or something like that. We have Santa Claus on the roof and on the air. Santa, how are ya?

Santa Claus 18:30

Oh, Merry Christmas! I'm doing great. It's been a busy, busy night for sure.

RR 18:38

You you've already gone from New York to Chicago to North Dakota, and now all the way out here to uh Lincoln City, Oregon. That's a lot of country to cover.

Santa Claus 18:47

It is, and it's a long way to travel, but it's worth it every year. I love to do it, I tell you. I've had some trouble with some of the chimneys though. Mrs. Collins is gonna have to do some repair work when I get home because uh I think maybe I've had too much milk and cookies if that happens with the gym, you know.

RR 19:08

Is there too much milk and cookies? Is that possible? And does it uh keep you uh fit uh to uh get going for the following year?

Santa Claus 19:26

Oh yes, we stay busy and preparation all the rest of the time. You get the reindeer to take care of and gifts to be made and presents to be prepared. So it makes me before we can get the treatment before we get back to the milking cookies.

RR 19:45

I have no idea how you can possibly read all of those letters, uh

Santa Claus 20:00

Thousands of years ago. And uh so I read every single one of them, and I love all the letters I get from all the children all over the world. And I've also got some handles that help with translation work as well.

RR 20:13

I perhaps think because you go all the way around the world.

Santa Claus 20:17

Absolutely. Everyone gets a present from Santa.

RR 20:21

Is there a letter that stands out in Santa's mind uh that you receive from little Johnny or or sister Sue that uh really beats at your heart?

Santa Claus 20:35

Well, I like it when when I get a letter from someone who's asking for something for someone else. Oh I mean, of course, every little boy or girl wants their present, wants their toy, whatever it is, or or they want some kind of special music thing or some sort of device that they can use on their computers nowadays. But especially when someone says, Santa, will you please help my next door neighbor or my grandma or my friend or my teacher? That always tugs at my heartstrings.

RR 21:09

That's gotta be just something that that you can take home to the North Pole for and until you're ready to come again next year.

Santa Claus 21:19

Absolutely. Absolutely. People, this is a time of year when people are looking at their neighbors and wondering if everybody's okay, and they're always trying to find a way to help other people out. And that warms Santa's heart.

RR 21:34

Has there been any favorite toys uh that uh you've had a lot of requests for this year, Santa? Is it uh dolls or trucks or what what's happening?

Santa Claus 21:46

Well, most kids want some kind of a gift card.

RR 21:50

Oh because then they can get whatever they want. Huh. Had not thought of that. That's that's a little easier for you to make.

Santa Claus 21:58

You can fit a lot of gift cards into that bag of mine.

RR 22:02

It it saves a lot of wear and tear on Santa's arm.

Santa Claus 22:05

That's right. That's right. All the up and down. It uh saves a lot.

RR 22:10

I know as you sit around uh the the area and in uh little boys and girls come and get on your knee, uh, they're always wondering about Rudolph.

Santa Claus 22:21

Yes, Rudolph has been hard at work. I don't know how I would get here. You know, coming into town tonight, it was pretty cloudy up there. Uh and uh it's always foggy along the coast here, I found over the years. So Santa really relies on Rudolph to help us get through that thick weather that you can't see in.

RR 22:42

Do you sing any special song when you're uh sailing across the country at a gazillion miles an hour?

Santa Claus 22:52

Oh, I love jingle bells. Jingle bells, jingle. Because you know, I have some jingle bells on my reindeer. They have jingle bells, and and on the top of my hat, oftentimes this is called she sews one of those little bells, and so I love jingle bells. It just makes my it makes my belly bounce up and down like a bowl full of jelly. I laugh so hard whenever I sing it.

RR 23:15

Would you like to sing a couple of bars of jingle bells for Santa? Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.

Santa Claus 23:24

Oh, what fun it is to ride in Santa Claus and say, hey, jingle bells, jingle bells. I can't stop laughing when I sing it.

RR 23:38

I uh I'm having a tough time, Santa, looking across the table at Son Paul and producing this show because he's really enjoying hearing from Santa.

Santa Claus 23:48

Well, Paul has grown up to be a fine man. I remember when he was just a little shaver asking for a football for Christmas.

RR 23:58

Yeah. That was a number of years ago, Santa.

Santa Claus 24:02

That's been a while.

RR 24:05

Well, anything else that uh you want to impart to all the boys and girls, and moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas that are listening to us all the way around the world?

Santa Claus 24:17

Well, I want them to remember, no matter what gifts you give or what gifts you receive this year, that you should always enjoy the gifts of love. This is a season when people love each other, when we're reminded how important that is to give to each other and treasure the time you have through the holiday seasons, whatever religion you are, or whatever you believe or think, or wherever you live, to just reach out and love the people around you.

