Jeb Bladine: Viewpoints-style 'Vintage Photos'

## Marsh Lane: Formerly a picturesque road to the new W&L facility, where you could drop off your utility bill and continue into Joe Dancer for a relaxing nature walk. Those were the days!

## Dustin Court: Once a manicured rural lane accessing YCAP facilities and its services to responsible partners in solving personal problems. Today, it is converted into a daunting human gauntlet.

## First Federal Lot: Nicely landscaped and always clean. In the old days, people didn’t mind seeing vehicles across a sidewalk that now features a colorful lineup of urban homeless campers.

Past McMinnville Chamber Chair Stevie Whited is an upbeat, optimistic person. Still, her recent letter to community leaders showed there are limits to her tolerance for unwanted change.

Here are her opening passages:

“The homeless camps and homeless population have become a problem in our community. The garbage has become an eyesore, and the smell is unbearable. Local parks have become havens for drug deals with shady characters and needles left behind.

“People are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to be identified as uncaring … Anyone advocating to preserve these camps cannot call themselves compassionate.”

Perhaps Stevie, like others, is nostalgic for the good old days. With that thought, here is a Viewpoints Version of Vintage Photos. 

As we struggle with the world of today, a special thanks to Google for helping to preserve our past.

Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.