Hello new bridge, goodbye old bridge. It was time for the rusty relic to go but with its passing, a bit more of Marysville’s history slips from view. The change brought up memories of what travelers encountered when crossing the bridge into Marysville in the 1950s.
In the summer of 1889, 75 delegates assembled at the Territorial Capitol Building in Olympia to draft the state’s constitution. Their first words demonstrated what they valued most. Article 1, Section 1 proclaims: “All political power is inherent in the people.” This concept originated with the birth of our nation that sovereignty — ultimate power — lay neither in a king nor in a legislature, but resided in the people. And the people, being sovereign, could allocate that power however they chose. The founders of Washington believed in this principle so strongly that it became the foundation for the remainder of the state’s constitution.
It appears that the summer has finally arrived in Marysville — unfortunately, just in time to see the days getting shorter.
School’s out in Marysville. We have said farewell to 740 graduates and retiring staff. Many of our 1,300 employees are taking well-deserved vacations, going to summer school, or working on National Board certification. However there is still much work to be done during the summer.
It has been a whole year since I moved. Leaving my Marysville home of 49 years, I moved 4.2 miles southeasterly into a Lake Stevens zip code in a move toward full retirement and curtailed landscape labor. At one time or another, two real estate agents had been involved, each presenting homes that offered different benefits.
Lately I have been meeting more and more families who are fighting a civil rights war that one might have thought had been won decisively four decades ago.
“Come thou … One day amid the woods with me…” 19th century poet William Cullen Bryant’s “A Summer Ramble” haunted me as I left I-5 at exit 212, Stanwood-Bryant Road, and drove east a few minutes. Bryant, Washington, elevation 171 feet, has an official census population of zero (its mailing address is Arlington,) some magnificent history, building No. 1 on Snohomish County’s register of historic places, and trees, trees, trees. When I reached Highway 9 I had arrived; the Bryant Store was on my left and the current end of the Centennial Trail across the road.
We were short on fruit and veggies so I went shopping at one of my favorite windows on the world, WINCO. It’s a place where no race or ethnic group is a majority so we shoppers were a happy mix of minorities.
The tribes’ fight to preserve and protect the salmon and our treaty fishing rights has mirrored the civil rights struggle in the United States. That’s because treaty rights are civil rights, just like your right to vote, and they are protected under the U.S. Constitution.
