- Verna Oller, 2007
Last week’s Chinook Observer was all about me – or at least that’s the way I saw it. Not only were my two Verna Oller stories in the paper (and one of them above the page one masthead which means it’s a Big Deal), but I was mentioned in one of the editorials. And, Cate Gable’s “Coast Chronicles” talked at length about my blog and featured a large picture showing me on the home page of my website. Wow! I was definitely feeling important.
Not many hours after the paper appeared, my phone began ringing. A number of people (well, four) wanted to share “Verna Stories” with me and several others (well, three) wanted to tell me what a great job I’d done and how surprised they were that I could keep a secret. Hmm. I’m not even going there…
At our weekly Friday night gathering I began hearing speculation about whether or not Long Beach would accept Verna’s generous gift. At that point, my feeling of celebrity began to dissolve and I was morphing into an advocate for Verna and for her swimming pool dream. I understand some of the concerns being expressed – liability issues, long-term maintenance costs, the troubles Astoria is having with their Aquatic Center. But, to refuse the gift this woman had worked toward for a lifetime? It seemed unthinkable.
I suddenly had a picture of Verna, a frail, determined dynamo-of-a-woman on one side of a balance scale and the cautious, perhaps overly conservative city fathers of Long Beach on the other. Which side represents our community? Is ours still a place where obstacles can be overcome and dreams fulfilled? Time will tell. I just wish Verna were here to set everybody straight.
The easy part of the blog: I thought the same thing-it’s all Sydney.
Next question: did they sit on this interview? or had I missed it?
The pool: the OBSD was about to apply for a pool form the fed when they decided on the football stadium because they knew the community would fund a pool itself.
The council: if they could figure out how to make a pool without chlorine. I don’t envy them the decision. Maybe set aside a portion for upkeep. Don’t count on more than 1% interest. So set a size that can be maintained. Out in a tourist area. That will bring the swimmers. Use salt water, open it to the tide like the old days.
I did the interview in 2007 promising Verna that I would not release it until after her death. I wrote up the story and gave a copy to Guy Glenn to put in his safe in case I pre-deceased her. I did not contact the paper with the story until after she died so they only had to “sit on” the information for a few days. That gave Guy a chance to do some final number crunching and gave me a chance to write the follow-up story.
All your points about the pool are well taken. I hope that Long Beach can work it out. Wouldn’t it be super if OBSD could have a swim team?