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.