Off Beat: Spring brings bevy of anniversaries

1st: Oso landslide

2nd: Boston Marathon bombing

5th: BP oil spill in Gulf

10th: First YouTube video

20th: Oklahoma City bombing

25th: Hubble space telescope

45th: First Earth Day

50th: “Sound of Music” film

50th: U.S. troops go to Vietnam

70th: Auschwitz liberation (WWII)

100th: Poison gas used (WWI)

100th: Armenian genocide

100th: Battle of Gallipoli (WWI)

100th: Billie Holiday’s birth

150th: Civil War ends

150th: Lincoln’s assassination

When four groups of local folks — including Eagle Scouts and Kiwanians — celebrated major anniversaries recently, they fit right into a busy season for observances.

From the one-year commemoration of the deadly Oso landslide to the Civil War sesquicentennial, anniversary stories have filled our news sections over the last eight weeks.

It’s been a chance to look back at news stories of international significance that occurred in the months of March and April, going back to 1865. It’s not just a history lesson: The two most recent events — the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the 2014 Oso landslide — are still generating headlines.

The local “round-number” anniversaries we’ve covered recently include the 50-year reunion of Vancouver’s Boy Scout Troop 326. It featured a dozen guys who have stayed in touch since they all achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1965.

Five Kiwanis Clubs in Clark County just celebrated the 100th anniversary of Kiwanis International. As Adam Littman reported, the local groups don’t go back quite that far; the most senior, Fort Vancouver Kiwanis, started in 1922. But those members — along with the Battle Ground Kiwanis (1948), Boulevard Kiwanis (1978), Cascade Park Kiwanis (1989) and Salmon Creek Kiwanis (2002) — all had a chance to celebrate a centennial.

We also covered the 10th anniversary of the Cathlapotle Plankhouse and are noting (see Page C5) the 50th anniversary of the Vancouver School of Beauty.

Off Beat lets members of The Columbian news team step back from our newspaper beats to write the story behind the story, fill in the story or just tell a story.