T he C olumbia P ress
June 7, 2019
Mayor’s Message
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
by Henry Balensifer III
Songs tell stories of history lived
I got to thinking the other
day that maybe I could be a
“romantic.”
I guess it depends on one’s
definition, but my preferred
take on “romantic” is that I
could be called a visionary.
I was at a potluck on Friday
where there was an energet-
ic youngish couple trying to
get everyone to come up and
sing into the microphone us-
ing background music sim-
ilar to karaoke. Once before
when this happened, I was
too bashful. But this time, I
decided to do it.
We had to choose a song
we liked to sing and the only
song I could think of in my
nervous state was “Mairzy
Doats” and dozy doats and
liddle lamzy divey.
In looking up the actual
lyrics, I realize it starts out
with “I know a ditty nutty as
a fruitcake; Goofy as a goon
and silly as a loon.”
Maybe that was how I felt
standing up there at first,
but I soon got in the swing of
things! Soon, several in the
room were singing it. Then
we got on to romantic songs
from the mid-1900s.
Many important events
happened during the ‘40s.
Mount Rushmore was com-
pleted and World War II
came to a close, just to men-
tion a few.
Can’t you just hear Bing
Crosby singing “I’ll Be Home
for Christmas?” As the years
progress, it is shown in
songs. “I’m Dreaming of a
White Christmas” with Frank
Sinatra is one we don’t tire of
hearing.
Asking a few family and
friends for favorites from the
1940s to about the ‘70s and
‘80s gave me a bit of a list.
“Just the Way You Are” by
Billy Joel and “First Time
3
Ever I Saw Your Face” by
Roberta Flack went on the
list. Then there was “Endless
Love” with Diana Ross and
Lionel Richie, “Islands in the
Stream” with Kenny Rogers
and Dolly Parton, “We’ve
Only Just Begun” by the Car-
penters, “Crimson and Clo-
ver” and “Crystal Blue Per-
suasion” with Tommy James
and the Shondells.
There was also mention of
the song track from the mov-
ie Grease, “Some Enchanted
Evening” from the 1949 mu-
sical, South Pacific, and the
1965 Righteous Brothers’ hit
“Unchained Melody.”
A few of my favorites were
“The Impossible Dream” by
Gomer Pyle and “Sentimental
Journey” by Doris Day. Oh,
and the “Anniversary Song”
by Dinah Shore or Andy Wil-
liams, “Oh, how we danced
on the night we were wed … ”
Music evokes so many
memories, including Elvis
Presley singing “Can’t Help
Falling in Love With You.”
We seniors are so blessed to
have lived through the eras
we did. One can see the influ-
ence world happenings had
on the writing and singing of
so many of our favorite songs.
I still tremble when I hear a
recording of Kate Smith sing-
ing “God Bless America.”
I suspect those of us who
have lived so many years have
a greater patriotic spirit too.
Demonstration was one to put in the scrapbooks
This week was full of action!
Navy ships patrolling the
shore with hovercraft landing
on the beach with equipment
and quick offload/reload, and
take-off exercises at the air-
port with Air National Guard
C-130s.
It was one to put in the
scrapbooks, although it’s
my hope we can turn that
demonstration into a real ex-
ercise someday.
If anyone had a chance
to watch the KOIN-6 video
short that had interviews of
U.S. Navy officers, includ-
ing an admiral, you heard
the same statement loud and
clear as I did.
Don’t expect the Navy to be
the first responders. Essen-
tially, they are the last resort
after the situation has been
evaluated and is too large for
local, county, and state assets
to handle.
During the briefing, local of-
ficials learned about the liter-
al maze of processes by which
assets are brought to a disas-
ter area.
I learned that there’s quite a
lot of formality and process-
es that must occur before ac-
tive-duty Department of De-
fense assets can be injected
into a disaster.
While it’s good to know
what the Navy can bring, we
still must be prepared for
roughing it for at least two
Senior lunch menu
Monday, June 10: Shepherd’s pie, mashed potatoes, broccoli,
romaine salad, bread pudding.
Thursday, June 13: Chicken Parmesan, spaghetti with pesto
sauce, mixed vegetables, mixed-greens salad, berry trifle.
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
$6 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more
information, call 503-861-3502.
weeks.
I’ll cover more on that topic
next week.
e lk
In late May, the Clatsop
Plains Elk Collaborative had
its first official meeting. The
city already has received its
first public records request
relating to the effort and I
think it’s important to set ex-
pectations about this:
Gov. Brown has appointed
Seaside Mayor Jay Barber
and myself as co-conveners
of this solutions development
group. As a result, I and May-
or Barber must remain neu-
tral facilitators.
Since the steering commit-
tee operates on consensus,
I’m seeking the group’s per-
mission to add Commission-
er Mark Baldwin as Warren-
ton’s advocate. If Baldwin
is unable to serve for some
reason, County Commission-
er Mark Kujala would likely
serve both a county and city
role, as his district includes
Warrenton.
No city “owns” this group.
As a result, public records re-
quests should be submitted
to Portland State University,
attn: Oregon Solutions.
No plan has been made to
date. The meetings you’ve
read about in the paper were
attempts to find a path to-
ward development of a plan
and convene stakeholders.
The goal of the collaborative
effort is to develop a toolkit
for statewide and local use.
The toolkit should outline
what kind of data is needed
to describe the problem accu-
rately and then a host of op-
tions that can be tailored to
address the unique situations
of an area.
We know there is no silver
bullet; one size doesn’t fit all.
A toolkit enables options that
can be picked a la carte, in-
stead of all-or-nothing.
Stay tuned to The Columbia
Press for more on this as the
effort develops.
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