RR 24:48

Up on the rooftop, clip clip, clip clip, clip. How does that go, Santa? Up on a rooftop. Clip clop clip. Clip clop clip. I knew it was something like that.

Santa Claus 24:58

Not clop, clip, clop.

RR 24:59

It's always clip, clop, clip. All right, Santa. Thank you, and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Santa Claus 25:06

And a Merry Christmas to all of you, to your family, Roger, and to everyone there uh on the Oregon coast uh and everyone around the world, and happy new year to you as well.

LCCC 25:18

Woven Legacies is a special sale of Killum's rugs, bags, shoes, jewelry, and home decor made by artesians in Turkey. Sale of these items at the Lincoln City Cultural Center will support the center and also the ongoing care of Julie Reynolds Oterman. All treasures of Woven Legacies were imported by Julie and her late husband, Tener Otraman. View the entire display today at the Lincoln City Cultural Center and own a treasure destined to become a family heirloom.

Zellers 25:48

Homestyle cooking in a hometown atmosphere. Hi, I'm Adina from Zellers Restaurant and Rose Lodge in Lincoln City. Join us daily for good fun and great food. You can even kick up your heels at Zellers.

RR 26:01

Hey, welcome back to the Double R Show in this Christmas morning. It is a grand and glorious day for everybody every time the Christmas bells ring.

Son Paul 26:11

Yeah, I'm looking forward to checking the stockings this morning. I'm, you know, I feel like I did a pretty good year and how pretty good you were.

RR 26:16

You know, we'll see. We will see. And speaking of checking for the stockings, uh, all those people along Highway 229 that got washed out uh over the course of the uh big storms that we've had, uh, they have lost a lot of documents, pictures, memorabilia. If you find those type of items, uh report it to the Lincoln City Police Department or the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office. The non-emergency telephone numbers for the sheriff, it's uh 541-265-0777. And for Lincoln City PD non-emergency phone number 541-994-3636. If you have an opportunity and you find something in the Solitz Bay, uh don't get in the bay because the the water is dangerous. We're talking about uh things that have been swe or washed up on shore.

Son Paul 27:07

Yeah, yeah. And so if you're out there and uh you know, and also just thanks to those people that have done some cleanup. I know uh Sandy Gruber, uh, she's posted a lot of stuff that's washed up that uh, you know, is debris, you know, from homes potentially. And so yeah, but those personal items, uh yeah, please reach out to the local uh police and uh and uh help get those things back home.

RR 27:30

Couple of new publications that are out that'll really kick off your new year, catch the wave uh from Oregon Coast Community College. Uh and then we also have the Winter Fun Guide 2026 from Lincoln City Parks and Rec. Both of those guides are out and about and uh full of information for you and your family. Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce also has a new business directory for 2425, and uh that directory is uh just again full of uh lots of good information uh that you can send off to a loved one around the world or across the street. And our thanks uh go to our guests uh that joined us today. Uh again, Nikki Price, uh Dr. Ogden, and the jolly old Matt.

Son Paul 28:17

Jolly old Saint Nick, yeah, yeah. Just calling in from the rooftop.

RR 28:21

Wasn't that fun?

Son Paul 28:22

Yeah, super cool. What a what I mean, just amazing that he could take an extra couple moments here and uh hopefully scooting off to my house.

RR 28:30

Uh to your house, you think? Yeah, I'm hoping so. Well, maybe he'll make a stop at Chilugwin's Casino Resort on his way. Oh, okay, yeah. Uh, because uh that's uh where you'll find an opportunity uh to potentially uh win a sleigh full of money.

Son Paul 28:45

Oh that's right. So even if you didn't get like something from Xana, there's still some opportunity you're saying here.

RR 28:51

Yep, and okay. Uh some of the biggest opportunities, guaranteed winner is to go to the Rogue River dining room and or over at uh Shinock Lin's Casino Resort Hotel. Uh food is just first rate, first class. Uh it is just really quite good. Uh, you'll enjoy your fine dining. Uh you'll also enjoy an opportunity to get one of the best burgers uh around in the deli at uh Chinookwins Casino. It is good food, good fun, and you'll also have an opportunity potentially to win a brand new car. They're giving away two on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day brand new cars at Chinookwins Casino Resort. Chinookwins Casino Resort, proving time and again it's better at the beach. And that will do to the doings on a double hour show. For uh Paul and Janet, please remember to like, subscribe, and share so you and your family and friends around the world and across the street and join us at a double R Show. Have yourself a happy day and a very Merry Christmas.

Jana 30:06

You have been listening to the Double R Show. Join Roger and Paul Robertson as they explore everything about North Lincoln County. The Double R Show produced by Always Productions and hosted by Roger Robertson. Have a story? Email contact at alwaysproductions.com or call four five eight two zero one three zero three name for the Double R Show. I'm Jana Gron.