By Dixon Bledsoe
There is nothing quite like a sunny First Friday in Silverton. June 6 was a gorgeous night, people were out in full force, shops were open, and the mood was fine. What a beautiful place we live. I am looking forward to a patriotic July First Friday. Americana at its best.
Congratulations to all the graduates. Probably better not name all the names, as there are hundreds with new high school diplomas from Silverton and Kennedy, college degrees from all over, and a lot of happy faces ready to start new chapters in their lives in an improving economy. But I would be remiss as one proud father to not say simply, “Great job, Briana, on your new B.S.N. You are going to make a wonderful pediatric nurse. Mom and Dad are very proud.”
I asked a young man about D-Day this week, as we solemnly remember the invasion of Normandy 70 years ago in an event that changed the world for good but at a cost of thousands of lives of brave young heroes. He didn’t know anything about it. It was very sad, since the young man is 23. Good heavens – read a book, watch a movie, or, in contemporary fashion, surf the net and learn about D-Day. IT’S A REALLY GOOD READ! In a world where we use the word “hero” so loosely and everyone on The Bachelor television show is “amazing”, these guys defined the words. I saw a picture of the nation’s oldest Medal of Honor Recipient, a World War II vet, and it brought tears to my eyes. What a debt we owe them.
My photograph has been in two other newspapers a total of three times recently as part of a story about the Willamette Education Service District (WESD) board meetings and whether they were open, transparent and followed the letter of the law. It is not fun being front page news in this fashion. Suffice it to say to my friends, family, peers, acquaintances, customers and those who are simply curious about my ethics after the story ran over and over and over, I left the board over a year ago and the journalist forgot to mention that I was not reprimanded. She also began her article in sensationalist fashion in stating the board could have been fined $42,000 for violating the meeting laws for public entities, but forgot to mention that when a public board conducts executive session meetings when following the advice and guidance of their legal counsel, they are, essentially, exempt from civil penalty. We were working under such legal counsel. As our consequence for straying off the agenda, we had to attend a very good class on public meeting laws. It was an hour and a half class (that’s all, folks), and would have been ideal for volunteers like me BEFORE we sat down in our first meeting. I am all for transparency in government, but for goodness sakes, stop beating a dead horse already. Not really an exciting story after all, but one sure to give me pause next time I think about volunteering my scarce free time to help kids and their schools.
On a more positive note, my hat is off to Patty Potter and Jim Brueckner, two stellar educators who were recognized for 40 years of service with the Silver Falls School District. I spent years on the Silver Fox Foundation board, and we were lucky enough to interview great kids for our scholarships. Over nearly 20 years of interviews, kids would name Jim Brueckner, science teacher (and often coach), as the biggest positive influence in their academic lives. Tough, fair, motivating, funny, and always willing to go the extra mile to help kids, he represents the best of teaching. Patty Potter, a third-fifth grade teacher at Evergreen School does, too. Imagine 40 years working with hundreds of 8-10 year olds and still being what friends and peers call “a genuinely nice lady.” Congratulations, Patty and Jim. Thank you for your service.
