Cherry Harding

This is one of those weekends on the Peninsula that we must reluctantly tell ourselves, “You can’t do it all.”  For a long time, the only item on the calendar for yesterday was ‘Cherry’s bd at CPHM 1 to 4.’  Then, suddenly, two community friends died and there wasn’t enough white space left to write it all down.

Jim Finlay’s service was set for yesterday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at the Church Center in Seaview.  His reception will take place at the Columbia Memorial Heritage Center this afternoon.  Rod Williams’ funeral took place at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church at 2 p.m. yesterday with the reception following at the old Legion Hall (now home of the Peninsula Players) in Ilwaco.

In a way, Jim Finlay was my attorney before I ever moved to the Peninsula full time.  That’s because, in those days, he represented the H.A. Espy Company and drew up the paperwork for my purchase of some family acreage on the bay.  Once I moved here, Jim’s wife, Marie, and I worked together now and then – I was teaching; she was on the school board.  I saw them both at various parties and meetings – a typical, cordial Peninsula ‘friendship.’

Rod Williams was a ‘family connection’ – one of those his-cousin-was-married-to-my-cousin deals – but more than that, Rod was my go-to friend for certain aspects of Peninsula history and geologic information.  A few years back he took be on a ‘field trip’ to Beard’s Hollow and talked to me about pillow basalts and other wonders of our coastline.

Just two or three weeks ago he told me he had some stories he wanted to tell me about another subject I’m researching – The Peninsula Church Center in Seaview. “Come on over to the house someday, but don’t wait too long,” he said.  I shall always remember those last words and regret that I did, indeed, wait too long.

Lucille Pierce and Sharon Van Hueit

When push came to shove, we did not go to either funeral.  Instead, we attended Cherry Harding’s 80^th birthday party at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum.  We’ve known Cherry since the 1990s when she came to work for us at the Bookvendor.  As a volunteer, she read with kids in my classroom and has always seemed involved in every endeavor close to our hearts.  Many of her friends are our friends and her celebration was one of those grand Peninsula events where almost everyone knew almost everyone else.

We did take a break to nip next door to Rod’s reception where we gave his widow Mary a hug and visited with Peninsula old-timer Doug King and with Rod’s 90-year-old brother Warner.  More wonderful stories!  More laughter than tears!  More friends and familiar faces.  Rod would have enjoyed himself hugely.

All-in-all, it was a bitter-sweet kind of day – maybe a quintessentially Peninsula-kind-of-day. As we came back to Oysterville I couldn’t help but think that it’s a pretty nice place to live in.  And to die in, when it comes to that.