Cops' Corner

If you figure summer is June through August, as I write this we are already halfway through. I am saddest on June 21 when the daylight begins to get shorter and much happier on Dec. 21 (even though I detest winter) when the day’s light begins to get longer.

There is so much going on both on the light and dark sides of the moon. Tragedies have abounded with numerous violent deaths during the Fourth of July holiday period. I cannot even fathom how much hurt, pain and agony loved ones have endured both now and in the past when someone is taken from them instantaneously.

Then on the Fourth of July, we had a house gutted by a fire near Cherry Valley School. Accidental discharge of fireworks inside the residence appears to be the culprit. To all who have experienced this fate in their lives, it is truly hard to comprehend. All the treasures a home holds, all the memories — mostly good — a place called home gives to our lives. If anything good came out of this it would be our Polson firefighters knocked it down quickly, saving houses on either side of the burning structure. Great work by them, and keep in mind, they are volunteers serving with little or no compensation or recognition for what they do.

Speaking of recognition, volunteer firefighters Tony Porrazzo and John Stevens (both city employees) retired from fighting fires after 20 years serving the public in that role. For those of us who escape these calamities, we need to feel extremely blessed. Also, most of all, we need to embrace those who have endured so much.

Onto the lighter side now with so much to be thankful for. Polson Fire Chief John Fairchild and firefighter and public information officer Karen Sergeant provided the Polson girls 14U State Softball Tournament Champions a ride on two of Polson’s newest fire engines. Lead by Assistant Police Chief John Stevens they toured U.S. Hwy. 93, Main Street and then over to Linderman School.

For the author of this column, it brought moist eyes as I thought: this is just another reason we are blessed by being able to live in a free country. We owe much to our founding fathers and those that fought, many giving their lives, so special moments like this can occur. In this case, it was baseball, apple pie and I will leave the last part to your imagination.

How about those Mariners!? As I said about baseball — well, you know it’s part of Americana.

Then there is all the momentum that has built and is continuing to build to finish fundraising for our new swimming pool to be located on the east end of Polson. It’s been so many years in the making. Special thanks to Tana Seeley, Hu Beaver and all who have brought this dream to just a few yards from reality. Who would have thought it possible given that it has been a vision of so many for so many years? And thanks to Mike Maddy and his wife for their generous donation of the ground the pool will be built on. Yes indeed, it does take people with talent, energies and drive to make these things happen.

How about our new polished gem, Main Street from the 200 block to 7th Ave.? There was much fanfare last Friday with the Main Street Festival. Over and over the positive comments continue to flow from residents and visitors alike. This is just another example of our citizenry, especially the Main Street merchants, stepping up to the plate and making it happen. They endured a lot of hardship, now they deserve the reward of our support.

For us the next five weeks we will be on the run from call to call as summer builds to its crescendo. We wish you well and ask that you be safe and wear your seatbelt when in a moving motor vehicle. So many fatalities might not have occurred had seatbelts been used.

Stay safe and be kind to yourself — and our pedestrians.