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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress May 25, 2018 Community News gattaconcert18.brownpaper- tickets.com. Fund-raiser to be intimate concert Emergency talk Country music star Steve Azar will give a private per- to be in Spanish formance during the Astoria Regatta Association’s tasting experience fund-raiser at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 27, in the Loft at the Red Building, 20 Basin St., Astoria. Azar, his daughter, Cecilia, and Chef Chris Holen will provide food and entertain- ment for a maximum of 100 attendees. Participants will get to meet Azar and try his private-label wine “Notori- ous Pink.” Tickets are $100 and must be purchased at https://re- Susan Romanski, executive director of Mercy Corps, will offer two presentations to Spanish-speaking residents on preparing for the Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. Light refreshments will be provided and child care will be available. The talks are from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. with one on Wednesday, May 30, at Sea- side High School and a sec- ond in Room 219 of Columbia Hall at Clatsop Community College. WHS musical to open Wednesday Warrenton High School’s Drama Department presents the 1960s musical comedy “Bye Bye Birdie!” at 7 p.m. May 30, June 1 and June 2, in the high school gym, 1700 S. Main Ave. The play is based on a book by Michael Stewart that fo- cuses on a popular rock star who gets drafted into the Army. It includes controlling par- ents, crazy teenagers, crash- ing relationships and singing and dancing. Admission is $8. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. This Week in Aboriginal History by Carl A. Ellis Colonies pay tribes to fight, but no one shows up May 25, 1776: The Conti- nental Congress declares it “highly expedient to engage Indians in service of the Unit- ed Colonies” and authorizes recruiting 2,000 paid troop auxiliaries. The program is a dismal failure, as virtually every tribe refuses to fight for the colonists. May 26, 1540: “Lady of Cofitachequi,” who was kid- napped by the de Soto expe- dition, escapes with a large quantity of pearls de Soto’s men took from her village. May 27, 1607: Virginia has its first significant battle between Indians and Europe- an settlers. May 28, 1851: One in a series of treaties is signed with California Indians at Dent and Valentine’s Cross- ing on the Stanislaus River. The treaty’s aim is to reserve lands for the Indians and pro- tect them from Europeans. May 29, 1990: Indian tribes don’t have jurisdiction over Indians who aren’t trib- al members when crimes are committed on their land, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in “Duro v. Reina.” The deci- sion is not well received by the tribes, who contend it de- prives them of the power to enforce their own laws. May 30, 1650: An or- dinance is passed against making counterfeit wampum by directors of the Coun- cil of New Netherland, near present-day New York. The council was part of the Dutch West India Company, formed to capitalize on the North American fur trade. Europe- an manufacturers had been producing the fake wampum and using it to pay Indians. May 31, 1876: Disputes with the Campo Indians over land escalate. “One Indian took refuge in the rocks … and continued firing. They soon discovered his whereabouts and silenced him, shooting him through the head, killing him instantly,” according to an account in the San Diego Union newspaper. Ellis is an author and his- torian working on a book about American Indians. Learn more about American Indian history at facebook. com/snippetsintime. Senior lunch menu Monday, May 28: Closed for Memorial Day holiday. Thursday, May 31: Baked chicken, cornbread stuffing and gravy, green bean casserole, green salad, pumpkin cake. The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502. 7 Senior Moments with Emma Edwards Should you wear white to the Memorial Day barbecue? Oh, mercy me! I wore white shoes to church Sunday. Our president’s wife, Mela- nia Trump, has worn white outfits as early as April and a white hat a few weeks ago. It was so shocking to some that it was reported in USA Today. What is this wearing white taboo anyway? Being from Michigan, it would have been more than shocking to be seen in white before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. It was just some- thing we took for granted, passed on from generation to generation. As most of us know, we celebrate Memorial Day on Monday. This year, it falls on May 28, the last Monday in May. Incidentally, Warrenton’s meal site will be closed May 28, making it easier for those desiring to attend Memorial Day services at Fort Steven’s National Cemetery. And, of course, to be part of other events scheduled that day. Some of us remember when Memorial Day was called Decoration Day, when we went as a family to decorate and tidy gravesites of de- ceased loved ones. However, in consulting my “free encyclopedia” called Wikipedia, I learned that in 1882, the name formally was changed to Memorial Day in memory and honor of those who gave their lives fighting for a common cause, Ameri- ca. In most of America, it marks the beginning of summer and the freedom to wear white shoes and white trousers and on and on. The practice of decorating soldiers’ graves had become widespread in the North as early as 1865. By 1870, the remains of nearly 300,000 Union dead had been buried in 73 nation- al cemeteries, mostly near the battlefields in the South. Two of the best known are Gettysburg National Cem- etery in Pennsylvania and Arlington National Cemetery near Washington. By the 1870s, Decoration Day speeches praised sol- diers of both the Union and the Confederacy. By the 1950s, the theme was “Amer- ican Exceptionalism” and duty to uphold freedom in the world. Think about it this year, as we remember those who died or were wounded for our country and prayerfully re- alize we don’t know them all, but we owe them all. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Washing- ton’s Birthday so they’d fall on three-day weekends. I vote for celebrating them on the original day, which from 1868 to 1970 was May 30. I wonder if the average stu- dent knows the real meaning of Memorial Day, other than giving them a day off from school? And, of course, the wearing of white and picnics and ti- dying up gravesites of loved ones. Be careful this year not to spill barbecue sauce on your white pants.
