The parade started at 11 a.m. I went to my usual spot, south side of street, just west of the Franklin/Wall intersection. After the introductory police car and honor flags, the Vietnam vets were the first ones to walk the route, and with them, a uniform and helmet with a gun in salute position--but no one was wearing the uniform. It was a statue representing the missing soldiers. Most of the parade had vets in classic cars, some had the tops down. The weather was cold and I wondered how many who survived the freezing weather in Europe and Korea would die of pneumonia in a short while. The combined high school bands came by, playing "This is My Country, Land of the Free," but there was no one I knew marching in it. I was annoyed that, following immediately, was a radio station's pickup truck, blaring out Waylon Jenning's wailing some song, drowning out the band. About 15 minutes later, the Cascade Horizon Band came by on a flat bed, Sue Stieger conducting. There were vets from the Korean War and from WWII, but no one is still alive from the first world war, and no one was there from Desert Storm or the more current ones. There were memorial banners, including Marine Lance Cpl. Randy Newman's.
After the parade, I thought about which park to visit, then decided to just walk down Kansas, catch Georgia and go to Hill Street, and head back. This is the Old Neighborhood District, where the houses and lots vary from postcard size to a little larger than postcard, some properties seem rather Bohemian, while others are trimmed to the toenails. I had visited twice, years ago, and was curious to see if anything had changed.
I walked by a house that I think I may have been in, when we were looking to buy ages ago, during a housing shortage. The place I looked at, you had to go through the bathroom (which had an old porcelain tub without claws on its feet) to get from one end of the house to the other. These were houses built by mill workers on their off hours. Many still had jack-o-lanterns on the door step and fall leaves were every where on the ground. Sidewalks are very scarce and for the most part, I walked in the narrow streets, which was not a problem as there was no traffic to speak of. The sky was overcast and there was some sprinkling of rain, but no lights were on in any of the houses. The only place I saw people was at the Taco Stand, a small place by a bike shop in what used to be a small mom-and-pop grocery store. One of the apartments that I'd been at had new paint and windows. I didn't see the other building, but it might have been refaced.
I was surprised to discover a little open spot signed "Mary Jane's Park," which is not part of the Bend Park and Recreation, but is the responsibility of the neighborhood. The volunteers names were on a sign, and there were two memorial benches. It had clump grass and other native plants and the borders formed a triangle shape.
A "little library" graced a corner on Federal. It was twice the size of a bread box, and had two shelves, but not a very interesting collection of books.
As I headed back, my half hour timer went off. I continued to walk, checked out the "teaching garden" at the Environmental Center and made a lap around Troy Field, just for giggles. The public hearing signs were on the fence. December 3 is when public comment will be accepted regarding the fate of the green area. The plans are to have it commercially zoned, and sold to the highest bidder. It had been the place of Troy Laundry, and after the place closed, it was a hazardous waste site that was cleaned up and covered with lawn, and was used as a playing field by the next-door Catholic school. When the school moved to the east side of town, and the buildings sold to McMenamins and made into a hotel and theater pub, Troy Field was used as a meeting site for various activites, including the Day of Yoga. The field takes up half a block, while the other half is a parking lot, and was the temporary home (using modulars on cinderblocks) of the Bend post office during its reconstruction on Oregon Avenue.
top--from http://www.hackbend.com/2007/05/17/mary-janes-park-signage.php
bottom--http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/3288264-151/bend-la-pine-accepts-offer-on-troy-field
After the parade, I thought about which park to visit, then decided to just walk down Kansas, catch Georgia and go to Hill Street, and head back. This is the Old Neighborhood District, where the houses and lots vary from postcard size to a little larger than postcard, some properties seem rather Bohemian, while others are trimmed to the toenails. I had visited twice, years ago, and was curious to see if anything had changed.
I walked by a house that I think I may have been in, when we were looking to buy ages ago, during a housing shortage. The place I looked at, you had to go through the bathroom (which had an old porcelain tub without claws on its feet) to get from one end of the house to the other. These were houses built by mill workers on their off hours. Many still had jack-o-lanterns on the door step and fall leaves were every where on the ground. Sidewalks are very scarce and for the most part, I walked in the narrow streets, which was not a problem as there was no traffic to speak of. The sky was overcast and there was some sprinkling of rain, but no lights were on in any of the houses. The only place I saw people was at the Taco Stand, a small place by a bike shop in what used to be a small mom-and-pop grocery store. One of the apartments that I'd been at had new paint and windows. I didn't see the other building, but it might have been refaced.
I was surprised to discover a little open spot signed "Mary Jane's Park," which is not part of the Bend Park and Recreation, but is the responsibility of the neighborhood. The volunteers names were on a sign, and there were two memorial benches. It had clump grass and other native plants and the borders formed a triangle shape.
A "little library" graced a corner on Federal. It was twice the size of a bread box, and had two shelves, but not a very interesting collection of books.
As I headed back, my half hour timer went off. I continued to walk, checked out the "teaching garden" at the Environmental Center and made a lap around Troy Field, just for giggles. The public hearing signs were on the fence. December 3 is when public comment will be accepted regarding the fate of the green area. The plans are to have it commercially zoned, and sold to the highest bidder. It had been the place of Troy Laundry, and after the place closed, it was a hazardous waste site that was cleaned up and covered with lawn, and was used as a playing field by the next-door Catholic school. When the school moved to the east side of town, and the buildings sold to McMenamins and made into a hotel and theater pub, Troy Field was used as a meeting site for various activites, including the Day of Yoga. The field takes up half a block, while the other half is a parking lot, and was the temporary home (using modulars on cinderblocks) of the Bend post office during its reconstruction on Oregon Avenue.
top--from http://www.hackbend.com/2007/05/17/mary-janes-park-signage.php
bottom--http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/3288264-151/bend-la-pine-accepts-offer-on-troy-field
We lived on Wall & Georgia for the first year of our marriage. I loved being downtown & since I didn't drive, it was convenient to walk the few blocks to town. Annabelle in 1965
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