Coastal voices: Don't miss out on local events

Saturday's Veterans Parade , a patriotic symbol to be celebrated with devotion, was not well attended for many reasons.

Saturdays are always busy times for working moms and dads to cover the many chores like gardening, shopping, taxiing kids to sports, etc., but since many people don't listen to local radio or read our newspaper, they were uninformed period. Sad, this same group missed the wonderful Green Day activity at the fairgrounds.

However, there were those of us who made the time to appear and beckon a greeting smile to all those caring individuals who worked with Tommy Sparrow, organizer of the event, as we participated in its success. Bruno's mom, my sister, Calie, and I rode in a '42 jeep driven by Marine Fred Cox, which carried on its bumper a large framed picture of our beloved Capt. Bruno de Solenni, honorary mayor of the parade.

The evening ravioli dinner and program went nicely with Sparky Countess and his crew doing the kitchen detail. John and Tedi Espitia had their Naval Cadets help serving the guests, as did The Explorers. These two groups worked so well together performing a needed task but also showing what teamwork and leadership roles are all about. Congratulations to them and their parents and sponsors.

I can recall two years ago when Bruno brought a group of his Oregon National Guardsmen to walk in our Fourth of July parade, and later did a roll call at the Beachfront Park area, where our own uniformed veterans joined the Guardsmen in honoring one of the Guard lieutenants fatally wounded in Iraq two years before. The Oregonians were impressed with our small town friendly ways and expected to return again.

Our local veterans were very fond of Bruno, so much so they bought 215 military-issue T-shirts for his Afghanistan army trainees, whom he and another three American soldiers trained and led.

Two of these trainees were interpreters who were instantly killed with Bruno on Sept. 20 in a roadside bomb explosion. These native soldiers respected and loved Bruno dearly, saying he was always honest and sincere, magnificently brave to lead them.

I think Bruno was genetically inclined to love the military with such passion due to his paternal grandfather, Major de Solenni, a European American who fought in WWI and WWII and worked at the Pentagon, I believe in linguistics per his PhD in languages. A brilliant gentleman who would be so proud of his grandchildren today, especially his soldier, Bruno.

After the parade I visited the Crescent Elk Middle School Garden and teacher, Joe Gillespie, where I met two wonderful young men, Adan and Brian. They took me in hand and educated me on worms, which I wanted for my compost pile. They showed me several sites where the healthy critters were munching away on pineapple ends, etc., explained the nature of cold frames, and gave me handouts. The boys sent me home with a bag of worms, some celery and wonderful kale. They looked so proud, and happy to be helping me.

Today I took some of the worms to Michele Thomas at The Triplicate, a natural gardener also, who in turn gifted me with a bag of coffee grounds for my new pets.

In conclusion there is a lot to do in our fair town providing you stay in touch with the news. Read our paper and listen to our radio stations, and then go out and have a great time meeting with friends.