The Columbia Press
May 28, 2021
7
ZED by Duane M. Abel
www.corkeycomics.com
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
Remembering what’s important
Memorial Day is observed
on the last Monday of May,
which is nearly here.
It was formerly known as
Decoration Day and com-
memorates all men and
women who have died in mil-
itary service for our United
States of America, the land of
the free and the home of the
brave.
We are reminded that our
flag doesn’t fly because the
wind moves it. It flies with
the last breath of each person
who died protecting it.
Many choose Memorial Day
to go to the cemetery where
loved ones are buried to
spruce up their graves.
Many church services on
Sunday will include singing of
The Star-Spangled Banner.
“Oh say, does that star-span-
gled banner wave o’er the
land of the free, and the home
of the brave.” And Ameri-
ca the Beautiful. “America!
America! God shed His grace
on thee! And crown thy good
with brotherhood from sea to
shining sea!”
Memorial Day is tradition-
ally seen as the start of sum-
mer. We weren’t allowed
to wear white shoes, white
clothes or even white trou-
sers or knickers until Memo-
rial Day.
As a child living in Detroit,
Mich., the holiday meant a
picnic at either Chandler Park
or Belle Isle. My three broth-
ers were taken to the park
almost at the break of dawn
to get a “good table.” They
always had a snack equiva-
lent to breakfast with them
and kind of commandeered
the table that our father had
chosen.
The boys literally sat on
the tables until the rest of us
and all the food were brought
out nearer to noon. That was
what Memorial Day meant
to us – the first picnic of the
year and fun. Sometimes our
cousins would join us so we
would need to move a table
or two nearby over to attach
to our table.
Our menu usually consist-
ed of sandwiches (filled with
ground-up bologna and pick-
les), potato salad and pick-
led cucumbers and onions.
Sometimes we had a water-
melon, too. The beverage was
orange Kool-Aid.
If the cousins joined us,
then Aunt Thelma and my
mother would try to outdo
each other on the desserts to
make it an even better picnic.
We always had tablecloths
for the picnic tables.
Memorial flowers were
loaded in the trunk of the car
and brought to the cemetery
on the way to the picnic by
our parents and us two girls.
There was no ceremony or
explanation, except that it
was the thing we did on Dec-
oration Day, a day we got to
spend enjoying our freedom.
We need never forget that
we live in the home of the free
because of the brave.
Mayor’s Message
by Henry Balensifer III
Street, park and other improvements add
to life as we enter post-COVID normal
Summer is coming and peo-
ple are understandably anx-
ious to get back to whatever
sense of normalcy can be al-
lowed.
Clatsop County, as I write
this, is 60 percent vaccinated.
We’re on the home stretch.
While slow at some points
and faster at others, your city
is moving to improve the city
to ensure we’re well poised to
move out of this pandemic.
The Warrenton Urban Re-
newal Agency is moving
forward to engineer and un-
derground power lines down-
town, as well as improve
drainage and sidewalks.
We have a fighting chance
that our Congressional del-
egation can get us federal
funding to finish a sidewalk
Special columns in The Columbia Press
Every week: Senior Moments with Emma Edwards
Week 1: Financial Focus with Adam Miller
Week 2: Here’s to Your Health from CMH
Week 3: Off the Shelf by Kelly Knudsen
Final week: Mayor’s Message by Henry Balensifer
all the way to the high school
connecting downtown to the
Morrison District (where the
high school is). These liva-
bility improvements don’t
just make Warrenton a safer,
more enjoyable place to live
— they improve the attrac-
tion to businesses as well.
The Urban Renewal Agency
also is moving forward with
building up the foodcart pod
near City Hall.
All-in-all, Warrenton re-
mains a city of opportunity,
while improving itself with
the primary goal of improve-
ment for Warrentonians —
not tourists. Obviously, we
will share our town with them
and welcome them to patron-
ize our area. But we’re not
gearing our improvements
nor our town to service tour-
ists. It must service residents
first.
Take business out of it, we
have two notable investments
in parks in the west side of
our city. The Carruthers Dog
Park is getting a new river
viewpoint pavilion, as well as
expanded parking. The park
in Officers Row (inside the
Fort Stevens neighborhood)
is getting improvements to
the playground and a new
beach volleyball court.
For our east side, the Forest
Rim neighborhood will re-
ceive its first park (our only
park east of Highway 101) this
year. It’s only in phase 1, but
as time and funds build up,
we hope to add more ameni-
ties to this large but under-
served part of our town.
As we move forward toward
normalcy, many of us are
anxious to get back to nor-
mal. I’ll admit, I am.
I do not wish to debate,
nor even change your mind
about, your views of the
COVID situation. As your
mayor, I just ask this: Please
do not take your vexation and
frustration out on the retail
associates, food servers, and
essential workers of our city.
They’re just trying to make
a living — and I’ve heard
from many of them — they
don’t like the situation any
more than you. Most of them
answer to some faceless cor-
porate entity not based in
our city, or an owner who is
desperately holding things
together.
A little kindness goes a long
way.