VIETNAM VETERANS OF OREGON LIVING MEMORIAL
"remember us. so long as we are not forgotten, we do not die"
SUPPORT
VIETNAM VETERANS OF OREGON
LIVING MEMORIAL
NO TIME TO WASTE
(by Jud Blakely)
"No Time to Waste!" If support for the Living Memorial had a slogan, a rally cry, or a bumper sticker, then No Time to Waste would assuredly be it. Note: the sky is not falling; well, not yet. No killer flood is about to drown the Living Memorial in raging waves of unpayable debt. But, even so, there are major costs looming out ahead.
VIETNAM VETERANS OF OREGON
LIVING MEMORIAL
Jerry Pero and Ben Stanley were the "Alpha" Founders of the VVOMF along with Mike Goldade, Carlos Ricketson, and Dennis Kinzer. A large and dedicated circle of others then joined in the effort to build the Memorial and (later) to help keep the venue looking as it should. This was a very big job. The job is now Very, Very big.
Clayton Hering raised most of the contributions in 1986 and '87 that kept the Memorial project from going down for a final time. And Doug Bomarito kept steering the VVOMF away from trouble and focused on the needs of the moment while Doug Macy and Tim Gallagher stayed in touch with local authorities to keep them on board.
Thing is, time passes and the years accumulate and who is standing by to accept the torch of caring for the Memorial as Jerry Pero and so many dedicated others have? Note: the Portland Bureau of Parks crews do serious work to "refresh" the Memorial from month to month but city budgets are not likely to remain as they are.
If weeds don't get pulled, new plants don't get planted, and the grass doesn't get mowed, bad enough. But the infrastructure of the venue is steel and concrete that needs repair now and then. And that's where our expense lies: to repair steps, walkways, alcoves, stone signage, and the invisible lattice that supports the bowl itself.
The Living Memorial is more an "organism" than a family of objects set within the grass expanse of a bowl that most defines the venue. It has a haunting aura of flesh and blood and muscle and bone, and "lives" in concert with the seasons as each appears, unfolds, recedes, and then appears yet again as the cycle of life repeats.
This Life Force is the greatest intangible that we seek to protect if the Living Memorial is to endure as a haven for those in search of solace or a calm respite to soften the travails that invade their own lives. In order to achieve this, VVOMF must raise a daunting sum to defray the costs of the infrastructure needs that loom just ahead.
Contact: Doug Bomarito
Past Chairman / President VVOMF
7157 S.W. Beveland Street
Tigard, OR 97223
(503) 223-8583
