Story Photos
 Tammy Johnson, owner of Lenore's Optical in downtown Longview, found herself embroiled in political controversy after advertising that her shop carried Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's designer eyeglasses. Roger Werth / TDN file
|
Memorable quotes of 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008 11:49 PM PST
By The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleEditor’s note: Every year Daily News librarian Donna Yardley assembles some of the most pithy and poignant quotes that appeared in local stories from the previous year. Enjoy!
Jan. 1
“Some people might believe it is their right to text while driving. It’s not their right, however, to put my life and the lives of other people on the highway in jeopardy.”
— State Rep. Joyce McDonald, R-Puyallup, on the passage of a bill she sponsored to make it illegal to send a text message while driving.
Jan. 10
“If kids at Mark Morris want to have dances they will get the message. They know what’s right and wrong. If they do the right things we’ll have dances.” — Principal Chris Fritsch after canceling fall dances due to graphic dancing among students. Dances resumed after students and administrators created a new dance policy.
Feb. 22
“It’s still a vital being, and so hazards remain.”
— Cynthia Gardner, lead scientist at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, announcing that the latest Mount St. Helens active eruption had ceased.
Feb. 26
“One day, I was brought to tears. We had the flu go through here, and I had cleaned up one woman six times. They called me and said she threw up again. I said, ‘I need five minutes to myself. I have to go downstairs and get control.’ I went down there and cried — you never want the residents to see you cry. Then I said to myself, ‘You’ve done it six times. What’s one more? You gotta go back up there’ And I did.”
— Bernie Mendoza, 53, a caregiver at Columbia View Care Center in Cathlamet, on the challenges of her profession.
Feb. 26
“You don’t forget.”
— World War II veteran Henry “Hank” Armstrong about how he and other vets reflexively duck when they hear loud noises. The 84-year-old Castle Rock resident still shuns Fourth of July celebrations.
Feb. 27
“This is the beginning, not the end.”
— Scott Bailey, regional economist for the state Department of Employment Security, talking about Cowlitz County’s January increase in unemployment rates. The county would go on to lead the state in unemployment for several months during the year.
Feb. 27
“He helped hundreds of people in the community to be better and helped to make the community a better place.”
— LeRoy Nelson, about legendary R.A. Long High School boys basketball coach Joe Moses during the dedication of the Joe Moses Court. Nelson played for Moses in high school.
March 21
“I think a lot of guys, they take pride in what they do. It takes a different individual. When the nation calls on us, we’re ready to perform our mission.”
— Sgt. Chris Bailey, station commander at the Longview Armory, in a story about the redeployment of Bravo Battery to Iraq.
March 28
“Days were sunny, nights were clear, there was little wind, and I even mushed under the Northern Lights.”
— Ariel resident Steve Madsen on competing in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
May 9
“People say, ‘Oh, poor dog.’ We start laughing because she’s got such a great life.”
— Longview resident Anne Bennett on her family’s three-legged dog Ella, who leads an active life despite the amputation of her front leg.
June 13
“If it goes bad down the road, then we’ll all own it together. We’re not going to stand here and hang you out to dry.”
— Mark McCrady, Cowlitz PUD Commissioner and former Longview mayor, assuring the Longview City Council that the PUD also would “own” the decision to make the aquifer below the Mint Farm Industrial Park the city’s new water supply. The PUD owns a share of the city’s water system.
June 15
“It was insane. We’d never experienced anything that big.”
— Ty Vaughan of the local punk band Broadway Calls, talking about playing before 5,000 people in England.
June 26
“This is real state-of-the-art. I hope the community treasures it and comes to events at it.”
— Lower Columbia College music instructor Gary Nyberg on the college’s new Rose Center for the Arts.
July 27
“It’s a rad place. You can definitely feel stuff. ... Sometimes you just don’t feel like you’re alone,”
— Southwest Washington Paranormal Research director Kim Travis about the Kelso Theater Pub, which she believes to be haunted.
Aug. 17
“I already skated before lunch. I enjoy this. It relaxes me. It’s funny, I can chop wood all day and be just so tired I can’t move. And then I come over here and start skating and I’m not tired at all.”
— Howard Monroe, 83, about the benefits of skating on a private rink the South Kelso resident built for himself.
Aug. 17
“They see that we care and that we want to do something for them.”
DeNise Thomas of Longview on going to Vietnam to build schools.
Sept. 14
“I just fell in love with them. They’re like my own children.”
— Laura Carter of Kalama, who arranged for the Mwamba Uganda Children’s Choir to perform at several local churches this fall.
Sept. 26
“I’m the artist who painted it, but I was only his brush. Without him, that painting would not have come about. ... All we seem to hear on the news and in the newspaper is all these bad kids, so it’s so refreshing to correspond with a young adult who has their head on straight.”
— Longview artist Barbara Lancaster about Marcus Irwin, a 2008 R.A. Long High School graduate and the driving force behind a mural she painted at the school.
Oct. 14
“I’ve had to explain myself over and over again to say we’re not endorsing her — we’re endorsing her eyeglasses.”
— Tammy Johnson, owner of Lenore’s Optical, on the unexpected response to political-ad-like signs stating that the shop carried the vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s signature eyeglasses.
Oct. 21
“Isn’t it amazing how long bodies can live? I can’t believe I’m 90. It seems so ridiculous.”
—Elsie Peters, 90, who loves to drum at her exercise class, Better Bones and Balance
Oct. 28
“I see now and then folks who complain about not having anything to do. I just can’t imagine not having anything to do.” (Pointing to the couch.) “That’s the biggest hazard there is in old age.”
— Dr. Marion Clark, 85, a retired Longview urologist who helped fund the Southwest Washington Symphony, save and renovate the Columbia Theatre and nurture young musicians.
Nov. 22
“It’s a wonderful facility. In these economic times when we’re looking at budget cuts ... to have this happen now is truly a blessing.”
— Longview Mayor Kurt Anagnostou, during the dedication of the Wollenberg Gym at Youth and Family Link.
Dec. 13
“Life has been pretty good to me. I’ve enjoyed all of life. I’ve got along good with life, and life with me.”
— Elijah Jackson, 98, pastor at the House of Prayer for All Nations in Longview for more than 40 years.
Dec. 27
“I’m very tired of this. ... We haven’t had garbage service for two weeks.”
— Mill Creek area resident Becky Marthaller about the troubles dealing with and getting around in the snow in the higher elevations. Neighbors measured 27 inches of snow in Mill Creek.
Related articles:
Luckless lawbreakers commit the imperfect crimes
Key controversies of 2008
reasonable1 wrote on Dec 30, 2008 11:23 AM:
lilsue62 wrote on Dec 30, 2008 11:53 AM:
Past Month's Most Commented Stories