Editor’s note: According to a post on it’s Facebook page, the Cedar Creek Grist Mill is no longer able to do events featuring food prepared on site because of health department rules. The bread and butter event planned for Saturday has been canceled.
They say nothing is as American as apple pie, but some folks feel deeper patriotism about a staple that’s so much simpler.
We recommend taking a beautiful spring drive up to the forested top of Clark County, savoring the feeling that you’ve circled back to 1870s America as you cross the rustic covered bridge and visit the streamside “working museum.” Take a volunteer-guided tour, then get a hold of a butter churn to create some wholesome sweetness the way it used to be done. Spread the results on fresh bread and enjoy, then and there.
Walkabout
Did you know that there are more than two dozen murals in downtown Vancouver and Uptown Village? Saturday is your opportunity to take a self-guided mural tour designed by Joe Titone of the All Weather Walkers, a local volksporting club, and the Clark County Mural Society. The tour comes complete with a historical grand finale guaranteed to pluck your patriotic heartstrings: the Remembrance Wall on Phil Arnold Way.
If You Go
What: Bread and Butter Day.
This event has been canceled.
What: Vancouver Murals and Decorative Storm Drains walk.
When: Start between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 25; event ends at 4 p.m.
Where: Start/finish at The Columbian parking lot, just east of 701 W. Eighth St., Vancouver.
Admission: Free. Donations accepted.
What: Memorial Day Ceremony and Soldiers Bivouac.
When: Bivouac at 10 a.m. May 27. Ceremony and parade at 11 a.m. May 27.
Where: Bandstand at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, near 1501 Evergreen Blvd. Free parking at Hudson’s Bay High School, 1601 E. McLoughlin Blvd.
This sprawling, ongoing mural project started out as a tribute to World War II veterans, got stalled for years due to downtown redevelopment and the uncertain fate of the railroad berm that the mural calls home, and now is back in business with periodic additions. The wall now features Korea, Vietnam, the Global War on Terror and a colorful new tribute to Gen. George C. Marshall. Mural Society co-founder Jerry Rolling said a World War I remembrance will appear there later this year.
The launch point for the mural tour is the east side of The Columbian, off West Eighth Street at Grant; sign in at the registration tent anytime between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. to pick up written directions and a map. You’ll also find trail markers on the street, but those will start disappearing at 2 p.m., and the event officially ends at 4 p.m.
You can take in most of the murals via the shorter 6K route, which turns back at 19th Street; or, steel yourself for the extended 10K route, which adds a few spots to the north — including the big new mural facing Vancouver’s big new Fire Station 1 and murals on the front wall of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics on upper Main.
The tour also includes decorative downtown storm drains, painted by volunteers for the Watersheds Alliance of Southwest Washington.
“There is an overabundance of sights to see” in downtown Vancouver, said event mastermind Titone, who likes to create one scenic local walking route every year. “Most clubs don’t have what we have.” You don’t need to be a member to participate, and everything is free — but the club would be thrilled with a donation, and even more thrilled if you discover your inner volksporter and join up.
What is “volksporting”? That’s a German term for recreational, noncompetitive fitness walking. If you ever take a walk just to move your blood, clear your brain and lift your mood, you’re already a volksporter; some folks fall sufficiently in love with this activity to form local clubs, organize events like this and connect with a national umbrella group, the American Volksport Association.
Marchabout
Don’t forget the actual reason for Monday’s national holiday: honoring those who paid the ultimate price for the America we enjoy. The Community Military Appreciation Committee (CMAC) hosts its annual Memorial Day ceremony and parade at 11 a.m. May 27, starting at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site bandstand off Officers Row, across from the Marshall House. The National Park Service’s historical Soldiers Bivouac, featuring costumed re-enactors, will be right nearby and starting at 10 a.m.
Free public parking is available at Hudson’s Bay High School, 1601 E. McLoughlin Boulevard.
