Greenwood Cemetery and adjacent land in the background in Bend on Dec. 6, 2023. The cemetery currently sits in a public facilities zone, which is frequently used for public parks, schools and other public buildings — not cemeteries. Greenwood Cemetery's owner wants to change the zone to residential.

A wonderful bit of giving

I am a personal shopper. Friday mornings find me volunteering at The Giving Plate food pantry in Bend, along with other dedicated volunteers and The Giving Plate staff members. Together we work to assure that our neighbors have sufficient food for themselves and their families.

The Bend community is very generous with both food and financial donations to help folks in need of food receive assistance. (Did you know that 60% of The Giving Plate food recipients are children under 18 years of age?)

Recently a community member came to The Giving Plate and delivered many pounds of nutritious food. In addition, she touched our hearts with a special delivery. Included with her generous donation were two beautifully presented trays of all ingredients needed to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. A bag of flour, a bag of sugar, a pound of butter, chocolate chips — everything! Additionally, she carefully crafted a beautifully lettered recipe, laminated it, tied it with a bow and attached it to the trays of ingredients.

I wish this donor could have seen the face of the young mother of four to whom I was able to give one of these trays of ingredients. She not only gifted this family with food for the body, but with food for the spirit. Thank you so very much, from all of us at The Giving Plate food pantry.

— Kathy Dammarell, Bend

Preserve Greenwood Cemetery

Please preserve our history. Do not make zone changes that infringe on our century-old cemetery. On August 22, 1927, a declaration of “First Amended Plat of Greenwood Cemetery, to be used in perpetuity and exclusively as a cemetery…” was approved and signed. On April 10, 1956, a “Second Addition to Greenwood Cemetery, to be used in perpetuity and exclusively as a cemetery…” was approved. Among those who signed were Judge De Armond, County Commissioner Innes, County Commissioner D.L. Penhollow, Owners Niswonger and Winslow. This is a cemetery teeming with Bend history where markers for some of these people and many others are found. Many names are also recognized as names of streets, parks, schools, and local buildings.

Also important in this unique landscape are hundred-year-old Ponderosa Pines, and numerous other trees, shrubs, grass. It is a pleasant protection for deer, squirrels, and birds. Certainly this location is the epitome of Bend’s wish to be a “Tree City.” Except for the 70 tree stumps that stand as testimony to an organization who said on Zoom, “We have no immediate plans for this land.” In addition, flagged posts were immediately erected with the word LIMITS, cutting through the historic lava flow/wildland divider, as well as over huge pines, and within three feet of cemetery markers.

In concern for air pollution, this area is a perfect “carbon sequester” for the ubiquitous fumes that drift directly downward from busy Highway 20 East. It is particularly toxic when traffic stops at the light — freight trucks, pickups, and cars idling as they resume the uphill climb to head east.

Oregon is a beautiful state, and has kept its beauty due to our land use laws. Keep this sacred cemetery — steeped in our history, filled with environmental benefits, decorated for veterans, and a truly precious plot of earth.

— Elsa Douglass, Bend

Save the salmon

I want to thank The Bulletin for its front page on Feb. 24 featuring the Pacific Northwest tribes and states signing a plan with the Biden administration to help save our salmon population. This was a moment worth celebrating and a long awaited step forward in restoring the Columbia River system where life once thrived.

As this plan increasingly becomes a topic of conversation with our elected officials, they should view this as the single biggest opportunity we have to increase salmon and steelhead populations, restore their habitats, and diversify our clean energy solutions. Reviving the salmon population alone would help bolster the orca population, boost local fishing economies, and return sustenance and stability to Northwest tribes and communities.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, on a family cattle ranch along the Nisqually River. My grandfather regaled us with stories of the abundant salmon and steelhead which are now all threatened and endangered. It is my hope that someday I can show my grandnieces and nephews salmon and steelhead returning in abundance in the iconic Columbia watershed. Like many other Oregonians, I see salmon as a part of our culture, and I look forward to the day when they once again thrive.

— Kim McDonald, Bend

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