Boiler Bay Beacon
DEPOE BAY — Citing fire danger and overfishing, Parks & Rec — not the comedy TV show but a real-life city board — wants to bring back a greener, more eco-friendly Annual Salmon Bake.
During their June 16 meeting the Depoe Bay Parks & Recreation Committee debated potential environmental damages to tinder-dry forests and endangered salmon from the once-popular event. Among the hot-button climate issues was the 100-ft. fire line where slabs of Chinook salmon were cooked on alder stakes over a white-hot fire to the delight of hundreds of ardent fans.
“The heart of the whole event has always been the traditional cooking of the salmon with alder stakes on the fire line,” contended committee member Loretta Miles, who claimed to have obtained a step-by-step “outline” for running the Salmon Bake.
Depoe Bay’s seminal community event for 80-plus years drew around 3,000 people each September but never recovered from COVID rules that cancelled mass gatherings in 2020-21. Meanwhile, experienced volunteers retired or expired and the longtime sponsor, the chamber of commerce, went out of business after one try.
On May 16, the parks board — a five-member committee appointed by the city council whose efforts so far have produced a book club and Yoga classes at the Community Center — debated whether or not the city should take on the long-gone event, which once rallied scores of loyal volunteers.
Board member Jerry Springer — not the shock-TV host but organizer of a highly successful 2026 Fleet of Flowers — said he would welcome “a partnership” with the city but raised concerns about the fire line, a labor-intensive attraction which discharged more flame, smoke and ashes than a speeding steam locomotive in the middle of fire season.
“This is controversial, but maybe we do a different type of Salmon Bake,” he proposed, outlining his idea for a two-day event featuring a Salmon Bake, food carts, art show and live music.
Board member Charlene Zoeckler, pictured the bygone event from the perspective of a newcomer.
“As someone who was never here or participated in the Salmon Bake and doesn’t know what it is, it sounds like it was something back in the day,” she countered. “But I don’t know how it’s controversial to be safe, because environmentally we are in different times.”
She commented on the municipal contradiction of a city with one committee that envisions an inferno of “overfished” Salmon and another (the Salmon Enhancement Commission) that raises them for early release into the ocean.
That was apparently enough debate for Chairman Illi Ferreira, who tabled the matter for later discussion.
“The city that once supported and promoted the Salmon Bake doesn’t exist anymore,” he concluded.
With dozens of costly projects in the queue and mounting legal fees from a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, a Salmon Bake could be just the distraction the City of Depoe Bay needs. Until then, Parks & Rec will busy itself with a $100-prize contest to design a new city flag — one that is unlikely to feature salmon roasting on a stake.
This is truly a pitiful comment on the people in charge now that have ZERO idea or experience with the history of the Salmon Bake.
I have flown from Georgia, just for the salmon bake. Well by golly, at least y’all have created a yoga class and book club. People will not travel from around the country for either of those. The Salmon Bake is a roughly 80 year tradition and now your community is being told…OOOHH….it’s too dangerous.
Was actually hoping to come back out for the bake this year, but if it’s so dang dangerous, I’ll spend my money elsewhere.